bmibaby Rip Off Merchants

carolineb23

who on earth do you think you are? Don't you DARE call me an idiot because I have an opinion different to yours.
I have absolutely no problem with airlines putting prices up, and of course I understand why they are doing it, but why can't they just put the flight prices up instead of all these silly add ons? For example the £7 per person credit card fee is obviously not really there to cover the credit card fee as it is much higher than the cost, so why to they tell us that's what it is for?
I'd rather them just charge more for the flight in the first place.

BYALPHAINDIA

OWT_FOR_NOWT wrote: »

The airline with tiny fares what a joke.

Yesterday bmibaby announced their summer 2009 prices. The exact same dates which I booked this time last year for August 2008 are more than double the price for August 2009. They also charge an extra £3.99 to check in which is total madness. What are you supposed to do? carry your own suitcase to the plane to aviod this. But the biggest rip off is if you don't pay using a bmibaby credit card then you get charged an extra £5 per person for using a debit card or £7 per person for using a credit card. In my case I was booking 8 seats so got charged on top of the rip off air fare an extra £40 for paying with my debit card. This is scandalous as it was only 1 transaction for the 8 seats.

So my advice to anyone who intends to fly with this airline is to get yourself a bmibaby credit card and only use it to pay for any flights you book with them.

Oh Dear, You really do want 'Owt For Nowt.

Iv'e been in this business alot of years (Not Bmibaby) and I have never heard of most of what your talking about.

3.99 to check in, Now that's new to me.

How can you expect fares to be the same as this year, When the Airlines are struggling to survive, That's why they have to puttheir fares up.

Fuel has more than doubled in the last 6 months, Insurance, And everything else with it.

BmiBaby are actually one of the cheaper 'lowcost' carriers, And I have never had any problems with them.

Air Travel is still 'relatively' cheap - Bmibaby- MAN - Belfast 37.98 Return.

I know it's that fare because I checked it the other day.

I'm afraid from now on if you want to travel then you may have to pay more than you did this year for next year.

I always book at least 6 months before for short haul, For medium haul about 9 - 12 months before.

Don't do long haul at the moment.

You might be correct about the 3.99 charge, But if you are then it must have just this week come into force.

Happy Booking.

Edinburghlass_2

Been a £3.99 charge for airport check in since June?

check-in All bookings made after the 12th June will be subject to an airport check in fee.
If you are travelling from East Midlands, Birmingham, Cardiff, Manchester, Edinburgh, Belfast (Intl), Glasgow (Intl) and Newquay and you check in at the airport you will be subject to pay an airport check in fee.
If you have selected to check in at the airport you will be charged £3.99 per passenger if you make an online reservation and £6 per passenger if you make a reservation through the call centre. If you have not paid the airport check in fee online or via the call centre and check in at the airport you will be charged £6 per passenger at the time of check in.

BYALPHAINDIA

Like I said new to me, When I booked the Belfast flight last week, There was nothing charged on me.

Unless this only applies to European flights.

Edinburghlass_2

Always best to read the T&C's but as you're "in the business" I'm sure you and Richard know that well :think:

DCFC79

Dont see how bmi are ripping people off, you cant expect bmi to keep the same flight prices for next year that they had for this year,

Edinburghlass_2

DCFC79 wrote: »

Dont see how bmi are ripping people off, you cant expect bmi to keep the same flight prices for next year that they had for this year,

Me neither but that doesn't stop people complaining about cc charges or luggage charges etc from Ryan Air/Easy Jet :cool:

MrSmartprice

We flew from EMA acouple of weeks ago (not with BmiBaby) and were approached to have a BmiBaby Credit Card. The deal is simple enough - you get the card, spend £100 on it and get a free flight. We shall do this and then not use the card again unless we are booking a BmiBaby flight, saving card charges. I already have an Electron Card to save fees when flying Ryanair.

As for the other expenses, why is it misleading? Check in online and take cabin baggage and it costs you nothing extra. If you insist on taking huge suitcases full of unnecessary crap, that's up to you. But you will be subsidising people like me.

grrrrrrrrrr

For example the £7 per person credit card fee is obviously not really there to cover the credit card fee as it is much higher than the cost, so why to they tell us that's what it is for?
I'd rather them just charge more for the flight in the first place.[/quote]


Obviously the credit card fee is another way of making money, £2.50 per person per sector for debit and £3.50 per person per sector for credit card. but if they put the fares up they would not be classed as a low cost airline. and thats the gimic.

its another low cost survival tactic for the airline, solution is simple, either get a bmibaby credit card that you dont receive a charge for or fly with a larger airline and pay for it instead of whinging. :T

bluebelluk

wow, such a heated debate!

seems like everyone is in attack mode....strange for a site i usually find supportive and informative.....i didn't think the point of the forum was to belittle people..hmm...i digress....

i do understand what the original poster is getting at....i'm sure they realise prices go up, oil goes up, etc etc.....but i can relate to what they are saying....

a year ago i could pay approx 5 pounds to carry my suitcase on a bmi flight....now i pay 24 pounds.....again, i understand prices go up, inflation, etc etc.....but 400% price hike in a year!....that seems pretty excessive to me....and for the record, not everyone takes huge suitcases full of unncessary crap when they travel!

also, the credit card fees....again, it's fine if they want to charge and i make the informed decision of using companies who add these charges.....but to go from a few pounds to now 7 pounds to book a flight with my credit card is a lot, especially when they charge this fee per seat rather than per booking....

when booking flights, i still find bmi baby cheaper than most carriers, so it is still a savings for me, but a little harder on the pocketbook!

i realise everyone has an opinion, but please don't reply to my post if all you're gonna do is knock mine!