BMI 20% Bonus Promo

[sr81]

BMI is selling bonus miles again and could be useful if you need to top up or sort out an up coming itin.

You can buy upto 20,000 with an additional bonus of 4,000. Total cost for miles is GBP255. Note that 18,750 miles + GBP 127.50 + taxes is enough for one way in J to anywhere in Asia with a Star carrier.

Note that you are capped at 24,000 per person per year but you can create a family account then pool all the miles.

BMI is most useful when used as cash+points.

Eg. I just booked (and in no way is this maximised) DME-BKK-MEL in J with Thai for AUD1300 including buying miles from scratch, cash portion and taxes.

Not the best deal around but still 50-75% cheaper than buying the ticket outright.

 

[alieninperth]

So if I have this right.

a rtn trip from AUS to EUR in Y on *A is 50,000pts + GBP340 (or 100,000pts)

J is 1.5 x Y so 75,000pts + GBP510.

So for two people to fly J to EUR rtn would be 150,000pts + GBP1010.

150,000 pts = GBP1605 (6 x 24,000pts = 144,000pts [6 x GBP255 = GBP1530]) + (1 x 6,000 pts = GBP75).

Total cost is then GBP1605 for pts and 1010 for fees = GBP2615. At todays exchange rate GBP2615 = AU$4181. Even if this was to change by 10% this would still put the cost of a rtn J trip to Europe at $4,500. At this current rate a J rtn to EUR would be about the same price, give or take $200 than a Y rtn with QF/BA/EK etc. And it would be in SIA.

Surely this is not right.

 

[futaris]

Sounds right. NB, it costs roughly the same to buy a J ticket through US Dividend Miles, see this thread.

An F ticket (assuming you can find availability) is only slightly more...

 

[auriga]

So if I have this right.

a rtn trip from AUS to EUR in Y on *A is 50,000pts + GBP340 (or 100,000pts)

J is 1.5 x Y so 75,000pts + GBP510.

So for two people to fly J to EUR rtn would be 150,000pts + GBP1010.

150,000 pts = GBP1605 (6 x 24,000pts = 144,000pts [6 x GBP255 = GBP1530]) + (1 x 6,000 pts = GBP75).

Total cost is then GBP1605 for pts and 1010 for fees = GBP2615. At todays exchange rate GBP2615 = AU$4181. Even if this was to change by 10% this would still put the cost of a rtn J trip to Europe at $4,500. At this current rate a J rtn to EUR would be about the same price, give or take $200 than a Y rtn with QF/BA/EK etc. And it would be in SIA.

Surely this is not right.

You have to add in taxes and fuel surcharges as well.
Plus with these redemptions, you do not always get the flights you want, so it is not like just buying a ticket.
You also do not earn any mileage/elite status for these flights, which may be important for some.

 

[sr81]

Don't forget that you are capped at 24,000 per year per member. You would need to set up a family account for this one.

 

[alieninperth]

thanks for the extra info guys, I had a look via the AC website and was only able to see J availability with Thai around the dates I was looking to travel. I have looked at setting up the family account and around FT. even if the taxes and surcharges where another $1000, this is a temping proposition. Now to check out the US airways to check if it is better value.

 

[stryker]

Well, I'm a BMI FF'er as well and just booked an LHR-DUB flight in Y using points. On the face of it, it sounds good, approx 4,000 points (I can't remember the exact amount) plus taxes (which amounted to GBP 30 odd).

Now you might think this is wonderful value, but it isn't. I could've booked Ryanair STN-DUB the same date/time for GBP 16 all-in, but as I live close to LHR I couldn't be bothered with the trauma of getting to STN.

But don't be fooled, BM reward aren't necessarily all that great.

 

[sr81]

@ stryker BMI miles are known for good value when flying long haul. Eg. I went MEL-BKK-NRT in J for 18,750 + GBP255 cash + tax.

From the Italy you could get to India via ZRH in LX J for 15,000 + GBP210.

But hey, if you need a flight to DUB and you want to spend the miles then whatever works for you.

 

[alieninperth]

Hi everyone,

a quick question. do any of you know what the taxes, surcharges etc would be. I have looked around and the AA fees seem to be lower, by $000's. The process through the AA system looks to be a lot simpler as well.

One other thing, I see that on the BMI website they dont charge for infants on their award bookings, I have not been able to find any info on this relating to AA. Is the situation the same with them?

You have all been a font of knowledge and I really appreciate all your help.

As an aside, I am not really chasing status or pts. I dont really fly enough to get the benefit. I am happy to sacrafice the pts and SC to travel in J at a Y price.

 

[anat0l]

Except for SK, hardly any FFP in the world except for the American based ones charge little for taxes/fees/charges etc.

BD is no exception. I wouldn't say you'd be saving thousands though - that's a bit much. Hundreds perhaps - mainly through savings due to fuel fines (this is Europe, the UK and the Lufthansa group - no surprises at the kinds of costs that YQ could be) - and you could save some more with some ingenuity in routing, if so absolutely required.

You can use dummy bookings or the bmi cost estimator calculator on the FlyerTalk forums to get an idea of taxes. Naturally going through the European bases or flying the LH group you are going to be up for a lot.

 

[sr81]

If you can look for routes with TK (Turkish) they have pretty low taxes and YQ.

At the moment I think that USAirways offer better value though BMI allows for one way rewards so are more flexible.

Importantly you need to work out what you want to do, run the maths then make the call.

 

[JohnK]

What is the likelihood of a BMI 50% bonus point promotion in the near future? This one is OK but it would be much better to buy 16,000 BMI miles and receive a bonus of 8,000 BMI miles.

 

[StevePER]

What is the likelihood of a BMI 50% bonus point promotion in the near future? This one is OK but it would be much better to buy 16,000 BMI miles and receive a bonus of 8,000 BMI miles.

Well I would rather a 100% promo.

 

[casanovawa]

don't suppose anyone knows the address of the awards info page for calculating how many points needed to get to where do they for BMI???

 

[anat0l]

don't suppose anyone knows the address of the awards info page for calculating how many points needed to get to where do they for BMI???

This is the bmi award chart (works for BD and Star Alliance partners):

bmi and Star Alliance flights | Fly bmi

This is a link to a bmi award calculator. It is run in Excel and created by littlevoices from FlyerTalk.

BMI Redemption Calculator (Mileage, tax & cash costs of redemptions in Excel) - FlyerTalk Forums

This calculator can also estimate the taxes/etc. for you (although this is only an estimate based on tax tables - the only good way to calculate taxes is to dummy book or use ITA/etc.)

 

[JohnK]

I'd say keep longing for Angelina is a better bet.

Didn't BMI have a 50% bonus promotion recently?

 

[casanovawa]

thanks John

 

[anat0l]

Didn't BMI have a 50% bonus promotion recently?

Oops my mistake indeed.

I naively thought this was the same as the Christmas promo. Kinda silly I forgot, since I actually did purchase miles as part of said promotion (the maximum amount, too).

In saying that, I suppose they reserved such a promotion for Christmas, perhaps. I don't see them doing another one very soon, even if they decided to have a "fire sale" before M&M integration

 

[JohnK]

Decisions, decisions.

I will more than likely redeem a business class miles + cash award TPE-SYD end of October. I should have some BMI miles from car hire and Hilton stays so not sure if it is a good time to buy now or wait for another promotion later in the year.

 

[sr81]

The 50% bonus promo was only around for a week and the only one I can remember recently.

Given you only need 18750 for a cash + points redemption from TPE-SYD I would be buying now mainly because the exchange rate is good and you can lock the reward away.

One in the hand is worth two in the bush...........

If you already have points and this is only a top up I would imagine that you really only need to buy ADU250 worth. A 50% promo would only save you AUD50ish. Not worth holding out for such a small amount.