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British Midland "The Business" MAN-IAD

British Midland "The Business" MAN-IAD

Old Feb 2, 2005, 6:04 pm
  #1  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: EDI
Programs: BA Silver / Bonyoy Platinum
Posts: 1,919
British Midland "The Business" MAN-IAD

Well, my view of first time in BD Longhaul J is an overall superb A+!

Here is my report (Also posted in the BD Forum)

Booking Process
Very easy over the internet but poor show you have to book 2 segments seperately. Also I booked the promo New Economy fare and had some more vouchers to use and went back midday 31st to book more flights but the offer had been pulled already. Tried to call the DC but gave up after many hours holding. Booking process and telephone support is a big let down that I am sure is strangling away a lot of the business.

Check In at MAN
In comparison to BA it is easy to see how this can be nice and efficient as the numbers of pax checking in is much less. I was straight over to a check in agent and on presenting the *A Upgr**e voucher they were happy to issue me with a "The Business" seat immediately. Headed through to the Globe something lounge which was very nice. I do like the excellent runway views at Manchester. Very much a spotters airport! The lounge had free WiFi which is always a bonus but something I would hope would become free when you are using premium services.

Boarding
BD Sends a staff member to the lounge to collect the Biz pax and takes them to the gate. Nice touch but they called for the pax, I got to the lounge reception a few moments later and they had all gone already so had to chase after them! When we got to the gate all boarding had to stop until we had gone through. This is nice and efficient but I really think they should have just got someone else to do the BP processing rather than p*ss off the other pax making them wait!

Boarded in to 4A and was greeted by the 2 crew looking after Biz and jacket hung and offered a pre-flight drink - Champers of course!

Initial On Board View
Having been a BA Boy for years it brought back fond memories of OCW seeing all the floorspace between the seats. The seats were very comfy and it was a light and airy cabin. I had not been on an A330 so had a good look around. The washbag was handed out and though not as smart/impressive as the BA MB bag this was a fun change. It was a velvet blue bag and as well as some basic toiletries such as hand lotion and some sort of massage lotion it contained a little notepad with a similar blue velvet cover and a small space pen type bullet pen branded with bmi. The socks were excellent! They were quite substantial blue socks but with little aircraft motif non stick pads all along the bottom. Made me smile. I like little humurous things like that. I guess the washbag is more useable in everyday life than the BA MB bag but just not sure if blue velvet is me!

Sadly the load was poor. There were 8 or 9 of us in the Business and the other pax where just as curious about the washbags etc as I was so I think it was a first time for them. The crew said loads to ORD were usually about 80% in Biz and packed to the Carribbean so hope it stays succesful.

Crew
The crew were all excellent. I am not sure if there is still a novelty factor for them doing long haul but the standards were very high but that was mixed in with a genuine personality. I don't mean that BA FAs have no personality but they just mask it a little. Even when being chatty and having a blether you can still sense that "I'm crew and your a pax" relationship. With the BD crew they were happy to chat away about the service as if it was their new baby!

Inflight Catering
This was just TOP! Absolutely better than BA J and matching BA F! Can you believe they actually have an inflight chef! I was chatting to ours, Angela, and she was a chef who was emplyed by BD purely to be the inflight chef for Biz. She is Crew trained as it is a legal requirement to have SEP Procedures. The menu has items specially created by BD Inflight Chefs and on my outbound menue was the Parsnip and Apple soup designed by Angela and I have to say it was very good. I have only ever had soup in BA F so to get it in BD J was fun! I then moved on to a Haddock/Asparagus main dish that was equally very tasty but brave of BD to serve as got a bit fishy over dinner time! I was very impressed by the service and attentivness of the crew. The champagne, wine and water glasses are much bigger than BA so you get a good glass full rather than having to keep looking out to get a top up. There were two champagnes served. Pol Roger was one, can't recall the other.

All courses were served individually ala BA F and not on a tray in one go ala BA J which was very nice.

On the return flight I had scrambled eggs on toast, freshly made in the galley but could have had the eggs any style.

The Seat
Well it couldn't all be perfect. The seat IS comfortable and reclines to a good degree but bottom line is that it is NOT a BA J Flatbed. I was comfortable on the way out but did not sleep well on the way back. I guess I have been spoilt. In the 90's a good reclining OCW seat was amazing. Now I spent all night grumbling that it wasn't a flat bed. Can't win it all though can you! Oh I did notice that the overnight cabin temp was much better than BA. I thought BA stewed us as that is just the way the aircraft are designed but it does appear that it is possible to have a cabin set to a reasonable temp! Take note BA! The seat offered Empower for the laptop (also available in New Economy) and had the usual fold out video screen. My tray was a bit dodgy and would not push away from me so I had to sit up and breathe in when eating. A hard task with all the yummy food served! (PS I can scan in the menu if anyone is interested)

IFE
The choice of films was as expected and there was the bonus of the aircraft camera showing a view directly ahead or the view directly below the aircraft. Shame the screens have to be stowed for take-off/landing as this is probably the main time the cameras would be of use to watch. When in the cruise all you see is cloud, cloud and more cloud!

The IFE was a let down that I highlighted to the CSD. The picture quality was very poor. Why in this day and age of digital do they still use video tapes. I know there are copy implications but can they not even supply IFE in a solid state format and give us the picture quality we are used to at home! I gave up and fired up the laptop after 20 mins in to the film I tried to watch.

Duty free was a nice change from flicking yet again through the BA Shopping the World. They offer a great feature where you can buy duty free and they bring it to your seat on the return flight. Nice idea but sadly the return flight has to be over 5 days after the outbound flight. I ordered 4 items from the duty free and NON of them were in stock, that was poor considering it was not a busy flight.

Inbound
Inbound started with me checking in at IAD. I walked past the BA check in desks and hid my head for flying with the OTHER side! . When I got to the bmi check in area I was herded in to a queue that was for pax travelling with bmi and United in economy. I had my Gold LH card in hand and was not given the option of a *G queue. Queue was not too bad so wasn't too bothered. At the check in the United staff member was very helpful. Offered to interline the luggage to my BA MAN-EDI flight but could not confirm an upgra*e to "The Business" and I had to ask at the gate. From chatting to the crew I knew there were only 5/6 confirmed Biz Pax so guessed it would be ok.

Trawled through TSA security and then lumbered across the tarmac on that monstrous bus thing they use at IAD! I then popped to the gate and they took the *A voucher and asked me to come back nearer boarding. I then made use of my BA Gold by popping to the FIRST lounge for a few drinks. Was pleased to see they had Veuve Clicquot in the BA F lounge, never seen that served in a lounge before. Also had some LOVELY Talisker whisky, not tried that one before but will be adding it to my collection soon!

Headed back to the gate 15 mins before boarding and was given my 2K Biz BP ^. This let me board first as they allow Biz Pax to board pre general boarding. A nice touch, better than stopping the Y queue, just let them wait that LITTLE bit longer . Back on board the CSD gave me that "don't I know you" look. I knew it was the same crew doing the return flight so I was instantly at home just like the outbound flight 2 days previous. Again the J cabin was very quiet. 6 of us in total out of 24?? seats. What is going on!

Didn't sleep much on return flight as mentioned above but did have alovely meal! Sadly the Lobster Salad with Duck Pate was taken before I got the choices noted and so was the Steak with Mustard mash! But Angela was great and offered me the lemon chicken with some fries and salad. I was amazed! Never had fries on a flight! Ok so they were oven chips but they were big chip shop chips and were just delicious! That and a few champers/whiskies and I thought I would sleep the night away, sadly I didn't!

Arrived in to MAN bang on time after a nice breakfast, again the mug/saucers are much bigger than BA and give you a nice big cuppa that was much needed in the morning! The Scrambled Egg on toast was just tops!

After leaving the flight I headed to the Radisson with my "Arrivals" invite. The staff were great at the hotel, taking my luggage and directing me to the gym or cafe. You get to use the gym/gym showers and get a coffee and croissant at the cafe. I did use the gym. Was such fun being in the pool at 7am! Novelty for me I assure you but was very refreshing. If all you wanted was a shower then I guess it would have been a bit overkill as you had to sign in to the gym, get the towel then just use the showers in the gym.

Also I would much prefer the arrivals package to let you use the full breakfast buffet at the hotel. Would not cost BD much considering what the buffet cost would be if bought in bulk numbers and then you could sleep longer on the flight. One cup of coffee and a stale croissant was a bt pathetic.

I then moved to a hotel sofa and dozed off for a good few hours before checking in for my MAN-EDI trip home

Summary
I have to say I have been extremely impressed by the BD J offering. The seats are not BA flatbeds but as the flatbed in J is still a novel concept the BD offering is a good alternative to other carriers. The crew were excellent (though limited pax numbers prob helped then be more chilled out) and the product image came across very well.

The let downs are the obvious difficulties to booking via the web (no through ticket booking in one go) and the dire ability to phone BMI. The limited route is a concern but as long as they can put you on to another *A carrier then issues with getting stuck are not a concern.

I would happily use BD longhaul for J travel but really have no idea how it fits in cost wise compared to the other carriers. I just looked at the cost of another weekend trip and a non flexible J ticket is 1995. I did not think much of the New Economy when I looked through. It really does just seem slightly more legroom but with the same seats! Looks like W travel will stay with BA in the meantime.

Hope anyone finds any of the above of interest. Sadly pics were not taken as the day flight out I had no camera as it was stolen on a previous trip. I bought one while away but don't like taking pics on evening flights as the flash going off is just so not J Class

Rich
Aerotec is offline  
Old Feb 2, 2005, 9:54 pm
  #2  
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
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Good to hear that BD is keeping up with the big players. And that you had a good flight
Fliar is online now  
Old Feb 3, 2005, 11:31 am
  #3  
 
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
Posts: 1,213
Hi Richard

I did the MAN-ORD in J the floowing day and had the soap too - it was fab. Had the lamb for main course.

Have done long haul J on CX, KL, UA, QF, NZ, NW, NH and MH and thought BD's food was the best of the bunch.

Stephen
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Old Feb 3, 2005, 12:08 pm
  #4  
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Wuppertal
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I did IAD-MAN last July also in J....very nice experience indeed...and only 6 pax in J...nice for us but not too good for BD's bottom line!
I use the little notepad and pen often and people always ask where I got that from.
The food is the best I have had in a J class cabin and comes very close or equal with F class food I have had.
The breakfast with fresh cooked eggs in a real fry pan and toast from a real toaster (the inflight chef showed me both) is something I have never got on any airline before.
Too bad they don't fly that many int. routes...yet...
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Old Feb 3, 2005, 11:31 pm
  #5  
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
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Great report! We don't get to hear that much about BMI's long-haul flights, as there aren't too many of them. I'd be delighted if you would post the menu. I'm sure there are other closet foodies out there who would really like to see the full culinary line-up.

Cheers! Waihi49
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Old Feb 4, 2005, 11:32 pm
  #6  
 
Join Date: Mar 2001
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Great report! Good to read that the excellent bmi Business service is consistent over yeras. I'd also be very interested to read the scanned menue.
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Old Feb 5, 2005, 7:05 am
  #7  
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Originally Posted by LH738
Great report! Good to read that the excellent bmi Business service is consistent over yeras. I'd also be very interested to read the scanned menue.
Well I have to keep all you closet foodies happy so here is the outbound menu. Click here!
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Old Feb 5, 2005, 10:15 am
  #8  
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Wuppertal
Programs: BA Silver
Posts: 428
I finally managed to upload my pics from my IAD-MAN trip in The Business on BD.
I was thinking of writing a trip report of this trip but since it would be very similar to the one here I'll just post links to the pics:

The cabin

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...7/PICT0313.jpg

The Seat

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...7/PICT0314.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...7/PICT0315.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...7/PICT0318.jpg

Main course

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...7/PICT0316.jpg

Dessert

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...7/PICT0317.jpg
fm747 is offline  
Old Feb 7, 2005, 3:25 pm
  #9  
 
Join Date: Aug 2000
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I've read a couple of positive reports about BD longhaul Business and very much enjoyed reading yours as it seems to prove that bmi consistenly offer an excellent product. I'll maybe take them on a Star Alliance award sometime.
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