British Airways

❎ Unverified | Bordeaux to London Gatwick. As a former Executive Gold card holder (7 years running), my long haul travels had stopped due to change of job so sadly lost my status, back to "blue". I have just started flying again with British Airways and, just recently, the Bordeaux to Gatwick route, once served by a 737-400 and now replaced by the more modern A320. To my surprise the cabin looks very nice (although the leg room seems to have reduced to that of Ryanair) and has a pleasant feeling. Sadly discovered one has to pay for wine and food on board now (economy) but the wines are not good (I am a wine trade professional). If the food is "M&S" concept, why don't they get M&S to supply them the wines too? Years ago the selection process at British Airways was different and the wines were then great! But overall my flight to Gatwick was enjoyable, the crew professional, and hardly more expensive than EasyJet on the same route. My next BA trip is on February 18th, this time to Shanghai. I am concerned, though, to read the generally appalling comments about BA's long haul routes by various travellers and worry about what to expect now on my forthcoming flight, in economy! I hope BA is taking these comments onboard seriously.

❎ Unverified | London Heathrow to San Francisco return. Upgraded from Premium economy to Business on outward leg and Business as booked on return. Both legs on the A380 which is a super plane, spacious, comfortable and clean. Entertainment screens are so much bigger than those on the older 747's. Both flights were very good with attentive, friendly cabin crew and excellent food. My only complaint was that the inbound flight was 7 minutes past scheduled time and this was sufficient for me to miss my connecting flight. BA should never book connections with such a tight schedule. Problem was compounded by disinterested ground staff, especially a BA manager at T5 who was more interested in continuing a conversation with colleagues than assisting a passenger who was helping to pay his wages.

✅ Verified Review | Aberdeen to Paris via London Heathrow. British Airways has stooped to its lowest level of penury by introducing a well-marketed and poorly executed scheme of M& S Tie-up on catering in European and Domestic routes. BA is where a passenger has to remain thirsty for even a 3 hr flight to far Europe destination without a credit or debit card. Leave alone any complimentary drink, even a cup of water is charged. No cash accepted. Stooped to lowest levels of customer service from being a renowned airline. I will evaluate all other options before travelling BA in domestic and European routes, although I am a Bronze member.

✅ Verified Review | London Heathrow to Copenhagen. My first time experiencing British Airways buy-on-board service. This must be brand suicide at its worst. How BA can go from a full-service carrier to low cost overnight is astounding. The brand is now cheapened, the offering before wasn't gourmet, but at least you could pass the time with a tea and biscuit, now you can't even get hot water for free. Even SAS offer a complimentary coffee. What ceases to amaze me is more and more is taken away by British Airways in every single class you travel, yet you don't see a decrease in ticket prices. The positives to this flight were that it was on time and the crew were friendly , but I do feel it must be a complete embarrassment for them.

✅ Verified Review | London Heathrow to Washington Dulles. My first long haul flight with British Airways. Flight on time, quite new and spotless aircraft. Very friendly and efficient cabin crew. Descent lunch followed by the snack served 1 hour prior to landing. Good choice of drinks and soft drinks. Informative cockpit crew. Wide choice of IFE. Cons: limited legroom in economy (additionally limited by the electronix box beneath the seat). Overall I am impressed. Decent value for the money paid. I would definitely fly with BA again.

✅ Verified Review | Heathrow to Hong Kong in Business Class on 3rd January as part of a holiday to New Zealand, also involving flights with Cathay Pacific and Malaysia Airlines. The flight to Hong Kong with British Airways showed up all that is bad about British Airways now and how far it has fallen behind other airlines. The continual penny pinching and poor staff attitude was evident throughout the flight. Check-in at Terminal 5 was chaotic, there having been a "computer glitch" which greatly slowed the check-in and bag drop processes. There were too few BA staff on hand to assist and those that were in evidence were being continually harassed. Business check-in was better but still very busy. BA needs to speed up bag drop urgently. Other airports allow you to print your own baggage labels and take your baggage straight to be loaded onto the conveyor belt where a member of staff checks the weight to make sure it is not too heavy, not perfect for all passengers but would considerably speed up the process for the vast majority of passengers who can check in easily. The lounge was a disappointment with tired dirty furniture, used dishes not being cleared, too few seats for the number of passengers and very poor food availability. Not a great place to rest before an 11 hour journey and I would concur with other comments about the deteriorating standards. Compare this to the other "home" lounges of other carriers such as those at Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur. Took a shower whilst waiting and that was OK. The flight was not good at all. Cabin crew showed general lack of interest throughout the flight and seemed interested in just getting the meals served and then disappearing from view for the rest of the flight until it was time for the meal service prior to landing. Gone are all the small (and not so small) touches that made flying with BA a pleasure, such as hanging up coats, hot towels, a second round of drinks, a nice meal at a leisurely pace and an overall feeling of being well looked after. A comment about the seats, how can BA justify 8 across in Business Class? When the ying/yang seats were first introduced they were a revolution, but a lot of other airlines now only have 6 across with a lot more space and comfort and in most cases you don't have to climb over another person to get out whilst they are sleeping. I had a window seat and I felt very hemmed in. There was no storage space for the things you need during a flight, glasses, tablet computer, water bottle etc. All were kept on the floor or crammed down the side of the seat. Sadly BA is no longer my airline of choice. I spent many years doing international business travel and when you saw the Union Flag on the tailfin at some distant airport you knew you were already nearly home. I saved a considerable number of Avios points for my retirement which I am now using up, but on other airlines within the One World Alliance where possible and who offer a far better product and actually look after their passengers and make them feel wanted. Sorry BA but you've lost my loyalty. Club World is now very poor (and also Club Europe now) and you've lost the plot to the bean counters. Never thought I'd say this but I've joined the ABBA club, anybody but BA.

✅ Verified Review | Gatwick to Mauritius return. Absolutely fine from online check in, baggage drop at Gatwick to collecting baggage in Mauritius. Allocated seats together (2 passengers) given at online check in, with no need to change these. Pleasant and courteous staff member at baggage drop. Boarding by cabin class and row numbers and ran pretty smoothly. Boeing 777 about 16 years old, but still in presentable condition. I'm 1.8 m. tall and medium build and I found the seat pretty comfortable for a 12-hour flight in economy - at least this aircraft type is still 9 abreast despite the slightly dated look of the cabin. Not the largest seat screen I've experienced but fine, and there was a reasonable selection of movies, tv and music. Drinks service followed by hot meal (roast chicken in sauce or veggie option). We ate in the terminal before departing just in case the food offering was going to be dire, but despite the reduction in food given on the tray we couldn't really fault what was provided. Lights out after dinner until about an hour before landing when a hot breakfast was served. Cabin crew friendly and efficient service, with water service through the night, plus option to get drinks from the galley. Landed on time. Spent ages in the queue at immigration, luggage waiting for us and then taxi to hotel. We got there safely, on time and in reasonable comfort. Return flight a week later pretty much the same as outbound.

✅ Verified Review | Flew from Los Angeles to Nice via London Heathrow. 2 words: Travel Nightmare. Every leg of my British Airways flight was delayed including one which was delayed due to a "paperwork issue that would take 10 minutes". 2 hours later we took off. Late inbound flights caused me to miss my connection which British Airways charged me exorbitant fees and wait in a 4 hour line to rebook. Inflight entertainment audio system did not work properly, which was not resolved and offered no compensation as a result. By far the worst travel my wife or I have ever experienced, we will be avoiding this airline for life.

✅ Verified Review | Zurich to London Heathrow, and my first trip on BA since they scrapped any type of complimentary service onboard for us lowly economy cabin travellers. This is now some weeks on since they introduced their buy onboard snack options, but cabin staff acted like it was their first day and that they had no training. Okay, it might not be easy for them, but they all appeared very bad tempered with customer questions about the new Ryanair style service, and a lot of tutting as they served those who decided to buy something. I am sick and tired of the CEO of BA telling us everywhere this is what their customers asked for. Be honest and accept that this is a ploy to enhance your personal bonus at the end of year and keep shareholders happy. That said, it seems the BA reputation is on the slide across many markets, and that's where shareholders should be truly worried. (And no, I sold my BA shares many years ago!).

✅ Verified Review | Gatwick to Barcelona return, and just dreadful pretty much sums up this British Airways business class experience. Since BA moved to Gatwick south terminal, their new lounge is still not ready. They're currently using the clubrooms and the old Virgin Atlantic lounge, now called the speedbird lounge. Gold card holders and passengers travelling in business or first class use the clubrooms. What a sorry state this lounge was. Full, with limited seating, a forty minute wait for food, no available snacks and empty drinks cabinets. I left as hungry and thirsty as I arrived. No to worry though, British Airways will feed me onboard. Once onboard, for a two hour flight, I was served afternoon tea which consisted of three finger sandwiches, a scone and a really small slice of cake. This meal was completely insufficient. There was one drinks round offered and one top up offered. Given that BA use the smallest glasses possible, coupled with its love of miniature cans of lemonade, you will be thirsty. I found trading up to business class to be completely not worth the extra spend. After being disappointed by the outbound catering my disappointment was set to continue with the exact same afternoon tea meal served on my inbound flight. Staff were indifferent and spent most of their time chatting in galley.