bmi diamond club - BMI and Handling Agents

All,

Had a tiny little incident with bmi today. Flying almost weekly from NCE to LBA and back. Since KLM messed up their monday morning schedule I have been flying with two separate e-tickets in one reservation, one with bmi LBA-CDG and one with Air France CDG-NCE. As bmi and AF don't cooperate one has to check in twice, but luggage generally goes all the way. Except for the hassle of a terminal change in Paris it is all quite ok. Until today.

Checked in in Nice, quite standard, check in lady tries to check me in all the way for a short while before giving up, checks the luggage all the way as always, fails to give me a lounge voucher because most AF personell does not recognize KLM Platinum Elite cards as SkyTeam Elite Plus... :I

Flight on time, arrive in Paris, transfer terminal, check in, show luggage tag to have it entered in the bmi check-in, go to the lounge. Plane a bit late. Board. Land in windy Leeds. Proceed to pick up luggage.... waiting.... nothing....

Then the fun starts. I head over to the Aviance ground staff that handles bmi in Leeds. I state that sadly my luggage had gone missing, most likely still being in Paris. For some reason the customer agent suspects that I have had a short connection and immediately calls the ticket desk to check my reservation, and proudly announces that since I only (!!) had 1:20 for transfer in Paris it is all my fault and even though he will create an incident report I will have to come back later and pick the luggage up myself. According to the ticket desk the minimal transfer time for terminal transfer in Paris/CDG is 2 hrs. Well, problem one is thus why Air France allowed me to check the luggage, and why Servisair handling bmi in Paris allowed me to check the luggage. Not his problem. He is evidentially Aviance and neither Air France or Servisair. All that mattered was that bmi would not take responsibility.

Being a bit irritated by the fact that it was seemingly more important to blame someone else than to solve the problem to the customers satisfaction I dug out my LH*G and presented it, and suggested that maybe this would help the situation and that they would consider driving it into the city for me. Not even a look at the card. After filing the paperwork I got my overnight kit (I was surprised that they gave me something of such a tremendously high value... it was afterall my fault that my luggage was still in Paris...) and headed for work.

About an hour later I got a call. He had been talking around and it was now decided it was definitively my (or potentially my travel agent's) fault. (This the (aviance?) station manager and Air France had decided on.) Not that I know where to find the minimum transfer times for CDG. I kind of assume that if the check-in clerk accepts it I am ready to go... seemingly not. When I requested to talk to the Station Manager I was told he/she would call later. Didn't happen.

After the initial rage I tried to find out why such a fuss. Here I was, spending on average EUR400 a week with bmi, having both SK*S and LH*G, but they would not pay for the GBP15 taxi ride for my suitcase. They wouldn't even help it on it's way when I requested to pay for the service. Then it hit me. Aviance probably gets reimbursed by bmi only when it is bmi's clear fault that the luggage was delayed. As a handling agent there is really nothing in it for them to provide good customer service, as they probably get paid pr. flight and pr. incident, not pr. happy customer. If I as a result of this stop flying bmi then Aviance won't really feel it one way or the other.

And I guess that is the overall problem with third-party handing agents. They don't give the little extra that a native bmi agent probably would, seeing that 15 pounds on a 350 pound ticket is not a big thing, and that a happy customer most likely is a returning customer. And who cares which fancy colors my frequent flyer cards have. I am not their customer, and as being flexible is not in their contract with bmi I am stuck.

Has anyone seen the same thing around the world? Looking back I believe I always get better service from the airline itself rather than some anonymous handling agent. It seems like the agents are a lot tighter bound when it comes to showing the flexibility that makes life so much easier when one flies 175 legs a year...

Lars

(As for the flashy blue overnight kit... Aviance probably got it for free from bmi, and without anyone tracking if I was a legitimate receiver they got away with it.)

Looking back I believe I always get better service from the airline itself rather than some anonymous handling agent. It seems like the agents are a lot tighter bound when it comes to showing the flexibility that makes life so much easier when one flies 175 legs a year...

A similar experience (but better service) in my case, and from NCE too! I was flying on LH from NCE-FRA/x-LHR on a D class ticket with a 70 minute scheduled connection at FRA. This got reduced to 45 minutes due to a delayed NCE-FRA. Arriving at LHR I found, after waiting at the conveyor for about 40 minutes, my baggage was still at FRA. :mad:

Went to the GLobeground office at T2 who handle LH. The lady was really polite.
- Helped fill out the form for me.
- Told me that they luggage would be on the next FRA-LHR flight in 2 hours time.
- She said that she recognized (without my having to mention it) that I was travelling on a D business ticket and that I was a Senator.
- Said they would deliver luggage by expedited courier service.
- Handed me a Star Alliance overnight bag.
- Then asked me, after seeing my central london address, whether I was being met at the airport. I said I was going to take the HEX. She then gave me a cab voucher :eek: :) ^ to go home comfortably as I had been inconvienienced!!!

The bag arrived home about 2 hours after I did. :cool: Amazing service (for once ;) ) from Globeground. Kudos to that agent for going out of her way in solving the issue and then some. ^

Sounds to me that Aviance are talking c..p. If the connection is under the minimum connection time at CDG, it is up to AF at check-in to either refuse to check the luggage through or accept to check it subject to limited release (which basically transfers the risk of non-connection to you).
If your luggage has been unconditionally accepted by AF, viz. if you luggage tag does not state that it is a limited release (and you have not been asked to sign a limited release form at NCE), Aviance cannot turn round and make you pay for delivery/ask you to collect it. You are entitled to have your luggage delivered under article 8.6.3 of BD's general conditions of carriage.

Perhaps AF should not have accepted it, but that is an issue between BD and AF, not one for the pax to be involved in.

You are entitled to have your luggage delivered under article 8.6.3 of BD's general conditions of carriage.

Hmm, not sure if that is the place. Looking at http://www.flybmi.com/bmi/en-gb/travelinformation/customerservices/generalconditionsofcarriage.aspx it looks more as if Article 14 is what might save me. But then again, looking at their definitions of Ticket and Conjunction Ticket makes me doubt it, as the tickets are issued by AF and BD respectively, even though both have the same PNR.

Is there somewhere a set of rules that govern how the airlines cooperate in cases like this? Could not find it on www.flybmi.com.

Perhaps AF should not have accepted it, but that is an issue between BD and AF, not one for the pax to be involved in.

Indeed. And just to make their lives easier they kind of joined in a united front against me instead... :) If nothing else I am sure they have spent more money on this case today than what it would have costed them to ship me my luggage. So much for profitable business.

L

There's no question of cooperation. The bag is AF's responsibilty because they (somewhat stupidly) accepted it for carriage. Would hardly ever see this sort of thing happening in the US - they'd make you go get your bag unless you were on a single ticket...

There's no question of cooperation. The bag is AF's responsibilty because they (somewhat stupidly) accepted it for carriage. Would hardly ever see this sort of thing happening in the US - they'd make you go get your bag unless you were on a single ticket...

I beg to differ. United agents have through-checked me onto all sorts of carriers to destinations all over Europe and Australasia, even with separate tickets. Some have been *A members, but many have not.

This morning I contacted BMI Customer Relations, and their customer agent was far more cooperative, and now they have decided to ship my luggage to me for free this time around.

What will happen next time I do this, which might be already this weekend, is more uncertain. According to bmi I should have been denied doing this first by AF in Nice, then by bmi in Paris. As neither did this they admitted I was not to blame this time, but that I should be aware in the future that this is not really bmi's problem.

The next step is to find out if they are ready to do some alterations to save the business of having 10-15 people flying this akward route every week. :cool: Customer Relations promised to look into it and I am looking forward to the response.

This morning I contacted BMI Customer Relations, and their customer agent was far more cooperative, and now they have decided to ship my luggage to me for free this time around.

What will happen next time I do this, which might be already this weekend, is more uncertain. According to bmi I should have been denied doing this first by AF in Nice, then by bmi in Paris. As neither did this they admitted I was not to blame this time, but that I should be aware in the future that this is not really bmi's problem.

The next step is to find out if they are ready to do some alterations to save the business of having 10-15 people flying this akward route every week. :cool: Customer Relations promised to look into it and I am looking forward to the response.

The irony of this is that AF actually act as the handling agent for BMI's own flights from NCE-LHR. You would think they would be prepared to work together on routes from NCE, given their cooperation there.

The irony of this is that AF actually act as the handling agent for BMI's own flights from NCE-LHR. You would think they would be prepared to work together on routes from NCE, given their cooperation there.

And guess who is the AF representatives in London... :rolleyes:

If only bmi's own route LBA-LHR-NCE would somewhat correspond I would be a happy camper... no such luck though. :(

- Handed me a Star Alliance overnight bag.

What's in such a thing?

What's in such a thing?

Basic toiletries like:
toothbrush
toothpaste
a deoderant stick
detergent
shaving cream and razor
moisturizer
cotton buds
comb / hair brush
etc etc
and a white t-shirt / undershirt

All packed in a (largish grey or black) zippered amenity bag with the Star Alliance logo. I have received identical ones when luggage has been delayed from SK in CPH and LH in FRA too.

An AF elite friend of mine once arrived in GIG sans baggage and was handed an AF Overnight Kit containing a T-shirt, socks, toothpaste and two condoms. How French ;)

An AF elite friend of mine once arrived in GIG sans baggage and was handed an AF Overnight Kit containing a T-shirt, socks, toothpaste and two condoms. How French ;)
LOL :D
Well that's all a man needs ;)

And while we're on the subject, all the NG (Lauda) flights to Thailand offer an amenity bag with a condom inside too! Quite cool I thought.

[NG (Lauda) flights to Thailand offer an amenity bag with a condom inside too! Quite cool I thought.[/QUOTE]

No, that says rather more about why German and Austrian gentlemen of a certain age go to Thailand. YUK!

Back to AJLondon's earlier post - they should've offered you £££ too. I know you were grateful for the attention you received, the taxi voucher etc., but I've always declined these overnight bags when offered [knowing how minimal the contents can be on paid F/J] and have held out for cash instead, it's remarkably useful these days...

No, that says rather more about why German and Austrian gentlemen of a certain age go to Thailand. YUK!
:eek: :D :eek:

Back to AJLondon's earlier post - they should've offered you £££ too. I know you were grateful for the attention you received, the taxi voucher etc., but I've always declined these overnight bags when offered [knowing how minimal the contents can be on paid F/J] and have held out for cash instead, it's remarkably useful these days...
Well they told me that if the luggage did not arrive that evening then I could spend upto £ 100 on my CC for any essentials, and the city office would then reimburse me. But the luggage turned up in a couple of hours (unfortunately :o ;) ).

On another occassion (an LH flight DEL-FRA/x-LHR in paid F) the luggage was delayed. (Eventually came the next day.) This time, based on the F ticket, they authorised £ 180 spending for essential purchases. Among other 'essential' stuff, I bought a Philips Coolskin electric shaver to satisfy my essential shaving needs. :D :p

LOL :D
Well that's all a man needs ;)

Well, some need lube too -- and a lot of it: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=373885 (scroll towards the middle / bottom).

:eek: :D :eek:


Well they told me that if the luggage did not arrive that evening then I could spend upto £ 100 on my CC for any essentials, and the city office would then reimburse me. But the luggage turned up in a couple of hours (unfortunately :o ;) ).

On another occassion (an LH flight DEL-FRA/x-LHR in paid F) the luggage was delayed. (Eventually came the next day.) This time, based on the F ticket, they authorised £ 180 spending for essential purchases. Among other 'essential' stuff, I bought a Philips Coolskin electric shaver to satisfy my essential shaving needs. :D :p
My bag was missing for 3 days when I flew LHR-FRA-GIG last month in paid C upgraded to F. LH GIG offered me $200 immediately (as they knew the bag had not got into the plane), then another $200 on day 2. I declined because the Amex delayed baggage benefit is much more than what LH was offering :D
AJ London, I thought they offer you nothing if your bag is delayed on the homebound leg (assuming your home is London :D ), other than delivering it home! SK loses my bags regularly my HEL-CPH-LHR trips which they usually deliver the next day...

Well, some need lube too -- and a lot of it: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=373885 (scroll towards the middle / bottom).


FT'ers have done worse. I'll just say beads and leave it at that.

AJ London, I thought they offer you nothing if your bag is delayed on the homebound leg (assuming your home is London :D ), other than delivering it home! SK loses my bags regularly my HEL-CPH-LHR trips which they usually deliver the next day...
LonLH, you did think right. :D They do not offer anything if returning home. And I do live in Central London. However, at that time, I was also commuting to Cambridge so I decided to use that to get the dosh out of Globeground :D
I declined because the Amex delayed baggage benefit is much more than what LH was offering
Hmmm. I never thought of using that. So you cannot use that if you accept anything at all from LH?

Hmmm. I never thought of using that. So you cannot use that if you accept anything at all from LH?
Amex works only on outbound (i.e. from UK)flights- 750 quid if your bag is delayed by more than 6 hrs/ another 1000 quid if the delay is more than 48 hrs. You have to get a property report from the airline plus letter that they have not compensated you.

Amex works only on outbound (i.e. from UK)flights- 750 quid if your bag is delayed by more than 6 hrs/ another 1000 quid if the delay is more than 48 hrs. You have to get a property report from the airline plus letter that they have not compensated you.
(Sorry to take this OT) but does this apply to both the Gold and Platinum charge cards, or to any of the Amex credit cards. And would it only be valid if the ticket was bought on the card in question?

cheers
AJ

(Sorry to take this OT) but does this apply to both the Gold and Platinum charge cards, or to any of the Amex credit cards. And would it only be valid if the ticket was bought on the card in question?

cheers
AJ
The insurance is part of your gold/platinum/centurion charge card benefits. As long as you book using an Amex card (charge, credit, corporate-need not be in your name even) or book through Amex Travel Services you can claim it.

The insurance is part of your gold/platinum/centurion charge card benefits. As long as you book using an Amex card (charge, credit, corporate-need not be in your name even) or book through Amex Travel Services you can claim it.

Thanks LonLH :) ^

Amex works only on outbound (i.e. from UK)flights- 750 quid if your bag is delayed by more than 6 hrs/ another 1000 quid if the delay is more than 48 hrs. You have to get a property report from the airline plus letter that they have not compensated you.

Not surprised AmEx doesn't either advertise this benefit nor make it easy to claim once you're on the receiving end... Can you refer to any online terms & conditions?

(No wonder Michael Portillo was delighted when LAN Peru delivered only his shoes to Cusco)

Presumably a previous claim on the airline makes you forego any of this?

Not surprised AmEx doesn't either advertise this benefit nor make it easy to claim once you're on the receiving end... Can you refer to any online terms & conditions?
?

This benefit is in the insurance brochure you get with your platinum/centurion cards (same level, whether you have Plat or Centurion charge cards- I think the gold benefit is lower). And it is not difficult at all, and the Amex guys (surprisingly) are very nice about it. I must have made at least 10 claims in the past four years on my Platinum and Centurion cards.

I don't think you can find the terms online. Call up Amex and ask for a travel insurance brochure.

Basically the process is like this:

1. If your checked in bag is delayed on the outbound, you call Amex and inform them that you are going to use insurance benefits.
2. Charge upto GBP 750 on "travel essentials ;) " on your platinum/centurion charge card BEFORE YOU GET THE BAG (I have been stuck in Scandinavia occasionally over the weekend without my bags when there are no shops to blow that money on before my bags arrive- tough luck!)
3. If your bag is delayed beyond 48 hours, charge another GBP 1000 on the charge card.
4. If you take money from the airline, that will be reduced from your entitlement.
5. You can do this only three times in any 365 day window (I think- may be five times, have to check)


(No wonder Michael Portillo was delighted when LAN Peru delivered only his shoes to Cusco)
?
Not just Portillo, my wife too :D


Presumably a previous claim on the airline makes you forego any of this
?
Not worth claiming it- Amex benefits are much better and they are very prompt in honouring claims

Thanks LonLH :) ^
Pleasure!