phillyjoe

There's a lot of chatter about the problems with BA buying bmi. I'm still getting conflicting answers from BA for my flight on 9/20. I am traveling AA PHL/ORD/LHR on 9/19 then T3-T1 then BA (bmi) LHR/EVN (Yerevan, Armenia). I am booked in coach (various codes).

Here is the question. I know I can have 2 carryons on AA from ORD/LHR. When I switch to BA, will they make me check 1? I am PLAT (OW Sapphire). The bmi website (what is left of it) talks about total weight of bags plus overall dimensions. The BA website does the same. I have done 2 carryons on BA before, but this flight is BA codeshare on bmi metal. I am told that my OW status means squat on bmi. NO ONE KNOWS (two days before my flight) if I will have lounge access in T1 (I'm told probably not by BA, but 3 agents were quick to add not sure.)

If they deny me the 2 bags at the bmi gate (or at LHR connections) will I have enough time to go back to main check-in at T1?. My connection time is almost 3 hours. AA98 arrives T3 on Thursday at 11:25; BA8062 leaves T1 at 14:10.

If AA98 arrives early, I'll consider just doing a landside entry to the UK and walking to T1, then doing a recheck there. If the time gets tight, I'm not exactly sure what the best route to follow is.

Does BA/bmi have a system to gate check bags at LHR?

H--E--L--P. Suggestions from the enlightened ones on FT humbly requested.

Time traveller

I think this question can be better answered on the BA forum.

carlosdca

BA:
BMI:
The policies seem to be similar.

I have never seen anybody with TWO full sized carryons on board any airline.
If you have to full sized (22") carryons. Check one of them.
It'd be rude of your part to try to get away with 2 full size carry ons while the rest of the pax comply with the one carry on + one personal item rule.

dmsdfw

In fact, FAA regulations limit you to taking one carry on and one personal item through security in the US, so the OP has no choice. (I believe in the UK the Civil Aviation Authority doesn't have the same restriction, but it's a moot point if you can't get the carry-ons there in the first place.)

janetdoe

100% incorrect. FAA has no control / jurisdiction / regulations over what happens at the security checkpoint. Each airline sets their own carryon policy, and then files it with the FAA. It is then up to the airline to enforce the policies or be subject to fines.

OP - If you are flying AA, you will only be allowed 1 carry on plus one personal item, plus any special items that are listed as exceptions (e.g. medical equipment). If you get to the BMI gate and your carry on luggage is too big or overlimit, I would expect them to gate check the larger carry on, but I have no specific knowledge of the official policy.

The OneWorld lounge access rules say So I would guess it depends on whether your flight has a BA number and whether it is operated by BA or BMI. Definitely a question for the BA forum.

dmsdfw

My apologies - there was certainly a restriction introduced by the FAA to this effect on October 8th 2001 but it must have since been relaxed because I cannot find any mention of a limit in recent documents. However, I suspect very few airlines have passed that relaxation on to customers.

Microwave

I searched that flight number, and it does appear to be running as a BA-marketed, BD-operated flight. As such, I've moved your thread to the BMI forum, where those who've the most experience with BMI policies can provide further advice.

~Microwave
AAdvantage Forum Co-moderator

phillyjoe

I should have been more specific. The 1st is a standard 20" rollaboard.

The 2nd is the personal item, my computer bag. It meets the AA rules for size and weight for the personal bag. I put it under the seat in front of me. The problem is weight. I was told by BA/bmi that the second bag is limited to 8 pounds/4 kilos. My computer and the bag weigh more than that.

I am willing to check the larger bag, but I would prefer to do that at LHR. Because of the relatively tight connection time, I was looking to see if I can check it at flight connections or at the gate.

I agree with your point that it would be rude to try to get away with 2. My bags meet all the requirements for 1 up, 1 under.

My concern is that, with all the BA-bmi conflicts and confusion, I don't want my stuff getting lost somewhere between PHL/ORD/LHR/EVN.

Thanks for the comment.

phillyjoe

I am looking for the official policy. Lots of phone time hasn't found the answer.

My second bag is a laptop carrier, but I was told that bmi limits the bag to 4 kilo (about 9 lbs.) My laptop and carrier weigh more than this.

I also agree with your earlier quote that it would be rude to break the rules. I agree. My stuff meets the AA "1 up, 1 under" rules. On AA, I am fine. I just can't find the official policy for gate check at LHR.

Kgmm77

Wirelessly posted (iPhone 3G: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_1_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9B206 Safari/7534.48.3)

To the extent that your flight remains operated by BMI (as opposed to a former BMI flight operated by BA), the official policy is that clearly stated on the BMI website (UK version) under hand baggage. Am I missing something?

Even leaving aside the flight operator, without doing a line-by-line cross check, the practical difference between BA and BMI policies looks limited?

MAN Pax

With a std 20" rollaboard and a computer bag you should have no issues. However.... Armenians do like to take a lot of hand luggage with them, so finding space in the cabin may be your biggest issue. If the crew are tight for space, they may start to look at 2nd items and ask you to check something.

In the past ten years of flying with BA and BD in Y I have never been asked to check my bag when travelling with a laptop bag and rollaboard. (KLM, AF, and OS when in long haul biz!!!, but never BA and BD)

I don't think I've even see them weigh a regular size bag at the gate.

And in the very, very, very, worst case - your bag will be checked at the gate. You'll get a tag there and then. Collect it when you land.

Simples.

BA6501

Bags: (assuming on same ticket): transferred straight through.

Hand luggage: bmi policy apples - as it is still operated by bmi under a BD flight number (931). bmi's policy in Y is one rollaboard (yours is fine) and one personal item. You must be able to lift them both into the overhead locked unaided, that is the real weight limit. Of course, to be considered a personal item, you can't put a ton of stuff in it!

You can have your bags gate-checked - this happens quite frequently on midhauls, and as you pass the boarding pass/documents check at certain T1 gates before being seated in the holding pen (from past experience these gates are used when they are almost certain of having to do that). They'll just give you a baggage tag (and make sure it's for EVN and not IKA where the flight continues!)

Lounge access - I'm 99% sure you already asked this question before? In any case, in Y, unless BA/BD Silver/Gold, then no, as it's a bmi flight.

Have a nice trip!

phillyjoe

Thanks! My concern was that I might have to back through ticketing to security. My 24hour+ travel PHL/ORD(meet someone)/LHR/EVN begins in 3 hours. I didn't want some unknown thing coming through. One can always count on somebody on FT as having both the knowledge and experience.

phillyjoe

Please read the thanks I just sent to MAN pax in the message above. Your two replies were what I was looking for--how it has actually worked for travelers, especially those in Y.

A special thanks for my making sure the baggage tag (if needed) is for EVN. That would have added another real problem for me.

Thanks for the tips.

BA6501

Most welcome. Have an excellent trip. Out of interest, assuming EVN is a usual pit-stop for you, how are you planning on getting there after October?