bmi diamond club - Flying BD to AMM soon, few questions...

Hello! I've a few questions about my upcoming return LHR - AMM, operated by BD for BA. I'm not sure exactly what to expect or where to sit, and having read through this wonderful FAQ thread (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/bmi-diamond-club/738267-flying-bmi-faq-routes-aircraft-service-seats-baggage-lounges.html) still have a few outstanding questions I hope you'll be able to help me with:

1. On some routes to the Middle East british carriers offer halal menu items from the main menu, rather than by special meal only. Do you know if I should expect this on this route? Ordering special a meal nixes any chance of an op-up (not that I'm expecting one, but it's always nice to hope!).

2. Outbound I'm in economy, and have currently selected 10C. The bulkhead seat at 9D is open - do you recommend it for any particular reason? Or should I stay where I am?

3. Return is in J. Two questions here. I've read different things about the hard product, so I'm not really sure what sort of seat exactly to expect. Secondly, I'm currently in 2C but have the pick of the cabin (excluding 1B which is taken). Again - do you recommend any other seat for any particular reason? Or are they all much of a muchness?

Sorry if these are basic questions, but I've no idea what to expect on these flights and have struggled to find the info on the forum. Thanks for taking the time to help a brother out! :D

I use this route every month. In answer.

1) The regular menu states all items are halal, so if it is halal you want no need to order specials.

2) Never flown Y on this route but taken a look. Bulkhead does have more legroom and given the pitch elsewhere is 31" if you are over 6' then you are going to be squashed in. If 17A or F are open take them, no one in front of you as emergency exit and loads of legroom without the restriction a bulkhead brings on just how far you can stretch your legs out or under the seat in front of you.

3) They are much of a muchness. I avoid rows 1 and 2 as too much galley noise and light, preferring rows 3 and 4 and right window side for best view of London if coming in over the city. The back cabin in business is too close to Y and service is usually last here. Avoid 6F as though loads of legroom the windows don't line up with the seat properly.

For general seating advice try using www.seatguru.com - a little out of date but generally accurate.

If you are travelling soon it is still pretty much an old bmi flight and service standards, or it was two weeks ago. Biz class Catering ex-UK is good but not great, catering ex-Amman for morning flight is not even good. A321s due to change to flat-bed seats so if travelling in a few months time from now you might get lucky and avoid the business seat that in reality was BA's from a different century - good enough for a mid-haul though!

For Y, the bulkhead and exit seats are very slightly narrower due to the tables being in the armrest (which doesn't go up). But more legroom at row 9 and way more at row 17, especially 17A.

For your return, seeing as you can see a 1B seat, I assume you'll be on the new, refitted aircraft with flat beds. Is the seatmap a staggered 1-2/2-1 configuration?
If it is the old cabin, try to avoid row 1 due to noise and light, as already mentioned, as well as almost no overhead storage space. I don't find windows at 06F that badly aligned with the seat.

If it's your first time in Amman (and assuming they haven't actually finished and opened the new terminal and it all changed....)

You buy a visa on arrival - payment in local currency.

Even though ATMs are plentiful throughout Jordan it's really worth having a few JDs on you so that you don't have to change money before joining the queue.

This is what makes FT so good - thanks so much for your responses, all very helpful indeed. :)

Great news on the menu - can relax on that front now!

My flight is in two weeks unfortunately, so it looks like I'll miss the refresh. I get the feeling these 'mid-haul' seats are not dissimilar to BA's 'Club Europe' seats, which are in fact not dissimilar to their economy seats! Is that a fair comparison? Or are they a bit more like BA's WT+ seats in terms of recline and size?

As for seat numbers, I'm not particularly tall so legroom is rarely a big issue for me. This is going to sound daft but I like having a seatback pocket in front of me so I can stow my headphones/paper/other gubbinsin there and keep my bagat my feet. Emergency exit and bulkhead rows can be nice for more space, but then you have nowhere to put anything on a 5 hour-plus flight. So maybe I'll stick with 10C outbound. I'll take the advice on the J cabin though, where the seat plan shows a 2-2 config so probably old seats, and move back a row to row 3.

Have been through AMM once before, found the Crown lounge to be pretty good on the whole. From what I can make out the new terminal isn't quite ready yet, which is a shame. As for JD's - I've got hundreds of the stuff from my last trip (long story) that I couldn't face converting back to GBP at the joke of a rate the bureaux in T5 were giving me, so I'm good on that front!

You'll be pleasantly surprised on the business seat - which is much better than BA's club Europe. There are pictures in (what was) the forum sticky:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/bmi-diamond-club/738267-flying-bmi-faq-routes-aircraft-service-seats-baggage-lounges.html

Thanks for this. I had linked to this thread in my OP - unfortunately it's a bit out of date now. The link to the pics of the seat, along with many other links actually, is now dead. Reassuring though that I can expect something better than the CE seat!

Thanks for this. I had linked to this thread in my OP - unfortunately it's a bit out of date now. The link to the pics of the seat, along with many other links actually, is now dead. Reassuring though that I can expect something better than the CE seat!


To fix the photos, take their URLs, e.g.:

http://i1.photoblog.com/photos3/6247-1196342624-0-l.jpg


Replace the bit in bold with:

pb-i4.s3.amazonaws.com

To give:

http://pb-i4.s3.amazonaws.com/photos3/6247-1196342624-0-l.jpg
http://pb-i4.s3.amazonaws.com/photos3/6247-1196342624-0-l.jpg

Etc.

Well aint that just bleedin' obvious... :D

Thanks. Looks my comparison to WT+ was not far off - perhaps even a tad generous?

It is lots better than WT+, the seat is the old Club World cradle seat BA used in 1990s. Big, comfy, reasonable recline arm-chair style. Good for the 5 or so hours you are using it for.

Ah, right that helps. I'm not old enough to remember that far back in business class terms, so didn't recognise them. Thanks again.