kt74

It was probably a good thing to revamp the points system, because it was getting a little convoluted, and the UA/MX mileage runs were on balance probably Not A Good Thing.

However, I don't think it is quite as generous to the premium bmi (as opposed to long haul *A) traveller as it first looks. And I quote from flybmi.com:

>> "Will I need to fly more to reach silver/gold?"
>> "No. In fact it’s quicker to upgrade your membership now. Silver starts at just 16,000 miles, and gold at just 38,000 miles."

Now do the maths. Number of return LON-AMS/BRU/CDG trips needed to reach Silver/Gold:

Before
Business 5/12
Full economy 8.3/20
Discount economy 25/60

After
Business 5/11.9
Full economy 10/23.75
Discount economy 20/47.5

So maybe not so generous for us Full Y pax.

Incidentally, Curly, I called bmi on an unrelated matter, and, yes, targeted blues and silvers will continue to get double membership miles (as opposed to points) until end of June.

[This message has been edited for poor maths by kt74 (edited 04-23-2003).]

[This message has been edited by kt74 (edited 04-23-2003).]

Curly

Thanks KT74.

I think for the UK only traveller the number of returns has reduced from 20 for Gold to 16 (38,000 miles, 2,400 miles per business return), or 8 if I continue to get the double miles!

bounty

*carries the two, etc.*

so I'm now silver with 420 membership points? I heartily approve of this new scheme.

EDIT. Durr. I've reread the above. Fires up calc.exe. Bah! Disapprove! Disapprove!


[This message has been edited by bounty (edited 04-23-2003).]

YOWkid

One thing I don't get -- are they awarding 50% of miles on transatlantic for elcheapo fares? (I'm thinking non-bmi flights, ie. AC, UA, LH...) This to me looks a bit on the uncompetitive side...

Changes aren't bad...

BAorbmi?

I thought it was 40:1 for membership miles/points (status) and 30:1 for destination miles/points...

BTW, I also found out the following:

BAA Visa card: £1 = 1 destination mile
bmi Classic card: £1 = 1.5 destination miles (3 for bmi transactions)
Amex: 35 MR = 30 destination miles

ajamieson

Fairly disappointing, although (unless I am being stupid) the website does not appear to most of my questions. Perhaps the pages with the answers are down at the moment as I'm getting quite a few error messages from the links.

I am assuming status miles are all at 100 per cent and that only destinations miles are subject to the severe booking class restrictions.

Someone here was talking about 25% destinations miles earning for web-only fares. I can't find any reference to that on the EDI-LHR tables. If true, I will earn only 62.5 miles for each EDI-LHR flight I take (78.1 with the *G bonus) and an economy award flight from MAN-ORD would need me to fly EDI-LHR ten times a week every week for a year. Shurely shome mishtake?

And what has happened to the main perk of BD*G - namely that all award flights are automatically in C on BD metal? What are the redemption levels for connecting flights? Is BD really expecting me to cough 24,000 miles for the EDI-MAN leg of a free trip to Chicago? Why is an EDI-LHR award in C 24,000 but only 18,000 for CDG-LHR?

Status levels seem quite good, but it is a downright lie to suggest is it easier to get *S and *G status. One EDI-MAN-ORD-LAX in W used to earn 520pts and *S, three EDI-LHR-NYC in W used to earn 1230pts and *G. It is much harder now, although admittedly a lot easier than LH etc.

And I don't understand the tables, which seem to omit some earning/burning classes. On EDI-LHR, which fare buckets fall into the following categories: discounted economy, economy, full economy, business? for example, is Q deemed to be economy or discounted economy? And where are H, M or V? The MAN-ORD tables list 'new economy' in the earning section but not in the spending section. Does that mean the 'new economy' cabin is treated as business or economy or is it completely unavailable? Air New Zealand only lists full economy and business in the earning section. Where does it say what the destinations miles will be if I'm in W or Q etc.

As a W, Q, V or M flier this program looks pretty unsuitable for me, particularly on long haul.

I was hoping the program would be changed to make it worthwhile earning above the mininum qualification levels; at the moment as soon as I get BD*G I start earning on UA since there is no incentive to keep earning on BD except more destinations points. Now there is a strong disincentive as I will be earning a lot fewer destinations points than before.

Think I might be a UA 1K or LH SEN soon...

Bond Boy

Get the miles converted now !!!

Your £1 will currently get you 3 miles with the BAA Card

kt74

Not clear from the website, but historically haven't we received the same C/Y-class bonus for status as well as destination points? So I'm guessing status is subject to the same 25%/50% discount Y multiplier...


I don't think all the routes/points have been loaded up (and loaded up correctly) yet, so the jury is still out... The earning & burning calculator looks particularly suspect, especially the differentials between fare classes and on partner airlines. (However, under bmibaby, it does say 7500 miles for a bmi connecting flight, so that's probably the most you'd have to pay for EDI-MAN)


Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm guessing:
full economy = fully flexible Y
economy = highest non-flexible class S
other = everything else

However, it is not clear from the website which classes get which bonus. Reading the "earning miles on flights" intro, one would think that new economy got 1.5x, and full Y got 1x, but the earn & burn tables suggest full Y gets 1.5x... Tis v confusing.

Markie

It does appear that the online calculator is screwed - the only place you can go with United is Las Vegas.

(Perhaps BD know about UA selling their routes ´)

Bond Boy

Hmmm.

Think I am happy but still not sure !

Had 835 points and therefore required a further 365 to keep my Gold. (ie just over six returns to LHR from GLA at 30 pts per leg).

Now I will have 33400 and require 4600 to keep Gold. This is only 2 return flights to LHR (from GLA) in C (at 1200 points per one way).

This is right isn't it !?!

Nowe going away to ruminate over how to spend some miles on the new prog. At the minute, I stand a good chance of being happy about this when it all settles down.

Bond Boy

Looking at the redemptions from Credit Cards, whilst BAA got worse, I think that AMEX got better. Here is the example.

OLD

10,000 MR Points = 285 destination points
2500 destination points = 1 rtn LHR - JNB
87,700 MR points for the LHR JNB rtn

NEW

10,000 MR points = 8,571 bmi miles
50,000 bmi miles = 1 rtn LHR - JNB
58,300 MR points for the LHR JNB rtn

Maybe this is just bmi and the fact that their points scoring on this route is now different. But it looks like a better deal for the AMEX MR redemptions. I might just do some now..!

Is anyone finding the bmi site really slow tonight - I guess there must be a '000 people tryign to get on at once.

BAorbmi?

I think the Amex MR converstion rates remain the same, as previously it was 35MR to 1 destination point, now it is 35MR to 30 destination miles, which is the same multiplier used to convert points to miles...

In Bond Boy's example, I think the bmi redemption rate has improved significantly. The previous redemption of 2500 points which is equivalent to 75000 miles (2500 x 30 = 75000)is now reduced to 50000 miles.

So from what I can see there's no improvement from Amex and the bmi credit card is now the best.

rharrisuk

Bewared - on hearing the massive change on BAA Worldcard exchange rates, I called BAA to make a transfer before the 28/4 deadline. They warned me that the points would not reach BMI until after the cut-off date.

I then called BMI and they agreed to make a note on my account that I had called and that they would look at the situation sympathetically.

If you make a transfer to might want to call BMI as well to make sure you don't lose out (for me it means 10,500 miles as opposed to 3,500 on the new scheme).

Richard

Wingnut

I think they've really ballsed this up. While I'm not against the moving to miles per se (and I too like a previous poster think this could all be part of a long term plan to create a single unified(ish) *A programme) they've rushed it and miscommunicated it. The mailing is by no means comprehensive, and the web stuff is hopeless. If there is a bmi lurker out there, now is really the time to out yourself and answer some of our questions about how it works now (that is if you know yourself...)

ajamieson

I phoned DC today. A girl, who sounded very harassed, told me they had all been trained in the new program but the detail "hadn't been properly thought through" because callers were asking lots of questions they just couldn't answer. Then she added, with sarcasm, that we shouldn't worry because DC management were "going to spend a whole day" helping out by answering the phones next week.

The curse of Donnington Hall, I said. How we laughed.