I was lucky enough to be sent on a work conference in Amsterdam, which involved me flying from Heathrow to Schipol. The airline I was booked on was BMI, the new name for British Midland.
***********Booking*************
I didn't book this ticket as it was a partner company that arranged the trip, but I believe that you can book through the BMI website www.flybmi.com. They do have a frequent flyer club called the Diamond club but as this was the first time I flew with BMI I have not joined up, so don't know what facilities you can get with it.
***********Checking In*************
Checking in was a pretty painless exercise at both Heathrow and Schipol, these days you often get 'e' tickets and don't get any paper tickets. 'e' tickets are great as all you do is turn up at the checkin desk present your passport, they then find your booking on the reservation system and give you your boarding pass, which means more time in the lounge and less to forget!
I was fortunate enough with this ticket to get lounge access, BMI at Heathrow have their own lounge, which was next door to the gate for my flight, so no need to walk long distance once boarding has been called. The BMI lounge is quite spacious and has the usual complimentry snacks and drinks, with all the daily papers to take away. Allthough I had lounge access at Schipol I never made it as I was busy looking in the shops!
***********The Flight*************
Once on board the flight left on time for the outbound and return flights. As the outbound flight was at 1430 there was no food but there was a complimentry bar. The flight from Heathrow to Schipol is only about 40 minutes so the inflight service seems quite rushed but this is down to the short flight. The return flight was at 1950 and there was food on this flight, some Deli sandwiches, as well as the bar service.
The plane was fairly spacious but for such a short flight not having a lot of room is not so much of an issue, there was a segregated cabin with Business class at the front of the plane, I am not sure why anybody pays for business class on such a short flight. The crew were very pleasant and attentive when providing the cabin service.
***********Arriving*************
Both flights arrived within acceptable time, allthough the taxi from the runway to the stand at Schipol took about 10 minutes, it must be a big airport. I didn't have any hold baggage as I was only travelling overnight, so I cannot comment on the baggage handling at both airports.
***********Summary*************
For me this trip was stress free and on time, which to me are the most important things when travelling. I also like the 'e' ticket concept as it means that I have less to fuss around with and carry. Based on my experience of these flights I would quite happily use BMI again.
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Advantages: bmi Workers are polite. That's the only positive thing I can say about bmi. Disadvantages: The disadvantages are stated in the title and thoroughly explained in the review body.
Advantages: Star Alliance Member, Fantastic Airfares, Value for Money, Friendly Airline, Relatively new fleet Disadvantages: Reliability on domestic routes
Dec 26th, 2004
very helpful by (75%):
helpful by (25%):
