Bmi and the case of the over taxation!

For the last couple of months Lisa and I have been trying to book our holiday (vacation in American). For various reasons our first few ideas fell through. So then we had the idea to visit the UK for a few days and go to Sharm for some diving. The first problem with this is the fact that bmi and in fact all of Star Alliance don’t allow you to book points across multiple carriers online. So you have to phone them up, which for a complex trip can take anything up to an hour to work out with the agent. I have to say, in general, bmi’s customer service has been really good with this, I guess you could say it’s their job but they don’t rush you and help work something out. But then comes the sting, we finally work out a series of flights that work and get the cost. 85,000 points, no problem I have 455k! But the tax, it was a staggering £350 each! $700, we might as well fly to Asia and pay the full fair of $1000. I thanked them for their help and politely said I wouldn’t make the booking. So I’ve been looking into this and it just doesn’t add up. Here’s an example… Here’s a quote for booking a bmi flight on points from Heathrow to Cairo, the tax is £233.60.

Here is the same booking, on Expedia, the total cost is £355.60.

So hang on, we’re saying a ~5 hour flight is going to cost £120! I’m sorry I don’t believe you bmi! So I keep digging and finally get more details from Expedia:

What the frak!!!! The tax is £233.60, I am absolutely amazed! I’m sorry bmi, maybe I am pointing fingers at the wrong person, maybe my attention needs to switch to the UK Government and BAA (who own Heathrow).