I recently attended the Shamrock Doo and had a great time in Dublin. Prior to the trip, I had been reading more than a few posts on FT describing the serious diminution of services offered by BMI in their ill-advised experiment at "modularization." So I thought it might be beneficial to share some of my experiences as a StarGold passenger flying a combined UA/BD trip for any FTers who might be contemplating a similar itinerary.

My outbound segments were booked as EWR->ORD->LHR on UA departing on Feb 16, connecting to a BMI flight to DUB on the 17th. My return trip from DUB on the 21st was comprised of a BMI segment back to LHR and then UA from LHR->ORD->EWR. Connection times in LHR were approximately two hours in both directions.

During the booking process in expert mode on ual.com, the BMI flights appeared both under their own flight numbers and as UA code shares. Choosing the BMI segments as UA code shares brought the price down significantly and I ended up paying approx $350 for a W fare. Upgrades using SWUs were available on all UA segments at the time of booking. Although all flights were booked on one ticket, my confirmation included separate UA and BD record locators. I was never able to pull up the BD segments directly on the www.flybmi.com web site so I am not sure what this all meant. In any case, it didn't seem to have any adverse consequences during the trip.

Check in at EWR

The Easy Chicken kiosk was able to check me in and issue boarding passes for all flights, including the LHR to DUB segment on BMI. I was assigned seat 15F on an A321 but was unable to select an alternative seat.

Arrival in JFK

Yup, I ended up at JFK. While hooking up with another FTer at the CO President's Club, I received an Easy Update message that my 5:25P flight to ORD was canceled. At the RCC in terminal A, I was told there was no way I would be able to reach ORD or IAD so I wound up taking a cab to JFK. This would actually place me in LHR four hours earlier than intended thus giving me a six hour connection time at Heathrow. I have heard horrific things about BMI customer service of late and did not relish the thought of being at their mercy when requesting an earlier flight to DUB. So I asked the RCC concierge if she could confirm me on an earlier BMI flight and to her great surprise and mine, she was able to do so. Not only that, when I explained that I didn't care for the initial seat assignment, she was able to select a somewhat better situated seat, 5D, which was in the second row of coach.

As I left the EWR club, a huge line was forming as other ORD passengers began to arrive and learn their flight was canceled. The flight had been nearly full and two other ORD flights were profoundly delayed so it was sure to be a very long afternoon and evening for all.

It was now in the early stages of NYC rush hour but traffic wasn't too bad until we hit the Belt Parkway. Nevertheless, I made it JFK with about an hour to spare. Security in JFK was a breeze and I soon found myself in the RCC and in possession of two drink vouchers. While in the cab, I noticed the warning "paper required" had been printed in the lower left corner of my BMI boarding pass. The RCC concierge converted the BMI ticket to paper and affixed it to the boarding pass and BMI seemed suitably satisfied with my papers when I ultimately showed up at LHR. I am certainly glad I picked up on this while my fate was still within the hands of UA; I would imagine the outcome could have been profoundly different had I been forced to deal with this problem with BMI at LHR.

The JFK RCC was well stocked with munchies and the bartender and staff were wonderful. I was even able to get a couple of extra comp drinks after using the two drink chits given to me by the RCC concierge. ^ While awaiting my flight, I called MSY-MSP, with whom I was supposed to hook up in ORD. He was experiencing his own problems getting to ORD but eventually made it there on time. He later told me that he had tried to switch to my now vacated 9J seat on the ORD to LHR flight but UA still showed me as checked in. While I was on the phone, zrs70 stopped to by to say hi; he was on his way from JFK to the west coast.

Connecting to BMI at LHR T1

The flight from JFK to LHR landed on time, approximately at 7:00AM. I dutifully followed the well-marked Flight Connection Centre signs, which eventually led me to a bus for transport to terminal T1. In fact, there were so many passengers in the queue, I had to wait for three buses until I could finally get on. Security at the FCC in T1 was absolutely packed and I had to wait for a full 25 minutes until it was my turn. As has been reported previously on Flyertalk, Fast Track at the FCC security checkpoint is only provided for C and F passengers traveling on BA. Thus, if you are a StarGold passenger you are basically out of luck.

All in all, connecting from T3 to T1 took a good 60 minutes, pretty much in line with estimates for connecting passengers provided by the BAA Heathrow airport website

BMI Business Lounge at LHR T1

I already had my BD boarding pass in hand so I skipped the airline desks at the FCC and proceeded directly to UK immigration, which serves as an entry point into Ireland as well. After a very long walk to the domestic section of T1, I located the BMI Business Lounge near gate 6. By the way, during my transit from T3 to T1, at no point did anyone ever ask to see my BD boarding pass so had it not been issued while still at EWR, I would probably have been able to pick one up in the BMI lounge itself.

When I presented my boarding pass and United StarGold card to the concierge, she was initially confused by the fact that my StarGold card lacked an expiration date. UA issued this card erroneously last year and I had not yet received this year's credentials. In any case, she did not make a big deal of it and I was invited into the club anyway. The BMI lounge is fairly spacious but doesn't seem to offer very much in the way of snacks and amenities. Although not especially crowded, it also seemed to be very smoky no matter where I chose to sit.

I then remembered that StarGold passengers could avail themselves of a separate Diamond Club lounge upstairs, which is accessed behind double doors not too far from the entrance into the club. To enter the Diamond Club, one must first ask the concierge at the front desk who then calls ahead so someone upstairs can open the door in advance. There were very few people upstairs and the air was profoundly fresher but the amenities were otherwise similar to that of the main club below.

BMI from LHR to DUB

There was about a 10 minute walk to the very crowded gate area for the flight to DUB. The somewhat claustrophobic feel of the boarding area is further exacerbated by the odd tube-like construct that typified that section of terminal 1. While awaiting the flight, I ran into MSY-MSP's parents, who warned me that BMI had announced that the flight was very crowded so they were restricting passengers to a single carryon.

Boarding commenced with those passengers requiring extra assistance, followed by business class, a single zone at the back of the plane, and finally by all remaining zones. I was traveling with a laptop bag (without the laptop) and a reasonably sized duffle but the gate agent did not seem concerned about my baggage. The flight itself was uneventful. After takeoff, opaque curtains were drawn separating the two "cabins". From what I could see, all seats looked equally uncomfortable, the main distinguishing feature between C and Y seats was that the C headrests were yellow while the Y headrests were blue. For those passengers who cared to partake, there was a charge for all refreshments in Y, including soft drinks and coffee.

Checking in at DUB for Return to LHR

After a night at the Dublin Airport Hilton, I caught a 7:00AM shuttle that deposited me at departures just before 7:15AM for my 9:10AM BMI flight to LHR. I must admit I had been very concerned about my BMI flight back to LHR. It has been widely reported that BMI has very strict carryon baggage rules and they have been known to weigh all carryons either at check-in or even at the gate. I learned that they mostly seem to ignore laptop bags and backpacks but passengers with a carryon exceeding a very measly seven kilos are typically forced to check it. My connection time in LHR was a little less than two hours and given my recent experiences connecting from T3 to T1 on the outbound flight, I did not want to take up my very valuable and limited lounge time by waiting for my duffle to be delivered to baggage claim.

On that basis, I had loaded up my small laptop bag with everything that had any substantial weight, including six wine bottles and all toiletries. I also wore a light jacket whose pockets were crammed with various electronics, including camera, media player and all chargers and power adaptors. I would estimate that by the time I presented myself to BMI check-in at DUB, my duffle weighed no more than five kilos at best.

Although I had previously read on the BMI forum that only passengers traveling in business class or a premium economy ticket could use a human check-in agent or request specific seats, this turned out not to be the case. An agent manning the check-in line glanced at my UA itinerary and directed me to priority check-in, which was staffed by two scowling matrons, who took several minutes to acknowledge my presence. Nevertheless, they were able to check me in for all of that day's flights, including all of my UA segments. And they even asked me where I wanted to sit on my flight to LHR!

According to this web site, the emergency exits on BMI's A320 are comprised of rows 10 and 11, just like on UA. So, I requested and was granted seat 11D. The check-in matron asked to see my carryon so I lifted it up with one finger (for added affect) and she promptly sent me on my way. Obviously, weighing it would be unnecessary

BMI Business Lounge at DUB

After a very quick passage through security, I found the BMI Lounge by making a quick left turn just past security and taking a lift to the mezzanine level. I let myself in and there was no concierge to be seen so I settled into a seat in the back corner of the lounge. A concierge eventually tracked me down a few minutes later and told me to make myself comfortable while she processed my StarGold card, which was returned to me a few minutes later.

Given the time of day, I was quite surprised that there was very little in the way of munchies in the club, not even fruit or pastries. I found it really quite difficult to believe that a lounge could offer even less food in the morning than an RCC, but there it was. However, there was some self-serve booze plus, neatly assembled in the corner of a table, were all the ingredients for a Bloody Mary, including fresh ground pepper. So, carefully following the instructions of the concierge, I proceeded to make myself more comfortable by mixing up some very nice Bloody Marys. I left the lounge for my gate at about 8:30 and glanced back as the concierge proceeded to put away all the fixings from my "breakfast." During the hour or so I had spent in the lounge, I don't think more than a half dozen or so other passengers had entered.

BMI from DUB to LHR

The gate was only a short five minute walk from the lounge. Boarding seemed to be delayed a bit and then began with passengers requiring extra assistance, followed by Business and StarGold. Flight 122 ended up taking off a little late but landed on time and was especially comfortable given the fact that the middle seat was unoccupied. Once in LHR, I rearranged my belongings so that most of the items were placed in the duffle, as originally intended. This time, security at the FCC took only a few minutes, so I was able to get settled into the London Lounge in T3 only 45 minutes after landing in T1. I was in no real hurry to board the ORD flight so I eventually trundled off to gate 13 about 20 minutes before scheduled take off.

The bottom line was that all of my BD/UA connections worked well, perhaps in part because all segments were on the same itinerary, all connecting flights were on time and I tried to be proactive in dealing with the meager carryon weight rules. On the other hand, I can't help but wonder whether, perhaps, BMI typically saves its most egregious rules and policies for its own passengers.