INTRODUCTION TO BMI BABY Bmi Baby condescends from the large airline BMI who operate flights all over the world. Bmi Baby is a brand put together for the purpose of competition. It is a part of the company that is known for "Low cost" or "No Frills" flights. They are recognised as the airline with tiny fares.
THE WEBSITE The easiest and quickest way to book is to click on to the website www.bmibaby.com you can also call them to book but by the time you get through the fares might not be the same and it is not as quick. The website is a lighthearted design with simple pictures and wording like most no frills airlines. If you visit www.bmi.com you will see the difference in marketing used. Anyone can navigate their way round the website it is really simple once you are on the flights homepage you just click in your specification at the top of the page and you are given the list of prices inbound and outbound. Once you have ticked the most cheapest and convenient flight to you the next page will ask for your details and if you need to add on any extras such as lounge passes or seat reservations. After that you are guided to the passenger detail page and area to pay for your ticket. It really is that quick and simple. You are then given a booking number and emailed your confirmation you can then print this off and this acts as your ticket so there are no fees for losing tickets etc as you can print them off as many times as necessary.
WHERE DO THEY FLY? No frills airlines mainly operate within Europe, which is no different to Bmi Baby but they also usually, only fly to the less well-known airports as it is cheaper but Bmi use the main airports so you don't have to worry about where you are stranded. Bmi Baby fly to Alicante, Barcelona, Bordeaux, Cork, Faro, Geneva, Knock, Lisbon,
Malaga, Marseille, Murcia, Nice, Palma, Paria, Prague, Perpignan and Rome. Bmi Baby also fly within the UK to Aberdeen, Belfast, Birmingham, Cardiff, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Jersey, Manchester and Newquay. This is great because most of these airports are regional so not only are they easily accessible to get into Europe quickly you can also use them to connect to other flights, which isn't always easy. For example you cant fly from as many long haul destinations from East Midlands as you can from Manchester so instead of driving a long way and getting an overnight stay why not grab a connecting flight.
BENEFITS
Choose seats online* When you travel with a no frills airline you usually check in and then have to race to the front of the queue to board, as you are not allocated a seat number. Bmi Baby do not operate in this way which is really good you can either reserve your seat number at the time of booking for a fee of £3.50 or alternatively you can request at time of check in free of charge.
Infants fly for free* Also unlike a lot of airlines Bmi Baby allow any infant under the age of 2 to travel for free on any flight.
Online check in* If you are one of these wise travellers that only carry hand luggage to save time collecting you luggage at the end of the flight then you can check in online if you are travelling from East Midlands. Unfortunately unlike some of the other airlines they cannot offer online check in for all airports.
Group bookings* Bmi baby like to steer people into booking online so they have setup their online booking system to allow 15 people to book at one time which is very handy when you are just looking around for prices. Most other airlines only allow you to book up to 9 passengers at one time.
AMENDMENTS TO BOOKING Most cheap airlines are quite strict and pricey if you need to make any amendments, most of the time you may as well just book again than pay the amendment fees. The reason I like Bmi Baby is that they do not work like this. They do not offer refunds but if you need to change your flight or route they make a small charge of £20pp and if you wish to change a name you pay a one off fee of £30. There are no higher prices if you make changes early or late as long as you have made them all 3 hours before scheduled departure.
OTHER SERVICES THEY OFFER Most no frills airlines are moving into other areas to maximise profit and Bmi Baby are no different they also offer what they call discounted car hire, hotel, insurance, travel insurance, currency and now even credit cards. In my experience and my shopping around skills I wouldn't advise using any of these you will more than likely get a better deal elsewhere.
MY EXPERIENCE My friend has a villa in Spain and we fancied a trip out just before Christmas for a break and some Christmas shopping so we shopped around and found the best fare online with Bmi Baby we booked immediately for £30pp including taxes etc from Nottingham East Midlands to Malaga we thought that was a real bargain as we cant get from our area to London for that. I have travelled with various other airlines including a number of No Frills airlines and found them to be sufficient so I was not worried about this flight. On the morning of the flight we left 1 hour and a half for check in as they close the check in 45 mins before the flight is due to depart. When we arrived at the airport there were 3 check ins open which was quite efficient it took about 35mins to get checked in and almost as soon as we went through to the departure lounge we were being called to board which was great as I hate sitting around waiting for my hols.
Once we were called up children and less able people were told to make their way to the check in so they received priority boarding but everyone just crowded the gates so no one really got helped which wasn't very good.
After boarding we weren't kept long before taking off there were no delays and the air stewardesses were smiley and well dressed in smart Bmi uniforms navy skirts, blouses and jackets. I think it is nice that even on low cost airlines they have some standard regarding uniform, as some airlines I have travelled with look bad when the staff are dressed bad. As like all other no frills airlines there wasn't a TV or radio station but what do you need one of those for when you are possibly only travelling for 30minutes.
Once we had found our seats we realised we weren't all sitting together which wasn't helpful but the male steward who overheard us was very helpful and sorted it out for us when everyone was onboard to sit together which I thought was really good of him as he didn't have to do it.
The plane was quite cramped and not very comfortable as the leg room was very limited and the seat pitch was not much to shout about but the good side to it was that the arm rests lift up so if the person you are sitting next to is known to you (or just very very friendly ; - ) ) you can spread out a bit or even better if the flight isn't full like ours wasn't then you can go and spread out on to two seats.
15 minutes into the journey your flight is broken down a little by the choices on the trolley dolly service because as you are all I am sure aware of low cost airlines do not provide meals as it is just not cost affective so just sell a selection of hot and cold drinks, sandwiches, soups, toasties and nibbles. On the way out the service was good but on the way back all the sandwiches were sold out and there was hardly anything left and of course everyone wanted to buy on the journey so there were quite a few disgruntled customers. However I do need to add Bmi were under a lot of pressure as the flight was at the time of all the cancellations due to Christmas fog.
Not far behind was the duty free trolley with some souvenirs, cheaper perfumes and cigarettes I don't know about anyone else but I don't even bother looking as I know the prices aren't that competitive but you always get someone buy don't you? Well actually I don't think you do as on the return journey they didn't even bother with the trolley on the way home they just said look in the magazine and press your call button if you wish to buy anything. I think I saw two lights flash.
The flight was very smooth and I think there were two announcements from the pilot but they were so crackly I couldn't make either of then out. As the low cost carriers have a quick turn around once they have landed the cabin crew like you to clean up after yourself, which is quite reasonable, but I suppose if you had a bad flight you wouldn't bother. I hate finding sweet wrappers and worse shoved in holes they shouldn't be when embarking on a new flight so I wouldn't like to do it to someone else.
Once departing the flight the cabin crew see you off with a smile, which I also think, is nice and shows a nice polite service.
All in all the flight was not a brilliant flight but it was adequate for my needs and I have no cause to complain what so ever and I think if you can get a good deal jump at it as they are pretty hard to come by these days.
JUST A QUICK TIP Most people think that the earlier you book the cheaper deal you are going to get this may be true in some cases but certainly not in all when it comes to no frills flights. I used to work in the accommodation only business and had to book no frills flights on a regular basis and the price difference is quite astonishing you could end up paying £150 for a return flight to Palma 6 months in advance or £40 a couple of weeks before you can never quite tell what the prices are going to do but I can guarantee you will find a cheaper flight mid week. Never ever book on a weekend or bank holiday or you will be ripped off every time. I once booked a flight to Palma from East Midlands in September and was offered a price of £31 including taxes and then £91 on the Saturday, sure enough by the Tuesday the price had gone down. I also booked a flight for a customer from Manchester to Tenerife for £110 including taxes in October a month before travel, she then called to amend 1 week before her holiday and the price had gone down by £30 but she still had to pay £20 for the amendment so in the end paid £50 over the price at that time because if you change to a flight cheaper than yours you will not get a refund.
OVERALL OPINION I think Bmi Baby offer a great service for a nice short haul flight you get the convenience of a nearby short flight without all of the frills that you do not need. I think airlines have come a long way since the old traditions you don't need a meal or a TV for a 2-hour flight. I think Bmi baby are up there with the competition such as Ryanair, Easyjet. Monarch and Thomson fly. They offer competitive prices, good service and modern booking facilities. Bmi Baby provides good competition but don't be fooled shop around and when you're done shop around again when it comes to frills or no frills there aren't any amazingly different airlines.
Strange I should just read this, have been trying to get a cheap flight to Cyprus. My be I should look here. A great review, with loads of info about what to expect, or not! lots of detail just when I needed it.
martinwi 23.03.2008 16:58
A really informative review and well written. I've never used them but now feel like I have. They seem on par with the other 'cheapies'. However, its 'plane' to see this deserves an E. (sorry...).
NH Hotels, the hotel chain leader in Europe, with more than 300 hotels in 20 countries in Europe, Latin America and Africa. Enter into our web site and find the best available tariff at all times
Record Rent a Car is present in the main spanish airports and has a very wide fleet. We offer: exceptional discounts, free additional drivers,
unlimited mileage... subscribe to our Club Record and take advantage of special offers.
Dec 27th, 2006
exceptional by (13%):
very helpful by (87%):
