British Airways

Worst airline ever they have zero respect for their customers do not travel with British

I spent s small fortune on biz class tix for me and my family from JFK to London. When I check in, they tell me dinner won’t be served on the flight so instead, we are to eat from a buffet in the lounge restaurant.
So now, we are at the restaurant and its 85 degrees inside. We are sweating and miserable. So I decide to move out buffet meal just outside the restaurant door into the main lounge dining area and the woman gate keeper has a fit! ‘You can’t take the food into the lounge,” she says. But it’s uncomfortably hot in there. Why, I ask, would the airline want its passengers to be so uncomfortable before boarding g a long flight. Especially for no apparent reason!
So I ask any potential BA passengers to think twice and shop around for an airline that will treat you well and be appreciative that you paid a lot for their lousy and rude service. Next time, it’s Virgin Atlantic for us!

I fly a lot, so I’m realistic. I shop price, and the BA round-​trip non-​stop fare was the best one I found, as I have no desire to spend 7+ hours on a packed budget airline like Norwegian Shuttle, or layover in some distant European capital for eight hours. I had an acceptable round trip flight on a 747 – 400 from JFK to LHR, and back.
Check in at JFK was okay, although Terminal 7 is in desperate need of an extreme makeover. It’s a dump. They had pedestal fans all over the place, as the AC was on the fritz. Definitely very third-​world and ghetto-​like. As an American and a New Yorker who has been through Heathrow before, I was embarrassed by this.
Flight boarded and departed more or less on time. IFES was a-​okay, with a good choice of movies and shows. Free headphones. The plane was packed, and for my 6′, 220 pound frame the economy seat was cramped, just as they ALL are on ANY airline. No shock there. The plane was old, but it was clean and fresh.
Decent (as in edible) meal of chicken and vegetables, roll, butter, and cake. Free bevs; I had a couple of red wines because this was a night flight and after dinner and bev run 2, they darkened the cabin and I attempted to sleep. Unsuccessfully, as usual.
Arrived twenty minutes early at LHR. Baggage claim at Terminal 5 was quick and efficient.
Departing Heathrow, check in at T5 was a breeze, and the train between gates is awesome. Boarded aircraft and took off, on time. Another packed 747 – 400, and not for the first time in my years of flying, I wanted to brain the asshole (a fellow American) who unfortunately sat in front of me with his wife. Typically loud, obnoxious, and inconsiderate. Constantly banging around in his seat, during meal service he reclined it so forcefully that my meal flew off the tray and landed in my lap, fortunately it was still sealed. The FA asked him to place his seat upright, as most normal people do during meal service, and stood there until he complied. After looking at her uncomprehendingly for a moment, he did. Not much you can do about fellow passengers, unless they try to light their shoes or underwear on fire. The Indian gentleman, who was my size, sitting next to me in the econo-​seats went out of his way to avoid my limited space, as I did with him, so that wasn’t so bad. None of this was BA’s fault, and the FA’s actually policed the passengers to an extent.
Arrived back at dumpy JFK. Baggage claim sucks because the antiquated pick up area and carousel are too small, and I’m sure the baggage handlers weren’t pouring it on, either.
Anyway, I would fly BA again, but I will always shop around.

BA delayed my baggage because their baggage ramp broke. 4 days later, they have mis-​delivered my bag to a random hotel, and I still do not have my luggage! In fact, I wouldn’t have even KNOWN they mis-​delivered it if it wasn’t for some kind soul at the hotel who called to inform me that they were going to get rid of my bag soon if no one picked it up.
Better yet, no one on the BA side is able to remotely determine where the bag is. ONE PERSON ACTUALLY ANSWERED «just wait, you’ll have it eventually». GEE THANKS! Eventually is definitely what I’m going for when it comes to my baggage that YOU delayed.
The customer service reps are just really, really horrible. You honestly can not even imagine customer reps this horrible. Like, take your worst customer service experience, multiply it by 100 000, and that is BA’s customer service.
As more examples: One of them put me on indefinite hold to get rid of me. The reps also apparently have no way to contact the airport directly except through email and the lost baggage web-​client. I find that very hard to believe, and am fairly certain it was just an excuse so that they didn’t have to try at their job. On the offhand it IS true though, what the f is the point of the lost baggage phone line if they aren’t allowed to contact the airport direct?
Anyway, to sum up, fly BA if you are 100% sure you won’t have bad luck. Because you are screwed if an issue does pop up.

British Airways is the thief of fees! First they charge a $ 1,700 fee for a «free» seat (on top of already using 270,000 miles!) and then when you go to reserve your seat, they charge over $ 100.00 for each leg of your journey. That’s an additional $ 400.00 tagged onto your indirect journey. Mind you, this fee is not for a premium seat, but merely for the privilege of choosing your own seat and perhaps having the pleasure of sitting next to your friend or family. For my part, I will be finished with British Airways.

I took a BA flight with a stop in London to Delhi. Mixed thoughts here. First off, every passenger gets:
— blanket, socks, pillow, eyeshades, 2 meals, headphones, drinks (including alcohol)
Cons that force me to give them 2 stars:
— flight attendants at the terminal at JFK have major attitude. MAJOR! While waiting at the gate, I got up to ask this attendant lady if 1) the plane will have an outlet (it does not) and 2) if the flight is delayed (a reasonable question since I’d had no info already, no?!). Flight out of JFK was delayed about 2 hours and passengers were not informed at all of the delay or of the reason for it. The flight attendant gave me the look of death and answered me with disdain for asking two simple questions that pertained very much to my flight. If you don’t want to help passengers, then why do you work here, missy?
Another huge con is the inevitable delays. I took 4 flights total with BA (2 outgoing 2 ingoing) and every single one was delayed 1 – 3 hours, and the part that really irked me was that no one was informed of anything, whether we were sitting at the gate or inside the plane.
Worst is the seats. I know planes are normally uncomfortable, but the seats on BA are particularly stuffy. I’m 5 feet tall and I couldn’t even fit. I felt horribly for my 6 feet tall brother…
Overall, definitely not worth the exorbitant amount of money!

My # 1 airline of choice for travel between the USA and UK.
I have been flying on BA for decades now and have always received excellent service both on the ground and in the air throughout the years.
The airline has it’s own ultra modern terminals and frequent flyer lounges at JFK and Heathrow. The planes are all very well maintained as is exemplified by BA’s unrivaled safety record. The cabins offer a wide choice of facilities and the cabin staff are always polite and courteous.
Well done BA.

I purchased airfare ticket’s to Europe through a travel agent asking the agent to book using British Airways. Never again. Due to an illness and a Dr. advice I needed to cancel the scheduled flight. Since the ticket’s had been purchased through an agent, the agent was responsible for rescheduling the trip. When it came time to redbook the flight the agent was informed the tickets were no longer valid. British Airways was not willing to reissue the tickets or offer a refund. This injustice seems to be in conflict with their written rules of carriage. Consequently I am out over $ 4.000.

If you don’t believe me try it for yourself.
Go ahead. Call any of their 1 – 800 numbers and be treated to either a busy signal or a minimum 1 hour wait only to be told that they need to transfer you to another department for another hour wait. Then you’ll be lucky if the second department can help you.
I would imagine a small remote village in India with no internet access and a poor grasp of technology and the English language in general could do better. I find it hard to believe any organization making more than $ 10k in annual revenue has customer service of such suckage in magnitude.
Try it yourself right now, or on the weekend or at night. You will be holding forever, and then they’ll probably hang up as soon as a person picks up leaving you at square one.
Do not get suckered in by their 50K free points unless you plan to never speak to customer service ever. This assumes that they book you properly, don’t cancel your flight at their discretion and actually properly credit your account.
The worst.

rating for the counter at JFK terminal 7, very confusing signage I was in the wrong line waiting very close to the counter they never called me or told me check-​in line starts from somewhere else. And extremely slow moving of the actual check-​in line. Takes forever to my turn.

British Airways gives a VERY terrible representation of Great Britain.
I have had nothing but headaches with British Airways and absolutely NO compensation from them whatsoever.
I flew with them once, and I will never fly with them EVER again.
It was from Paris, France (CDG) with a layover in Heathrow, UK (LHR), final destination Freetown, Sierra Leone (FNA).
Firstly, (yes, the length of numbers in this set will astound you) we had a 3 hour layover that became 8. Yes… sitting around in the airport for 8 whole hours… FUN. We were ‘compensated’ with a 20 pound food voucher. I guess that’s better than nothing!
Secondly, upon landing in Freetown, my LUGGAGE WAS MISSING. great. I don’t actually get my luggage back for another SIX WHOLE DAYS.
Thirdly, when I finally do get my luggage back, my camera is stolen. woohoo.
Fourthly, you’re only allotted 7 whole days to report a missing item from your luggage. I was in Sierra Leone for longer than that. The internet there is shakey at best. Good luck trying to fill out an online form. AND hold onto that luck for trying to get a British Airways representative in Freetown to help you. you’ll need a LOT of that luck
FIFTHLY, (yes, it goes on) I get mugged while I’m in Sierra Leone (not BA’s fault! see, I am reasonable here) and British Airways will NOT help an assaulted American customer. My boyfriend calls British Airways to try to help me get my flight home changed to the next day and he’s not allowed to use his credit card to pay for the RIDICULOUSLY high flight change fee ($ 600 USD… highway robbery if you ask me again. Am I being mugged again? totally. This time, however, not from poverty stricken people in a developing country, but from a behemoth bully of an international company)
There are NO methods to help assaulted/​mugged victims. I don’t have much money on me… BECAUSE I WAS JUST MUGGED… yet they ask me to pay on the ground in Sierra Leone and refuse to accept my boyfriend’s credit card…
SIXTHLY, I finally get home and try to fill out a complaint form to receive compensation for the expenses incurred due to the lost luggage but CAN’T. Why? THE WEBFORM IS BUSTED.
So I call and am brushed aside and told to wait a few more days and the website will be repaired. I get this brush off over and over again… the website STILL doesn’t work.
SEVENTHLY, the customer service is downright RUDE. Sharon called me NAMES. She called me ‘negative’ and ‘bad’. Thanks a lot, Sharon. Uhhh, do you expect me to be chipper after all this nonsense has happened to me? Oh, and she so rudely asked me if I had any other questions, and then promptly hung up on me. WTF?! Sharon, the customer service, lady hung up on me! Terrible service!
I WILL NEVER FLY BRITISH AIRWAYS AGAIN.
And yes, I have yet to hear from them on this matter… oh joy

My wife and I were booking a trip to London. BA had seats available for a competitive price. Flying the new Dreamliner was an enticing idea. When it came to booking, there was a fee of $ 42 each to be able to choose seating in advance. Really?! Oink-​oink! Reminds me of eating in London years ago and being charged extra for the bread that was placed on the table.
We will fly with United, which has slightly wider seats on the flight in question. Just say no to ridiculous fees, if you can.

DO NOT take the British Airways flight from JFK to Manchester UK. After advertising a 757 with in seat entertainment on the booking, they stuck my son and his friends on an ancient American Airlines flight which, believe it or not, had NO in seat entertainment units at all and NO movie of any teethe seats were cramped with no legroom– Even worse is that this is the same plane that makes the trip back. For over $ 1225 for the ECONOMY class tickets, BA could at least provide a STANDARD experience. In 2013, no entertainment at all on a 7 hour transatlantic flight is just NOT acceptable.
In reading other online comments (too late) it turns out that BA has been flying this dinosaur plane on this route for at least one year despite complaints from others as well. Wake up, BA– it’s 2013!

I love the movie selections and the food wasn’t that bad lol. I had some cheese tortellini which weirdly enough had sunflower seeds in it (?) and I enjoyed that with a herb roll and chocolate caramel mousse. There was some cold pasta there too but it was too sweet for my liking. An hour before we landed we were given a chicken caesar sandwich. That was the bomb lol. Who would’ve thought to combine the salad with the sandwich? Lol all in all I enjoyed my flight with BA a lot more than Iceland (going to). I was offered wine where as Iceland offered me water and maybe an occasional juice/​coffee. The chairs I hate though. It’s just too tight!

How can an airline be better than an entire country or destination it represents?
Well for starters have:
Friendly people.
Great Food
Good Drivers. (flyers)
and Clean bathrooms.
Basically by being exceptionally accommodating they have scored this honor.
This is the second time in 5 years I’ve jumped the pond in the same manner. Upgrade to Business first class on the outbound flight, and Business standard on the way back.
From the airline that literally invented first class, I can’t tell you how amazing the First class lounge at JFK is.
Tiered in a way that Microsoft could take lessons on how to «tier» their products. Here, when you pay more, YOU GET MORE!
The basic lounge for their frequent flyers is actually enough, and blows other US airlines away. About 6 different daily newspapers for free. Yogurt, fruit, tea sandwiches of several type, coffee, etc. soda, free wine. outlets, free wireless. Varied seating. (tables, comfy couches, leather recliners) A lot, with a cool mezzanine level view of their gates and planes parked.
The priveliege of «Business First» and above gives you access to the dinner lounge, that is perfect if you’re catching an 7pm flight that will arrive the next day around 6am.
Eat like a king, and then sleep on the plane. Not to be disturbed by their on board excellent meal and menu, with an extensive wine menu, that blows a lot of NYC restaurants away.
After eating in the lounge, I had a glass of champagne on board, and then extended my sleeper bed after take off, and didn’t awake until sunrise the next day in London. Granted that can’t happen all the time, and there are some design flaws with their sleeper bed seating, but all in all, it was an amazing experience.
Upon landing they give you two vouchers. One for their lounge on the London side, the other for «Fast tracking» your way through customs.
Last year in Cancun, that wait was about 90 minutes in a non-​air conditioned building. This benefit, made the process take less than 5 minutes. (probably more like 2)
Not being in a hurry when I hit the ground I decided to check out the lounge on the London side.
Hitting the lounge let me get my bearings, and refresh with some yogurt, and standard breakfast foods. Excellent cup of coffee to get me going. Free wireless that works?!! awesome, because my phone doesn’t. That kind of stuff really helps.
The return trip didn’t afford me an upgrade, so I was «on the outside looking in, at the lounge»
But that didn’t stop me from «nicking» their wireless just outside the lounge.
I wanted to run around in circles and yell out in my faux British accent, while holding up my device…. «I NICKED IT! I NICKED IT!!» …but I thought better of it…
The flight back was almost as nice, because this time I took advantage of the on board meals with out ever having to utter. «More Sir.?»
Truly…in any class… this is customer service at its best!

By far the worst airline company I have ever dealt with. I fly quite a bit and I have probably flown with about 10 different flight companies and this company is horrible. I really wonder how they are still around. I have not flown with them yet but I will be on the 18^th. I did the mistake of ordering a ticket from this company to just try them out to see if I would like them or not. First of all if you want to make any changes to your flight they ask you to call back in 24 hours, it took them 4 days to get back to me to let me know that it is way to much to change my flight with them so now I am dealing with a different company. They wanted to charge me $ 1000 to change my flight when I can buy a new ticket from another company for $ 375. They charge $ 275 just to make any changes on your ticket other companies like Delta only charge $ 50. Every representative you end up talking to are all complete morons with no customer service. Every time you call in the wait time is 15 minutes and some times when you get a hold of a person they will put you on hold for 15minutes then hang up on you. I bought their insurance that they advertised about, and after I bought it I got no information about the insurance e mailed to me and when I called to ask for the phone number of the insurance company so that I can get information about the insurance I bought the representative gave me the wrong phone number. Since I changed my one part of my flight and I will not be taking their flight anymore I called them to let them know so that they can resell their plane ticket and the representative told me that they would charge me more money if I canceled that ticket b/​c my other ticket would now be a one way so now the retarded company would rather keep my flight and not resell it, a flight according to them they could sell for $ 1000. Just do your self a favor and don’t fly with this company save your self the headache there is much better companies out there

God damn can I get just a little more leg room. Being 6’2″ sucks on a plane, but with BA I was unable to move my legs for 5 hours when I flew out of JFK to Heathrow. Awful.
Airplane food blows… we all know this. But BA has taken sucktacular cuisine to an all new level. Blech. Wow thank you for this bountiful harvest which includes such goodies as a big dry roll, a nasty piece of cake, a tiny cup of water and a microwaved piece of chicken and veggies. Yummo!
Also the first class areas on BA have become these extremely long runways that you must squeeze by because they no longer have cushy seats… they are cushy friggin beds. We get it, you spend an extra $ 2000 on your plane ticket. Ugh.
Done with flying BA… it is wonder they have been in the «red» consistently for years. I call them Boo-​tish Airways. Yeah… I went there!

Absolutely perfect, from the relaxed start in NYC to a landing in London that leaves you refreshed and ready to explore! The first class and Club World desk has its own security checkpoint, making your transition into the main corridors a breeze. The lounge features flat-​screen televisions, plush cloth and leather couches, private toilets and showers with fragrant bath products to let you cleanse in solitude, and an unlimited buffet with Indian and American food, an extensive assortment of cheeses, and beer and wine. And, all of this stands within feet of the international boarding gates! Ooh, and did I mention the complimentary spa, offering scalp, shoulder, and foot massages? I found myself hurrying to get to Heathrow on my return leg, just so I could enjoy the BA lounge!
The flight was also marvelous. Everyone knows that the people sitting in first class are enjoying complimentary drinks, tastier plane food, and a more extensive selection of movies than those grappling with their headsets and suffering leg cramps in coach. The BA sleeping pod (my term for it) puts all other first class sections to shame. Shame! The moment you arrive at your seat, a flight attendant will present you with a tray filled with glasses of champagne, orange juice, and water, and ask if you would like a paper. Seats are spaciously arranged in sets of two and feature a plush main seat that fully reclines to meet a long foot rest, creating a cozy bed with curved sides that protect your elbows from being bumped in the aisles. A selection of meals and snacks, including real hot chocolate and warm chocolate chips cookies before bed, are constantly available, and will be brought by your personal flight attendant. As you snuggle under your quilted comforter with your spiked hot chocolate, drowsily watching a wonderful film and relaxing in the serenity and quiet of the darkened cabin, you will feel like the luckiest person in the world.