British Midland International, an airline based in the UK, is currently offering new members of their frequent flier club Diamond Club instant a free upgrade to Silver Elite status, good for 12 months. The important associated perk is that this gets you Silver status for Star Alliance, a global group of airlines including Continental, United, and US Airways. Assuming you don’t have a better alternative, this will get you a free checked bag when traveling (and potentially other smaller perks depending on the airline). Via ViewfromtheWing.
One annoying factor is that you may have to provide your BMI Diamond Club number initially with your reservation in order to get the free checked bags and sometimes Priority security lines, and then switch to your “regular” frequent flier number to actually earn miles on the program that you want. This must be done at the gate before you board the plane. Last month, I was checking in for a flight behind an angry guy who couldn’t believe you actually had to pay to check a bag. How quickly things change in a few years…
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the link doesnt seem to work, did they take the promo down?
Hi Jonathan, I was able to get the BMI silver status. How do I get Star Alliance silver status now, so I can get the free check in baggage on continental? I am a new to this, and am curious about the procedure. Thanks!
Here’s an updated link via DansDeals:
https://www.flybmi.com/bmi/en-gb/loyalty-programmes/diamond-club/join-diamond-club.aspx?rec=1DC6SM
Thanks Nate, I’m betting BMI didn’t expect a bazillion sign-ups from the US for this promotion. The new link is simply the sign-up page with the proper promo code 1DC6SM embedded, so hopefully it works.
thanks for the link
it worked
As long as you’re BMI Silver Elite and have the frequent flier number linked onto your, say, Continental flight reservation, the system should recognize your status and offer you a free checked bag up on check-in.
As noted above, if you don’t change it, this may also mean you’ll be accruing BMI miles instead of Continental miles for your trip, so you should change it at the gate back to your Continental frequent flier number if that’s what you want to earn.
I signed up but ended up only with Blue Diamond Status, not Silver. How do I get the Silver status?
Same here. Blue.
I tried with the original link. Trying the new link gives a promo code of “OWE”.
Have you tried 1DC6SM in the promo code field? They might have taken it down, but I would try that first.
I’m pretty sure BMI is trying to shut this thing down, but they probably don’t want to piss off everyone by doing it publicly. I’m only guessing here, but USA addresses are probably scrutinized carefully.
Yeah, it does not work. If you go through the sign-up, it auto populates a different code and you are not given the silver status.
I used 1DC6SM, and was given Blue status. Appears this deal is dead.
I just received an email that they are downgrading me to Blue status. They said the offer was “invitation only”. Bummer. It seemed too good to be true.
awww man, i missed out… I need to read my emails faster!