LiviLion

I find the whole Luxury From .... marketing laughable. If you click on the link you get:

Priority Seating - I've never ever seen this happen. Usually it's either a general boarding call or a boarding rows 14-23, business class and *A Gold can board at their leisure.

Complimentary Catering - Luxury it is not

Priority Baggage delivery - LOL!!!!!

The only luxury on BD SH would be something like a BMED plane or a MIDO type equivalent. C in DBCA and it's friends is not luxury in the slightest especially on the RHS where you could have someone next to you although you do get another couple of inches seat width.

The vast majority of flights are on the normal seats and there is no luxury IMO.

If I had never flown BD before and booked a ticket on the basis of the marketing statement and found myself on G-DBCA then I'd be wanting a refund and complaining to the Advertising Standards Agency or similar.

Corpt

While agreeing with the sentiment of everything you said, Priority Seating doesn't mean Priority Boarding. It means a seat close to the front of the plane, rather than early boarding to take your seat.....

Generally though, you're absolutely right. BD short haul C can't in their wildest dreams be described as Luxury....

raikje

Yes, presumably in the "Separate Business Class cabin"... Don't really understand why they've bothered to say that.

Oxon Flyer

Another bmi short haul C (using a GUV) trip report.

Bit of a sad one today : after 400 sectors in the last dozen or so years, my final flight on a proper plane before the LHR-BRU route is downsized to Embruaers at the end of the month.

My good friend Delta Yankee was away pleasuring the good folk of Manchester, but we got one of her two sisters, so, with the prospect of a nice business cabin with the 50" leather seats, I proffered a GUV, and was upgraded at checkin, rather than have to hang around at the gate, as Y was oversold. Interesting business proposition to downsize to an Embraer when you can oversell a 320 eh ?

Anyway, we went out in style. Sparkling service in the business cabin from Ally (who, after the flight was running to catch a flight home in MAN), newspapers presented with a flourish, a bento box not missing any of its contents, fittingly with a 'Brussels Arcade' wrapper, a tasty, piping hot beef with noodles and peppers, a bag of apples and grapes (no pineapple 'finger', hooray), and a 15 minute early arrival from the flight crew.

Heathrow was its usual party-pooping self, putting us on a gate with a broken airbridge, so I was last off as everyone filed out of the rear door....

End of an era.

Fin.

LiviLion

Priority seating at it's best.

FlyingOnceMore

See.....you and Paris Hilton do have something in common

deconz

Just back with partner from a MR to DUB on BD129 yesterday and BD130 today. Offered GUV's at check in both directions and confirmed immediately with C boarding passes issued. This time no mention of possibility of no meal on the BD130 DUB/LHR and to my delight they had catering for an almost full 13/15 load up front. As I have access to a GDS I noted yesterday only 4/15 seats sold based on the seat map (think they were oversold in Y since they downsized from A321 to A320). Anyway, amazing service both ways and all the trimmings including complete bento boxes and hot towel service both ways! Very pleasantly surprised considering recent comments on here!

LiviLion

I used a GUV last week on LHR-EDI BD60.

It was processed no problem at the priority desk and was given my request of 'as close to the front as possible with a window on the left hand side please'. 2A.

There was quite a selection of food to choose from and I went with Oriental Beef with Chinese Noddles which was rather tasty.

Good service in the cabin with all the expected offerings.

The bento box contained a kit kat and an 'apples and grapes' bag and the glass had bmi engraved too. Multiple coffee topups were offered too as well as the hot towel and sweet for landing.

Service as it should be.

Mr H

I have just come off the BD53 EDI-LHR. I had a business class ticket and was offered a choice of sandwiches - bacon or something vegetarian. I asked for a toastie instead (I had seen them on the trolley as it went past). The flight supervisor said no - that wasn't possible as they were for economy passengers to purchase. I replied that I had a silver card and thought that entitled me. Emphatically, I was told no, because I was in business I was already catered for and I was only allowed to eat the food allocated for me. I'm spitting feathers. I have never been refused food from a lower class of service before, and especially I have never been refused the opportunity to buy it.

I remember when I first started flying, British Midland had a single class of service called economy. And it was better than their current business class offering.

ajamieson

You're right that the situation is perverse and ridiculous but the supervisor was quite correct. Many of us have secured a free alternative from the economy sale menu by asking nicely, but that is usually in the instance that the meal choices in C have run out rather than because we decided we didn't like what was on offer. So you were not entitled, as you put it, despite what common sense and logic would indicate.

I never enjoy the 53 - the crew are on their second flight and usually trying to scavenge their own food for 'lunch' and there isn't usually much left on the buy-on-board sale trolley after passengers on the first sector out of LHR have been at it.

Oxon Flyer

indeed, this must be the first ever poster on the board ranting about not having a bmi economy-class cheese toastie.

kt74

I know it is perverse, sorry about that, and yes I would often prefer a toastie to those manky sandwiches, but bmi isn't the only one that won't let you have food from Y...

e.g. can't find it at the moment, but there was at least one thread on the BA board where one of the crew posters said they would never serve even a spare Y meal to C (e.g. on a Sleeper Service) because it would open the floodgates and everyone would then want a meal from Y etc, etc...

Perverse, but I sort of understand where they are coming from, especially since there never seem to be enough toasties to go round even just the BD status pax in Y

gate4lounge

Same thing happened to me a year ago. I e-mailed a complaint to bmi customer relations. They responded that, strictly speaking, the No 1 was correct. The response added that she could have used some common sense and let me "purchase" something from the trolley once the steerage catering run had been completed.

LiviLion

Surely, when sitting in the business cabin the rule should be 'what sir wants, sir gets'?

Having to pay for it should be a big no-no.

FWIW I have been offered the cheese toastie and/or breakfast pannini instead of the C breakfast on EDI-LHR.

FlyingOnceMore

You get 'The Finger'?