 Poster: A snowHead
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I booked a January long weekend flights to Geneva a few months ago.
Since then I have bought myself some skis and want to take them with me, so I checked the BMI website for costs to add on ski carriage and found that it was £20 per item per sector - making £40 return. Pretty pricey, but i want to test my new skis, so worth it.
Anyway, a couple of things in the T&Cs worried me, so I have just phoned BMI baby - this is what i discovered....
The T&Cs say:
sporting equipment
Leisure equipment which requires additional handling including (non exhaustive list) canoes, surfboards, golf clubs, skis, (ski or board shoes and poles are carried free of charge if carried with the relevant skis or snowboard), bicycles, musical instruments will be charged at £20 (€32) per sector per item. These items will be carried subject to space availability on the aircraft and sports equipment bags must only contain the items for practising the sport.
PLEASE NOTE: bicycles will only be accepted if suitably packaged. The maximum weight of any of these items is 20kgs. All items will officially travel stand-by. bmibaby will not be responsible for repatriation if there is a delay. Any item not listed above is subject to the standard excess baggage rate
The bits that worried me were the bit about not taking my skis if there wasn't any room and not repatriating my skis if there is a delay. The girl I spoke to on the phone explained the following:
Yes, there is a risk that i pay £40 and my skis don't get on the plane
If my skis don't get on the plane, i DO NOT get a refund. Instead my skis go on the next available flight.
If my skis go out to Geneva and i am not there to collect them (i.e. I have already come home), my skis stay in Geneva forever.
This surely cannot be correct? Anyone got any experience or better knowledge of this?
It surely can't be right that they take my £40, potentially don't send my skis out to Geneva until after i have already come home and then just leave them there.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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magic_hat, if you look at all the other budget airlines, I think they have similar terms and conditions.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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it's the bit about just leaving them in geneva that shocks me most... surely they just can't do this? !!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I remember years ago BA lost my skis on a flight to Denver, true to their word they were in the hotel reception the next morning when I went down for breakfast 
I wonder what a travel insurance company would make of a claim to hire skis due to skis only being delivered to Geneva and then lost???
regards,
Greg
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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This is the very reason I did not use BMI from Cardiff last year and went Sleazy from Bristol instead. No ludicrous clause like that in their T&C's at the time.
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I used BMI Baby this year gone and had no problems, but I would do my best not to use them again because of this.
Also, we could not pay in advance for the skis. We had to cue up at the BMI info desk to pay for skis at the airport before being able to check in.
They want ski business, but don't want everything that goes with it!
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Hi all,
I'm resurrecting this topic as I'm off from Manchester to Geneva on Saturday with bmibaby.
Does anyone know if they strictly apply a charge per set of skis, or is it per ski bag? It's just we've got a double ski bag, so was obviously hoping to just pay the one charge. Seems odd to charge double for single item (i.e. bag) when it's the same price to take a bike! The priice is now "£15 (€24) per sector per item on the website and £22.50 (€36) per sector per item when booked through the bmibaby call centre or airport" according to their website, by the way, which is a tad annoying as you couldn't book this via the website when I originally booked the flights.
Cheers,
Ed
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Just to answer my own question - I phoned up and they told me it's £15/£22.50 per bag per trip, so not too bad then - and I was able to add it to my booking on line at the cheaper rate. Now the trick is to find space in the "regular" luggage for the boots!
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ecsleath, do they have a max weight limit for the bag though, like easyjet?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I took a double ski bag containing two sets of skis and poles. Weighed about 16KG i think. Think the limit was 20kg.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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That's right, 20kg is the limit - Should be ok, but my wife's crossmaxes always feel so heavy when I carry them
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20kg, that's pretty generous! Easy get boots and 2 sets of skis within that.
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You know it makes sense.
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ecsleath, my boots travel in my Salomon bag - along with the rest of my kit, including helmet, avalanche shovel and probe. That came to 20.1Kg. Very little in carry-on, except for my laptop - so if weight in the main bag had been a problem, I could have taken some more stuff in my day sack.
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FAQ
nor Ryanair 
has any such conditions, so this is a new one on me!
