Fuck British Midland Airlines. Fuck them right in the ear

[andrewducker]

So, Julie and I are flying down to Derby with BMIBaby (the low cost arm of British Midland).  And we go to check in online - and are told we can choose to pay an extra £4 to choose our seats, or take what we're given.

No problem, we think, we'll take what we're given - we don't care if we're at the front or the back.

But no - they assign one of us seats at the front of the aircraft and one at the back.

But we can still choose to pay - and looking at the system, we can choose two seats that are handily right next to each other.

So, despite there being pairs of seats, and despite us checking in online on a single form, they allocate the pair of us different seats, just so they can charge us an extra £4?

Oh - and to cap it all, there's no way to leave feedback online, or to email them.  The only way to talk to them is via a phone number that costs 65p/minute (i.e. $1/minute).

Fuck them.  I'm never flying with them again.  There's a certain amount of dickery I'm just not prepared to put up with.

Comments

[khbrown.livejournal.com]

How do you situate flying against the environment?

[bracknellexile.livejournal.com]

www.saynoto0870.com and then tell them exactly how you feel!

[guybles.livejournal.com]

I recall flying with bmibaby on two occasions, neither of which were particularly good. On one flight, the plane to Edinburgh was cancelled and we were given a choice of flying to Glasgow or waiting until the next possible flight, arriving just before midnight.

The other situation was being snowed in at East Midlands airport; although not his fault, the pilot's tannoy announcement that he was "negotiating with the company" to get us some water gave a very clear impression of how important we were.

[poisonduk.livejournal.com]

You know I wouldn't blame them! Did you book direct or via expedia? I booked 2 flights return to NYC for October - both K and I, passport details, fact she's in the 12-15 age group and ticked the box asking them to allocate seats for us. We were at opposite ends of the aircraft too, despite 3/4 of the plane being empty - I reckon it's some sort of random algorythim. Anyway luckily I could change our reservation direct with continental on their own website.

[iainjcoleman.livejournal.com]

They're cunts. Avoid them. I haven't used them in years, and have been happier for it.

[cybik.livejournal.com]

See, going by train is just better. It's more comfortable, it's generally as cheap and fast if you factor in getting to and from airports and it's waaay better for the environment (obv. this may not make a difference to you, but it sure as hell does to me). With trains you spend more of your time sitting (and reading if you're like me) and less time in the most unpleasant buildings in the world. Aeroplanes are fun, but fuck 'em - train companies are less unpleasant and don't have the whole "hidden charges" culture so much.

[pisica.livejournal.com]

Possibly useful for future bookings:

http://www.aph.com/news/hiddencharges.htm

AIRPORT PARKING AND HOTELS (APH) EXPOSES THE HIDDEN CHARGES OF “LOW-COST AIRLINES”

It's a big ol' chart.

The 'meal' line is just a waste of space, though. :)