"now providing a very inferior product"
11 reviews B Saunders (Ghana)
✅ Verified Review |
Flew British Airways from Beijing to London Heathrow. The cabin crew did their best, but they know they are now providing a very inferior product compared to other carriers. Cut backs are evident everywhere, from the small and very cheap hot towels (offered only once during the ten hours flight) and the nuts (presented in a packet, other than with other airlines on china and warm - this might seem a small niggle, but it is indication of BA saves costs - by annoying their premium cabin customer). The amenity kits, presented in a shoe bag, is a joke really. To be honest one gets a better premium cabin product from other One World members (Royal Jordanian and Qatar for example). Flight left and arrived on time - but the airline should be more than that. The offering within the flight needs to be competitive and regain some ground. Was presented, at the second meal serice, with frozen pawns on bread (returned and a de-frosted plate came by return). Unsure if prawns being frozen and unfrozen as a good idea - but no effect as yet. Part of the seat was covered with food from the previous flight, I covered it up with a spare blanket. Despite there being enough toilets for Club World passengers there was often a line of people waiting from World Traveller Plus - snaking past seat in rows 15 and 16. No control of passengers from World Traveller Plus coming in to the Club World cabin. Toilets were not cleaned through the flight by crew - twice they were in a bit of state so I ended up cleaning the floor with tissues myself. Lovely. Shame to see one of the great carriers fall to such low levels.
| Aircraft | Boeing 777 |
| Type Of Traveller | Business |
| Seat Type | Business Class |
| Route | Beijing to London Heathrow |
| Date Flown | June 2017 |
| Seat Comfort | 12345 |
| Cabin Staff Service | 12345 |
| Food & Beverages | 12345 |
| Inflight Entertainment | 12345 |
| Ground Service | 12345 |
| Value For Money | 12345 |
| Recommended | no |
"BA please admit your mistake"
Kevin Edgar (United Kingdom)
✅ Verified Review | Flew British Airways from Corfu to London Heathrow. Food service a joke. I have never written a review on anything in my life, but how can an airline like British Airways spend probably millions of pounds setting up a new food paying service by using an antiquated system of the poor cabin staff needing to find each individual item picture on the hand held computer and check they have entered the correct number of items instead of using barcodes? Unbelievable if the company has become so badly managed, (how many quangos to come up with this decision?) that common sense is lost in corporate nonsense. Apart from that, flight great, but sorry BA please admit your mistake and put this right.
| Type Of Traveller | Couple Leisure |
| Seat Type | Economy Class |
| Route | Corfu to London |
| Date Flown | June 2017 |
| Seat Comfort | 12345 |
| Cabin Staff Service | 12345 |
| Food & Beverages | 12345 |
| Ground Service | 12345 |
| Value For Money | 12345 |
| Recommended | no |
"such bad customer service"
Melanie Marsh (United Kingdom)
✅ Verified Review | Heathrow to Santorini. We were at the gate when BA cancelled our flight. We could not get booked on another flight and we got told to go home without our luggage. It took them 4 days to return it. BA will not reimburse us the cost of the flights at £1,200 or the cost of the hotel at £2,000. This is a total disgrace. How can they be allowed to do that? Book with another airline to ensure you actually arrive. Never experienced such bad customer service and refusing to refund our money is outrageous.
| Type Of Traveller | Couple Leisure |
| Seat Type | Economy Class |
| Route | Heathrow to Santorini |
| Date Flown | May 2017 |
| Seat Comfort | 12345 |
| Cabin Staff Service | 12345 |
| Ground Service | 12345 |
| Value For Money | 12345 |
| Recommended | no |
"has been hit by cost savings"
Kenneth Howie (South Africa)
✅ Verified Review | Leeds to Durban via London / Johannesburg. Check in at Leeds was efficient. Security was slow, so fast track was appreciated. Boarding was relatively quick and flight departed early. Seating was reasonably comfortable but cramped, and service is basically non existent unless one is prepared to pay for food. Transfer at Heathrow was a breeze, surprisingly with no further security check. Boarding commenced in good time and was quick and smooth onto the upper deck, with a pleasant greeting from the crew. The premium economy cabin is very pleasant with good seat width and legroom. The seats are comfortable, but both our seats were faulty. Mine would not stay upright and my wife's would not recline. Unfortunately we did not realise the extent of the problem immediately and only reported it next morning. We were moved to business class - we should have reported it immediately! Sparkling wine and fruit juice were offered before take off, unfortunately the quality has been hit by cost savings. Bar service followed quickly after take off, but again the quality of wines was average and not up to the standard offered by other airline in premium economy. We both ordered beef fillet for dinner - alternative was chicken - which was good and served on proper crockery with decent cutlery. Breakfast next morning was economy class fare with plastic cutlery, which along with the cheap and nasty amenity kit lets down the standard and one questions whether the cost saving is really worth the negative impression created. The A380 is very quiet and most passengers seemed to sleep. There were several drink runs during the night, and the cabin crew were quite active. Arrival was on time and everything went smoothly. The final connection to Durban with BA franchise, Comair, was a reminder of the difference between flying in South Africa and flying in Europe. More space and full service on a one hour flight.
| Aircraft | A319 / A380 / Boeing 737 |
| Type Of Traveller | Couple Leisure |
| Seat Type | Premium Economy |
| Route | Leeds to Durban via London / Johannesburg |
| Date Flown | June 2017 |
| Seat Comfort | 12345 |
| Cabin Staff Service | 12345 |
| Food & Beverages | 12345 |
| Inflight Entertainment | 12345 |
| Ground Service | 12345 |
| Value For Money | 12345 |
| Recommended | yes |
"such a miserly product"
C Barnham (United Kingdom)
✅ Verified Review | I had an early morning flight from London Heathrow to Dublin to attend a memorial service in Ireland. The check-in process seems to have been automated and I am not impressed. I saw an elderly Chinese couple struggle with the computers and a uniformed staff member in BA uniform walked away and ignored them. I intervened and assisted. The interior of the aircraft was spotless. However, there was no catering per se other than a to buy Marks and Spencer items. No cash was accepted and the staff were very embarrassed. The cabin crew were lovely people and deserve better than to have the name of a once proud national carrier reduced to such a miserly product. Arrival was punctual.
| Type Of Traveller | Solo Leisure |
| Seat Type | Economy Class |
| Route | London Heathrow to Dublin |
| Date Flown | June 2017 |
| Seat Comfort | 12345 |
| Cabin Staff Service | 12345 |
| Food & Beverages | 12345 |
| Ground Service | 12345 |
| Value For Money | 12345 |
| Recommended | yes |
"time to pull up its socks"
T Donovan (Laos)
✅ Verified Review | Bangkok to Luxembourg via London. Premium economy on British Airways is disappointing. The Bangkok to London route is served by B777 aircraft that look like they've seen better days. Boarding was chaotic on both outward and return flights. Seats are old and worn, not very wide, and with little recline. The IFE is poor in terms of choice, the screens are the smallest I've ever seen, and the sound quality is very bad. The food served is ok. Service on board during the outward leg was perfunctory but excellent on the return leg, with the cabin attendant who served me being a real credit and asset to the airline. The short haul flights between London and Luxembourg (in economy) were good. It's time for British Airways to pull up its socks if it wants to compete with the leading Asian, Middle Eastern airlines, or even the better European ones.
| Type Of Traveller | Business |
| Seat Type | Premium Economy |
| Route | Bangkok to Luxembourg via London |
| Date Flown | June 2017 |
| Seat Comfort | 12345 |
| Cabin Staff Service | 12345 |
| Food & Beverages | 12345 |
| Inflight Entertainment | 12345 |
| Ground Service | 12345 |
| Value For Money | 12345 |
| Recommended | no |
"lack of honesty and transparency"
C Rankin (United States)
✅ Verified Review | London Heathrow to Paris Orly. I have been a gold member of BA over 25 years making approx 100 flights per year We have been through ash clouds, strikes, IT breakdowns and weather and of late the spiral of poor response has picked up pace. I didnt think it could get worse but it did. Arrived at the airport and my app said on time, screens said on time but my independent tracking app said 3 hours delay. In the first class lounge I was told short delay. Knowing how inaccurate BA can be I asked to speak to special services. One hour later I asked again. I got an arrogant manager who lectured me that she was only two on duty, take it up with Alex Cruz and there were more important flyers like royalty and celebrity. Unimportant is how I felt after 25 years of Gold guest list. She then told me the flight was cancelled and said I would have to either accept the flight the next morning or make my own arrangement .Staff didnt know how to get people out of the airport and despte flights on time for Charles De Gaulle no alternative was offered. I had to concede and cancelled critical business discussion and then beg BA for a refund which they tried to sidestep. The moral of this story is when your gut tells you trust has gone believe it and at BA it is systemic lack of honesty and transparency and it all points to the CEO. The other interesting fact is I did look at choices before booking including Easy jet <100 pounds Air France 500 pounds and foolishly I felt loyalty meant something. Not at this airlin . The salt in the wound is that Easyjet and AF got to their destination on time and no doubt executives on those flights are enjoying a good business day in France. It is incredible that one airline who carry's the British flag is such a disgrace. I am sure that a small percentage are satisfied but looking at the chaos and disbelief in the lounge last night echoes the most common phrase heard in airline speak. What has happened to BA and we wont fly them again.
| Aircraft | A319 |
| Type Of Traveller | Business |
| Seat Type | Economy Class |
| Route | London Heathrow to Paris Orly |
| Date Flown | June 2017 |
| Seat Comfort | 12345 |
| Cabin Staff Service | 12345 |
| Ground Service | 12345 |
| Value For Money | 12345 |
| Recommended | no |
"inadequate for the money paid"
C Armstrong (United States)
✅ Verified Review | Flew New York JFK to Copenhagen via Heathrow. Have flown Premium Economy (PE) on Cathay, Singapore, Lufthansa and Air France. By far, British Airways is the worst! World Traveler Plus just means Plus $$$$$, everything else is downhill. Seats were cramped, recline only a few millimeters, food awful, sorry but that is the best adjective to describe what was served. Amenities practically non-existent and wrapped in cellophane, tube of toothpaste (if only the cap would open) could only fulfill brushing requirements for half a mouthful of teeth, no covers for the headphones. Totally inadequate for the money paid and shaming the word Premium Economy. Before I forget, the Boarding Service was confusing, calling colors Gold, Silver, Sapphire, etc. People just rushing the line and the staff losing their voice, screaming for order. Why not just call the way you sell - First, Biz, Premium, Economy. Trying too hard to be fancy.
| Type Of Traveller | Solo Leisure |
| Seat Type | Premium Economy |
| Route | New York JFK to Copenhagen via Heathrow |
| Date Flown | June 2017 |
| Seat Comfort | 12345 |
| Cabin Staff Service | 12345 |
| Food & Beverages | 12345 |
| Inflight Entertainment | 12345 |
| Ground Service | 12345 |
| Value For Money | 12345 |
| Recommended | no |
"They should be ashamed of themselves"
H Jackson (United Kingdom)
✅ Verified Review | Flew London to Hamburg. I cannot believe that an airline like British Airways have to compete with the likes of Ryanair and EasyJet and stopped complimentary cabin services - no drinks, no snacks. They should be ashamed of themselves to put themselves a class on par with low cost airlines. I am now cofused why I should ever fly British Airways vs Low Cost Airlines. I was recently also flying on Club World. My luggage was tagged priority. But waited on arrival for over 30mins - non priority bags came out mixed with priority - British Airways policies and operations are clearly confused and it's losing its edge as a world reknowned airline.
| Type Of Traveller | Business |
| Seat Type | Economy Class |
| Route | London to Hamburg |
| Date Flown | May 2017 |
| Seat Comfort | 12345 |
| Cabin Staff Service | 12345 |
| Food & Beverages | 12345 |
| Inflight Entertainment | 12345 |
| Ground Service | 12345 |
| Value For Money | 12345 |
| Recommended | no |
"I cannot recommend this cabin"
W Charles (United Kingdom)
✅ Verified Review | British Airways charges a big premium for Premium Economy. I sat on the top floor of the A380 after being upgraded from World Traveller at the gate, and enjoyed an aisle seat flying from Singapore to London Heathrow. There were two dinner options, chicken tikka or beef fillet, but as I dozed off I missed out. So no food until 1 hour before landing (11 hours later) unless I wanted to pay for chocolates with a credit card. I kindly asked for some water, got some orange juice too - didn't want to push it even though I saw a bottle of champagne open in the galley - not worth the risk of a bad reaction. I cannot recommend this cabin based on the high prices they charge. The staff mean well - however a gulf of enthusiasm exists between them an Singapore Airlines, Qatar, Cathay etc. It's not cultural, it's just indifference. Will continue to book BA for cheap economy (product/service offers almost no difference) and enjoy upgrades where given.
| Aircraft | A380-800 |
| Type Of Traveller | Solo Leisure |
| Seat Type | Premium Economy |
| Route | Singapore to London Heathrow |
| Date Flown | June 2017 |
| Seat Comfort | 12345 |
| Cabin Staff Service | 12345 |
| Food & Beverages | 12345 |
| Inflight Entertainment | 12345 |
| Ground Service | 12345 |
| Value For Money | 12345 |
| Recommended | no |
Flat bed seat / suite
In-seat &/or USB power
Onboard WiFi
Audio / video on demand
On demand dining
Fine wines & beverage service
Pillows & duvet / blanket
Pyjamas / Sleepsuit
Amenity kit
On demand dining
Seat pitch : 31 ins
Seat width : 17 ins
In-seat &/or USB power
Inflight entertainment
