bmi British Midland Airways  Customer Reviews and bmi Passenger Trip Reports

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bmi BRITISH MIDLAND review :  4 June 2009 : by N Nelson  (UK)

LHR-CAI in Premium Economy. Checked in online, easy process. Deposited bag in premium check-in area as bmi Gold card holder. Great facility, although a smile would have been nice. Baggage priority tagged. Made my way to new bmi Number One lounge - in old BA domestic lounge space (one floor only though). Very impressive lounge. Possibly on the small side - felt quite busy although 7.30am on day 1 so not everyone probably knew it was there. Lounge was very far from my distant Cairo gate but that's the luck of the draw. Priority boarding. Seats are previous bmi transatlantic business class 2-2-2, very comfortable. Menus given out (incorrectly for inbound food). Food was brunch. Water, juice, sparkling wine offered before take-off. Noise cancelling headsets. Armrest TV but movies on loop. Friendly crew. Arrived 15 mins ahead of schedule. Bags came off almost first.

bmi BRITISH MIDLAND review :  1 June 2009 : by Craig Brown  (Jersey)

EDI-LHR. Early morning flight leaving at 6:30am, very busy at Edinburgh. An unhappy bmi representative guarded the business check-in line allowing me through with no smile or sign of attention. Standing for half an hour in the business queue with just one passenger in front seemed ludicrous. If the business desk is still being utilised for prolonged periods, direct us somewhere else! Eventually redirected to another desk where surly service ensued. Made my way straight to gate 3 with no time for a rest in the bmi lounge. This wasn't going well. Finally arrived at the gate where I handed my boarding pass and then barked at like a dog to hand over some overweight luggage slip in addition. I was now livid at bmi by this point! Greeted by a courteous purser, the onboard experience was better with comparatively happier cabin crew and more attentive service. Nevertheless, everything is plastic - the cutlery, meal presentation - this is like a long-haul economy product in short-haul business class. The breakfast was quite tasty although the box in which the orange juice, tissues, salt etc were presented is outdated. Flew Club Europe hours later which was miles better in comparison simply for presenting one with a metal knife and fork! The bmi v BA debate is sorted in my mind. They cannot continue like this. They've lost my regular custom until they change. I wonder how many more people will soon follow.

bmi BRITISH MIDLAND review :  1 June 2009 : by David Wallace  (Australia)

LHR-BHD-LHR. We were checked through from SYD via SQ on my way over to Belfast, but on the return I had to experience the check in service of BMI. I checked in online which all went well. Then arrived at the airport to a very long slow moving line, with only 2 bag drop counters open. When I eventually got to the counter I was informed my bag was overweight, which it was a a few kgs, but when I left Sydney with the same amount of weight it was no issue. So I had to offload luggage or pay 35pounds per kilo. I also asked to be checked in for my connecting SQ flight back to SYD. This was done ok, until I asked for a seat request. I was told the flght must be full as the seating map is unavailable. When i got to LHR I managed to change seats to what I wanted and found out that there were actually 180 spare seats on the lower deck alone.

bmi BRITISH MIDLAND review :  1 June 2009 : by J Williamson  (UK)

GLA-LHR A319 economy. Checked in online and able to book seat 4f which was the first row in economy after business. The plane was clean and crew seemed attentive enough. I was surprised to see that there is absolutely no difference in the seats between business and economy,other than the middle seat left empty. Being a Diamond Club Blue Plus card holder I was able to get a complimentary hot breakfast pannini and a cup of tea - fine and tasty though I would not have paid for it.

bmi BRITISH MIDLAND review :  1 June 2009 : by A Rysdale  (Australia)

MAN-EDI, EDI-LHR in business. These were short trips however on the first sector I receied a hot meal, and on the second a cold lunch. Both well presented and did the job for such short flights. Lounge staff friendly as were cabin crew.

bmi BRITISH MIDLAND review :  29 May 2009 : by Geoffrey McNab  (UK)

BHD to LHR on the last flight on a Saturday evening. Flight about half full so was able to get a row of three seats to myself at the rear of the aircraft. However, I do wish BMI would sort their service standards out. The trolley emerged from the rear galley and Bmi always seem to start at the front of the cabin. One bored girl seemed to take and make the actual order, the other dealt with money and entered everything into some sort of computer attached to the trolley. It was obvious the crew was on their last sector, tired and disinterested in their passengers. Consequently it took forever for the trolley to come down the aisle and reach those seated in the rear. Yet whilst this was happening two crew were in the rear galley behind me doing nothing but talk and seemed totally uninterested in doing anything at all service wise. Why can’t they start taking orders row by row from the rear as well? Easyjet always seem to manage a trolley from the front and a trolley from the rear even when they only have three crew.

bmi BRITISH MIDLAND review :  21 May 2009 : by Derek Adams  (Thailand)

LHR-BHD-LHD. BMI must seriously address many Star Alliance issues. Every other SA member is keen to assist members with the interlining of baggage but the BMI "not single ticketed" wall clicks in leaving passengers to haul baggage from LHR T1 to whichever terminal their outbound flight departs. It is of course possible to use multiple Star Alliance carriers from SYD, via multiple carriers via (say) SIN-BKK-FHR-LHR-BHD without seeing baggage but the outbound BMI experience is not a good start. The Gold Card lounges at LHR and BHD are pleasant, if somewhat sparse with only basic snacks offered and charging £6 per hour for an Wi-Fi connection is nothing short of outrageous. I know of no other Star Alliance lounge globally which has the arrogance to impose such a charge . The SQ (T3) lounge issues complimentary passes (via T- Mobile) for those wishing to use their own laptops and fixed complimentary PCs for those who don't. BMI staff are clearly embarassed at requesting payment for what is now a free service at virtually every airport/lounge throughout the world. As for crediting of miles from BMI, quite frankly I've given up! Time to wake up BMI, get rid of your perceived passenger conception as a "very expensive budget carrier" tag and polish up your attitude to Star Alliance membership.

bmi BRITISH MIDLAND review :  20 May 2009 : by Ian Waddell  (UK)

LHR-Hannover return. Nice little Embraer jet - quick on and off. Good service and no complaints. One girl handled cabin service well outward. Two on return, but nobody (two- thirds full) bought a thing.

bmi BRITISH MIDLAND review :  18 May 2009 : by L Ross  (USA)

Amman to London Business Class. Old, broken seats with tape patches and ashtrays. Flight attendent told me all the seats rocked when I requested to move before take-off. So, either putting seat in upright position isn't a necessary safety precaution, or BM doesn't care about passenger safety. The rest follows. Hard to complain about food after that, but its pretty bad as well.

bmi BRITISH MIDLAND review :  13 May 2009 : by Paul Turner  (UK)

CAI to LHR Economy. The seat was comfortable and pitch adequate. The food and service was good. The only niggle was the wait of 45 minutes for the luggage to appear. This is my 4th trip on this route with BMI and in my opinion the experience is better than the opposition, flight times are more convenient and price is excellent.

bmi BRITISH MIDLAND review :  12 May 2009 : by Paul Turner  (UK)

LHR to CAI Premium Economy. Being very tall my primary consideration is seat pitch. At 50", pitch, the seats were former business class seats and very comfortable. I was able to sleep much of the way. The food was fine and IFE adequate although the screen was difficult to see because of glare. The cabin crew were excellent.

bmi BRITISH MIDLAND review :  11 May 2009 : by Kevin Mann  (UK)

LHR-BRU-LHR. Initially not happy as original flight time changed, but check in at Terminal 1 excellent. Gold card holder so able to check in at business desk and use Star Alliance lounge. Through security in less than 5 minutes. ERJ135 outbound, a number of comments from fellow passengers as to 'size' of plane and 'cramped interior. Return similar apart from unhelpful check in staff at BRU. Overall ok, but would consider Brussels airlines when they join Star.

bmi BRITISH MIDLAND review :  10 May 2009 : by O Banderas

Very confusing and inconsistent product in both business and economy. Seems like a very patched together company, and not value for money due to the many types of seats and aircraft, and hence surprises at high fares. Catering in business very badly planned, with full meals on 2hour sectors and an embarrasing stale sandwich as pre-arrival snack long-haul. Entertainment practically zero unless you are luckier to be on the tired and dirty A330 planes.

bmi BRITISH MIDLAND review :  5 May 2009 : by Malcolm Scott

Las Vegas with BMI from Manchester return. Fairly grubby aircraft, very poor service, burnt food, really hard seats (Rows 30 HK going and 29HK returning). The staff couldn't give a damn and seemed to want to get themselves settled as quick as possible. To top this we had a stag party group in the middle next to us along with two couples who we thought were going to drink themselves stupid in front of us. Surely the crew should keep an eye on the amount of alcohol people are drinking. Numerous people spent a lot of time just standing chatting in the aisles during the flight, clogging up the gangways and being a pain to those who wanted to just relax on what is after all a 10 hour+ flight. On returning we are used to warm flannels from Virgin etc to freshen up after the overnight flight - nothing like this with BMI. Overall we have to give BMI a big 'thumbs down' and say never again.