Time to begin to say goodbye
 

Before our beloved forum drifts into total obscurity and nobody checks in anymore I think it befalls to the rookie moderator, the one who was last to join the bmi mod team, to start the goodbyes.

The bmi forum was my first port of call when I joined FlyerTalk. Not just because I was DC Gold and actually flew with bmi, but also because of the humour and fun it provided. Some of it intentional, some of it more accidental due to the delights bmi itself offered: temperamental IT systems, peculiar meals, erratic service and a rather.. ahem.. eccentric mix of passengers ;). Just like bmi, the airline, the bmi forum was always fun.

When I was sent to moderator boot camp before taking up duties in the Le Club Accorhotels forum, SanDiego1K's decision to appoint GoldCircle and Oxon Flyer as my "mentors" and the bmi forum as my training ground was inspired (or so I thought:D).

The bmi forum, hard to believe now, was actually busy. At times very busy and full of an eclectic mix of posters from both sides of the Atlantic, the Irish Sea and further afield; folks who had never stepped on-board of an bmi aircraft together with bmi shuttle junkies and ardent defenders of Mediterranean cities ;). A recipe for disaster you would say but in an odd way it worked.

Now the airline and its "most rewarding loyalty programme", Diamond Club, is gone and most of the regulars have moved on to other fora: A3, TK or heaven forbid BAEC ;). Yet none of these are like our old bmi forum.

Just like the airline I will miss the forum; I loved the debate and fun here, cats and all :D

Thanks to all bmi forum regulars, blow ins and confused one timers who thought that our sense of humour was off (yes we did get complaints).

Thanks also to GoldCircle and Oxon Flyer, my co-mods. As I have learned in "my" other fora, it is actually more fun moderating in a team (even with these two :eek:).

So long folks, happy landings and safe travels wherever you are. It was fun while it lasted.

Best

starflyergold
bmi diamond club forum mod team

PS: Do pop into Le Club or TK Miles&Smiles and say hello sometime

Such lovely words... it brings a tear to my eye. ;) :D

For my part I have little to add - I think starflyergold has captured in a few short lines the eclectic nature of the bmi forum - and a glimpse of the magic that is now fading before our eyes.

It is true that as a community, we are all but scattered to the four winds now - for me, this is the greatest loss of all. I have met some smashing people over the years thought he bmi forum - not least the Diamond Club team in Donington Hall, the countless staff members at airports and onboard, but the you's and me's right here in the home of witty banter - and at our various Dos. One or two even count as real friends in the real world. Oh, and a special mention to the abusive harpie hostess in the C cabin to saw fit to throw a Twix at me in 2008, hitting me in the face. And a further mention to a particular member of bmi's customer relations team who couldn't bring himself to apologise properly on behalf of the airline, simply reiterating, over several rounds of letter writing, that 'bmi would never intentionally wish to see me distressed by the catering' and gave me an out of date GUV as compensation. No doubt I deserved it for the things I have done here. :D

Special thanks do genuinely go to my co-moderators Oxon Flyer and starflyergold who have made it on the whole, really quite fun to be here (yep, we've dealt with a fair amount of abuse, but you'll not have seen much of why that was, due to the outstanding moderation round these parts :D). And let's not forget the earlier Moderators of this board ajamieson and Wingnut to whom we owe a great deal - they set the foundations for what was to come.

:D But mostly, I shall miss this sort of thing:

http://images.mirror.co.uk/upl/daily...2-11862196.jpg

So long and thanks for all the fish!

GoldCircle
bmi diamond club forum mod team

Come over and join the fun at Aegean

Well, I guess that just leaves me then. I'll be sticking around while the mbna card is still active, but it's still very, very sad that the diamond club forum is dispersing. It's only when you have to get out into the wider FT world do you fully appreciate what a great little forum we had - lashings of subtle witty comment interlaced with solid information and advice - worlds away from the 'not-very-successful minor public school lower-sixth debating society' culture one may encounter elsewhere..... :D

It's goodbye too, to late nights thrashing away on ANA, to creative routing (you could usually find some way or other to get a redemption destination), to choice, to diversity, to LH F, to TG F, to LX F, to VS C, to SA, to SQ, to AC C and all the other fantastic experiences afforded by DC.

To DC mods past and present and everyone on the forum, thanks and Ah'll sithee.

Oxon Flyer
bmi diamond club forum mod team

Do come over and join the fun at BA and Starwood

Thanks!
 

I'd like to say a big thank you to the mod team on this forum, past and present, for keeping it a fun place to hang out and for allowing/encouraging random images usually featuring cats (even if I did once get my wrists slapped for an image of the pope with a cat!)

I can't image there was as much policing for our mods to do compared with some of the other fora where threads seem to deteriorate pretty quickly into a brawl :D That said it must take a while merging all those duplicate threads (however much Flyingoncemore told people, some just couldn't get the hang of that search thingie!)

Anyway thanks again and I'm off now to find somewhere else to learn about the UK rail network :eek:

Like a good many others, I have much gratitude to this board, both members and mods. It introduced me to the manouevres required to leverage value from an airline programme when I was very wet behind the ears - many of which will be transferrable to other programmes.

Hence, yes, I will certainly miss this very safe place to take my first steps and -while I must resist any temptation to sound like a maudlin pillock - will always reflect on this board with fondness. But for now, it is farewell, and onwards.
^

Try the UK and Ireland forum http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/u-k-ireland-484/ ^ You will find some old friends there.

+ 1 ^

I discovered DC much too close to the end. What a great little forum. And how, in a way, reflective of BMI.

A great pity that the highest quality does not always survive.

Hope to see all the great DC mods and posters on other forums here on FT including BA.

bests to all

It's been said incredibly well already in the postings above, but I'd just like to add my small +1 to the comments. I greatly enjoyed my time in the bmi forum, and found it amazingly educational (well that and distracting!).

I remember when first travelling to London a friend queried why I was flying BA and not bmi. I hadn't given much thought to it, but he introduced me to DC and explained how much easier it was to get status! Before I knew it I was hooked and up to BD*S. A bmi sale and a trip from MAN to EWR via ORD got me up to BD*G and there I managed to stay! Of course the EWR trip itself was truly bmi in nature - fabulous on-board product and chef, but complete with an inability to actually check-in for the return flight at EWR as there was no bmi desk there and the ticket had been locked to them! Ended up having to buy a one-way EWR-ORD on the spot but subsequently refunded by BD (eventually :D). Thankfully I moved from GLA to EDI before that route went so managed to get another year or so of bmi flying and eGUVing before it all came to an end.

See you all around the other FT fora!!

I've little to add, so will (for a change) keep it short:

Thanks everyone and all the very best. Happy landings!

I liked it here.

Time to say goodbye :( With the last of my BD redemption in Dec, I look back with sadness but was glad to be onboard. Remembered the fun times on the ERJ-145 while I was in the UK. Thank you.

I will miss the airline,FF program and BD forum a lot..

I can't add much to that which has already been posted except for:

Wonderful airline
Amazing staff
World standard FFP
Best forum on FT

Had a blast all round, thank you all for the flights and memories, and the sagely wisdom advice and laughs on here.

Last redemption coming up in March April - what a shame it will be the final one

I shall miss all of bmi and the bmi diamond club forum when the lights get switched off.

All the best

20-Horse

Thank you very much, BMI.
It was good time.
I will miss you.

Sung to the tune of "Flower of Scotland"

"Oh bmi Diamond Club, when will we see your likes again?"

(Answer: probably never!!) :(:(:(