Flying BD for the experience?
 

Hi all,

So I'm scheduled to attend the President's Day DO in London this coming February, and I'm thinking that while I'm on that side of the Atlantic maybe I should actually take my first flight on bmi. Any recommendations from the crowd here for a return flight out of LHR? Best for me would be leaving Saturday morning & returning before evening, but I could leave Friday late morning (& return for dinner in Soho) if that would give a better experience. I do have iGuvs, if that makes a difference.

Thanks!

MAN has a frequent and fast service right in to Manchester city centre. No idea what kind of things you are in to, but my guess is that you'd have many (at least half-)decent options to choose from.

The actual "experience" on a segment such as LHR - MAN isn't likely to be very exciting though, particularly not in restricted economy.

Nice idea, although bmi is much less fun to fly than it used to be.

If you're looking to use iGUVs you'll need to choose TXL, VIE or, erm, TIP as UK & Ireland flights only have a single cabin (Y fare passengers get a seat at the front and a sandwich). You'll also get access to the better of the two bmi lounges, as UK & Ireland flights use a more basic lounge with hardly any food (although you could use the Star Alliance lounge with any route) If you do choose a single cabin route, MAN and EDI both have easy immediate turnarounds without needing to reclear security. Personally I would go for Friday as Saturdays have lower frequencies and the possibility of having your Airbus swapped for an ERJ.

Probably not worth it in my own view, bmi's best routes, and the ones worth enjoying are the mid hauls, which need more than a day.

You could go to Edinburgh or Dublin for the day, which both tend to go down well with an American crowd but you will spend most of the day traveling to the airport and then to the city centre. At least the GUVs, if there is availability, will give you a sandwich... If you are really keen would be a return flight to Edinburgh to see the castle, which is nice and the airport isn't too far away from the city. This will however be expensive, potentially more than your transatlantic flight (unless you are in business or above) and you'd be better just starting in London imho. Domestic flights could be great if you could get a mid haul on domestic duty but on Saturday they are likely to be on contact elsewhere. I've had good luck with the mid hauls from Edinburgh on a Friday, as already mentioned - at weekends the service reduces and turns into tiny planes (fun in their own way...).

However, it may be with considering Berlin (as per some recent comments on a mileage run) as an alternative to a domestic. You get better, "proper" Intra-European business class (i.e. 2x2 on a standard plane with the middle seat blocked) and hot food, access to the international lounge and the airport is close to the city centre. Having said that, it is a two hour flight so you wouldn't have too much time in Berlin itself though the times would lend for a 7am departure from London and returning at 7pm so you could have a nice full day.

Thanks for the suggestions so far!

I'm less interested in seeing the sights at a destination than I am in "losing my bmi virginity". I'll have to look at the schedules to see which flights mesh with my timetable and DO activities.

This probably won't fit your schedule, but have you considered something like EWR-MAN-LHR to get to LON?

I would recommend Berlin for the bmi experience, or perhaps VIE with outbound on BMI and inbound on OS (for comparison purposes - but no chance to use GUV's on OS). Both cities have lots to offer that can fill the day.

You could also build a relatively cheap ticket that includes BMI one way and Swiss or Lufthansa on the return (or vice versa). This would be more flying and less time in the city. As you don't plan to spend a saturday night away, the earlier you book the better, so you can access the cheap E, T, P fares.

Actually, I thought of a problem...are there any one-way fare bases available to VIE? I seem to recall it was still an old-school Saturday-night-stay route?

I suppose at least a UK&Ireland would allow you to feed up in the Star Alliance lounge, a drink or two in the bmi lounge on the way back and a quick turnaround - so good value for money in a crude sense.

I know this isn't really in the FT spirit, but unless you can fit in a Mid Haul flight I really wouldn’t bother.