After a good flight on US Envoy from PHL-LGW and a hot shower at the Arrivals Lounge, I catched a coach from LGW-LHR that cost me 17.00 GBP. The ticket from LHR-CDG was $65.00 RT and I discarded the return portion since I only needed it OW. By the way, I got this "excellent" fare by booking it with a US Airways reservations agent. I tried BD/BA/AF reservations and websites and they were giving me fares between $85-150.


BRITISH MIDLAND (BD) is located in Terminal 1 which is adjacent to T2. With about 2 hours to spare, I decided to browse through and bought some film at "Boots" that were on special. At 45 minutes before departure, the gate was not posted yet so I proceeded to clear security and enter the terminal. Once inside, I noticed that there was another "Boots" branch inside selling the films cheaper than outside. All I needed to provide was a flight number in order to make the purchase. BM finally posted a gate at about 20 minutes before departure. At the gate, it seemed that this was a full flight and it was booked to capacity.

BD 177 - LHR-CDG in Y
B737-500 Seat 5C

FOOD

For this short flight, beverage was served along with a choice of Cheese/Chicken/Tuna sandwich. I opted for the Chicken Sandwich with Mediterranean relish. This has to be the worst thing I have ever eaten in an airplane! The sandwich was wrapped in plastic "a la 7-11" with dry bread, chunks of chicken and no noticeable relish (dry, tasteless and awful looking).


COMFORT

Horrendous! Row 5 had a 3-3 configuration while row 4 was 2-3 and was still considered Y. Part of my seat was protruding outside in the aisle. Pitch was tight.


SERVICE

FA's were efficient but aloof. They were in a hurry all the time. Due to the lenght of the flight, I can understand that, but when I tried to get up to use the bathroom, a FA asked me to sit because we were landing and the sign was on. This was about 20 minutes before touchdown.




[This message has been edited by aw (edited 02-01-2002).]

Good report. Do you realize that your bus fare from LGW to LHR was about a third of your airfare? kind of insane! Just buy a one way next time, for 12 quid. That is a fantastic fare. In Europe though the cheap fares are you buy it, you eat it. If you can't use the ticket, TUFFF!!!

As for Boots being cheaper airside, because it is like Duty Free. Though the dear Europeans went off and abolished Duty Free within Europe(INCREDIBLY STUPID MOVE, HAS COST THEM MILLIONS $$$ ), you were technically on a domestic flight, so the stores eat the tax, which is not bad. Though more of a deal if you fly out of the EU, hence, long live Switzerland, smart enough to stay out of all that and they retained their sovereignty.

Anyway, for BM, they can be good, and I actually do like their sandwhiches, but they are nasty on the rules. Can only check in 2 hours before, with a need to be onboard 30 minutes before, that is not alot of time for lounges, Duty Free, and playing around ). They are strict with carry on rules and all that BS, hence, I stick with BA, which isn't as anal but they can have their moments. Try to get their people to smile, that is fun. I had one crew to Madrid, all sourpuses(i.e. not one smile) and they are terrible with foreign languages, not a single word of Spanish. ugh...

As for seating, some planes do have decent legroom, while there are a couple with charter style seating, absolute hell!).



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MD
AA PLT,1 MLN Miles+
Hilton Gold
Sheraton Gold

The price difference is due to there being no sales tax (VAT @ 17.5%) once you are airside. Always buy stuff airside if you can for this reason especially in the countries where the sales tax is high (called TVA or VAT depending on country but can be over 20%).

Duty (specific to the goods) is a different matter and Duty-Free no longer applies to flights internal to the EU. Duty rates do vary in the EU so some countries are cheaper than others for some goods like wine/tobacco/spirits.

For more information on the UK airports see http://www.baa.com which is the operator for most of the major UK airports.

If you don't have status check out the http://www.servisair.com/lounges.html for options to purchase lounge access (LGW @ South terminal only). With the state of short haul catering the fee can more than be offset in food and drink.

Thanks for the tips, guys. By the way, 17GBP was the one-way fare that I paid from LGW-LHR.

I traveled with a carry-on bag and a small backpack. At check-in, the agent said that he might allow me to bring everything as carry-on but upon checking the flight, he apologized and advised that he had to checked my bag since the flight was full. He even wished me a pleasant flight....this is so contrary to what I have read about BD's ground crew. Maybe I was lucky and had a nice agent who waited on me. Some of the crew seemed very rigid and aloof, though efficient like robots.

[This message has been edited by aw (edited 02-03-2002).]

"Some of the crew seemed very rigid and aloof, though efficient like robots"

That is the most perfect description .

In all fairness, BM has some nice crews. I should have been fair and said while the crew to Madrid was just mean, ran through the cabin with no smile, etc., coming back the plane was wide open and the steward was friendly. He saw that I was thristy and gave me a whole bottle of mineral water, and I mean bottle, big! :=)))

This is why I prefer BA. As a Oneworld elite member I get more perks, but then if I were Star Alliance elite, would probably do better at BM.

Also, 17 pounds LGW-LHR is way too much! They must have raised the price.

Thanks to both of you for the info and yes, always buy airside, then no customs when you land, it is actually a good deal.

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MD
AA PLT,1 MLN Miles+
Hilton Gold
Sheraton Gold

BTW....

BM = Bowel Movement
BD = British Midland

And there are times when they are one and the same

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MD
AA PLT,1 MLN Miles+
Hilton Gold
Sheraton Gold