I just had a totally “no frill” airline experience. I am not exactly a fan of US Airlines, their customer service and their surcharges, but I just discovered an airline that charges even more fees and gives less service. It is not an unknown third-world low-cost carrier, it’s a STAR-alliance carrier.
This week I had the opportunity to fly on BMI – British Midland Airways. BMI is a STAR-Alliance carrier, a United Airlines/Lufthansa alliance partner — not exactly known as a cut-rate, low-service carrier. They are even owned by Lufthansa these days.
BMI just about defines “low frills.” My experience was “no frills.”
BMI charges for almost EVERYTHING on board on flights from Heathrow. Water, sodas, alcoholic beverages, sandwiches and the most basic snacks. No pillows are in sight and no blankets. It’s really bare bones. Business-class travelers have the same seats as coach passengers, but sit up front and get free food and drinks for the additional airfare.
Oddly, I’ve been told, economy-class flights within Europe, that do not depart from London, offer passengers free non-alcoholic drinks.
But there are other cost-saving measures that start from the moment passengers arrive at the airport. For example, economy class travelers are not allowed to talk to humans at check-in — they MUST use online check-in or self-service kiosks if available. There didn’t seem to even be a “pay for a human” option. I can’t imagine how BMI deals with passengers who can’t figured out how to use the machines.
And at Heathrow, where we were allowed to use the BMI business lounge as Star Alliance Gold frequent fliers, Internet service was only a pay-as-you-go option. More critically, the lounge personnel mistakenly directed us to Gate 2, where we sat for ten minutes until an announcement was made stating that the flight was CLOSING at Gate 8 and that remaining passengers should proceed to the gate immediately. (While we waited on the Jetway with other seasoned BMI passengers who almost missed the flight, we were told this was “typical.”)
There may be no frills, but baggage is still free — up to 2 bags weighing 20 kilos, about 44 pounds apiece. Admittedly, both BMI flights were on time, which is better than most U.S. carriers have done this week.
I hope my short-haul BMI flight experience is not a foreshadowing of things to come for the US airline industry. However, with major airlines continuing their march towards more and more fees and less and less service, I am afraid this no-frills-service may be coming to an airline closer to home sooner than we think.
Janice Hough is a California-based travel agent a travel blogger and a part-time comedy writer. A frequent flier herself, she’s been doing battle with airlines, hotels, and other travel companies for over three decades. Besides writing for Travelers United, Janice has a humor blog at Leftcoastsportsbabe.com (Warning, the political and sports humor therein does not represent the views of anyone but herself.)
