British Midlands flight
 

My BA flight from Amsterdam to Heathrow was changed to a British Midlands flight by the airline to bring my Heathrow connecting time for a flight to JFK to the airline's minimum 2 hours. I am not familiar with British Midlands other than it seems to be a discount airline and seat assignments are made at check-in, something I do not care for. Does anyone out there have experience with British Midlands? Thanks

They are certainly a step up from the Ryanair/Easyjet "budget airline". I have used them several times to fly to Naples and Venice. I found them to be excellent.

I would use them more, but currently I am getting better prices on BA if I book well in advance - given the choice I would rather fly BMI than BA if prices were equal.

Is it bmi or bmibaby ? bmi is a long-established 'regular' airline and is in fact my airline of choice (amongst other things I find their seats more comfortable than BA's) and I must have flown with them dozens if not hundreds of times (including business travel). bmibaby is their younger sibling which is sold as a discount airline, but I also find them fine (we use them regularly to travel to Cardiff).

bmibaby *says* that on their cheapest fares you can't choose your own seats, at least without paying, but there are ways you can.

If you have luggage to check in, even if you check in online or using a self-service machine at the airport (as you must), you still have to join what is effectively a check-in queue to hand over your bags, and at that point I have never had any trouble asking for seats other than those assigned.

If you are travelling with hand baggage only, you can check in online and choose your seats then, for free, 24 hours beforehand.

Willit and Caroline -E, thank you for your response. It was my prime carrier, AA who had me booked on BA that made the switch to British Midlands. I am happy to hear that it a "step up" from the Ryan/Easyjet experience I thought I might be in for. AA tells me that they have a "luggage arrangement" with BM.

bmi is a proper airline just like BA & AA.

It's a member of the Star Alliance which includes United but not AA

http://www.staralliance.com/en/meta/airlines/BD.html

You should note that bmi only allow one piece of cabin baggage unless you are flying business.
Given the choice I fly bmi to Heathrow from Amsterdam.

We flew BMI in Sept. 2006 from Copenhagen to Edinburgh, and were very satisfied with the flight and service. The sandwiches were good, too.

BMI is a proper airline. If the pricing is not wildy different from the budget options I would definitely choose BMI over RyanAir, Easyjet et al

Thanks again for the responses. This seems to be one of those rare travel changes imposed by an airline that will be to our benefit. As good or better flight and additional time for our Heathrow transfer.