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PatJordan flew bmi Economy (short haul), on a A320-200 (11/12/2011 21:02)

DUB-LHR-DUB (Economy)

Booking and check in

www.flybmi.com is an easy site to navigate and selecting flights for my preferred dates and times was no trouble. BMI do not charge for checked in baggage which gives them an edge over their rivals on this route.

I hold Diamond Club Gold status, and decided to use either my DC upgrade facility or destination miles. My initial enquiry (by email) to Diamond Club gave a response that I certainly could use miles to upgrade, but when I telephoned the D.Club to do this, I was told that it was not possible. Ok, I said, I’ll use my vouchers.

Inbound there was no problem, but outbound there was no availability. However, I was placed on a wait list and advised to call back after a few days. This I did, but I asked it I could pay for the upgrade….to be told that I was already upgraded. Happy days indeed! However when I tried to select my seat on-line, the system would not allow it. A further call gave me the reason why: I was not yet upgraded! Confused? I certainly was!

As it transpired, I was not upgraded after all. The question remains: how could it happen that BMI were unable to accept my offer to pay for an upgrade? Unless they’re so flush that they can afford to refuse revenue?

On line check-in is available 24 hours prior to travel, and I used this facility to print my boarding passes for my same day return. At this point I noticed that I had been allocated seat 14F by the system. I changed this to an aisle seat without difficulty and proceeded to print my boarding passes.

I arrived at Dublin Terminal 1 just after 6.00am for my 7.15am flight and proceeded straight to security. Since Aer Lingus and transatlantic operators have migrated to Terminal 2, there is a lower number of passengers using T1 which makes it far less crowded. However, early Saturday morning is a busy time, and it took a good 15 minutes to clear security.

There is a good range of shops and cafes, most of which open around 5.00am to cater for the early birds.

Lounge (Dublin)

The Diamond Club lounge is adjacent to the main shopping area and is furnished in the usual BMI manner: bright colour sofas with a business section for those who wish to work.

There is a limited range of food: biscuits, sweets and packaged pastries. The coffee is good and strong (perfect for early morning!) with a good range of soft and alcoholic drinks.

The lounge is a short walk from gates 301-313 (the old B pier) and makes boarding quite easy.

Boarding

Boarding is through an airbridge and rearmost rows are called first to minimize delays. Diamond Club Gold holders and economy flexible passengers are invited to board at their leisure.The gate was quite close the lounge, so I didn’t have far to walk. Servisair are BMI’s handling agents and are quite efficient.

The Airbus 320 was immaculate and cabin crew warmly welcomed passengers.

This Airbus 320 was configured in full economy mode, all seats 3-3. The first rows were reserved for economy flexible. Seats were in the newer BMI brown colour, and very attractive.

Inflight

The Captain gave a brief welcome and details of flight times, followed by a safety announcement from the cabin crew. We pushed back shortly after 7.00am and were airborne quickly.

Economy passengers are offered a very limited pay menu: basically biscuits and drinks. This is in contrast to Aer Lingus who offer a more extensive menu, thus giving choice and providing a useful revenue stream.

We landed in Heathrow at 8.35am after some minutes in a holding pattern, but this was barely past the scheduled time so not an issue. After a short taxi we were on stand and deplaned into T1 on a coach.

Return Check in and security

Having my boarding pass already printed, I went directly to security at Heathrow T1 and was processed very quickly. I was airside within 5 minutes.

Lounge Heathrow

Being Diamond Club Gold, I visited the Star Alliance lounge. This is a large, very comfortable facility with on site restrooms and excellent showers.

The food consists of soup, rolls,salads, sandwiches, cold meats, hot savoury snacks, rice crackers. Additionally, there was a chicken tikka masala with rice and naam bread. I had a very pleasant lunch, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

There is a very pleasant shower area, and after a day trudging around London, I was very much refreshed after my shower.

As this lounge is quite a long walk from the BMI boarding area, I went to the BMI lounge shortly before boarding. The Great British Lounge is very big with plenty of natural light. However as it was after dark, the lighting was very pleasant and relaxing.

The food is soup, rolls,cheese, crackers, biscuits, crisps, nuts, good quality cheesecake and gateaux. I particularly like the jars of old fashioned sweets, always brings me back to my childhood!! There is a full bar service.

Boarding

Unusually the Dublin bound flight boarded at gate 8, almost beside the lounge. Heretofore it used to be gates 72-78, adjacent to the Aer Lingus departure area and quite a walk from the lounge.

Boarding was by rows, and was quite efficient.

This Airbus 320 was configured in full economy mode, all seats 3-3. The first rows were reserved for economy flexible. Seats were in the newer BMI brown colour, and very attractive. As I had chosen row 1, the bulkhead ensured that I didn’t have a seatback close to my face.

After a welcome announcement from the Captain, the cabin crew gave a safety demonstration.

We pushed back shortly after our scheduled time of 8.15pm, and were airborne shortly afterwards.

I was offered a chicken wrap which was quite tasty, along with a cold lager which was most welcome.

Conclusion

A very impressive return flight. Excellent service, punctuality and pleasant lounges make BMI a very pleasant airline to travel on the Dublin-London route.

The earlier departure time ex-Dublin and return ex London gives an additional two hours in London than was previously the case. Much more beneficial for business or leisure purposes and a welcome change. However, I remain puzzled at the (uncharacteristic) confusion over the upgrade scenario. Nonetheless, BMI staff in the lounges and aircraft are most pleasant and helpful and make flying with BMI a pleasure.

PatJordan flew bmi Economy (short haul), on a A320-200 (25/04/2011 20:50)

DUB-LHR Economy Flexible.

BMI Economy Fexible is the substitute product for the former Business Class cabin. It offers lounge access, seat selection at time of booking, complimentary catering and seat at front of aircraft. An additional benefit for pax departing from Dublin is access to fast track security. I learned of this when I checked in online and printed my boarding pass.

However as I was flying on Easter Monday, there were very few pax at Terminal 1 so there was no need to use this facility. I was through security in a few minutes. The BMI Diamond Club lounge is beside the main shoping area in Dublin and close to the departure gates (the former "B" pier).

The lounge is similar to all BMI lounges in terms of furniture and colour schemes, but is a little lacking in food for morning flights. Cereal bars, biscuits and chocolate filled croissants are the only offerings. The lady on duty was particularly friendly and spent a fair bit of time chatting to a passenger's child. No lounge dragons here!!

The 0840 flight boarded early. The Airbus 320 was a two class aircraft with a 2-2 configuration for the premium economy cabin. I had selected 1F and was pleasantly surprised to find this particular aircraft being used. The norm is a full economy A320/A319 with the first few rows (3-3) allocated for premium economy. The large seat has recline and footrest facility with a massive pitch. Very comfortable indeed.

The seats were upholstered in blue cloth and the cabin was spotless.

Push back was 0835 and we were airborne at 0845. The Captain estimated a flight time of 50 minutes.

Complimentary food was a choice of hot bacon roll or cheese and egg panini. I opted for the bacon roll which was crusty and very tasty. However, it was not a patch on the old cooked breakfast served in the old biz class. However, times change and the roll was very acceptable. I was particularly surprised to be offered wine, and as my body clock reckoned it was lunch time, I indulged in a nice Chilean Merlot.

We landed at 0940 (no delays in Heathrow!!) and were on stand within a couple of minutes.

This was one of the best BMI flights I have enjoyed in some time: the cabin crew were very friendly, early departure and landing, nice food and drink.

As much as I mourn the loss of the business class product, it is clear that BMI are constantly improving the premium economy product to a standard which is pretty close to the former product. The cabin earns double the normal Diamond Club points allocation (1,600 in this case) which is very useful for tier progression within the DC.

PatJordan flew bmi Economy (short haul), on a A320-200 (07/02/2011 00:30)

DUB-LHR-DUB.

I took advantage of BMI's low fares to visit family in London. The on-line booking process is simple to follow, though it can take the BMI site a while to open. Because I had availed of low fares, seat selection is not available until check-in.

Online check in is available from 24 hours prior to departure, and at this stage, you can select the number of checked in bags. BMI do not charge for baggage which is a welcome touch. I selected seats for my wife and I: row 13 was the most forward available, which let me to think that the aircraft would be a two class plane redeployed to the DUB-LHR route.

We used the DAA Blue car park which is easily accessed from the M50, and a very reasonable 5.50euro per day when booked on line. If only DAA used some of their revenue to fill some of the many potholes which become pools in wet weather.

There was no queue at the BMI bag drop off desk, and we were swiftly dealt with by a very helpful lady.

This particular morning, Dublin airport was very quiet and we were through security within a few minues. However, there seemed to be a heaitng problem as the airport was freezing!

The BMI lounge is beside the main shopping area and a short walk from the departure gates. Sadly on this occasion the lack of heating extended to the lounge which was like an icebox. The unfortunate lady working there had an overcoat and scarf to try and keep warm. It is inexcusable that Dublin Airport impose charges on pax and expect them to freeze.

The 0830 hours flight boarded on time and the aircraft was virtually full. As expected, it was a two class A320. Seats were blue leather and the aircraft was immaculate. Cabin crew were friendly, and just before 0830, the captain announced a delay to 0915 on foot of the heavy winds. The business cabin is 2-2 and economy 3-3. Despite the C seats, the pax there had to make do with economy plus service (warm sandwich and drink). Economy pax have to make to with (good) coffee and a biscuit or chocolate bar.. I always felt that stopping the sale of sandwiched to economy pax was a backward move and loss of revenue. (This is my opinion, I am unaware of the costs involved).

We pushed back at about 0910 and were airborne shortly afterwards. The captain later let us know that we would be landing at approximately 1010. At it happened we were still circling Heathrow at 1030, but this was beyond anyone's control. We touched down just before 1040 and were on stand within 5 minutes.

There was only a short wait for baggage to arrive.

Returning, we had checked in online the previous evening and proceeded to the BMI premium check in area (taking advantage of my DC Gold status). A very friendly lady checked in our bags, and even enquired if we know where the BMI lounge was situated. A nice touch indeed.

Having some time to spare, we had lunch at Wetherspoons (under £9 for a roast lunch!) and proceded airside.

There were few people in T1, and we were airside in less than 5 minutes.

Again, taking advantage of my DC Gold card, we visited the Star Alliance lounge. This is a former BA lounge, and is very big with a variety of seating types. Eagle eyed pax will note that the showers retain the BA logo!

There is a good range of food : always hot soup, a rice and curry type dish (chilli today), sandwiched, salads, fruit, hot savoury snacks...there is virtually a full meal available here. There is a good range of soft and alcoholic drinks on offer:I enjoyed a (couple of) glasses of Zinfadel.

Our flight was scheduled for 1750, and about 1600, I received a sms from BAA's excellent service (flight messenger) informing me of a 25 minute delay.

We proceeded to the BMI lounge as it is nearer the departure gates. This has been recently refurbished. As I have previously written about this very pleasant lounge so will refrain from too much detail here. There was a new range of cakes on offer, which were delicious, but not too good for the waistline!

The lounge staff kept pax well informed of delays, and out flight was called about 6.10pm. This allows just the right amount of time to walk to the departure gates and be one of the last to board, thus minimising the time sitting on the aircraft.

This was an A319 with all economy seating (3-3). The first 4 rows were reserved for economy plus pax: there were only 2, and the remaining economy cabin was almost full. The seats were upholstered in the new brown colurs.

The captain apologised for the delay, and quickly pushed back. The cabin crew gave a very good safety demonstration, as we taxied towards the runway. At this point I fell asleep and did not awake until we touched down in Dublin at approx 1940.

Bagage took about 15 minutes to arrive on the belt, and despite being marked "priority" ours were almost last to appear.

The delays on both flights were a little annoying, but not that much so. As always, BMI offer a very good service for a reasonable price. I personally would love to see business class reappear on this route (particularly the morning flight when the cooked breakfast was so welcome), but needs must.

Overall a very pleasant return trip and excellent value at less than 100euro return each.

yamyam_flyer flew bmi Business, on a A320-200 (17/06/2010 18:06)

wpcardiff flew bmi Business (short haul), on a A320-200 (09/11/2008 18:52)

I travel frequently on this aircraft and the A321 on the London - Dublin route always in business class. It has got to be the greatest insult to full fare business passengers in existence. The seats are cramped in the extreme and BMI persist in using the middle seat on one side if the aircraft thereby making an uncomfortable journey even more unpleasant should you be unlucky enough to be sitting on that side . The food in a box is only on a par with a charter airline and the whole experience is an unsatisfactory and very expensive proposition. I might add that this level of service is not related to the current econoic climate but has been the case for a number of years. I have to say the mid haul 2-2 configuration is superb but I wish BMI would take a look at some of their Star partners and see the service they manage to provide on their short haul sectors