Oxon Flyer

And here is the 2010 "Please report your successful redemptions using Diamond Club miles" thread continued from 2009. Looks like it's going to be another interesting year in these here parts...

Please feel free to post your bmi Diamond Club redemption experiences in this thread : routes, airlines, stopovers, miles & cash, fees/taxes/surcharges, availability, the call centre experience, ticketing etc; in fact anything that can provide ideas, inspiration and datapoints for others wishing to redeem.

The topic does not include bragging about, or having a poke at posters for, let's say "unusually creative routings". bmi's ticketing department now checks all award bookings before ticketing to weed out any illegal itineraries. If it makes it through ticketing, then it is a valid and acceptable booking under bmi's own policies and should not considered "gaming the system".

If you're new to making bmi redemptions, and especially if you join us having been given the blanket "no avaibility" brushoff from the call centre (referred to as the ICC) then this thread proves : It can be done! Just remember, search for your desired routing using the ANA tool to check availability, then call the ICC asking for the long haul segments first, then request any short haul connections. Never simply ask for an itinerary from X to Z, ask for X to Y and Y to Z. ^

Happy hunting, happy posting - and safe travels.

onlysuites

Happy New Year all ^

Quite a simple 10 minute redemption CAI-IST-DEL 15,000 miles + 220 taxes in J.

spanishflea

Another very simple one to kickstart the year and also my first ever DC redemption. Sadly not as exciting as I would have liked:

2 x LHR-CAI one way in J on the A330 = 30,000 miles and £133 tax each

gmbodio

Done yesterday therefore 2010, but reported in the ‘2009’ thread….
2 x LHR-BKK return in C, with TG
120000 miles + £297.60 taxes per person.

Mindful of recent comments in the 2009 thread about taxes, I checked the £297.60 per person against the ‘taxes fees and surcharges’ quoted in the BA self-redemption tool for an identical redemption (almost the same dates) and was shocked to find that per BA it’s only £223.20 per person. I’m sad to say that a full 20 minutes of meaningless rambling by someone in the ICC this morning couldn’t explain or change the £297.60.

Does anyone know how to deal with this?

I’m at a disadvantage as I haven’t yet received the promised email of the TG booking (after 26 hours), so I don’t have details of the £297.60. (The booking itself is on the TG website though – so something works!).

Btw - I’ve been twice thrown the line that ICC can’t deal with the seating as TG have not released the seating plans. Strange –only 12½ weeks to go. Can’t wait to see the miles disappear from my inventory, and to get to somewhere warm.

Greetings from a cold but beautifully sunny London.

Scotsgirl

Just had a really good experience with the ICC.

Booked the first leg of my 4 month trip in 5 minutes. The seats I wanted were found immediately.

EDI-BKK 24 March TG in C
then
BKK-MEL 9 April TG in C

Total cost 37,500 miles plus £550.80 (cash, tax and cc fee). Not checked the tax breakdown yet but seemed about right.

JeffBHD

Tax: United Kingdom Air Passengers Duty £100.00
Tax: United Kingdom Passenger Service Charge £21.20
Tax: TG YQ surcharge $260.00
Tax: Thailand Passenger Service Charge THB 700

Total taxes at todays exchange rates = £297.60

BrianDromey

Hi all, booked via ICC two days ago now a redemption with LX and AC, they have not ticketed it yet, should I be starting to get worried? I've called a few times and been told "it's in the queue". I've never made a miles redemption before and worried that LX or AC may auto-cancel the booking if its not ticketed soon?

Brian.

BA6501

Just completed a very simple and easy LHR-BEY-LHR for one month in July/August. Y miles / C travelled as I am BD*G. GBP 235 taxes.

Pannacotta

Managed to book 2 x Business Class HKG-SIN return with Singapore Airlines, at a cost of 22500 miles plus £190 (includes taxes) each. This is for a Nov 2010 flight.

Does anyone know whether we are entitled to the Business Class benefits i.e. baggage allowance, business lounges when redeeming miles? We shall be flying on SQ859 and SQ866. I have received the ticket confirmation with my booking number but not the e-ticket. No information regarding baggage allowances or much else really. Where can I find this info?

Panna

heramato

Of course you are!

Also, check here. Maybe you can find baggage allowance information: https://www.checkmytrip.com/plnext/X...TN&LANGUAGE=GB

heramato

April One Way SAN-LAX-JFK-ZRH-BCN (UA + LX) C CLASS: Miles + 244£
April One Way LGA-YYZ-LAS (AC) C CLASS: Miles + 130£

Pannacotta

Thank you for replying so quickly ^

bmi_Barry

Just booked VTE (Vientiane) - BKK for 10,000 miles + £23 taxes one way - 3 February. Showing a fare of nearly £200 on Expedia so quite pleased!

More impressive though has to be the £12 I just spent on a sleeper train from Bangkok - Vientiane (well a small town 13km from Vientiane...). Can't even do Bournemouth-Southampton midday for that!

I love South-East Asia.

Aussie_flyer

HKG - BKK (stopover) - MEL in TG C. 18750 miles+£127.50 + tax/yq £105.

Time on call: 6 minutes 55 seconds. Ticketed in: approx 60 minutes. Itinerary email: received right after ticketing. impressed ^^^

gmbodio

Thanks JeffBHD. I guess it's the YQ surcharge $260.00 what does it!