Now what’s the main thing that people consider when going on holiday? Weather, location, luxury… most of those are fairly commonplace yet for us poor students I’m rather ashamed to admit that price is always at the forefront of our mind! When going to the travel agents I might as well be wearing a flashing Neon sign with “price” on my forehead as it’s always the first question I ask – well you’ve got to watch those pennies haven’t you!
Obviously being continuously in the student “tight when it comes to money” frame of mind I took to looking for my holiday on the internet last summer in the hope of finding a little bargain hidden away. And, would you believe it, after numerous arguments with my boyfriend (and a couple of break ups too) we managed to find a lovely little get away to Palma in Majorca for a week. We booked via the Teletext website with a company called Global Late Deals who can be found at www.globallatedeals.com who provided the accommodation and also found flights with BMI Baby!
Now I’ve flown with BMI or British Midlands before and never had any qualms at all about the level of service so learning we were flying with an off shoot of their company for almost half the price didn’t bother me one bit! BMI Baby are the little sister almost of British Midland and endorse themselves as “the airline with tiny fairs” similar to other budget airlines like Easy Jet and No Frills Airline.
Their main depot is East Midlands airport, which is where the most flights depart from. They now do fly from all the main UK airports including Manchester, Cardiff, Durham, London and Glasgow. Their flight destinations are somewhat more restricted than other larger companies but include all the mainland European destinations including Majorca, Spain, Ireland, France, Prague, etc.
If you want to book direct their website is probably the most convenient method to follow although they do have a phone line for direct bookings, you’ll also receive a £5 booking discount too. The website can be found at www.bmibaby.com and is one of the simplest to navigate that I have ever come across.
At the top of the main page there is a search facility for flights whereby you enter the dates of the trip, no of passengers, destination and departure airports and that’s all it takes. You’ll then be presented with a list of flight options (flight times, terminal numbers, etc.) including ones nearest to your dates if the specific ones aren’t available. You then merely proceed to the booking facility whereby you’ll be given exact prices, have to enter passenger details and payment details (all major credit cards) – how simple can that be! Tickets, if booked in advance will arrive within 4-5 days or if booked close to departure can be picked up direct from the airport. Tickets are non-fundable although for a small cost of £15 to £30 passenger name amendments can be made.
Other extras offered on the website are the ability to view timetables of flights for the coming 6 months, to see where each airport in the UK flies to, to book cars and hotels through BMI Baby and the option to log into your account (free and easy to make) to check the dispatch of tickets and flights you are booked for.
And back to the point that is always at the forefront of my mind, always on the tip of my tongue… what’s the price?! The flights for my holiday to Palma were booked approximately 3 weeks in advance and cost us under £170 for the two of us to fly, return from Manchester.
Typical prices (having just looked now) include
£98.43 for a return flight from Manchester to Alicante £88.93 for a return flight from London to Prague
As an overall guide I can say that most return flights will fall under the £100 marker. It’s rarely found normally that you actually save money by booking later, but in the case of this website there really is little variation in prices. A friend of mine booked to go to Prague on a special offer 3 days before departure and she flew there and back for under £50!
The flight confirmation email arrived within 24 hours, there was one slight problem of my boyfriend being put down as a "Ms" but I immediately rang BMI Baby, got through the first time, and they changed this free of charge and another confirmation email followed.
Now onto the flight itself…
~ Check in – this was fairly pain free; our flight was due to depart at 8.00a.m. and we were advised to check in from 6.15a.m. onwards. When we arrived there was about 40 people in the queue already and within 10 minutes they had opened a second check in desk to save people waiting for longer than necessary. Thumbs up!
~ Boarding – this was our first shock of the journey, it was a “walk on” boarding – no buses or tunnels taking you to the plane, oh no! I kept expecting a plane to come crashing into me – well a little excessive maybe! The airhostesses were waiting at the top to direct us to our seats.
~ The plane – this is where my main qualms do lie, my boyfriend has never really been a fond flier and that’s putting it lightly! The first problem was the state of the outside of the plane, the paint was chipped and on the wing where we boarded there was only half a metal flap – as though it had just fallen off and left a piece of metal with crooked edges! Luckily I managed to force my boyfriend on the plane without too many threats. The inside of the plane was a little more presentable, the main problem we found was the lack of leg room – there must have been little more than 10 inches of leg room per person – not the best when you’re over 6 foot! My other qualm comes in the shape of a toilet, I was appalled by the state of the toilets on the flight – the floor was wet and dirty tissues were overflowing from the bin, thumbs down there!
~ Air Hostesses – now I’m not a fussy girl and I don’t have amazingly high standards but I have come to expect it to be almost commonplace that air hostesses are always dressed impeccably and have perfect hair and make up – even if it does leave me feeling jealous. However on our flight the three air hostesses all had black jeans on and a BMI baby, white, off coloured and clearly very worn, t-shirt on. They did make up for this by being very pleasant and helpful whenever possible though. And of course they did have to conduct the safety procedure, as there was a lack of TV screens on the plane.
~ Amenities – obviously the lack of a TV and radio didn’t go down too well with my boyfriend who needs something to take his mind off the fact we are actually in the air, and in his opinion, bordering on death. There’s also no meals offered as standard on any of the flights due to them all being relatively short. There is a snack trolley that does the rounds about 30 minutes after getting into the air but we found this to be rather poorly equipped on both journeys, but fairly reasonably priced with hot and soft drinks retailing at between 60p and £1.50, £3.00 for a sandwich and £1.00 for crisps.
I can say that I’ll be flying with BMI Baby again while I’m still in the student “tight fisted” frame of mind, as for if I actually had the extra money to spend I probably would upgrade to British Midland airways or anything slightly more expensive one in the hope that I’d find a better level of quality. But if you just want to get from A to B quickly and cheaply and you’re not bothered about TV’s or other such amenities then BMI Baby is a hit!
Thanks for reading! Lucie xxx
More details
Class flown most frequently
Economy
How often do you travel with this airline
Rarely
Where did you book
Online Travel Agent
Safety
Poor
How well does it cater for disabled people
It is not one of their priorities
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