BMI Seat Bookings seem to be playing musical chairs
Dear All
Booked a Y out and back on LHR BRU, nabbed seat 2a outbound at booking and 5a return at booking.
CMT showed all OK. Checked in Monday for the flight 151 Tuesday, and was given 17a on the BMI OLCI, changed to 8a, the closest to the front I could get (embraer). Looked again on CMT, still showing 2a.
Spoke to Trupti on Tuesday and she was scratching her head as according to her, I should have been in 2a, eventually had to suffer 8a but used a GUV to get me into 3a - had a Bento, which evoked some nice memories, but that was about all. Trupti confirmed I still had 5a on the 154 due back on Thursday.
CMT this morning showed all ok for 5a, went to check in tonight and lo and behold I am in 6d, CMT still showing 5a.
Anyone have any ideas on what could have gone on? I always thought Y was pretty sacred for your seat booking, unless load balancing or aircraft change. This has not happened to me before and I am just wondering why on earth I bothered to book a Y when I no longer have the seat I ordered.
BTW, I'm curious as to how you managed to get 2A, when row 2 in the Embraer is the front row, and, by definition, the C cabin.
BTW, I'm in 3A on Y next week, the whole of the biz cabin is "row 2". Will report back.....
It may have been oversold, but it was certainly not full, so I am not sure.
My nabbing of 2a goes back to my post a couple of weeks ago when I booked it, not sure how I managed it either, but if I should not have had it then the seat booking tool is playing even more games.
I just went into the OLCI again for tomorow (not on my crackberry this time) and went to change my seat to see what was available, and lo and behold 5a (my original one) is showing vacant so I have nabbed it and am now happier that I am back where I started, but curious about what on earth is going on. I aim to attempt to use a GUV tomorrow, mainly as I have them coming out of my ears as I can't use them on AMS - we will see how I get on.
Good luck with your 3a on a Y next week, I am very curious to see if you end up in a similar predicament to me.
BTW I loved the drop your wheelie at the door and collect at the door.
Do you have any recommendations for a lounge tomorrow in BRU please?
The choices of lounge are overwhelming in BRU. You could always try the bmi lounge. They do spekuloos, you know.
Thanks, bet there are none I can smoke in though! Having survived Kroket in NL and KarneMilk and bitterbal, I have no fear of spekuloos, they are small fry compared to the horrors I have mentioned from NL. However, at least they are enlightened enough to provide smoking cabins airside at Schiphol!
Good luck with your 3a on a Y next week, I am very curious to see if you end up in a similar predicament to me.
OLCI let me check in for 3A (which is the 2nd row of the Embruaer), and I was then turfed out by the gate agent who gave me a new BP for much further back.
The new occupant of 3A got the business class service.
Bizzarely, 2 colleagues, (one BDG and one BDB+) on identical Y fares to me, had seats across the the aisle in 3D/3F, and they stayed where they were, and got the full business class service.......
That is a very poor show from BMI, looks like my incident was not isolated. I am sorry to hear that you got turfed out of 3a, and it must have been a pain to know that you were singled out and not your colleagues as well.
On a brighter note I am delighted to report that on arrival on Thursday last for the 154, I presented myself and my boarding pass and GUV at the desk and a very kind Gentleman not only moved me onto the earlier flight (even though I was cutting it fine) but also put me in Business.
Most kind and what a great advert for BMI at Brussels, it's nice to see that this European operation has the same nice, customer focussed staff that AMS has.
Best wishes and I hope you get to the bottom of the musical seats that hit you this morning.
Indeed, my bottom had another game of musical seats this evening.
Was prebooked into 4A, but OLCI showed that row 4 had become biznified, so it helpfully punted me back into 16F, even though 5F was free. So I moved myself back into 5F and checked in.
At the gate, I was handed a BP, with a nice big C on it, for the hallowed Embruaer seat 1A.
Trip report : newspapers : yes, sweetie : yes, hot towel : no,
Dinner was standard bento fare : piping hot oriental beef with the 'bmi two-finger combo' (pineapple and Twix). Served on a tray though, not a box in sight. Is this normal now on regional ?
A 15 minute early arrival was frittered away by the "Heathrow experience" : held 10 minutes on board while they found a handler to take the white-tag bags out of the hold and line them up on the apron, then a further hold because our gate was already being used to board another flight (Delta Yankee no less)......
Dinner was standard bento fare : piping hot oriental beef with the 'bmi two-finger combo' (pineapple and Twix). Served on a tray though, not a box in sight. Is this normal now on regional ?
Tray has been standard on regional for a long while in C on the majority of flights. (certainly the early morning hot breky and evening hot meal)
However, we've not been privileged to enjoy the finger either so you have to weigh up the pro's and con's. It was a long while before I was on a LHR - GLA flight until I realised what you guy's were going on about.
Last edited by TheKipper; Apr 23, 09 at 2:17 am..
Reason: Still can't spell
Programs: SPG Plat, HH Diamond, PC Plat Amb, BMI *G
Posts: 6,611
I still think I am the only person who actually enjoys the finger as part of the catering. You can keep your sarnies, but I like a nice bit of pineapple.
Programs: SPG Plat, HH Diamond, PC Plat Amb, BMI *G
Posts: 6,611
Quote:
Originally Posted by GoldCircle
I can tell you, just between ourselves, that Oxon Flyer is a finger fan too.
I have seen him sulking at the omission of a Twix in a Bento box, but didn't realise that this extended to the finger as well. You learn something new every day!
"Most kind and what a great advert for BMI at Brussels, it's nice to see that this European operation has the same nice, customer focussed staff that AMS has"
Well done that man! However, as far as I am aware (and of course I could be wrong!) the only directly employed BMI staff at BRU is the station manager. The rest, even though they may be in BMI uniforms, are provided by the Handling Agents.
I am of the opinion that this Airbus or Embraer lottery is a farce! I know that biz was never very busy in the all Airbus days but it was comfortable and this seat nonsense highlighted in this thread confirms it. Soon there will be no biz passengers at all. On recent Embraer flights there was just one FA who had to apolgise for not being able to serve all the passengers; by the time the few biz passengers had been served a meal, then a return for the drinks trolley and then start on "the rest" little progress was made. As a "G" if I had been turfed out of a "front" seat and sent to the tail, and missed my bottle of chilled red wine and sandwich I would have been a little unhappy!
Has the logic for this strange Airbus/Embraer lottery been explained to/by anyone?
They do spekuloos, you know.
