Ok, I'm going to say it...
 

I am not looking forward to the sale of bmi (IF they go to IAG) for the one simple fact - this forum has an entirely different vibe than that of BA.

I sometimes find myself cringing at the arrogance of some of the posts over there (i can count on my hand today the amount of people 'boasting' about flying in business/first). Whereas here, over at good old bmi, there is none of that. Just good, honest banter, with a 'redemption thread' and no show off's.

I just feel that the bmi flyer (like myself) is a different breed than that of the BA flyer, and I don't want to be swallowed up by that. I just find it a little negative.

Am I alone in this feeling?

Merry Christmas to my bmi chums ;)

No you're not. ^ Merry Christmas.

Well said ^, I like it here and want it to stay that way too.

Happy holidays.

Now, now, it's not confined to over there...

When they get bored they come and do the odd bit of willy waving over here too.

And pathetic it is too ;)

Well I've got nowt worth waving. :p

I like the bmi forum as well....very down to earth characters you get here. Although, it has to be said most DC members do redeem in F and J so I think you're being a wee bit unfair saying it's all premium cabin talk.
Actually the BA board has changed an awful lot over recent years since I joined......and for the better I would say.

I still don't get this fascination they have for Champagne though. :confused:

I wouldn't call the BA board unbearable by any means. However all the 'oh no I'm having to fly in First Class again next week, woe is me' threads can seem a bit snooty when you mostly commute by South West Trains! They can also be a tad self-righteous about daft things like 'stealing' a packet of crisps from the lounge.

However I think the key difference from here is that they have to put up with people crashing in from other forums (or the internet in general) to complain about BA and how it lost their priceless Ming Dynasty vase/wouldn't guest their entire family into a lounge/didn't upgrade them/didn't feed them etc. etc. Hardly anyone flies bmi anymore and after almost 10 years in which we have seen modularisation, the removal of business class, the removal of food and bmibaby I don't think anyone expects much of bmi anymore (wrongly I should point out!)

The champagne thing I don't get either, although maybe bmi's terrible wine selection has blanded my tastes.

OK, I'm not entirely sure how to deal with this thread, speaking honestly.

On the one hand, this touches on a genuine and very understandable 'cultural' issue.

On the other hand, and 'us & them' is definitely not part of the FT spirit. Definitely not.

Speaking for myself, I think we should proceed carefully with this thread and see, assuming we don't descend into mud slinging, what value can be gained from discussing the matter...

Of course, if the Moderators of the bmi board need to intervene, I expect they may, to quote Samuel L., need to 'get mediaeval on someone's @$$' Let's tread carefully and see what emerges.

Kudos to the OP!

There are no BD apologists here. You know, those that feel they have to defend the airline despite the facts (maybe because of the facts) Embarrassingly, unabashed fawning over official BD reps is also kept to an absolute minimum too.

This is a down-to-earth forum with (mostly) a genuinely warm tone. Let's keep it that way....while the forum continues to exist :(

I find it with most other airlines tbh. At least you can ask a question in here, and get a decent answer. In most other airlines sections of flyertalk you get a barage of abuse, now i'm not one to ask a question without researching, but searching a thread with thousands of replies?? Come on.

With the BA forum, might it be too big for it's own good? I find some gems in there from time to time, but it's difficult to keep up with, i think.

It's so friendly, and there's a lot of good banter in here, i shall be sad if it goes.:(

Definitively not! ^

And dito :)

Think it comes down to why you fly (or did fly) bmi. Personally BA had ABZ-LHR locked down for years. Could charge what they like and customer service was poor. Then bmi came along and offered competition and a decent service. Despite sometimes the quirks of bmi leaving you frustrated, you still booked again.

It's the same on this forum. Help is guaranteed on here. Post a question and 5/6 people respond. On BA forum that topic slips down onto page two quickly. Add in conversations about rail services, the finger and cats and this forum is as quirky as the airline it supports.

If we go the BA way we will just have to accept drinking more champagne, or we could takeover the virgin forum which seems to be a bit underused. I know which I would prefer.

Happy Christmas to all bmi staff

Couldn't agree more.

I'm personally grateful for the tone and "vibe" of this forum. Even if it's not been my question, the informed and constructive answers here have helped me immensely in learning how to make the most out of rewards, etc. There's plenty of good stuff on other airlines' forums too, just seems like less snarky stuff or piffle here.

I only joined DC to get BluePlus and a free sarnie between MAN-LHR, but with the help of FT I've had more pleasure flying in the last couple of years than the twenty years before that.

So as not to offend the OP :D, I will desist from detailing my current travel plans, but if I did so it would be less "look at me" than "look what I've been able to do, all thanks to BD, DC and FT"

I hope the New Year brings positive news for as many BD people as possible.

Big difference is most people who contribute to the BA forum actually do fly BA hence the difference in content.
The majority who post on here have never flown bmi and are just here for the cheap redemptions.

Some of us like and enjoy the atmosphere in both forums, taking them for what they are and ignoring the bits we don't like.

As and when the acquisition goes through we'll make the welcome on BA as warm as possible. :)