Have you been abused by British Airways?

Modern air travel is stressful enough without the abuse that some airlines inflict on passengers. If you are a legitimate victim of airline abuse and reasonable attempts at redress have been ignored or refused by the airline, I encourage you to submit a complaint via the CEDR to send a clear message to the airline that this behaviour will not be tolerated. The process is free if you are successful or £25 if you are unsuccessful. Please let me know about your success stories!

Legal Advice

If you need legal help, I haven't used Bott & Co Solicitors personally but they have some good advice on their website about claiming compensation from airlines and have a no-win no-fee no-risk guarantee.

Current testimonial

Does BA stand for Budget Airline?????

Just booked flights with BA - first of all website journey was shocking (actually Easy Jets is much much better) and it kept booting me out half way through and it took 5 attempts to book long haul from Glasgow to Vegas. When it finally let me book lots of hidden costs only presented at the after purchase that are not made explicit before booking - £37 each person each way to reserve seat and £120 if we want to put luggage in the hold!!! What's happened to you British Airways...you've changed! Not a good customer experience at all


Other testimonials

Show All Testimonials Add story

I sucessfully sued British Airways in the Small Claims Court

I bought some flights tickets in September 2019. I subsequently upgraded those tickets in January 2020. In April 2021 BA cancelled the flights and refunded everything other than a supposed '£300 per person change fee'. BA never told me about this when I booked the upgrade. Also, why should I pay a 'change fee' for a service which was never provided? Despite various people at BA saying I would receive it, I didn't. So I took them through the small claims court. BA didn't turn up to the hearing - their barristers at 3 Hare Court did - but they had an abysmal case and lost. The Court ruled that BA had a exhibited a total failure of consideration and repudiated the contract.

Small Claims Court is a great tool for consumers. Don't be afraid to use it.

Thanks for the feedback! I wish there were more stories like this.

London, UK


My BA flights to China were cancelled due to the COVID pandemic. I was advised that I could change my travel plans and use the value of the booked flights to book other flights and accommodation - this was not true as BA holidays were not able to use the value of BA flights. I attempted to obtain a refund but was directed to a web page that thanked me for applying for vouchers. I did manage to book some flights but these were also cancelled and I was provided with a new set of vouchers that I didn't ask for. Took case to CEDR - they were useless - off to court now.

Thanks Gordon, this is useful feedback.

Gordon Crosthwaite
Newcastle Upon Tyne

Brief cancellation - no refund

Hi guys, not the most interesting post but wondering if there's any advice for me on this.

I had a long haul flight booked on sunday, but due to a delay in my COVID test results, at the last minute I had to change the booking to wednesday. I was charged £133 for the change. Literally within 15 mins, my test results came through, and I called BA. They informed me that I would have to rebook my original ticket at an additional cost of £70. So I basically paid over £200 to rebook the ticket I'd had 30 mins prior. They have declined my request for a refund twice. Should I push harder?


Decline boarding and declined refund

Strange way of dealing by BA. BA Call Centre confirmed its possible to travel on BA with our available documents. On the day of travel.. boarding declined. 15 families are declined the same way. Travelling with Kids in the early hours is not an easy task and BA should take additional care and inform the families in advance. On calling the call centre for refund they advised there will be 50% cancellation charges as we could not board the plane. So Silly and absurd. BA should understand the reasons behind.

Hyderabad, India

Robbing Bastards

They cancelled my flights and I can't even get through on the telephone to them for a refund to book with another airline. I don't have the funds to do so unless I get my money back off British Airways, can only get a shitty voucher online which is no good to me. Absolute robbing bastards they are it's got to be illegal what they are doing and will all come out in the end should be boycotted by everyone.

Andrew Ellis

Refusing refund

British Airways are total scum in my opinion!!!!! After being a loyal customer for decades, as of today, they are still refusing to refund me for the flights that were recently cancelled. They have deceptively forced me to take vouchers which are only valid for 1 year. They have also eliminated their flying route to Helsinki which means that flights will be more expensive when I rebook using another partnered airline. And lastly as being a loyal customer and an executive club member, they will not freeze my status (Most airlines have given all of their members an additional year in membership as a sign of loyalty and appreciation for customers who fly often). British Airways has done nothing! These are the times when companies like these show their true colors. I respect the fact that they are trying to survive but what they are doing is ILLEGAL. They are knowingly operating this way because they can get away with it during this crisis. It is despicable. Sorry for the rant.

Michael Lomagno

Terrible package holiday

We booked a package holiday through BA and have just had the most awful and upsetting experience.

Firstly we booked for disability assistance for myself - I have RA and Fibromyalgia and for our sons who both have autism and anxiety- we did not receive assistance and on arrival at MCO we had a 3 1/2 hour wait for our vehicle, my feet were swollen and painful and our sons were very agitated we received no explanation and when we finally got the vehicle it was filthy we had to clean the windows and mirrors so it could be driven safely.

We were then put in a lower standard of accommodation than we have paid for, we paid for executive plus and were put in executive it was filthy and the beds not fit for purpose, the shower rail was not fitted correctly and fell on my elderly mothers head - she did not touch it.

After days of contacting BA they finally agreed to move us to the correct standard of villa during the rush and the move the van door slammed on our sons hand breaking his finger and thumb not directly BA or Ocean Florida’s (BA use this company for villas on package holidays) but had we been in the correct villa there is a high chance this would not have happened.

We missed multiple park days which were paid for in advance due to my swollen feet, phone calls with BA and Ocean, Moving villas and on top of that Hospital appointments.

On our return our other son was sick on board the aircraft and left with a full bag of vomit for over 2 hours in fact he left it on the floor when we got off the plane, request for drinks were ignored and when we got off the aircraft no wheelchair! They had misplaced it which left us waiting around for over an hour, since being home BA and Ocean have been unsympathetic and rude!

We have an offer of compensation but it’s no where near what we deserve for what can only be described as a disaster.

Sarah Redmond

They really do suck. In more ways than one.

ATL to DUR & back (11/2019 - 12/2019)

Annoyingly LONG safety 'comedy' video. Was barely tolerable the first viewing, 3 more along the line became extremely tedious.

Breakfasts are basically a tin full of garbage.

They dicked around at LHR for an hour trying to decide whether or not to allow someone on the plane because they had a question about their paperwork. So we all sat there while they eventually decided, yeah the guy could fly on BA but not this flight since now it was too late for him to get on. So they finally flew us an his luggage all the way to Capetown South Africa an hour late. Pilot did NOTHING to make up for lost time.

We missed our connecting flight to Durban, ZA due to this idiocy. Flight crew from LHR didn't give a crap and did NOTHING to help us out. Probably still worrying about not being able to see everyone seatbelt fastened for a few seconds.

Spent an hour waiting for BA to figure out what to do for our group of 5 people to get us from Captown to Durban. They eventually got us all on a flight. They had a junker of a 737 for the flight that had NO AC (it was in the upper 90s) that we got so suffer on.

On the return trip they were 45 min late getting us from DUR to Johannesburg causing us to have to run through the entire Johburg airport to barely make that flight. Nice airport, wish we could have had a few minutes to take a leak and get some water. Get on the aircraft, it was basically falling apart inside. My head rest immediately broke and fell off. Changed seats, the entertainment display froze up and was unresponsive, moved again, started a movie, damn blue pixel stared at me the whole time in the screen, was not going to move again.

Got back to LHR, (hate that place), security there just to switch flights was run by draconian Nazis. (Not BA's fault but added to the annoyance). They actually rifled through some old wheelchair bound 75+ year old guy's paperback books and meds for about 25 minutes holding everyone up.

At LHR apparently the terminal and gate location of our flight was a state secret. They were not going to display it until about 50 minutes before TAKEOFF. I had finally had enough and went to their help desk and got the information. BA HAD the information and was not going to display it on the stupid screens in their 'silent airport' idiocy. Had to treck all the way to terminal B now via a train to get to the gate. Eventually they then make you go down the escalator, through a door, walk out to something else, then carry all your crap down some stairs, out on the the tarmac (in the 30's F that day), then you wait for some busses to show up to lug you a few miles away to where they've parked the aircraft and you have to hike up those stairs. Apparently LHR is a 3rd world airport and BA is a matching airline.

The flight back had people with tiny bladders in my section that didn't care how many times they smashed into you in their non-stop bathroom runs. Oh, bathroom sign was broken, working in reverse. So occupied meant the reverse. You pull the lever to lock the door and it turned the lights off.

Finally made it back to ATL. My luggage did not. It was still sitting in Africa. So was the luggage of the other couple in our group who went through Capetown on the way back vs Johannesburg like we did. So their stuff never left Capetown, and ours never left Joburg. Two separate flights to LHR from two South African cities for our party and they lost all our checked bags in both cities. They got it on fine in Durban but it never made the connectors to LHR.

Seriously crappy airline. Will never fly them again.


A Ruined Lifetime Experience

2019 started out with a momentous life changing revelation for me. I had taken a DNA test half hoping I would be able to confirm the identify of my father who I had never known. I am 73 and had not until now been particularity interested in the matter but life is getting shorter. In any event I didn't confirm my parentage, I revealed an entirely new revelation. It was this massive revelation that took me to America and my brothers I never knew about nor they of me.

So my return from the emotional roller coaster was to be a treat to me and my partner. However this return flight in World Traveller Plus was to be without doubt, the worst flight I have ever taken with any airline in the last 50 years including military flights to and from the Middle East. My partner and I paid extra for the return flight in World Traveller Plus so that we could enjoy a more relaxed and comfortable flight at the end of a short and emotional trip the the USA to meet my newly found half brother.

Everything started to go wrong the moment we arrived in the WT+ cabin and were unable to be seated together despite there being spare seats vacant in the cabin. This made us wonder just why we should be expected to pay EXTRA for an allocated seat when we have already paid a premium price to fly? Yes, I do understand how this happens but I did wonder if the cabin crew could have done something to help and they didn't and didn't seem interested in offering to.

Our flight outbound from the UK to Washington DC was in basic World Traveller (economy) and was comfortable. The return, in World Traveller Plus, was intended as a “luxury”. By comparison in our economy flight we received a steady flow of water and soft drinks and our meal was better than we had expected it to be, even for my partner who is a vegetarian. It was fortunate that we had the foresight to purchase seats for our outbound flight and were perfectly happy with the remote location at the rear of the aircraft combined with the excellent service we received from the cabin crew.

However, on our disastrous return flight from Denver, at the end of an emotional meeting with a brother who I had just found and was meeting for the first time, finding ourselves in an aircraft that had clearly seen better days was a crushing disappointment.

The cabin and seating was grubby and in need of considerable maintenance to the seats, the video display, the remote control handset was dirty and worn out and one of my armrests came off as it was only held down with double sided tape.

My partner’s vegetarian meal was poor, a perfectly good and suitable salad that came with the standard meal, she was mistakenly served with, was taken away from her and replaced for some reason with one that was barely edible and lacked the ingredients that were present in the salad that was removed. The pasta dish we both ended up having was a cloying glutinous mass to eat. The meal that I wished to select from the menu was unavailable by the time I was served, which was very unsatisfactory and the excuse that not all meals can be loaded, was weak. The cabin crew were utterly disinterested and simply smiled sweetly at me as if I was an imbecile.

This flight was bad in so many ways that I am unable to give a clear description of my complete and utter disappointment with BA given the amount of money we are expected to write off. To make matters worse we were so cramped and unable to adjust seats satisfactorily due to luggage under seats neither of us was able to sleep during the entire return journey to the UK. Nor did we receive sufficient fluids during the flight as we had done on our outbound journey.

To be honest, we feel as if we have been robbed and wish, with the benefit of hindsight, we had not bothered to pay a premium price for a substandard service from BA, who are supposed to be one of the world’s leading airlines. The whole purpose of paying for World Traveller Plus was to ensure we could enjoy a relaxed flight home after an emotional visit to my new brother. Let me be clear, it did not meet that single aim and It has shattered our faith in BA and made it certain we will not ever book a flight with BA at any time in the future, as they have badly let us down.

So I complained, on line as is the only way, short of writing to BA and this is a transcript of their replies. I can't provide my complaint as entered on line as BA conveniently, do not reproduce it in their replies.

**** Initial response to my complaint from BA on 4/11/2019


We’re very sorry that you and your partner had some problems with your flight from Denver on 28 October.  This isn’t what you should expect of us, and we understand why you needed to complain.

Thank you for letting us know - please rest assured that your feedback has made a difference and that we’re working on fixing these kinds of problems.  We’d also like to thank you for your patience while we replied to you.

I’ve arranged a combine eVoucher for £100.00 as an apology.  I've included your eVoucher details below with a link to some helpful information about how you can use it:

  • eVoucher number: xxxx

  • Name: xxxx

  • Value: £100.00

  • Expiry: 04/11/2020  NB: This expires the same day as offered!

If you have any questions about how to use this eVoucher, or for the Terms and Conditions, please go to: www.ba.com/evoucher

Once again, please accept our apologies for your experience on this trip.  We hope to welcome both of you back on board soon.

Best regards

Harpreet Taur
British Airways Customer Relations

Your case reference is: nnnnnnnn

**** I rejected this and reiterated my complaints and received this on the 5/11/2019 and I pointed out that they had not addressed my list of complaints (as I have described in my letter.

So, Harpreet Taur, did exactly that.. batted away each point.


Many thanks for coming back to us. I'm concerned to learn how disappointed you have become with our service. I understand after reading your emails how disheartened you feel that we have allowed our standards to slide. 

We know being able to choose your seat is an important part of your journey, whether you pay in advance or wait until selection is free, as we want you to be as comfortable as possible in the air. I realise on this occasion it was very disappointing both of you didn’t get your preferred seat. It isn’t always possible to move you on a busy flight, and we can never guarantee a particular seat to customers. We ask our staff members to try and find another seat you’ll be happy with when we’ve had to do this and I’m sorry we weren’t able to do this for you.

I can imagine how you must have felt when our staff seemed to be unprofessional and unconcerned towards your request. I know this is not the kind of service you would expect from British Airways. 

We fully acknowledge we need to improve our performance in the way we deal with any queries our customers have. This includes looking at our customer care too, as we want to offer a consistently polite and thoughtful service across our business.

I understand you’re unhappy with the quality of our food served to you on your flight especially as you were travelling in our World Traveller Plus cabin.  We know how important our meal service is to our customers, especially on such a long flight.

Our menus in World Traveller Plus are refreshed every month and we include dishes our customers tell us they enjoy. All meals we serve in our World Traveller Plus cabin are freshly prepared and we use locally sourced and seasonal ingredients wherever possible. We’ve also introduced menu cards along with three entrée options, which are of Club World style and standard and presented on china crockery. I’m disappointed to hear we didn’t meet your expectations, as we normally get very good feedback about our catering. 

I would like to thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. I want to reassure you that your feedback is taken seriously. Your email is a meaningful indicator of how our most valued customers are feeling. 

Thanks again for getting in touch with us and I hope you’ve found the above information helpful. We appreciate your support and I hope we can welcome both of you on board again soon. Please feel free to contact me directly by using the blue link below if I can help you with anything else.

Harpreet Taur, British Airways Customer Relations

**** I responded to this on the 5/11/2019 emphasising that their response to my complaints was inadequate.

They have not replied since the 5th November. I did try to call Customer Service only to hear a recorded message saying they were too busy to take calls and I should use the on line system!

I am not looking into making a claim under the Consumer Protection Act to see if I can get some recompense.

Richard Bond

British Airways Blows

So I bought seven round trip tickets for my family from London to Miami as well as round trips for them and other family members from Miami to Liberia, Costa Rica. Tickets all bought and paid for well in advance. Bought in August 2019 for our family reunion trip in January 2020. Plenty of time between flights coming and going. All great. That is until BA decided to F us all over by cancelling the flights. So I called Expedia ( who is also worthless) as I was instructed to do in the email I received informing me of the changes and to re-book. So I did. I accepted the only real options that were presented to me which I quickly realized left us with only 20 minutes between arriving at Miami and leaving for London. Well, I called back to Expedia within hours after realizing the conflict and after over one hour on the phone, I was informed that my only option was to pay another $460.00 per ticket to change flights to two hours later. $190.00 per person change fee, the rest due to class upgrade because my original class purchase was not available on the next flight. In America we call that "bait and switch." BA runs a fare sale, then cancels the flight you book and forces you to either submit to the rip off technique or change all your vacation plans. I've been around long enough to remember when BA was considered the Gold Standard in airlines. But I can tell you all that even their First Class service sucks. This is absolutely the last time I will do any business with this airline. I've had better service with third world airlines all over the world than with BA.

Harry W. Budge III
Naples, Florida


Five days after arrival in Italy without Luggage!!

British Airways lost my bag at Heathrow.

They finally found it, got it to Rome, and turned it over to a courier more than 72 hours ago.

The BA-Lost Luggage number has been disconnected. No one answers the the phone from the courier service that BA hired to deliver my bag and the website for that courier doesn’t function.

BA Customer Service doesn’t answer their posted phone number - or the primary one or the one for Italy.

This is AWFUL! Will NEVER use them again!

(The bag tracer number is FCOBA25091).

Michael Wilder

Total Incompetence

I am part of a touring band, last Friday we had a gig in Frankfurt. My bass, as always, goes in the hold, I arrived in Frankfurt, bass didn't show up. Had to use a borrowed instrument that night. Returned to London the next day. They sent my bass to Frankfurt that night. It's still in Frankfurt!! They can't seem to organise getting it back. It's been 5 days now. I call every day and hear the same story. "We will try to put it on a flight today". It's just a call centre, they just say anything to make you "go away" they won't let me speak to anyone higher up, or give me the name of the duty manager. I just have to keep phoning everyday, and hoping. I need my instrument so I can WORK

Laurence Cottle

Now worse than Easyjet & Ryanair

Flying back from Catania, Sicily to Gatwick last Monday June 17th,
BA 2595 the absolute minimum of leg space, quite a lot tighter than Ryanair or Easyjet.

By the time the drinks trolley got to me in row 18 there was no white wine left to purchase! A person in the row behind asked for a G&T only to be told they had run out of tonic water! And they still had ten rows to go behind me! Yuk!

British Airways sucks!

At least their competitors mentioned above are able to provide a full bar service.

So it's never again if I have any choice! Bye-bye B.A.

James Delaney
London SE9

I was charged 60% of the total amount paid when cancelling a weekend city break.

Long story short: Bought return flights to and from London Heathrow to Brussels and also a hotel for two nights (via British Airways) which came to a total of £246.

I had to cancel my trip and expected to pay a cancellation fee.

However, British Airways refunded me 40% of the total amount I paid (£98.40) saying I would have had more money back if I had cancelled more than 5 x weeks beforehand (I made the booking 2.5 weeks before I was due to fly and cancelled just over a week before by departure date).

This amount is scandalous, seem totally unjustified and if I can be honest, theft justified with their 'policy and small print'.

I would like to pursue more of a refund but unsure if it is possible. Fuming!

London, UK

Advice please - CEDR Seating dispute

I would be extremely grateful for any quick replies to this query as the CEDR adjudication date is upon us in a few days and BA have only now just submitted a number of documents in their defence despite several months of completely ignoring us. As such I have to submit my final response this Sunday (24/02).

To summarise, for our return flight Barbados-Gatwick (November 2018) we prepaid for selected seats at the very rear corner of the aircraft as we knew it was an overnight flight and specifically selected these seats in order that they wouldn't inevitably be bumped from behind as there were no rows behind us. Despite physically selecting the above described seats in the aircraft seating configuration plan (I mean it must be impossible to make a mistake) we eventually learned on boarding the aircraft that we had not been allocated the seating that we had clicked on.

We received an email confirmation for the additional monies paid for these seats at, or near the time of selection, however never thought to check the seat numbers contained in the email (a mistake we will never make again). Because the process is so simple and it’s nigh on impossible to click on the wrong seats we didn’t think to check the email receipt and confirm that we had been allocated our chosen seats. It was only on boarding the actual aircraft and observing other passengers on our chosen seats that the issue became apparent.

In any case, when we eventually found and checked the seating receipt email, lo and behold we discovered that we had never been allocated the actual seats that we had clicked on. As I say I personally believe that it is practically impossible to select the wrong seats on being presented with the plan view of an aircraft – I am a former engineer and interpreting the seating plan is hardly demanding. The only explanation that I can arrive at, is that the aircraft that was used for the actual flight had a different seating configuration to the aircraft plan that we selected our seats from. The only other option is that British Airways had double booked our selected seats and just allocated us something nearby.

I would be extremely grateful to receive any confirmation of similar experience(s) or any thoughts or advice.

Many Thanks.

SJ McLellan
Glasgow, Scotland

Abuse from Cabin Services Director gave me a panic attack

I should start by saying that I'm an Executive Club Gold Card holder, and I never thought that I'd be looking for this web site and posting on it. Whilst everyone knows that BA service has deteriorated in the past few years, I never thought that BA staff would cross the line of causing a panic attack to one of their passengers and then making threats. On a flight yesterday from Rome to London, the Cabin Service Director was so nasty and vindictive that I actually had a panic attack on the flight. At that point, instead of the cabin crew looking after me, he only defended his conduct whilst the rest of them rallied around him. He told me that I could get into legal trouble, and this made my condition worse. I have never had a panic attack on a flight before. I got literally no sleep last night. I really hope that BA will cancel and refund my upcoming bookings with them, so I will never have to fly them again.

Rome, Italy

Wet Seat From Water Dripping From Overhead Lockers

I have heard horror stories but never knew it will be my turn soon.

On my Trip back to London from Accra, Ghana, when I got to my seat, water was dripping on my seat. When I asked to be re-seated, I was told the plane was full and I had no option but to sit on the wet seat. I was given two blankets, one to cover the wet seat and the other to cover myself and paper towels to clean dripping water. The water continued dripping and got worse during take-off and for about two hours into the flight.

When I got back and complained, I was asked to send in my dry cleaners bill. How patronizing and insulting. To make matters worse, some items in my luggage also got lost.

Its high time we all make a stand. I paid good money and expect good service. This is an airline we were all once proud to fly with. Their services have become so appalling, its unbelievable.

William Nortey

Could BA have done any less?

Friday before Christmas - LHR. Already had original flight (etd 1215) canceled so we were left with an 11 hour connection to the 1520 departure. Started showing delays around noon, alternating between 4 hours and 45 minutes. Inbound arrives, gate is shown, ready to board.
"We will board in 15 minutes - we are waiting for a First officer" That drifts to 45 minutes and the board changes to cancelled! Couple minutes later they announce cancellation and "we are trying to get a bus to take you to Newcastle"! Other option was "we will try to get you on a flight in 2 or 3 days and try to get you accommodation for that time". We ask for luggage back and get taken down from the gate area into a secure area and dumped - told "go through Immigration to Belt 7" - no help no-one in the immigration area nothing! We booked train tickets and made it there only 7 hours late - no thanks to BA who also didn't tell anyone of their EU261 rights. God help anyone who didn't know of , or couldn't afford, the rail option. If they were "lucky" they'd have been dumped at a deserted airport at 3 am! 

Keith Thompson

Contract is for carriage only, not amenities (like a reclining seat)

My wife and I booked Premium Economy seats on a British Airways (BA) Heathrow-to-Chicago flight because our travel "day" was going to last 30 hours if all went well. Upon boarding, she reported her seat as malfunctioning. Flight attendants attempted to repair it but failed, and no other seat was available. The attendants promised that BA would compensate her if she reported the malfunction when she arrived in Chicago, but upon arrival she found no BA staff, so she sent an email. In response, British Airways offered her a limited-time-use BA eVoucher for £10. When she rejected it as an insignificant sum compared to what she'd paid for a reclining seat, they offered her an eVoucher for £20, saying that it would be unfair to other passengers to offer her more. Eventually she submitted the matter to the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR), who accepted her claim and referred it for adjudication. British Airways claimed 1) that since payment for the full set of flights in our itinerary was made to American Airlines, then BA had no contract with us and couldn't be held liable, and 2) that even if they were, the contract is for carriage only, not for amenities, and that they owed my wife nothing. The adjudicator ruled that the matter actually didn't fall under the Montreal Convention 1999 and that, apparently, the CEDR erred in accepting the complaint. A letter to the BA CEO was never answered. In the end, neither airline would accept responsibility. Thus BA pocketed a hefty sum for something they did not actually provide. We will avoid British Airways henceforth, as they have shown themselves to be dishonest.

Bill Murphy
Indianapolis, Indiana USA

Crooked BA

My elderly mother (in Europe) was in decline, requiring frequent trips (from the US) by my wife and I to take care of her. She passed away suddenly before my scheduled trip, which I had to cancel and make a new booking, as the change fee quoted by BA was $3000, but I was able to get a new flight booking for $900. I had reserved a seat, paid for it and BA refused to refund that cost, even in death circumstances. They likely sold the same seat to another passenger too. Similarly, my son had to cancel his planned trip with BA (next month) and BA even did not refund taxes on that flight. That is theft and fraud. BA are now run by a Spanish crook - Alex Cruz - who has taken BA from the lead and crashed it.


Traveling On BA (Again) Reminded Me Why I Rarely Travel BA!

With a "Stumpenfuhrer" marching up and down every few seconds eagle-eyeing if all our seat belts were fastened and (minus a whip) harshly chastising anyone whose was not or indeed any slight infraction of any little rule, praising the well-dressed and well-suited economy travelers as a shining example to the rest of us sluts, I couldn't help but remember exactly why it is I rarely travel on BA - except in extreme emergencies (!)

Ah yes! As I recalled several years ago, "the clone of Stumpenfuhrer" was marching up and down this very aisle barking orders (in the most polite of manners!) and our ears pricked up as we listened in terror to the heavy stump of her exact march - to check for any infraction of the Rules.

My neighbour to the left was a well-suited individual who "disappeared" in mid-flight for such a long time that I remarked to him on his return that I thought he had "got off" the plane - without letting the rest of us know (!) We had a good laugh (!)

As the beverages trolley passed by I almost missed it cause I had lightly fallen asleep.

I had the temerity to call back the trolley just as it passed to be greeted with the grunt:

"I rarely miss a thing! ; funny I missed your request for service?" to which I replied politely "well, ahem, I was asleep". To which I got another 'grunt-nod' of disapproval (!)

I politely asked for a bottle of carbonated water.

"We don't take cash!, she pounced as I whipped out my 10 euronote - then quickly replaced it and, with a terrified heavily-shaking hand, handed over a debit card - praying I would retrieve both my card (and my hand!) when the transaction had completed (!)

Because I recently had a foot injury I requested to be last off the plane so as not to hold up the other passengers as I hobbled along at one foot an hour (!)

(I think she must have then phone through to the Gorilla at border security cause when I hobbled there - the last to arrive - about half an hour late - she too gave me a disapproving look and says "where have ye flown in from?" I gruffly said something about "Heathrow" - and departed in a huff!)

So that was my total flight experience with BA.

As usual, a journey as ever to remember (!)

At least when I finally hobbled onto the Airlink Bus to the City centre I had a good banter and laugh with a "normal" people (!) and the rest of my brief stay was placid (!)

It happened that I returned on Ryan Air - always a joy to fly with, at the very least, cheerful and considerate on-board staff - to all customers suit or no suit (!)

Never a dull moment traveling with BA (!)


London UK

BA starts the word BASTARDS

Bumped in Florence with the family and left to book a flight home ourselves. From an airport 100km to an airport 80km away from where we started. Customer Relations knowingly offer derisory BA vouchers and break their own EU guidelines around compensation.


Take your complaint immediately to the CEDR, this is the catalyst for getting this shameful business moving.

Do not spend any of your money with BA or its other 'crafty' subsidiaries.

The CEO should be removed.

Ely, Cambs

Cancelled flights and lost luggage

Dear God why does BA exist? My wife and I recently paid for two business class tickets from Sydney to London with a side trip to Corfu and Edinburgh - costing close to $20,000 AUD.

The day before we departed they sent me a text advising they had cancelled our flights ex SYD - their alternative flights were a day later in economy - WTF ??. Thankfully after 6.5 hrs our travel agent managed to get us on Cathay.

We duly arrived in Edinburgh but without wife's bag. Eight (8) days later, approx 30 calls to their lost baggage call centre in India they weren't sure where the bag was - despite me advising them Cathay had it arriving at Heathrow. Finally back in LHR before we flew to Corfu my wife found her bag amongst hundreds of other "lost" bags.

During this whole nightmare BA did nothing until I emailed their CEO This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - they still did nothing other than advise we would be compensated for the replacement clothes and suitcase (her bag was destroyed). So the legal minimum was all they offered and refused to upgrade us as I asked in lieu of wasted days on the phone, tears and relentless anxiety.

What a useless and revolting airline. Never fly BA.

Gavin Durbin

The worst biz class in the sky

Why on earth if BA but it's same horrible biz class seats on its new A380s? Isle seats have zero privacy and if you are in a window seat, you have to crawl over another passenger. And still no Wi-Fi on many A380s. Shameful! I will never fly BA again and we should all spread the word so this horrible airline is forced to change or go out of business.

BA hater

Zero customer service

Landed in Dublin from the US with no luggage. I've now been here 6 days still with no luggage and no updates.

Customer service does not exist - the number goes to India who transfers me to a phone number that just rings and rings and rings. I have spent half of my trip on the phone trying to reach anyone to help me, buying clothing and sundry items (not to mention a prescription I badly need.)

This has been a disaster and they have ruined my vacation. How do you lose a huge hard side piece of luggage? HOW?!


Stewards stopped making eye contact with me as I disembarked

Took BA16 from Singapore to London Healthrow, I have this habit of thanking the crew if they were not busy and standing along the aisle.

Said thank you and good bye to 2 crew on the way out but at the door, i noticed two white stewards who were wishing passengers good bye at the door stopped when it came to me and looked away as I walked through, and i heard them saying good bye again right after me. Passengers in front and behind me were... whites.

Not sure if both of the stewards had itchy eyes at that exact moment, but hey, whatever floats their boat. Just voicing my observations.
Asian Passenger
Singapore to London


On my way to Bucharest I had 2 bags, my handbag and shopping from the duty free. When I arrived to board one person called Holly told me I can only have 2 BAGS INCLUDING DUTY FREE and hand bag. This Holly continued “and this is generous”. Are you guys serious?? Even RyanAir which is one of the worst airlines around allows duty free shopping.  Instead of making business travellers feel welcome you scare them. There are other airlines flying on these route even if there are stop overs and I can chose easily another.

The seats are ever so uncomfortable and the space between rows could not be any smaller (and I am an UK size 10). The seat’s arms do not lift. You either skimmed on money when you puchased the aircraft or you have done it on purpose as God forbid one can feel comfortable on a 3.5 hrs trip!

In the airport I have stayed in the queue for 45 MINUTES!!! At the “business queue”. I arrived at the airport 3 hrs before. By the time I got through the security it was over 1.5 hrs. I then rushed through duty free and there was literally no time to go up 2 floors go to business lounge. You should be ashamed of yourselves for making business customers queque for so long. It’s almost a tactic to ensure they never make it to the lounge for refreshments as that way you save money, right?

I do not know which direction BA is going, but it’s not a good one. People are choosing you because of the reputation you once had. If now you copy the likes of Ryanair not only you damage the brand but you also make people actually go to Ryanair rather than copycats.

Andreea B

No coffee, tea or water without a charge, now Lost and Found yet another insult

I am an Executive Platinum (Emerald) frequent flyer. I used to be the highest level of BA, with once over 2M miles.

I go out of my way to no longer fly BA because of the deteriorating service.

I also speak to many BA employees, and they all hate their job.

All in all, a fraction of what they used to be.

Anyway, I left my laptop on a flight from Munich to London. I realized it immediately. I was not allowed to retrieve it. So I went to lost and found. They were closed (at 7:30 PM). I could not speak to anyone who could help. I approached several BA employees at Terminal 5, and even asked for a manger. No one had any suggestions, other than "too bad". I went online and found that BA has outsourced Lost and Found.

Two days later, I was able to retrieve my laptop by actually traveling to the airport. I could not speak with anyone. Here is the best part. They charged me 20 POUNDS!!!!!  to get my own laptop back.

I tell everyone I know who travels to avoid BA. The lounges are run down (even the Concord which I was in recently), and Avios is a joke.

Ron Rock
Terminal 5 Heathrow

Missing Baggage because I was given a faulty tag by BA

My baggage is missing because I was given the wrong baggage tag by one of the BA staff at the check in, which makes the tracing of my baggage so difficult. 

Even worse is their customer service, I have been phoning them in overseas phone rates. Last week, one of the staff who answered this number said a match was found and I was told to call back again in 24 hours to double check. I called in and was told the checking has been taking place and I need to call in again. I called today at 8:53 and was told the match was not correct and he said "BA did everything we can". He hung up on me when I was questioning how is it possible that "BA did everything BA can" when it was BA staff who gave me the wrong tag and I have been the one who have to call back several times when BA was not doing the job I was promised... The whole experience is NOT acceptable. 

I called BA today and they told me they consider the bag is lost and they will not keep looking for it!!! BA sucks!!! I will never take their flight and I will strongly advise my relatives, friends and people who see the webpage not to as well!!!

Ying Zou

Ruined our trip to New York - A truly shocking attitude and dismissive attitude to customers

BA were once a pleasure to fly with, now I find it despicable, not only their contempt for customers, but also from what I read how they pay cabin staff.

My latest experience was a dreadful flight to New York on 4th December, whereby having paid lots of extra money for specific seats with more leg room, it transpired the flying cattle truck they loaded me onto had a different seating configuration to that shown on the BA.com flight reservation platform. The cabin crew told me this was a common occurance and they constantly have upset customers with the same issue. Haviing complained, BA "customer service" of course sent a standard response which had no relevance whatsoever.

On the flight back they did the same and even moved us on to two seperate rows.

At JFK there was chaos with BA flights cancelled becuase of snow at Heathrow. Now this might be excusable, but those customers delayed or cancelled, were just left in the check in queues, meaning people on later flights which were not cancelled could not check in and queues not going anywhere! There were no BA staff available, no anouncements - Nothing! Only some initiative by myself and 3 fellow passengers persuaded some airport staff to open another desk and pull passengers for our scheduled flight out of the stagnant queue and got us checked in. We just made the flight, but no thanks to BA.

How did an airline go from being great to shocking in such a short time. Perhaps the recently appointed CEO would benefit from attending the Harvard course on "Service Profit Chain" principles, to gain some insight on why poor customer service jepordises company profits and indeed the whole company in the longer term.

I am placing this issue in escalation and raising it with Visa. It is now a point of principle and must say I like this site and wish you all success in getting customer justice in your dispute.

in my view as a seasoned traveller, the problem is not with employees who do their best, but with executive leadership team who seem out of touch with customer reality.

Neil Cox

Even as an Airline Pilot, I couldn't believe how bad BA were

I, from an inside view point, understand that problems happen within the airline Industry. But it is how you resolve them that counts.

On a recent weekend break to Frankfurt booked on BA, I was shocked how shabby the planes were. BA cancelled our return journey and we were unable to get through on the phone and their website crashed. Which left us to book additional accommodation etc. etc.

Finally managed to accept a return flight the following day on my phone App. BA lost our luggage, still haven't found it a week later - but the Indian call centre (when you can get through) were very helpful in telling us three different versions of where our luggage was and when we would get it - today they admitted they just don't know.

Bye Bye BA, I am another that will bid farewell to ever crossing your cabin door again.

James Feeney

I witnessed my bag getting damaged

Last week on a flight from Amsterdam to London, my cabin bag was put in the hold as the overhead lockers were full.

On landing in London, as the aircraft was waiting for the aerobridge, I watched with curiosity and trepidation (Murphy's Law!) from my window seat, my cabin bag being taken out of the hold and being left on the tarmac by a handler. I was appalled to then see a careless baggage/food trolley carrier vehicle actually reversing in the direction of my cabin bag... watched with complete helplessness this vehicle run over my cabin bag and dragging it for a few feet before the handler alerted the driver and they pulled my bag from under the vehicle.

As expected when i collected the bag, it was crushed (soft luggage), and had got holes and was torn. We filed a damaged bag complaint but the response from British Airways staff reeks of arrogance. The response, the tone, the reasoning is nothing but scandalous. (They are offering us a generous 25 pounds compensation because we flew economy!) I am thanking my stars that on this trip I did not have my camera or laptops/tablets etc in the cabin bag. My husband is filing a case in small claims court.

Mrs Venkatesh has emailed through the following update:

Your site information was really useful. Following what I read in your website my husband lodged a claim in small claims court here in London by paying £25 fees. We had claimed £60 for the bags that BA damaged. BA said they would contest the claim in court. But finally their lawyers called us and offered us full compensation (which was more than our initial claim). If only BA's outsourced baggage handling thug company K Global and BA's own customer service were not so nasty, they would have saved themselves a good amount of money. I am very pleased with your website. more power to you and small claims court. Kind regards, Mrs Venkatesh

Mrs Venkatesh
UK Bracknell

BA has worst customer service ever

I traveled from Hong Kong to LHR on BA in bsuiness class. During the flight my suitcase was damaged. I filed the complaint upon arrival at LHR.

It's been over a month and i finally got contacted by BA, after having hounded them for weeks. I have now been told that a like for like replacement of my previously awesome, but now broken Burton bag was not an option. Instead, I will be issued a replacement bag by Rynns luggage - who also BTW suck... havent heard from them either.

So much for customer service. i am a One World Emerald Member which seems to mean nothing to them - and truthfully shouldn't impact their customer service - but does with other airlines.

i traveled in a premium cabin, but again this seems to matter very little.

I have now decided to boycott BA and no longer fly with them, and will go as far as avoiding them on code share flights. i have been "BA'd" one too many times

Hong Kong / UK / USA

Luggage found, but BA customer service was lost

My friend Doug and I flew from Orlando to London, via Miami. We arrived in London to find that our golf clubs and suitcases had not made the trip with us. The Customer Service agent at Heathrow told us that the bags were in Miami. She gave us a claim form to fill out and told us that the bags would be delivered to our hotel. This was a bit of a problem, in that we were on a traveling golf vacation and the first four nights we were booked in separate accommodations, in different locations.

We trusted that the luggage would arrive the next morning and that it would be delivered to our hotel in Sandwich, Kent, where we were playing golf at Royal St. Georges and Princes golf clubs. However, when we called BA customer service the next morning, they could not verify that our bags had made it onto a flight that day.

We went on to play golf at Royal St. Georges and after the round we received a text message from the contractor that BA uses to deliver delayed or lost luggage. The text message stated that they had our bags and would schedule delivery. The problem we had was that we were to go from Sandwich to Coventry that afternoon, and then on to play golf at Royal Birkdale the next morning, staying at Lytham the next night. So we tried contacting the delivery agent, but couldn't get through to them. We called BA again, but the CS agent couldn't even determine whether our bags were in the country. Eventually, we talked them into giving us the phone number that they used to contact the delivery agent. We called this number at about 18:20, and found that they did indeed have our bags, but they wouldn't be delivered until the next evening. We asked if we could pick them up at their warehouse, which was acceptable, and they were open until 21:00. We jumped in our rental car and drove like maniacs to their office near Heathrow, arriving at about 20:59, and they had our bags set out for us.

On the good side, I would say that BA did reimburse many of our expenses for things like golf club rental, purchase of rain suits, clothing, golf gloves, golf balls and other associated materials. They refused to pay for the loss of our prepaid green fees for the first day of golf at the Princes Golf Club.

Jeff Elledge
North Florida

Held Hostage in the UK

My wife and I flew BA from Orlando, Florida to Edinburgh. Our tickets required us to bus from Gatwick to Heathrow for the connection. This was a problem for my wife, as her knees were giving her fits. So we explained to the ticket agent in Orlando that we wanted to change to a connecting flight out of Gatwick, which we booked and paid for.

Unfortunately, the agent failed to cancel us out of the Heathrow to Edinburgh flight, so when we didn't show, BA cancelled our return tickets to the US. On top of this, they didn't bother to provide us with any notice of this cancellation. So the first we found out that our tickets were cancelled was the day before the return, when we attempted to check in for the flight. Even then we didn't get a straightforward message on the web site, but just a note that we had already taken the flight. So we called BA customer service. The first CS agent told us that our flight was being cancelled because of weather, but he would get us on a flight in two or three days. We told him that we knew the flight wasn't being cancelled because of weather, and that we couldn't wait several days to get home. He told us to just go to the airport and let the gate agents sort it out.

Since we had already been lied to, we decided not to trust his advice, so I drove to Edinburgh to talk to a CS rep in person. This person eventually figured out that our tickets had been cancelled. She advised that we would need to purchase new tickets for the flight the next day at a cost of about US$3500, roughly twice the cost of our original round trip tickets. When I asked if there was a supervisor that we could speak with, she told me that there was a supervisor on duty, but that he wouldn't want to talk with me.

On checking the Conditions of Carriage, there is a specific provision that states that BA will not cancel subsequent flights if you cancel a leg prior to the check in time for the flight. So after buying tickets on another airline to get home, I again contacted BA Customer Service. They told me that they had checked with their legal staff and that since I had not cancelled 24 hours in advance, they could not reimburse me for the other tickets we had purchased. I once again reviewed the Conditions of Carriage, which clearly states that BA will not cancel subsequent legs of a flight if cancellation occurs prior to check in. There is a separate provision regarding refunds, which was not relevant. They then offered to refund the taxes and fees from the original tickets, but not reimburse us for the second tickets that we were forced to purchase. I explained to them that under the contract (conditions of carriage) even a refund of taxes would only be made if there was a cancellation prior to check in. But by that point the CS rep was speechless and powerless to correct this mess.

I am still trying to decide whether I will sue BA for breach of contract. Under Florida law, I would need to file the lawsuit in south Florida, where their corporate business address is registered. This is about 200 miles from my home, so even a claim in small claims court would require me to make several 8 hour round trip drives. What else can you do when a corporation like BA screws you?

Hi Jeff, you can probably submit a claim via the CEDR. If you paid by credit card, another option might be to have your bank reverse the transaction which is reasonable when you have paid for a service you did not receive.

Jeff Elledge
North Florida

**** British Airways

Tried prebooking seat for my wife going back to Thailand. Web site wouldn't let me. Phoned BA. Indian lady less than helpful. Despite me paying for a Premium Economy seat she would only speak to my wife. She speaks less English than the rep. It was impossible. Got to Heathrow and told she was bumped down to economy. BA said she would get a refund voucher at the gate. This would be a voucher against future flights!!' Do they honestly believe I will use BA again? I purchased this ticket about 5 months ago. I bet the people with her seat only got their ticket recently. BA ARE THIEVING BASTARDS
Glenn Michael Perry

We must Unite against this monster company

Having gone through the experience of trying to use my AVIOs miles, and then having gone through the internet and found the number of people disgusted with British Airways, I think we need to have a more organized approach to blackballing this airline.

Although these internet sites (British Airways sucks, We hate BA etc) are great for venting, perhaps what we need is for crowdsourcing (1 Euro or pound per disgusted ex customer) and then using the money to buy advertisements in major newspapers to let the public know about this sham of an airline.

Are other people interested in advancing this action?

George Christakis
Toronto Canada

BA Loves Delaying Flights!

I've flown BA for many years but this year that has changed. Along with Flybe, they are the worst airline I've ever used.

This year started with a family holiday to Tampa, from Jersey (via Gatwick). Our flight from Jersey to Gatwick was scheduled to be on-time, however the bag drop staff reluctantly told us that the flight would be an hour late, however this information was not put on the boards.

We boarded very early, but were forced to stay seated until we had our landing slot at Gatwick. Why couldn't we takeoff and just hold over Gatwick? That would have been better than being sat there worrying about whether we would make our connection.

The flight landed at 9am, about an hour late, which gave us two hours for our connecting flight to Tampa. 10am, 11am went past, and the boards still said "Boarding [time]," until it got to that time, when it said "Next info 11:50." I've had 'next info' delayed and know they're never good. Once it got to 11:50, the boards were now saying "Next info 12:50", then "Next info 13:50."

At that point, we were unhappy about the lack of communication so went down to the BA customer service desk to ask what was up. We were greeted by a very angry croud who were on our flight. The lady at the desk told us that flight was delayed due to aircraft technical problems, and we would be scheduled to takeoff at 3pm, over 4 hours late. BA never put this information on the boards. They knew there would be no 'next info.'

We were also confused as to why several other Boeing 777-200s (the aircraft we were on) were taking off. Surely it would be logical to put us on an aircraft which is available and do that for all the other flights, until it gets to the last one which could use the aircraft we would be on. It felt like BA didn't care about us. This process repeated, and eventually we took off at just after 5pm, 5 hours behind schedule.

Both of the Boeing 777s we were on during the trip were in a horrible state. The seats and floor were dirty and the aircraft walls were very discoloured. The IFE is not worth using with the window blind open as the screen is so bad you can't use it. The content was poor, the food was fairly poor, staff service was ok, but overall it was an awful experience.

Later that year I was booked on a BA flight to Malaga, which was the exact same experience. It was late and uncomfortable. The flight attendants had run out of such basic things like water and cola whilst serving the first 10 rows of the aircraft. How on earth can you run out of bottled water? Overall, BA are absolutly dreadful and not worth using. Choose another airline.

Jersey, Channel Islands

Fly ABBA (Anything But British Airways)

Flight BA 869 (July 26-27, 2017) was delayed overnight in Budapest. BA did nothing to help with hotel reservations (which were difficult enough for a local person because the World Swimming Championships were taking place, but virtually impossible for a non-local). No food vouchers were arranged, nor any support offered.

Contrast this with the service which Air Berlin gave to its passengers who were also stranded that night. These German passengers told me that their airline had taken care of hotel reservations, transport to and from the hotel, and food, while BA's Hungarian agent just gave us a single sheet of paper at around 22.00hrs setting out what incurred disruption expenses we would be entitled to claim back, and telling us to report back the next day to the airport for a flight (BA 867) at 13.15hrs, which happened to be already fully booked. Surely, BA had a duty of care to its passengers, some of whom were visibly distressed, but instead we were simply abandoned at the airport late at night in a city where the chances of finding accommodation that night would be low.

Flight BA 869 was reclassified from cancelled to delayed overnight, and by the time we finally landed at Heathrow at 19.10hrs the next day, over 22 hours late, all I had been offered since arriving at Budapest airport 25 hours earlier, was a glass of water on the plane, and it had not even been possible to buy food on the plane. I had been extremely lucky to find a hotel, but this was due to my own connections rather than any help from BA’s agents.

Until I boarded the plane 22 hours after our scheduled boarding time, I had not had a single sighting of a BA employee, because BA had outsourced its representation in Budapest to a ground service agent, which represents many airlines, and which did not appear to be authorised to take any decisions with respect to passenger well-being. Even the customer service telephone line, which I called overnight because I couldn't confirm which flight I had actually been rebooked on, was answered from an outsourced service in India. Outsourcing so many aspects of customer service may save costs, but it is a dangerous strategy when customer service is supposed to be one BA’s core selling points, and it certainly did not work for me.

Once the flight had taken off, the BA cabin staff (who were charming and upbeat) promised that a BA management representative would meet us at our Heathrow arrival gate with food vouchers, but, true to form, no one showed up. During the whole of the 24-hour ordeal, I did not see a single BA representative before finally boarding the flight. I have flown several times a month for the past 30 years (I am an international lecturer on strategy and valuation), and, although you may call me lucky, I have never been exposed to such a lack of support and service (and that includes many flights on so-called 3rd world airlines).

I have no problem with an airline messing up; we all mess up from time to time. However, it is what you do next that is important, and BA simply abandoned us late at night in Budapest with absolutely no support for nearly 24 hours before it managed to get us on to another plane.

If the recent stories of people being denied compensation by BA are true, I presume that I shall struggle to get any compensation for incurred expenses or delays, but that is not the point, and I have already as good as written off any hope of proper restitution to experience. However, BA could have turned the delay into an opportunity to impress future customers with some helpful action, and they failed to do so. This failure comes from the top.

BA's treatment of its passengers in this instance was nothing short of deplorable, and I shall be flying ABBA from now on.

Show Me The F*cking Money Hi Stephen, It's pretty clear to me also that "This failure comes from the top". When IAG / British Airways senior management include a "Show me the f*cking money" slide in a presentation proposing staff cuts and further cost-cutting, it seems unlikely that staff morale, customer satisfaction or dare I say, even safety, are priorities any more.

Stephen W Shaw

Good bye old friend

Dear BA,

I am sitting on a flight from Tel Aviv to London.

It is half way through the journey and in my many many years of flying BA I had the worst meal experience I have ever had. In my silent debate with myself I was wondering if I should stay silent or use my limited time telling you about my struggle. I decided the latter hence my letter.

Pardon me for being facetious for just a moment but I would like to 'congratulate' BA for conforming. You used to set the bar and show others the standard, but now have sadly gone the way everyone is going.

Truthfully, I would not feed my dog with the food I had on this plane today. BA had always had great food in economy.

Those days are gone. The bread was old, the pasta not edible and the dessert hardly seeable. Our well defined 'one Drink' policy now which helped us numb the pain before, now actually has perhaps opened my eyes a bit wider to the seriousness of the situation.

Do I have sower grapes not flying First Class, hardly. Once you have been on Mission stations in Africa you can hardly be a picky eater even if you tried.

I don't fit your profile, I get it. You want the high fliers only and the boys with the big bucks and actually wish our time wasting economy fliers would fly off the planet while you graciously tolerate us and whilest scheming to buy planes that only 'serve' business customers.

We now get 60% less air miles on an Economy flight and you need to fly around the globe about 40 times before getting any benefits whatsoever.

God forbid one of the creme de la creme of BA are to fly 'World Traveller' for one day. Then things would change I am sure.

All I know is that the BA we have been supporting and flying is gone.

We had great friendships, great laughs and BA has been the best Airline worldwide hands down. We have proudly promoted BA wherever we go. I have even wiped your restroom floors and toilet seats when dirty out of embarrassment for 'our' faithful British Airline.

Goodbye old friend....


Never dealing with BA again

Booked an international flight through American Airlines and for 3 legs of the round-trip journey they put me on British Airways. Didn't realize how much I would hate this.

  • British Airways charges you $15 (at least) per flight per person to pick your seats ahead of time
  • They wouldn't let me check in online (I just kept getting an error message that said "proceed to the airport")
  • Customer service was of no help. Not even an effort for help, simply just stone-walled me at every turn. Not to mention that it sounds like all of their customer support is India and English is not their first language (was very hard for me to understand and communicate with them)
  • I was told I could choose seats for free when I checked in online, but (see above) was unable to check in online (again, customer service was of NO help)


I'll never fly BA again. They charged me $800 when I had to cancel one leg of my flight due to a change. And they routed me to an Indian call center where they clearly do not speak intelligible English!


When do you ever hear the good news?

I flew BA and I must say I received top service as I should expect from such a high quality business. 

When was the last time you received good service and actually wrote up about it?

The cabin crew were amazing. I got exactly what I asked for! The whole journey from start to finish I couldn't fault!

Travelling in Club, I was spoken to by my first name - So friendly! It was like they actually knew and cared for me!

I will continue to fly with BA,  Human errors occur people. Not every business or employee is perfect!

Don't let one bad experience put you off.

They really put the cherry on the holiday for me- PERFECT!

Jordan Cooper

They add charges if your address is not in the UK

I booked two business class return tickets from Costa Rica where we live to London Gatwick via a call to the UK and using a UK credit card for a sterling transaction. They added 120 pounds foreign transaction fee and refused to change it. We will use honest airlines in future.

Ivy Penman
Grecia Costa Rica

They used to be my favourite but not any more

Yesterday my wife returned from Korea but it's a miracle she even got on the flight. I received an email the day before her flight asking me to contact BA "URGENTLY" normally if something is urgent you call! Anyway it was a Saturday, I just happened to check email and so I called BA, I got cut off twice but eventually I managed to get through to someone who told me that my wife's ticket had not been issued! I was astonished she was departing in less that 12 hours in her time zone. I asked why it hadn't been issued and was told my credit card didn't work. I gave a new card and the ticket was issued. But here's the thing I called Barclaycard and they told me there was nothing wrong with the card and BA had NEVER tried to put any transaction against the card - so why lie to me? That is just very very very poor customer service - BA you've lost my trust!
Tim Taylor
London UK

Shame on BA treating anyone like this never mind Gold Guest List

Such a shame to see the ongoing demise of this once known as 'worlds favourite airline'. I won't spend unnecessary time explaining in minute detail what's happened but instead focus in key facts.

1. Went to change date of paid bus class ticket. Cost £150. System crashed twice. Call BA told 'systems not working try later'

2. Try again within 12 hours, price to change now £500. Call BA explain situation told someone will call me back. They never did.

3. Check online account next day and can see new flight details so feel happy and assume BA changed flight for me hence why no one called me back.

4. 2 days later I try to check in but can't. Call BA only to be told that need to pay £2,000 for increased fare. Explain to them, wait over 1 hour no help.

5. Next day before travel explain again. No help.

6.Have to return home so pay the £2k and travel home but only after log complaint to BA customer service. Who promise to call me back in next day or so.

7. Customer service call me back 3 days later to advise they are looking into it and need to trace the call I made in step 2 and they will call me back before end of the week.

8. End of week arrives no one from BA has called.

9. I call BA - wait 15mins on dedicated GGL line - to be told someone will call me back.

10. BA Call me back and advise they found the call can clearly hear what happened. They can't explain why no one called me back and can neither tell me what I could have done differently, I explain that I've ended up spending more because of their systems not working (this includes human system). Told 'sorry' but that's the end and I can't escalate any further...

So, Dear BA above is a great example of how to lose a loyal, 20 Bus class flights pa, head of a business that spends approx $1mn pa with you. Travelling BA, Virgin, Emirates, Singapore is largely same - has become commodity. Customer service is the only differentiator.

Oh, the good news. Above is great content for a case study that we can use with OUR clients across 5 continents - thank you BA, you're a real class act!

Mr K

Never fly BA to Pheonix

Flew BA to Pheonix return exec class, the staff and plane were as bad as each other, dirty, audio visual not working and totally useless and unhelpful cabin crew.

I will never fly BA again possible the worse customer service and quality of care and cleanliness ever seen seen.

No wonder people BA stands for budget airline even though budget airlines are much better.

BA you stink and should try another business useless as your staff are.

Simon Humphrey

BA's sarnies saga

British Airways and the sarnies saga:


Thanks Brian, this is an interesting read on the current status of BA. I had no idea easyJet and Ryanair both now carry more passengers than British Airways. It sounds to me like BA staff are as unhappy as BA passengers and this is surely a recipe for disaster.

Brian Lait

Antique BA plane for 11 hour flight?!

I flew from London to Bangkok for 11 hours in economy. Torture! The plane they used was obviously very old - my mobile has a screen about the same size as their tv screen. No outlets to charge our devices. No legroom whatsoever - serious leg cramps.

Poor service. We only got a dinner and a snack for an 11 hour flight. Unfriendly flight attendants.

I am dreading going home with BA - 13 hours this time! We will NEVER use BA again. Only Emirates.

Annie F

Unexpected class downgrading

I booked Business seats for my wife and me on British Airways via the Destinia travel agent from Cairo to London Heathrow and return from London to Cairo (BA154 & BA155). I booked the flights online two months before the traveling date. I have received an email from BA to confirm my booking as business class, and full payment made successfully.

On the return journey in Heathrow Terminal 5 at the checking in desk they astonished me by telling me that my class will be a downgrade from business to the economy they didn't say why. After more than 2 hours arguing with BA’s staff in a very stressful environment full of frustration, they allowed me to meet with the customer service manager at the lounge of Terminal 5.

The BA customer manager told me that British Airways usually oversells the seats of business class.

The BA customer manager in Terminal 5 lounge has promised me to refund the fares difference within one day plus 300 GBP compensation if I accepted to move to economy class on the same day of traveling day.

My wife and I became so frustrated, exhausted and stressed due to this argument lasted for 2 hours. Therefore I had no choice to accept the offer of BA customer service manager. She gave me 300 GBP compensation.

However till now British airways did not refund the fares difference, this is completely unfair since business seats cost more than $2000 each.


Terrible customer service

Terrible. I have been trying to have a flight cancelled since November. The booking allowed cancellation and refund of avios and cash used. I have called numerous times to be told by an automated system I would call back as they're busy. On the four occasions I've made it through to a human I have been told the matter is in hand and should be completed in the next couple of days. Nothing happens, nobody follows the matter up and I must call again. Separately I complained to customer relations whose advise was they don't have access to the systems to deal with my issue and I should call, you guessed it, the same number I have been calling for a month. I said this wasn't good enough and they responded again that there is nothing they can do.

Really abysmal. I have a lot of avios and 12k gbp worth of flights booked with them for 2017. When both are gone, that's them gone from my first choice of carriers. Of course they won't care and that's exactly the nub of the problem. They don't.


so shocked at the attitude of two customer relations managers

A terrible airline that treats customers like units, takes greed and rudeness to another level, and their so called customer relations managers are an utter disgrace, to think they are Britains flagship carrier is a very sad indictment as to how this nations world wide reputation for fairness, understanding and empathy with others must be seen first hand, and when i turned to the big sign at terminal five that says A WARM WELCOME FROM BRITISH AIRWAYS and said to the two unbelievably rude customer relations reps, that sign makes me ashamed to be British after the way you have treated me, the response i got from them was WE DONT CARE!! Thats the gods honest truth, says it all really.

simon holmes
heathrow terminal 5


You will not believe this!! i have been flying for 20 years and today on BA56 leaving 20:20 from JNB to LHR I have had the worst ever known treatment from WILL- tall, white, Manchester accent, early 30s cabin member who got in my face as I was trying to sleep.

First of all saying I was illegally charging devices while sleeping- WRONG- then calling me a LIAR and saying loudly why are you LYING- this escalated. Now having been in the Royal Marines for a long time- if my family was not there the plane would have had to land due to this incompetent, unprofessional, unqualified and self loving person. As i said- excuse me who are you talking to??? he walked off- then as i went to ask him what was the problem he began to wave his hands in my face and raise his voice again slating my character.

I then asked to speak to the cabin manger- who happened to be having his nap- ah bless- two hours later he justified the behaviour and there was no apology.

Pierre De Villiers

APAC Booking System not working

I tried to change my return flight from Australia to UK but was told their systems were down so they couldn't change it, tried for 2 days and had no joy eventually got through to London Cust Services and the price had gone up by 4x. On my return BA claim they have no record of their Booking Systems not working!!!! Inferred I was not telling the truth, and no they won't discuss it further. I've been a Gold Exec member for 5 years. Must be the worst Cust Service dept I have ever dealt with. Anyone else had similar problems in APAC?
G Philips
London, UK

Unbelievably poor customer service

I have never encountered such atrocious customer service. The Civil Avation Authority could not help me, because they have no legal power themselves over BA. So, take your claim to the County Court (a small fee), or contact CEDR. BA are currently signed up to accept the CEDR adjudication. My complaint was upheld --after 14 months-- and nine days later I got a letter from BA saying they refused my refund. They don't even know I won, and they now have a limited time to pay me!

Derek B Scott

Not looking for a Return Customer

Just a rip off to say the least, a family member called direct for a flight between Vancouver to Rome to British Airways, (her friend booked early and got it for 650 return) and got quoted a high $1990 fare, and due to the agent saying it was booking up, she booked it. I thought that was a bit high, and checked British Airways site, expedia, and various other sites, and the same flight (exactly) was $1100.00, 36 hours later. Of course Bristish Airways would not make a adjustment on the price- claim it was not agent mistake, and one has to wonder about them, shameful indeed. Not a way to retain future customers, I know I will never book with them.


Lost Luggage debacle

My wife and I honeymooned to Spain from the US and flew BA on the leg home to NYC through Heathrow.  Probably one of the worst mistakes we've ever made.  Both our bags have been lost.  Customer service has given us different information every time we call.  They give us flight numbers and times of baggage arrival only to have this information completely change in a matter of hours.  Every customer service rep has given us different information.  We have no idea when or IF we will see our bags again.  Its too bad our honeymoon ended in such a crap shoot, but we've learned our lesson - don't ever fly BA.  The excuse we got at the airport for missing luggage was that the computer system at Heathrow went down.  Are you kidding me??? Is this 1995??? What kind of antiquated computer system does BA use?  Or is this just an excuse for morons who handle the baggage.  
Heathrow / JFK

No Baggage

My story is so long in only 3 1/2 days I can't give all the details.  Short story is flew from Glasgow to London/Heathrow on BA 9:15 AM 9 July 2016.  They left every single bag for passengers terminating in London in Glasgow, every single one!  We had two bags. It is now, 12 July 2016, 16:00 London time and I received only 1 bag in the US 9 hours ago.  They have no idea where my second bag is (even though they are on the same claim) and they closed the claim!

I have spoken to them close to a dozen times and their customer service is the absolute worst I have ever experienced, not just in airlines, but any industry.  They have cut of my call once, and twice while talking to a rep, put me in a loop where you get a male voice repeating 2 words you can't understand every 5-10 seconds.  I believe they do this purposefully when they get passengers that are too upset for them to handle and they don't want to deal with you. 

Anyway, I highly recommend that people avoid flying BA if at all possible.  Still waiting for the whereabouts of my bag and an hour ago the customer service rep told me to "be patient, don't get irritated and give us another 24 hours."

Words cannot describe how inept they are.  DO NOT FLY BA.

tom diangelis
Now USA via Heathrow

Lost Luggage

BA lost my luggage. Found it a few days later after I was constantly on the phone demanding them to call the baggage handling department. Once they had found it, they wouldn't get it on the next available flight. I am still waiting! Customer service has been awful, I will never book with this company again and encourage other schools not to either.


Does BA stand for Budget Airline?????



Stay Away if Disabled

Worst airline customer service ever. The call center is challenged in using English and will cancel your ticket if you have mobility issues. Worst airline I have dealt with for disability related concerns. They have a rule that only allows you to call three times, and they hang up on your the first two. The resolution offered for their errors, you can buy more tickets from them. Worst ever! Stay away if you have any ADA issues, they do not want you on their planes.

Inconsistent--but crazy in every possible way

BA sells "airport upgrades" from one class of service to next, I discovered.  They're not cheap, but to avoid the back of the plane ...

  1. Go to Biz lounge.  Can't do it. You've done it too many times this year.  (The mind simply boggles at that idea.)
  2. Go downstairs to "customer service".  Can't do it. Full
  3. Go to First lounge: No problem, but an even huger sum £649 to TLV, while it's $599 from TLV to LHR.

$600 for a five-hour flight is quite enough thank you.  $1000+, they can forget it.

But what were the first two up to?



flight cancelled by BA and no refund forthcoming 5 months on

BA cancelled our flight due to fog in November and offered us one 3 days later or a refund. We had to be back at work so had to buy new tickets through another airline. There were many flights that day but BA couldn't oblige.

Asked for refund on return by emailing the address on website. After no replies to repeated emails I called. Apparently they no longer use that email address but haven't taken it down! As the emails were not pinging back as undelivered I assumed they were reading them!

So we start again on their website customer services system. Was told refunds have been made to our cards but they have not! Was told to write to refunds dept with all the documentation which we did on 12th April. Sent letter signed for. Royal mail tracking says it has not been signed for yet! This is disgusting behaviour.

Small claims here we come! But we will claim for the cancelled flight and the cost of new flights now since we have been so rudely treated.


British Airways Experience - Mission Survive

Travel on 28/03/16 from Heathrow to Frankfurt 


BA have just screwed up big time, totally ruining our holiday. Unbelievable as it may sound, our experience was as follows:

  1. Cancel our first flight and push us to next day
  2. Block us on their website from rebooking a suitable flight, forcing a 03:00 am start
  3. Send us to the wrong gate and fail to give early notice of the mistake
  4. Fail to have necessary staff at the plane to achieve a scheduled departure
  5. Employ an un-airworthy aircraft, raising questions about maintenance standards
  6. Appear indecisive in how to respond causing embarrassing delays.
  7. Make a huge debacle of transferring passengers to the replacement aircraft
  8. Fail to put our luggage onto the aircraft, and have a record of the second bag
  9. BA staff knowingly send us without our luggage and conceal this from us
  10. Provide inadequate customer service at Frankfurt
  11. Fail to be pro-active in supporting us in a situation of their making.

Being retired, we had saved up for the holiday and special four day treat of a luxury room in the Frankfurt Hilton. While it is accepted there was some bad weather on the scheduled departure date (28/03/16). Many flights to Frankfurt went to schedule,  BA could have done more to get its customers to their destination on the day. The abysmal performance of BA in handling our travel completely ruined our holiday. The stress of the cancellation and delays were bad enough, as seniors to be left at Frankfurt with no luggage or proper customer assistance was enough to give my wife and I, a heart attack. Added to this was my worry at the consequences BA losing my important medication.

We were not alone with these problems arriving at Frankfurt. Significant anger was shown by the majority of passengers who struggled to comprehend what was happening to them. The reputation of BA and how they treat customers was extremely low.

From the disaster you have made of our holiday, we will never entrust our travel arrangements to you again

Incident log:


1.1 Travelling to the airport we receive a text message at 09:24 to say flight BA0908 is cancelled. The text informs us we have been provisionally booked on BA0902 the following day (29/03/16).

1.2 We return home.

1.3 Back home we tried to rebook the flight using “Manage my Booking” on BA.com website. Numerous attempts to book a different flight failed, resulting in message “unexplained error”. Faced with being unable to resolve this, we decided our only option was to accept the 07:05 BA0902 booking for the following day (29/03/16).


2.1 Up at 03:00am arrived at Heathrow T5 at 05:00. Check-in documents state departure is from gate C65. Waiting with other passengers at gate C65 is becomes obvious that something is wrong. Enquiries discover the flight is not at C65, it is gate A8. All waiting passengers then rush back from C terminal to A where they started. While waiting at gate A8, BA announce the cabin crew are being sought and the flight will be delayed until all members of staff have arrived

2.2 At this point BA ask for volunteers to check their cabs luggage in at the gate to relieve pressure on internal storage. To try and help, we checked our cabin luggage in as requested.

2.3 Boarding finally complete and ready to depart, the Flight Deck announce that a passenger is unwell and will be leaving the aircraft. This will result in further delays while their luggage is located and removed from the aircraft.

2.4 Passenger issue dealt with, the aircraft is pushed back from the stand. After a short delay the Flight Deck announce that one of the engines is defective and will not start. This will result in delays while engineers are consulted. The aircraft is then towed to a remote standing area. Some time later the Flight Deck announce that the aircraft has a faulty fuel control valve and cannot be repaired for the flight. A change of aircraft will need to happen but there are problems locating another Boeing 767, necessary to accommodate all the passengers. The Flight Deck inform us that the faulty part is the cost of a small house and BA does not carry spares. A member of the cabin crew inform us that the faulty aircraft is 30 years old, inferring the problem is related to the age of the aircraft. With serious delays now evident, the Flight Deck ask for passengers who do not wish to travel, to come forward. The tone of this announcement is friendly. The numbers of leavers are established and are insufficient to allow the flight to continue on a smaller aircraft. Flight Deck now announce any passengers leaving the aircraft are taking themselves off flight and will not get a refund. There is a noticeable change of tone in the second announcement. Cabin crew decide to serve a drink and roll.

2.5 After what seems like another couple of hours waiting for another aircraft to be found, buses finally arrived to transport us. With passengers finally seated on the replacement aircraft, Flight Deck announce there are problems reconciling the passenger numbers. Frantic activity then follows by BA staff up and down the aircraft with passenger lists. It is clear to everyone that there is a problem that staff are struggling to deal with. A seat by seat check is then made of every passenger. To our surprise we are told that our names do not appear on the passenger list. We are reassured by cabin crew that everything is in order.

2.6 The aircraft finally takes off. The atmosphere among passengers was not a happy one and reflected what was considered to be unacceptable performance by BA staff in handling the situation. By now it was obvious to us that the cabin crew were weary and embarrassed with the situation. Many passengers were also victims of flight cancellation the previous day. This 07:05 flight finally landed at Frankfurt at 13:35.

2.7. Waiting for 45 minutes at the baggage carousel it became clear that our, and other passengers baggage was missing and had not arrived with the flight.

2.8 After locating and arriving at the British Airways desk in Frankfurt, only one check-in desk was manned. We had to join the long queue and wait approx 45 minutes to be attended. On handing over the two baggage receipt tags (no’s 013120 and 017684, we were told our luggage was still in London and would be sent over on a later flight. Incident reference FRABA86401 was issued.

2.9 Being stranded at a strange airport without our luggage and unsure how to deal with the situation, our first thoughts were to try and return to Heathrow . The response from BA was that we would have to buy another tick at additional cost.

3.0 Fortunately located in the city centre we had to purchase essential toiletries and emergency items as there was no indication if or when we would receive our cases.

3.1 At 16:28 we receive a text message from Worldtracer to say one bag (tag ref 013120) was en-route from London. No reference was made to our second bag (017684), (the one we handed over to the airline staff at the gate). All online enquiries only showed the original one bag checked in at arrival at Heathrow. As this bag contained important medication, we made several frantic calls to the BA Missing Baggage people at Frankfurt at considerable cost.

3.2 At 22:15 the first bag (ref: 013120) arrived at our hotel. Our other bag (ref:017684) containing vital medication arrived the following day.

3.3 So distraught and upset by the whole experience, we cancelled all our scheduled plans and activities in Frankfurt. The time spent in the hotel recovering from the ordeal left one day for sightseeing.


Although we were thanked for our patience, no-one apologised for the unacceptable service. A telephone call, text or e-mail with an apology and a token gesture of goodwill would have been much appreciated to lessen the pain and disappointment. You are quick to communicate with offers for us to spend more money, less so when things go wrong. For a moment we thought we were the cast in a movie called Carry On Flying. Not willing to experience anything like this this future, we have decided never to fly again, certainly not with BA. Hard as it may seem, this is a true account of how we were treated by British Airways. It also raises serious questions about the competence of them to operate an airline service.

We suggest your slogan should be British Airways Takes No Care of You.

Ray & Estilla Collington

Ray Collington
Bracknell, UK

Useless BA Customer Relations

Edwin Lim My wife and my Premium Economy flight was cancelled on the 19th of Dec 2015 and rebooked on ANA Economy. Your ground staff told me that I will be compensated with the difference between British Airways Premium Economy flight ($3500) and the British Airways Economy flight ($1500) even though we were booked onto a different airline. Up till now I have not received compensation of the fare difference. It has been more than 3 months! Contact customer relations and service but still no update! This is very disgusting and unethical! #boycottBritishAirways

No crew at Heathrow to fly an A319???

So it's March 29th, the day after Storm Katie and Flight 778 from LHR to Stockholm is delayed for over three hours.  It's not because of the storm (all the other flights from here are going on time) - it's because there is no crew to fly an A320 available at Heathrow airport, and it's going to take over three hours to call in a reserve crew.  How can this happen at BA's home airport?

I also asked about a meal voucher, because I seem to remember that proper airlines give those out for delays over 2 hours, but was told they are not offering anything.


Worst customer service ever!

Bye Bye British Airways - worst customer service ever. Their check-in desk made us miss our check-in time at LHR and after filing customer reclamation they pretty much told us where to shove it. cost us almost 1K€ to buy new tickets via one of their alliance airlines.

Happiness Blanket more like vomit blanket!

I had the questionable pleasure of travelling with British Airways and getting to trail one of their "happiness blankets", it sounded like a great idea, it looked like a great idea but it smelt like a terrible one! I've no idea where they stored these things or if they ever bothered washing them (probably not as it would ruin them) but the smell of the blanket made me feel so nauseous it was the worst flight of my life by a long way! never using them again, and word to the wise if you ever hear mention of this miracle "happiness blanket" throw your boarding pass away and buy a different flight!
Dan Jones

BA loses luggage of all flight passengers, AGAIN!!

After the July 2014 fiasco where BA lost the luggage of 1000 passengers, BA has managed to fail yet again.

I took flight BA099 from T5 London to Toronto 16 December 2015 with some 200 passengers. Upon arrival in Toronto and after watching an empty conveyor belt rotate for an hour we were told that ALL passenger luggage was unavailable and apprently stuck in cargo; amidst the chaos we all had to file missing report claims.

4 days has gone by without any news and I am livid. Customer reps are denying they know anything. I will never fly BA again. I only wish I had been made aware of its abysmal track record in baggage handling before I trusted them with my personal affects and Christmas gifts. BA thanks for ruining xmas.

Will never fly BA again.

Livid in Toronto

Claim Filed

In September I was served a premium economy meal on a BA flight from JFK that was so bad it choked me. After lengthy correspondence I gave up on both customer relations and their CEO, Keith Williams, and filed a County Court Claim against them. It reads -

When the booking was made BA had inflated their fares in the run up to a fare sale. That means the transaction breached the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 and possibly also Section 2 of the Fraud Act 2006. In simple terms BA claimed that the fare quoted was ‘lowest available’ at a time when they knew it was nothing of the sort.

To compound the offence BA also failed miserably to live up their promise of service on the flights involved. I flew London (Heathrow) to Boston on 11 September 2015. Our outbound flight departure was delayed, which was a minor inconvenience compared to the abysmal service provided by BA during the return flight on 16 September 2015.

Because it was an overnight flight I booked a seat in World Traveller Plus (Premium Economy) to get extra leg room and better cabin service. The BA description of World Traveller Plus reads - 'small, intimate cabins with expert, attentive service' along with 'delicious meals and full bar service'. The BA website goes on to promise, 'three-course meals crafted to perfectly match the time and duration of your flight' and, 'a premium dining experience, featuring high-quality ingredients, fine china and linen napkins.' What we actually got was the economy meal option served in china with metal cutlery. 
The BA website also claims World Traveller Plus offers an enhanced entertainment package and more leg room, neither of which were apparent – in fact the entertainment package was identical to regular economy. We shared the cabin services and toilets with regular economy, the food was rubbish (in fact the food in Economy outbound was better) and the drinks trolley came round once. I suffered a serious choking fit after trying to eat a disgusting pasta meal that was part cooked/part reheated/part overheated and was then offered no further food until the ‘breakfast’ (a little cardboard box containing inedible snacks - identical to the economy breakfast) came round about six hours later. To falsely describe this as a ‘Premium’ service goes way beyond misleading into the area of fraud by misrepresentation.

I have contacted BA without success. In fact I referred both issues directly to BA’s CEO, Keith Williams. At the time of writing they had refused to refund the £181 overcharge and failed to respond to my complaints about service on the return flight.

Since that claim, which BA are contesting, they have also refused to honour a 20% offer on Avios points purchased with Tesco ClubCard vouchers and tried to bump up the fares on a pre-booked trip for my 65th birthday next February by £300. I'm getting nowhere fast on the Avios, they're just ignoring me. I have now cancelled the birthday trip and re-booked it with Virgin Atlantic but BA are still sending reminders and trying to bill me for the balance.

I've also got another interesting little tale about BA. In October I flew with them to the Cayman Islands on one of their ancient Boeing 767s - this is the same type used on the Calgary route that generated the recent 'Widower made to stand' story. I had an exit seat and was told that because the aircraft was being flown 'short-crewed' the passengers in the exit rows were responsible for evacuation. We then had a briefing that omitted the required visual check for hazards outside the aircraft, like fire, before opening the door. Next thing was the safety video crashed so we went back to the old-style pre-flight briefing. The plane was 25 years old and showing every day of it.

Good luck with your claim John. From what I understand, legal action often seems to be the only way to get BA Customer Relations to respond.

John Evans

I felt humiliated!

On the way back from NY to London, my original seat had some problem with the in-flight entertainment system. So, I was upgraded to the Premium Economy. I was happy with my original seat and for me, economy and "premium" economy makes no difference. The seat that was offered to me in "premium' was in the front row with extra leg-room.

The flight attendant didn't really take the time to explain to me on how to take out the tray from my seat (it was my first time seating in front row of "premium"). So anyway, it was dinner time and another flight attendant came and asked me of what menu did I chose for dinner. I asked her that I didn't see the menu and if its ok for her to tell me on what is in the menu. Instead of offering me with the menu choices, she asked me where did you come from? I told her I was upgraded. Instead of serving me dinner, she told me to wait and that she will have to check with her supervisor. It was so awkward! After upon checking and got her "approval" to serve me dinner, she briefed me about the menu. Before she served me the dinner, I told her that I wasn't sure of how to take out my tray. She ignored me and put the food tray ON MY LAP instead of showing me of how to take out the tray/table. It was humiliating. I felt like she did it on purpose.

Luckily, a passenger beside me was kind enough to pull out the tray for me. That was the first time for me to fly BA and also the last time!! Never again!

S. Mun
Kuala Lumpur

BA has downgraded us twice in 3 trips

Three years ago we were forced into a downgrade from First to Business on a trip from Phoenix to LHR. Once again, this week on an AA code share from LHR to PHL we were again forced into a downgraded from First to Business. Trying to get a refund of the points we paid for the trip is impossible - you think that they would at least refund a portion of the $1100 in taxes and surcharge fees levied for a First Class ticket.

Joe Furlong
El Paso, Texas

BA now giving out jump seats as adequate travel for passengers

My flight was overbooked and I was placed on standby at the airport although I had been trying to check-in online without success since the previous evening and arrived in plenty of time for my flight. I was finally given a seat at the gate however when I boarded the plane there was already someone in that seat. I was advised by ground crew staff that I would need to de-board and depart on a flight the following day however a disagreement ensued between the cabin services director and the ground crew staff member as the director stated that she had seats available in a higher class. This was looked into but passengers arriving at the last minute then claimed those seats. The director then advised me that I had two options, to come off the plane and travel the following day or spend part of my flight sitting in a cabin crew rest seat and a small part in a jump seat (used by crew only for take off and landing) when the crew needed to take their breaks. She estimated that I would be in the jump seat for roughly 2.5 hours. I asked her if I would be entitled to some compensation for this and she said that this would be reasonable given that the airlines would be obligated to compensate me were I to come off the plane and have my travel plans delayed until the following day. I then reluctantly agreed as I had family plans and trusted (mistakenly) that BA would compensate me for this strange arrangement.

A few hours into the flight I was asked to vacate the seat for the crew breaks and while sitting in the jump seat I enquired about when I would be able to return to the other seat. A flight attendant showed me the break schedule and I then learned that I would have to use the jump seat for close to 5 hours and not 2.5 as I had been told. I spent the first hour in a jump seat between the toilet and the kitchen which was quite unpleasant due to the smells, traffic through the area which resulted in me getting bumped into a few times by crew and queries by passengers who kept mistaking me for crew.

A flight attendant then suggested that I move to another jump seat as they said I might be warmer there. I wasn't cold but I suspected they thought I would be a bit more out of the way and I was hopeful this would be the case too. I then sat in a seat facing other passengers a few feet away which was quite awkward although not as much traffic moving around me. There was really much for me to do as I had no in flight entertainment and not adequate light to read. And after another hour I became so uncomfortable in the hard seat that I had to stand or walk around for most of the remaining few hours until I could sit back in the other seat. By the time I arrived at the end of this 10 hour flight my neck and back were pretty stiff and sore. My luggage also didn't make it but I was so glad to be off the plane I didn't even care that much and BA did give me a $50 voucher for that.

The cabin services director informed me that she was going to put in a complaint on my behalf and also spoke to ground crew and informed them of my journey and that I needed to be given an upgrade on the way back. They seemed unsure about this but said they'd look into it. The director said that I should hear from someone in the next week. When I didn't hear from anyone after I week I phoned and was informed that someone was looking into it and they would get back to me before I was to return home to London. The day before I was to fly back I still had not heard anything so I contacted them again. Someone phoned and left a message informing me that they were going to compensate me by giving me an upgrade to from Economy to World Traveller Plus (a bit more leg room) on the way back.

I phoned back and spoke with someone else stating that this compensation did not seem adequate given my extremely uncomfortable flight experience, being mislead about the time in the jump seat, not really having a seat at all on this flight and being led to believe I'd be entitled to similar compensation as I would have if I had gotten off the flight. I added that had I known it would have been so uncomfortable I probably would have gotten off the flight. She said that she would pass this on and someone would get back to me. I asked her if someone could please email me if they don't reach me by phone as I was busy with family on my last day of the visit and then travelling the next day. 

I received a phone message again from from the first person who had contacted me who said he would try me again or email me. I returned to London and after a week of receiving no email I wrote to them again and said that things still hadn't been resolved and if I don't hear from someone in the next week or so I will get some legal advice. About 3 or 4 weeks later I heard from a third person who said that she understood I was offered an upgrade and a refund in fares and was not satisfied with this however there was nothing more they could do. I responded and informed her that at no point was I offered a refund (which I would have been completely satisfied with). A few weeks passed and no response so I wrote again. I received a phone call from her another couple of weeks later and she stated that I was not entitled to a refund as I had accepted the flight arrangements offered. I emphasised that I had been given false information by BA staff and subjected to a highly unusual and uncomfortable fight experience however she repeated that I agreed to the flight. Appalling.

N S Brown

Worst Customer Service ever

I had a semi flexible ticket from london to Brussels. I was sick during the night and assumed that I would be able to use the ticket for another flight (ticket was over £338 - I am a gold member) - how wrong was I! BA treats "no shows" as cancellation and passenger is not entitled to either a refund or rebooking. I booked my next flight with LUFTHANSA and will continue to do so. They just lost a loyal customer. DON'T FLY BA!

I hate BA with a passion but this behaviour seems reasonable to me. Unless you let them know within a reasonable time that you do not intend to fly, they can't offer the seat to someone else.


Shame on you British Airways

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

British Airways BA15


9:35 PM


Heathrow, London United Kingdom


5:40 PM
on Wednesday


Changi Intl Arpt, Singapore

Journey Time: 13:05

On these above dates we booked at the end of May and as you can see all were confirmed.On the Day of travel we rocked up at Manchester Airport for our tickets only to be told on our Singapore flight we would have to sit in separate rows on the next Heathrow flight. I am a 70 yr old pensioner with lots of medical issues that my wife Ann monitors (I take 16 tablets a day +heart and asthma inhalents) and she gives them to me at appropriate times (she was previously in her younger life a nurse). Ticket person at Manchester advised to take it up at Heathrow (connecting flight). Once again ticket attendant said there was nothing she could do !! and advised we see the Information officer who again advised they couldn’t help. On boarding the Supervisor could see we were visibly stressed and checked our ticket (which was stamped COMPASSIONATE) and after lots of consultation put me and my very upset wife together (the Supervisor was fantastic). If our surnames were different I could understand the separation BUT with more than 2 months prior booking we were still separated ! I know this may not be in the breaking news category but I feel better just by letting someone know of our predicament. It is a very long 13 hours being seperated (I have sent a letter of Complaint to British Airways and I suspect that has now been thrown in the trash!!) Shame on You British Airways !!!!

Geoff Luxton

A new low in customer service?

I flew BA from Atlanta to Heathrow with my 11 year old daughter. We had to sit in different areas - no attempt by BA to sit us even remotely near each other. OK seating is sometimes difficult.
The real issue is that BA cabin staff were sweetness itself before asking me to complete a passenger questionnaire which I completed honestly. I and my daughter were ignored by cabin staff for the remainder of the flight.
I have since discovered that cabin staff carefully select passengers to hand out the questionnaire to. If it is not positive the returned form is binned.
John Weir

Luggage Destroyed

I traveled on BA from San Francisco to Moscow through Heathrow in May of this year.  When I received my luggage (which is was only six months old at the time) it had a smashed corner.  I filed my claim.  BA insists that I follow a process as follows:

1) Purchase a new piece of luggage for less than 150 pounds (they will not compensate for the actual cost of the damaged luggage). 

2) Write a letter explaining why I feel they should replace my luggage.

3) Send the original receipt (without which the warranty will be void).

4) Wait even longer than the 2 months it took them to respond to my claim which was filed at the airport on the day of my arrival.

I am the president of a company that specializes in Customer Experience Quality.  I fly 120,000 - 150,000 miles per year always in Business or First Class.

If BA thought about this a bit, they would surely not make the process so difficult.  I have gone out of my way NOT to fly on BA for the past 3 months.   I estimate that they have lost at least 15 times more than my luggage cost by not resolving this issue quickly. 

Michael Ruckman

Ba sucks!!!!!

I booked a trip home on Christmas day this year and BA decided to cancel my flight. Meaning I'd not be able to spend Christmas with my family which I hadn't seen for 7 years!

They said there was no flights on Christmas this year. Well why book me one and cancel it...

That's not the worst part. They wouldn't let me move it with out paying over $300 in fees and if I cancelled the flight I'd only get the taxes I paid and none of the cost of the flight back. I was on the phone with them for 3 hours and they basically just kept repeating themselves over and over...

BTW they were Indian so that was a barrel of monkeys there. I just wanted to come on here and tell everyone to never ever book with British airways! And I'm British. FU BA!!!!!


Worst Service

British Airways air hostess seems to be the worst especially from Bangalore to London ...absolutely unfriendly without helping old people to keep their luggage on the top. They only worry about their make up and hair style that is it. They are end of it all air hostes... not a queen... I don't remember the name though... very rude and unfriendly... name must be Vanita not sure but tall curly hair some what round face.... they should remember that they are only air hostess and they should do their pleasant job with a pleasant attitude...


Lack of customer Service

This is with a heavy heart that I write this letter to you this morning. I received a call from my mother in SA this morning to advise me that my father passed away at 6am this morning. No I am fully aware that this is not your problem, but this is where BA’s inflexible policies and serious lack of customer service comes in.

I am trying to book a flight for my son, wife and I to get to SA as quickly as possible.

My wife and I had pre-booked tickets to Washington to visit my son. We booked World Traveller Plus seats and used my BA Gold upgrades to move us to Business Class. I phoned the BA Gold helpline this morning to see if I can change the tickets to fly directly to Johannesburg instead of Washington.

I have now been advised that we have to downgrade to Economy, will lose our upgrade vouchers, and have to pay GBP 1600 per person in addition to the original cost of the ticket.

I am not going to explain any further, this is the worst of the worst. It happened last year as well when my dad had a heart attack and I had to bring my flight forward by a day, it cost me GBP 2000 for a lower class seat.

What a wonderful Company you manage !!!!!! But then you are making the policies !!!!!

I cannot wait to get BA out of my life when I change employment. I am even willing to forfeit my 1.5m airmiles.

I am now flying tomorrow night after having had to pay the excess purely because I don’t have a choice - this is how you exploit your customers.

I will definitely make this well know on social media, you have pushed me too far this time during a very sad period in my life. Knowing how you operate I am more than happy to make a death certificate available to ensure you that i am not making this up.

Disgusting treatment to say the least !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dawid Louw

Agent vs Call Centre = Two Missed Flights

We got stuck in a fatal accident traffic jam at Montelimar in France. Realising that we were going to miss our 4pm flight we called (on a mobile) to BA Customer Service. They booked us on the next flight 7.15 and took all the payment details. The sent us confirmation by email.

On arrival at the airport, we could not check in as our seats were confirmed, but no ticket had been issued. Another 30 minute call confirmed that we just had to give card details at the local BA agent. 

The confirmation was in Pounds. The agent only works in Euros. We stood for over an hour and a half whilst the local agent and the call centre argued about how to change the system so we could pay. Eventually, after the Check-In was forced to close (they'd given us an extra 15 minutes to work it out) the call centre agent threw his hands up and hung up. 

We missed the flight and went back on to the website for the 07.00 next morning, following which we retired for an expensive night in the airport hotel and necessary subsistence.

BA CS didn't even read the details of the complaint and sent us a stock response about our responsibility to be at the gate on time. We are pursuing it with everyone from Keith Williams and Denize McGregor through to an undoubtedly beleaguered Customer Experience Manager called Matthew Rochell, whose name appeared in LinkedIn.  

We shall wait and see, but the CS attitude really sucks.
Jonathon Howard

Separating mother and child

My wife just called crying after boarding because BA staff would not trouble themselves to effectively find 2 seats together for my wife and 13 year old daughter. Our family trip had to be staggered to minimize time away from home so our tickets were booked under different reservations. However, I checked on this in advance and BA stafff told me on the phone "no way will staff not ensure that mother and daughter can sit together". Then 23.999 hours before flight we went online and tried to reserve seats together each time it looked like two seats were together they came up as occupied when we tried to reserve. At check-in we were assured that everything would be done to seat them together. I was not present but obviously they did not try too hard to find anyone to switch, any seats anywhere. WHEN DID BRITISH AIR STAFF not only stop caring, but STOP BEING HUMAN ?

Jorge Velasquez
DFW to Oslo

Seat Swap

Bought an expensive business class ticket from LON to San Diego. Picked window seat 3 months in advance. Day of check-in, one day before departure and they stuck me in a middle aisle seat (apparently decided to give my seat to someone else). There was no change in aircraft in spite of what the agent told me.....always 777 into San Diego

Larry Vernec
San Diego


On June 3rd at about 6:30am, I got to Heathrow to catch my flight to Italy. I only had my carry on bag as my main luggage went from Toronto all the way to Italy so I had no bags to check. I went to a BA rep to get my passport checked and whatnot. He asked me if I had any bags to check. I told him no, this is my carry on. He asked me to put it on the scale. I said ok, but it's my carry on. He said he needed to see it. So I put it on the scale. As I was getting my passport ready to give to him, I noticed my bag was gone. I said excuse me, where is my bag? He said and I quote "oh no, I am sorry ma'am" He got his co-workers attention at the next desk over and said "I put this lady's carry on through bag check with no tag" She said there is no way she can get it now. So he called down to bag claim and informed me that my bag would either be at the gate before I boarded or it will be in Bologna when I get off my flight. When I arrived at the gate to board my flight, I spoke to two people. A gentleman and a lady who asked me “did one of my BA reps do this?” I said yes. She took down my information (name, email, phone number, and the contact info of where I was staying in Italy) and told me she would keep me posted on the whereabouts of my bag. When I got to Bologna, we spoke to Antonio in Lost and Found. He gave us the number to file a claim, took the description of my bag and told us that as soon as the bag comes, they will ship it to where I was staying. I still have not heard anything from the lady who took down my information at Heathrow. To this day, I have still not heard anything. Instead of being updated on the whereabouts of my carry on, I had to purchase two calling cards in order to call London because nobody was calling me. The lack of customer service was atrocious. After I got through to a BA rep, they informed that my bag would be delivered to me the next day. I did not receive my bag after 4 days.  As a result of not having my carry on, I could not purchase anything due to the fact that my wallet was in my carry on. I could not eat, store my contacts, wear my glasses and could not take my medication. I complained to BA via Twitter and they told me that they would compensate me for "essentials" and to send my receipts. I did just that and they declined my claim. First of all, they kept saying my bag was delayed. This is not an everyday occurrence where a bag gets delayed. This man failed to do his job properly and put my CARRY ON through to bag check with NO TAG after I told him twice that it was my CARRY ON. I don't think carry on's go missing on a daily basis due to being put through to bag check after he was basically told not too. In a special situation like this, I would expect BA to take ownership of their mistake and go above and beyond and compensate me for the 91 Euros that I am asking for. I could be asking for a free trip or upgrade to first class when I came back home, but all I am asking for is what I had to pay for in the 4 days that I did not have my bag due to an incompetent BA rep. This has been going on for almost a month now and I refuse to give up because what this man did was wrong. It may have been a mistake, he obviously was not listening to me and not paying attention, but BA has done nothing to help me. Attached is my Twitter conversation with about 10 different BA reps (which is also very unprofessional. There should be one rep assigned to one issue). British Airways lack of customer service is disgusting and I am working on going to the media with my story because it is not everyday that an airline rep loses someone's carry on. Goes without saying that I will never fly with them again. They deserve to be boycotted and thrown out of business!

Kitchener, ON

Paid for upgradable fare but they won't let me upgrade

I've traveled with my family in (paid) Business Class a handful of times. For an upcoming trip I booked us in Premium Economy for the return trip-but paid an additional $2,000 to get upgradable fares. They never told me that between the online system thinking our fare wasn't upgradable and reservation agents that couldn't figure it out- there's really no way for us to upgrade. I've only spent about ten hours working on this, four on hold and six hours getting the run around from everyone. They're all apologetic, but unable to do anything about it. I used to be one of their biggest supporters, but given the way I've been treated, I'm putting them into the same category with United. While they shouldn't treat any passengers this way, the fact that they're treating a paying business class passenger this way shows how little they care about service.

San Francisco

Horrible Cabin Service

I was traveling with my wife and 7 month old daughter, while I was helping my wife make my daughter comfortable I requested for a glass of warm water, the stewardess who was busy chatting up another passenger on what sushi she likes, asked me to get it myself from the aisle. Later when I asked for warm water again, she said she didnt have any in her trolley and didnt offer to get some nor did she request for someone to get it for us. This happened a couple of times. The bassinet that was provided was dirty with bits of eatables and spots of dried up drinks.  In the end when the captain informed that the plane was about to land , the same person came to me and asked me to clean up the space , the tray table while I was holding the baby and she walked away. She didnt even provide a bag to put the stuff that needed to be gotten rid of. When I asked for a bag with a stern voice, she took a filled up bag (a random plastic bag)from a fellow passenger and handed it over to me. She stood while i was on the ground cleaning the carpet of the plane and the table. BA , this is the last time i travel and also recommend the airline to anyone. I have traveled a lot in many other airlines but none stood out like BA did with their bad service.(Flight from LHR-PHX)

Seat assignment fee non refundable

I paid 78 Euros for an early seat assignment on BA. Later I changed to another flight and discovered that the fee is non refundable. What a rip-off! to charge a fee in the first place, but to not refund it when you don't fly is even worse! I hope I never have to fly BA again.

J Johnson

Crooks and Low Life Scum

Pre-booked a seat at a price for a friend, and on check-in, seat was not available.  Demanded a refund, and one idiot told me the payment will be made to refund the money, and they were sorry for the inconvenience.

Later, and much later some other moron informs me that it will now not be refunded, because they decided not to.

Complained again, and now have a fourth reference case number issued.  Not a single reply.

These people mug you in every way possible.

Pathetic.  Shambles.  Disgraceful

I S Bhandal

BA does not give a shit about its passengers

By all rights, I should LOVE Brtiish Airways.

I fly BA several times a year round trip, from IAD to TLS, via LHR.

The reservation system is satisfactory.  The scheduling fits my needs to a 'T'.  The planes are as comfortable as I can expect.  The BA airport staff is super (although the Heathrow Staff leaves much to be desired). The on-board crews are just wonderful.  The food is decent.  I feel safe with BA.  They are generally on-time. And, I can accept their high prices.

So, what is not to like?

In fact, why do I HATE British Airways?

Because British Airways does not give a shit about its passengers.

BA loses my baggage about 25 to 30 percent of the time.

Actually, I understand and accept that my bags will be delayed on occasion.

My connection in LHR only gives me a maximum of 65 minutes to make the flight to TLS.  And that is when everything goes perfectly.

If we arrive late or are delayed in a gate assignment, or when it takes a little longer to get off the flight from IAD, I have to RUN to try to make the next plane.  Most times I am sweaty and out-of-breath when I reach the gate. And even then, I don't always make it.  Fortunately, there is another flight 5 hours later.  But, that's life.  I stroll Heathrow, do some shopping and wait out the delay.  No big deal!

So, I really, really, truly understand and accept that my bags will be delayed on occasion and I am relaxed about that.

However, it is how BA handles the lost/delayed baggage situation that INFURIATES me and prompts me to swear off BA forever.


Because BA absolutely does not give a shit about its passengers in this regard.

To say that they could not care less is a gross understatement.

First, they send an e-mail or text message notifying me about the delayed bag, AFTER I have already determined that my bag has not arrived.  Duh!

But at least they're communicating, so how can one be pissed at that.

Here is where the system breaks down.

Then, they contract out their lost baggage problem to an outfit that cares even less than they do.  Dour, pissed off, unsmiling automatons, who profess to know NOTHING about EVERYTHING, dutifully collect your information and file a report.  These dunces then inform you that everything will be done to reunite me with my baggage as soon as humanly possible.  Ask when, where, who and how, and you get the idiot treatment, until you are shooed from the line so that they can deal with the next victim.

Now the fun begins.  There is NO WAY to contact BA regarding lost baggage. BA provides a convenient webpage, which merely assures you that your report is on-file.  BA provides you with a phone number, open from 0700 to 2300, 7 days a week, that goes unanswered for an indeterminable time.  (By the way, have you ever tried to call the BA Executive Club, another outfit that does all in its power to avoid communication?).  BA will send an email that delivery of your bags is important to them and that they are working as hard as humanly possible to get them to you.  BA will do EVERYTHING but keep you informed with real, critical, useful information...and, of course, accomplish the REAL objective, get your bags to you in a timely manner.

Now, my bags were dutifully weighed and checked in when I got my boarding pass at IAD. My bags were issued a bar-coded tag which told the baggage handling staff just how the bags were to be routed to make my initial flight and connecting flight. Because of the short time between flights, my bags were specifically identified with a tag with a purple 'X' reading SHORT.  As I said, I KNOW the connection is short and I marvel at the process that gets my bag to TLS at the same time I do, most of the time.

In short, no pun intended, I understand that the bags sometimes do not make my last flight.

Now, FedEX, DHL and even the Royal Mail and other reputable parcel delivery outfits also put bar-codes on their parcels.  They know, in real time, where almost every parcel and envelope in their system is at any time.

So, why do I have to sit hours and days wondering what is happening to my bags?.  Why do I lack the means to track my bags?  Why doesn't BA answer the phone in a reasonable time?  Why doesn't doesn't BA make an effective stab to keep me informed as to their super-human efforts to get my bags to me? Why do I have to wait up to x days for my bags to arrive, when they actually arrive at TLS just 5 hours after I do? Why do I have to twiddle my thumbs NOT doing the things I came to Toulouse to do. Why do I have the time to write this bitch letter?

All because BA does not give a shit about its passengers and their misplaced luggage.

That's why.

Kind of disappointing, isn't it, that an outfit who claims that it is world-class, actually is third-world class.


Toulouse, France

The worst!!!

BA is really the worst airlines to travel in. I cannot make any changes to my online booking! When I call their inefficient customer care service no one picks up. For the cost of their ticket, they ought to be giving a lot more. This is really the limit!


Downgraded – a victim of BA’s policy of “load maximization”

What is more serious, to cheat someone out of a large sum or to cheat numerous people out of small amounts?

I was downgraded against my will (BA009, 30.12.14) due to BA’s aggressive overselling of seats and my repeated demands for compensation produced no results. Whilst I can accept changes to my flight due to technical reasons or force majeure, I deeply resent being the victim of BA’s policy of “load maximization” at the expense of the customer and expect fair compensation (The rules on passengers' rights known as EC261 apply as well as Regulation (EC) 261/2004).

British Airways’ business model is based on aggressive overbooking of flights in order to maximize their load factor, which could be viewed as a reasonable attempt to enhance profitability. Regrettably, this leads to passengers being denied boarding or downgrading. These situations are governed by various rules and regulations, which outline procedures and compensation levels. BA’s business model does not foresee adequate compensation for its bounced passengers, in the knowledge that passengers will not pursue their claims since lawyer fees will exceed any compensation. It seems that the airline, as a matter of policy, does not ask for volunteers to surrender their reservations against compensation and instead of compensating 75% of the ticket cost pays only a standard GBP 75 with no further recourse for additional compensation.

If you ever get “bounced” insist on immediate, full compensation because you will never obtain anything after your flight, regardless of what you are being told by the airline staff.

Hi Rene,
As you rightly point out, it is much better to try and resolve the issue at the time as negotiating a successful outcome with BA "Customer Service" at a later date is often extremely difficult, assuming you can get through at all.

Rene Neef

BA employee can have lost items without any responsibility

I lost my phone at the business lounge. When I told an aircrew about the lost phone as soon as I got into the airplane, somebody called the lounge. Luckily, I was told that my lost phone was found at the lounge and my name will be attached to the phone. However, the aircrew said that I have to make a claim through the lost and found office to receive the phone. When I made claim through the lost and found office, they said the phone was not received. I learned from the BA customer office that BA contract out the lost and found business. BA said they are not responsible for my lost phone even though BA employee found it and informed me that it was found. As you can guess, the lost and found would not be responsible, either. It means technically, BA employee can have any lost items without any responsibility.

I now understand why the Heathrow airport got a nickname “Thiefrow”.  Obviously, this system has something wrong and should be fixed by law I think but I do not know how.

Hyungchul Kim

BA Never Again

British Air is terrible. just last week , they lose my Mac Laptop... and when I tried to talk to customer service in terminal 5, the jerk working there try to have security take me away instead of dealing and helping with my situation. 



BA (Best Avoided)

To this airline, all passengers are a major inconvenience, between, them taking your payment and dumping you off at your destination.

Such is the arrogance of the airline, you must demonstrate to them, that it is a privilage for YOU to fly with them.

In other words, "you have not had a good time, unless you have been completely ripped off".


Trying to use my child to extort an extra 200 GBP

I've long been a frequent flyer with a competitor to BA, but after several recent poor experiences, I decided to try BA for a flight at Christmas with my son. While BA has very high advance seat reservation charges, part of my decision to buy was their guarantee that they would accommodate parents traveling with children 5 days before the flight with seating together at no extra charge. The website  is here: http://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/information/seating/choosing-your-seat

As it is the holidays, this was a very serious consideration for my purchase.

I've now spent the better part of two days on the phone with British Airways customer service, even going as far yesterday to wait on hold for over an hour to speak to a supervisor, and they are flatly refusing to honor this request.

The reasons I have been given:

1) I was initially told that this was because my son was 6, not 5 years old, I pointed to them very clearly that nowhere was this stated on their website.

2) I was then told this was due to the fact the seat was booked via a travel agent. Nowhere on the website does the caveat exist that reserved seats with children can only be secured if the seats were booked directly on BA.com

Regardless of where the seat was purchased, the birthday and age of my son is clearly labeled in the online record, showing 2008 as his birth year.

I feel it is shameful behavior of British Airways to refuse to honour a seating request as guaranteed on their website, given the extra cost of buying these seats in advance will cost a further 200 GBP above what is already a small fortune to travel during the holidays. Further, the lack of response from their customer service, despite repeated calls, time on hold, and sending emails to their customer service website, has been truly appalling. I feel like I've been misled, cheated, and duped in an effort of BA to extort further cash, using my son as a tool.

It is truly shameful and disgusting behavior. I have filed a false advertising complaint with the British ASA.


Online check-in error and lack of essential informaiton: could not fly

I checked in online but there was an 'error' when printing out my boarding pass so I was prompted to get a print-out at the airport. However when I got there they would not print it out stating that I had missed a check-in cut off time by two minutes.

When I bought the tickets AND when I was managing my booking online there was no indication of a 35 minute cut off. I was mortified. If they had clearly indicated this essential fact when booking/checking in I would have happily complied; even if the flight I was schedule to take was only an hour long. 

They would not let me fly, tried to sell me another ticket which was three times the price of the original, and were extremely rude.

So disappointed BA: NEVER AGAIN


Booking & paying in advance for seats leads you in simply losing your money...

I would like to share an interesting experience. On Feb 1, 2014 we have booked our flight to Miami.  

On Feb 16th, 2014 we have paid to select seats on the plane London-Miami-London. We had the pre-selected seats on the way to Miami but BA failed to deliver on the way back (i.e. Miami to London). Even worst, we have been seated separately where places were left, read: between strangers, no window, and no aisle and as a result no comfort and no sleep. When clients are paying 6 months in advance to ensure proper seating’s, this is not acceptable.

At the airport the BA agents claimed the problem was due to the schedule change. I showed the agents the related communication and regarding the change “if you've reserved a Main Cabin Extra or Preferred seat or have pre-ordered a meal, we have reconfirmed those requests for you on the new flight number”.

I filed my complaint since 5 weeks and I have not heard back and, obviously, I have not been reimbursed.

In a nutshell: it is like if you walk in a shop, pay for the good and then the merchant looks at you with a smile and tells you “you paid but the product has already been sold – thank you and get lost”…

I will now send an e-mail to all BA executives!

Eric Hubert

Ridiculous Wait Times

Even when I call BA silver line, wait times exceed 45 minutes in the US. This is ridiculous as no one has 45 min during the day to wait. How poor and uncaring can BA be? Every time you call they say they are experiencing long wait times and they urge you to go on line. If the matter could be resolved on line, why would I call them anyway. And after 45 min, sometimes they transfer you to another agent. The agents are rude and grumpy (Get another job if you don't like what you do). The club world product is 15+ years old and so outdated. Coupled with poor ground and phone service, this miserable airline is best avoided.


Hopelessly poor service

Dear British Airways, I suggest you remove the word 'British' from your name. Just 'Airways' describes far more accurately the quality of your shabby airline and why drag the rest of us in Britain down with you? I don't think there are many British companies who could mess up as badly as you did. Flight BA8737 from Frankfurt to London City was delayed due to bad weather so by the time we were eventually diverted to Gatwick, landing one and a half hours late at 22:17 it might have been obvious to you that everyone was a tad frustrated? For us to then remain on the tarmac waiting for stairs and a bus for one and a quarter hours suggests you either didn't ask for them or Gatwick staff considered your request non-priority. To add further insult we were kept waiting in the bus outside the terminal because to quote one of your own staff "security didn't know we were coming". As I say, perhaps your pretending to be the 'airline of Britain' is meant to hide how dreadfully sub-standard and dilatory your service is. Ironically we had flown out of Frankfurt where efficiency, organisation and service is a by-word. I had to take a further two train rides and two taxi rides before arriving at home at 02:30 some 4 hours late. There was an older gentleman who would have been able to get home to Weybridge but your debacle meant he missed his last train. There was a German family with young children who were with me until 00:40 at Victoria. You have shamed the name you carry and should be suitably ashamed as a result.
David Allsopp
London Gatwick

Worst Experience Ever

British Airways was overbooked so they cancelled our tickets on day of travel. We have been travelling for so many years with many other airlines but this is the first time it has happened to us. Very difficult to reach their customer service hotline to claim a refund on our Best Western hotel reservation. I will never travel by British Airways again.

Aparna Rajesh
Cary, NC

Your Stories

Laurence Cottle
Our holiday of a lifetime from Australia to the UK in 2007 was spoiled by abysmal British Airways "customer service". We booked through Qantas and didn't really want to fly BA but they operate a code share service where we flew Qantas to Singapore ...
Neil Robertson
This past summer I booked two adults and one child to go from Heathrow to Washington DC. The olympics were being held at that time, but they emailed me an ad that said that there was an olympic special going on. So I went and made our reservations. ...
By the time you spend your points and pay the cash fees, you are better off paying cash to fly on another airline.
Bob Ainge
I am an Executive Platinum (Emerald) frequent flyer. I used to be the highest level of BA, with once over 2M miles. I go out of my way to no longer fly BA because of the deteriorating service. I also speak to many BA employees, and they all hate ...
Ron Rock
So on June 18th I had a flight from Newcastle International Airport to Heathrow, then onwards to Philadelphia. The Philadelphia flight was supposed to depart Heathrow at 17:20pm. At about 16:30pm I was informed that I needed to contact the airline, ...
I booked round trip tickets to me and my minor children from USA to India. I was not aware of that I need a transit visa to travel until the check in time. Airport BA crew told to me about this and gave 10 business days to rebook. My husband called ...
Shame on British Airways I had to make changes to my flight (outbound x2 and return x1) due to illness and subsequent death of my father all within three weeks. BA (agent Travelocity.ca) charged me $275 change fee plus the fare difference. I sent ...
Suhas Shetty
Jeff Elledge

Latest Tweets

ba__sucks RT @Dallasmcintosh: In my personal opinion. There is nothing British about the way business is being conducted #BritishAirways #BABetreyal
ba__sucks RT @bettyredondo: The way #britishairways has treated its staff should send shivers down everyone’s spines: it marks a chilling change in i…
ba__sucks How to claim back your travel after coronavirus cancellations? #britishairways https://t.co/FnQwqKutB9 https://t.co/5qTw58qmbg