The Modular Blues
 

Well, in spite of rumours of the re-introduction of a two cabin service (I wonder now many of BA's loyal Connect customers that could poach?), it would appear that BMI's modular product is here to stay. This is not quite so annoying as the product itself:

i) Why does the whole process of selling food and drink to the passengers have to look so bloody awkward. It really puts me off buying anything.

ii) The £5 minimum charge for using a credit card also puts me off buying anything. I tend to deliberately walk into MAN without any change as it is one more thing to remember at the security check. Also, I tend to arrive back in the country without any UK currency.

All in all, in my recent experience, the product comes across as not being very slick and certainly not well thought out. However, I've yet to try BA's product so have nothing to compare it with.

Not exactly sure what you mean by point 1,and what is the big issue with carrying change,not one you can blame on BMI to be fair, that said do agree with you re min. charge using credit, however my experiences are both positive and negative. On the negative side, I notice on DUB-LHR, there is rarely any food to buy,obviously food is usually sold out from LHR-Dub, poor planning on the part of BMI. On the positive side the cabin crew are very efficient in getting through full A321, and if anything there is more interaction between pax and cabin crew now. Have to say initially was against the modular product, think BMI handling of the introduction of the product was very poor, but a year on ,to be honest, my fares are cheaper, still have lounge access on standard fares, although think this should be introduced for tiny fares too.

Don't have a huge problem with the new service -- I'll have my cup of tea in the lounge. However:

This is absolutely not the case on the LHR-EDI route. I'm consistently paying more than I was. I find the advertising a little disingenuous.

I guess 1 is my just grumbling because I can't get a coffee with my BMI card (unless I buy something else to make up to £5). I might drop my general negativity towards LCCs, try to be nice and buy something on my next flight (often wondered what the hot food is like since they went modular).

I just double checked the web site to see what booking a flight from MAN to LHR is like now as I wasn't sure what you were going on about with fares (last tried this when they first went modular). To be fare, the difference between tiny and normal economy is tiny, and well worth paying for the lounge access and the extra miles. Come to think of it, this is a big improvement on what we had pre modular (when paying a lot for a fare didn't necessarily mean 100% of miles).

Silvers should definitely get lounge access on tiny fares though. I can't imagine this costing BMI a lot, nor do I forsee the lounges full to overflowing just becase silver card holders on tiny fares have access.

[QUOTE=Internaut]I guess 1 is my just grumbling because I can't get a coffee with my BMI card (unless I buy something else to make up to £5). I might drop my general negativity towards LCCs, try to be nice and buy something on my next flight (often wondered what the hot food is like since they went modular).

I just double checked the web site to see what booking a flight from MAN to LHR is like now as I wasn't sure what you were going on about with fares (last tried this when they first went modular


No agree with you re card and the fact that it is also a BMI card is just mad.

Regarding fares, to be fair maybe I'll back track slightly on my post, from a personal point of view I am paying less now compared to pre modular, but possibly this is down to better planning on my part then before.

I'm also one of those pax who takes a couple of packets of nuts from lounge and so just purchase my bottle of wine on board :D . that said as of my last trip Dub lounge has now reverted to loose crisps only :(

British coins don't set off the alarm. I always leave them in my pocket.

Doesn't work with Euros though.

Ditto.....and never had a problem :)

I have to agree - I pay more - or should I say I don't as I now use BA or GNER. Most of my travel is with only one weeks notice at most. Most cheap fares are gone - and although cheap fares when available are better than before modularisation I find most time I can only get full fares which are consdiderably higher and the service is very poor. If I were paying LCC prices even for a last minute ticket then I wouldn't begrudge paying for a cup of tea. But £350+ return MME-LHR return is too steep a price to pay. First Class GNER inc parking and meals in the dinning car costs cosiderably less (including free wifi for the duration of the Journey).

Bumpety bump
 

Well, I was nice and I gave BMI a chance and BMI were, quite frankly, poor. I was on Wednesday's BD 587. Corporate TA from heck had kindly allocated me a window seat in row 15. BD had kindly ensured that the two seats next to me were free (so there might be a point of holding a gold card after all). The FAs use two trolleys. One starts from the back and the other from the front so obviously, the worst place to sit from the point of view of getting what you want is in the middle (oops). The FAs serving from the back got to me first and the conversation went like this:

Internaut: "Can I have a bacon sandwich please?" (not very hopeful)
FA: "Sorry, we only have snacks left."
Internaut: "What? No sandwiches at all?"
FA: "No sandwiches."
Internaut: "No thankyou."

I've used LCCs on a few occasions now and I have to say, this is the first time that one has run out of anything substantial to eat by the time they got to me!