BMI anybody tavelled with them?

[a_hobden]

Hi next year we are flying with bmi in-direct via Chicargo has anybody flown with them before? what are the planes like, were they good etc...........

 

[Lisa1976]

Im afraid I cannot answer for long haul, we have only used them for a short flight to Scotland, but they were fantastic, self-check in at Heathrow, nice amount of room on plane too.

 

[disneyholic family]

Hi next year we are flying with bmi in-direct via Chicargo has anybody flown with them before? what are the planes like, were they good etc...........

i don't know anything about the airline, but if you meant that you're flying through Chicago, are you allowed to spend a few days there? or do you have to continue on?
if you can spend a few days in chicago, i would do that....chicago is a wonderful city........and i say that as someone who used to hate it (during the years i went to grad school there)...
they have cleaned it up and made it amazingly beautiful....
we just spent 3 days there and had a wonderful time....it's now my favorite over New York and London (and that's saying a lot)...

 

[jdybnsn]

We flew with them a couple of years ago from Manchester to Orlando via Washington and I would say they were far better than even Virgin. The in flight meals were excellent (among the best I had on the whole holiday !) They had individual TV monitors and very pleasant staff - I could not fault them - if only they would do direct flights, I would fly them every time !

Catching the connection was straight forward - they had it all well organised at Washington and I expect Chicago will be the same. the only thing I would say is you might feel you have plenty of time to get your connecting flight but after you've gone through immigration (which takes ages!) there is actually not alot of time so don't hang about and do fill in your immigration forms completely and correctly or they just simply send you back to the end of the queue !

Also be warned there is usually no on board meal on the connecting flight other than a bag of peanuts and a drink (despite it saying there was on our coupon). So ensure you bring something with you if you want something at that time just in case.

Hope you have a good journey - I hope you will find BMI a good experience like we did.

 

[Rain]

My favourite airline!

They were really wonderful, food was good too. If New economy is available when you get to the airport it costs around £100 and is really worth it..

The plane was clean and spacious

If they were to fly direct from Manchester Iwould choose them every time.

 

[disneyvillainlover]

I flew with BMI Oct/Nov 2003 great airline, good entertainment with the seatback TVs the Outside camera views and the flight tracker.
Great service. Chicago was straight forward and the nicest/ quickest immigration (though this may have been due to being near the front of the line )
United were fine, though this year (we have booked again) the second leg will be with TED airlines and we will have Tedevision had no TV last time for the flight to MCO but listening to the cockpit and airtraffic passed the time for me

Only downside (depending what time of year you fly) is that we were delayed overnight due to snow/cabin crew running out of hours, but the plus side was that we flew first thing in the morning and had the least jetlag I have ever had flying from the USA.

there are loads of places to grab a bite at the gate to your next flight

 

[Richard Bruvofetc]

I have flown to Paris with them. All I can say is excellent. A month ago I flew to Canada through BMI but we were on Air Canada aircraft. Again all the booking and facilitation was excellent and as the route is a "BMI" route they were cheaper than booking through Air Canada. My only complaint was that Air Canada didn't have seat back TVs. There was however plenty of leg room, the seats were very comfortable (DW slept for the first time ever on an aeroplane) and we were very well looked after.

 

[Scottish-Helen]

I flew on my honeymoon to St Lucia with them and thought they were excellent probably the best I've ever flown with. The service was very good and there were lots of nice little touches that made the flight even better.

 

[CharleyUK]

Hi

We flew with BMI in 2003 to Las Vegas via chicargo, most of the flight thought were going to MCO.

Great flight. Food was good, in flight entertainment was good and most importantly they were on time.

As has already been said clearing custons can take some time. Once through you have to pick up your luggage and take it to a bag drop(not far) This was a bit worring for us as the bags for MCO and for Las Vegas were put in one big pile but they came through without any problem at the end.

You have to leave the terminal building at Chicargo and catch a tram to another terminal but it was all signposted and easy to follow. The line to pass through security again was long so I would make your way straight to the gate. We had a 2 1/2 hour layover but it went rearly quick.

On our way home the flight from MCO to Chicargo was delayed but due to the large amount of people to transfere to the flight from Chicargo to Manchester (must have been 90%) they held it for them.

Have a great time

 

[Ash aka sky]

I have flown ORD to MAN several times and they have always been great flights... clean planes really good inflight meals and excellent entertainment... personal tv's and free games... really helps the time pass.

The bad experiences I had with them... the check in time at Manchester...we waited 1.5 hours in line to check in the first time and over an hour the second time. The other issue I had with them was they were VERY picky about my daughters car seats... The first time I flew with her in a car seat with a carry handle (rear facing) they refused to let her fly in it.To their credit they did give me a full refund for my daughters seat. The second time I flew with her in a forward facing car seat, first of all they said she couldn't fly in it then when I argued with them they made a big fuss about having to measure the seat and the plane seat and did allow it in the end. I guess not many people in the UK buy seats for their under 2 year olds. However I would certainly fly again with them.

Ash

 

[juliebro]

We were due to fly indirect with them this year - MAN-Chicago-MCO. However, a few weeks before we were due to leave, I happened to be online and spotted a way of seeing our itinerary online. I noticed (by sheer fluke) that the time of our onward flight (with United) from Chicago to MCO had been changed. It was now due to leave Chicago before our BMI flight landed!! No-one had told me. I contacted Airline Network and they said that they were aware of it (not convinced about that) and would be contacting me to sort it out. United had changed their timetables apparantly. The alternative we were given would have meant spending 8 hours in Chicago - and arriving at MCO after 1:00 am. We had to cancel the flights and booked with US Airways instead - which was more expensive.

Julie

 

[kristieuk]

I have only flown short haul with them too, but my my experiences have been such that I'm delighted they have expanded their horizons.

They are an excellent airline. I don't know why, but everything just seems so much easier with them. There never seem to be long check in queues (although you do have to self service check in at Heathrow, but it's easy), and the planes are really spacious. Everything also always seems to be early or on time. I'm sure that's not always the case, but they have a decent sized fleet, which is reassuring.

I have found the staff to be super friendly and helpful - when we boarded a flight last year, the air hostess took my little girls hand and led us both to meet the pilot in the cockpit!

I just got back from Nice last night, and in the inflight magazine it said how they are making all of these changes, and introducing online check-in etc, so that will make things even easier.

I'm sure you won't be disappointed!