Another painful weekend just gone by with too many drinks causing me to feel very ill! Time for a ch...
Another painful weekend just gone by with too many drinks causing me to feel very ill! Time for a change of picture!
Member since:29.07.2003
Reviews:13
Members who trust:7
Who are British Midland (BMI)? According to BMI’s website, www.flybmi.com, BMI are the UK’s second largest full service airline, operating over 2000 flights a week from various airports around the UK. They are based at London Heathrowairport where they have a fleet of 41 jet aircraft. They fly between numerous airports across the UK. Full details can be found at the above named website. BMI are also a member of the Star Alliance. The Star Alliance is a group of airlines that operate an alliance of services across the globe to provide customers with a complete global travel itinerary. The member airlines include Air Canada, Air New Zealand, Asiana Airlines, US Airways, Spanair, SingaporeAirlines, Lufthansa German Airlines and a whole host of others. Again, full details on the Star Alliance can be found on BMI’s website.
My experiences with BMI have only been between Aberdeen
(where I currently live) and London Heathrow (where I was born and the nearest airport to where my parents live) and I must say that this is an excellent airline in all respects.
Bookings BMI accept bookings over the phone or via their website at www.flybmi.com. Like Easyjet and probably a whole host of other airlines, there is a discount if you book online. I have only ever booked online and have always found this an easy job. The website is laid out in a tasteful shade of blue and is very easy to navigate around. First, you choose your flights. Depending on where you are flying from and to, you will probably get a choice (Aberdeen fly to London Heathrow four times a day). Once these have been chosen, you will be asked for passenger names and contact details. Once this is confirmed, its time to enter payment details. Finally, when you have chosen your flights and confirmed passenger, contact and payment details, you will receive a confirmation number. This will also be confirmed via e mail to the e mail address you have entered. Another nice touch is a few days before you are due to fly, they will send you a reminder e mail with your flight details.
Prices The price of flying BMI can be very cheap if you are flying economy. My flights from Aberdeen to London Heathrow and back again were £15 each way. That was flying on a Wednesday evening (7.55pm) and returning on a Sunday afternoon (2.50pm). Add to that taxes and the total cost was approximately £60. These were booked about a month in advance. Naturally, prices will depend on the time and day you wish to fly on and even the time of year. When booking there is the option to take a non economy seat but these are considerably more expensive. To compare with the other airlines that fly between Aberdeen and London Heathrow (Easyjet and British Airways), BMI are about the same as Easyjet but when you consider the allocated seating and free drink, its way better value. I have booked a British Airways flight that cost me £68 but generally British Airways are more expensive.
Check in Check-in is relatively simple. As with most airlines, you will require some form of photographic identification. At both Aberdeen and London Heathrow, BMI staff were available to check people in. As Aberdeen is much smaller than London Heathrow, the queues tend to be a lot smaller. London Heathrow has one BMI stand for all flights, the only difference being a separate section for business flights. This is absolutely excellent as the queues move quickly and you are not waiting for check-ins to open for specific flights. BMI, like British Airways, also have self check in machines. I am not sure how these work but presumably you can check in here without having to queue. I checked in for a flight five hours early and while you can do this, you cannot check your bags in until two hours before the plane is scheduled to take off. Whilst this may sound annoying, it isn’t actually too bad because at London Heathrow, there is a ‘Fast Bag Drop’ facility where you literally show your boarding card and check your bags in.
Flights, Entertainment, Food and Drink I have flown a number of times between Aberdeen and London Heathrow and back again and on only one occasion was my flight delayed. This was due to computer problems at London Heathrow. My flight was delayed by only one hour. The flights are excellent and are very reliable. As you get an allocated seat, there is no mad rush to get on board the plane. The planes are clean, tidy and well presented with BMI’s pale blue colours prevalent across all the seats. There is no in flight entertainment but there is a free magazine called Voyager which is a nice read if you have nothing else with you, giving you information on routes, destinations and features. This is a free sandwich and drink with BMI flights. On the flights I have been on, the sandwiches are half baguettes with either egg mayonnaise or spicy chicken, and for airline food, are actually very nice. The free drink can be anything from a glass of water to a can of beer or spirits. One tip I have learned is to ask for a large one (when asking for spirits) – here you will get two of the little bottles of your chosen drink!!! Quite a result!
Customer and In-flight Service Apart from your flight being on time, the most important aspect of any service, I think, is the way you are treated as a customer. BMI are excellent. From when you first check in to when you disembark, you feel completely valued as a customer. All BMI staff wear a blue uniform which is a tasteful shade of blue. They are exceptionally polite and very helpful. In-flight, they make sure you are comfortable and happy. They even take the time to explain exit procedures to those seated over the wing as opposed to referring customers to the card in the seat pocket. Drinks and food are served politely and without any fuss or bother and you can always ask for more without fear of the staff refusing.
Loyalty Rewards/Frequent Flyers Frequent flyers can benefit from membership of BMI’s loyalty reward scheme called Diamond Club. Here you collect points when you book flights and eventually exchange them for free flights. There are three levels – blue, silver and gold. I have just signed up for this and look forward to many rewards in the future. Silver membership allows you access to BMI lounges at certain airports once you have attained a certain number of points. Full details can be found on BMI’s website, www.flybmi.com.
As mentioned above, I have flown with BMI on a few occasions after they started flying from Aberdeen to London Heathrow. Previously, my only options were Easyjet or British Airways. I can categorically say that I would never go back. I would thoroughly recommend that if you have a chance to fly BMI, then try it. You may be pleasantly surprised.
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Sep 28th, 2004
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very helpful by (94%):
