lhr-xxx-lhr (xxx to protect the hard working crew!) today

S standard fare out - row 14 but rtn Q baby fare row 4!

both ways people loudly complained at paying for tea/coffee/juice etc. and were "encouraged" to fill out a comments card and both ways the crew never made it to the back before landing to sell the "food" anyway!

the rtn leg - cabin service manager himself loudly complained that the new service was "hopeless" and said "imagine if we were full!" - quite.

a few paeople did buy sarnies/tea etc. but (and not sure if on-going) now only two cabin crew!

all in all...pathetic...next stop BA CE to Prague....sanctuary per chance ??

Agree just flown LHR-Dub same situatuion, what gets me is paying Eur 180 and getting no points or lounge access.

BTW, my fare was �206 rtn..

Very nice, if this weekend's anything to go by (my TP run for silver!)

Provided the ground staff there don't decide to op-up a stag/hen party... (Which the crew mentioned they can be slightly prone to do at weekends, as it gets horrendously overbooked.)

nooooo - I certainly hope not! that's one reason why we pay for premium tkts

When the food was free - I always use to pick up a really nice sandwich for the flight (normally either prawn or smoke salmon for me and Mrs UK1) - but are they really going to stop me from eating my sandwich now or will they turn a blind eye?

[QUOTE=OPENROAD No points or lounge access.[/QUOTE]

Do we know for sure lounge acces on tiny fares in excluded for *G?

Dan

Until they change their mind (shouldn't take long knowing bmi) this will be the case after October; in the meanwhile you can use the lounge on tiny fares.

my guess is that they will not turn a blind eye...

So what could they do about it. Put me off at the next stop?

If they wanted to be really extreme then they could get the captain to order you to throw away/store the food, and then report you to the police if you did not follow the captain's instructions whilst on board an aircraft.

I think that is highly unlikely, of course, and in practice like so much else this restriction is simply designed to deter the majority in the hope of increasing revenue.

I understood that the responsibility of the Captain was to ensure the safe progress of the aircraft. He is empowered to issue commands to facilitate that. I do not know where he would derive his powers to facilitate increased sales. How can eating a sandwich endanger an aircraft?

My comment was intended as firmly tongue in cheek - sorry if that was not clear.

That said, having read on these boards about how similar rules get interpreted in the US, anything is possible!

House

It goes to show the sheer stupidity of the ban. bmi can either turn law abiding, fare paying, passengers into criminals, or ignore their own rules.

It won't ever be a crime. It would be a crime to refuse to comply with "captain's authority". But he is only empowered to exercise his authority under circumstances where he believes safety might be compromised and to discharge his obligations of protecting safety. He hasn't any powers recognised by any police in any country with respect to peaceful people eating their own food. And of course his powers end roughly at the moment the doors open. If he tries to keep you on board after that then that's an offence by the captain. But we are extreming here ............

To follow the other paralel, if a restuarant wanted to remove you from eating your own food in a restaurant, the police won't help. They'll have to go to court and apply under the trespass laws. In the same way, I cannot see any sanction anyone has on a plane to stop me eating my prawn (or salmon) sandwich. They can huff and they can puff but there is nothing I can see other than to attempt to refuse to take my booking on other flights. But then I'd sue for the value of my DC miles.

"Your honour, we wouldn't let him on our plane because last time he refused to buy a cheese Panini, and instead ate his own prawn sandwich in front of all the other passengers."