British Airways

✅ Trip Verified | British airways lost bags in LHR then found them. Sent to Cologne where it sat for two days before they told me, but no one was there to give it to me. I spent 10 days in Europe without a bag, bought clothes. BA refused to reimburse me. They closed the case 10 days after i returned to the states when my bag showed up at my front door. They wont let you talk to management, they say they email mail you but they don't then you call customer service. they say they will escalate it but you will never know. they don't update the claims or the forms.

✅ Trip Verified | The check in process and reward/loyalty program is a mess. I am never able to get points, even when trying it through a partner airline. Unfortunately for work I have to travel with them sometimes. This time, the flight was delayed.

✅ Trip Verified | We flew in November 2023, but it took this long to seek a satisfactory response from BA, which we ultimately never received. BA refused to re-book my son and me at no cost that day due to lack of Underground service / alternate service. BA forced us to buy new tickets and never admitted that they subjected us to disparate treatment. I will not be flying or recommending BA again.

✅ Trip Verified | I left for London from Johannesburg at 21:15 on 22 December 2024. My only issue with that flight was the pillows they gave us were dirty and when my 7 year old dropped some juice and I asked a cabin crew member walking past for some serviettes she told me to go to the bathroom to get some to clean it up. Those issues weren’t pleasant but certainly not a major problem. I was booked on the BA0057 at 21:15 on 31 December 2024 to return to Johannesburg. The flight was delayed to the 1 January 2025 at 12:00pm. I had a connecting flight to Durban and do not live in Johannesburg. Landing in Johannesburg with 3 children at 1 am was not an option for me. BA changed my flight to 2nd January 2025 at 18:25. I requested a sooner date so I could get home sooner. I was given 1 January 2025 at 21:15. I accepted this as this is the original time I opted for and would he most convenient for me as I was doing a connection in Johannesburg to Durban. Unfortunately this flight was delayed till 2nd January at 17:00. I was extremely upset by this as I was absolutely exhausted and had 3 children who were absolutely exhausted. I also suffer from eczema and hay fever and did not have my creams and medication. This caused my eczema to flare up so badly, even my lips were cracked and burning. My allergies were so severe that my eyes were sticking together and I couldn’t stop sneezing. My daughter also has eczema and has had a flare up. The staff had no sympathy or empathy for a mother traveling alone and her children. I was just told that they know it’s an inconvenience and a lady even snapped at me that they trying their best. My children are 4, 7 and 11 and we were all booked on separate seats. Is that even legal let alone ethical? They were refusing to help me and saying they can’t do anything. I approached 3 people, and the third person finally put us together. So they could clearly help me??? My flight from Johannesburg to Durban was originally booked on South African Airways and I paid a lot for this ticket as South African Airways is not a low cost airline. I was given a cheap low cost Airline, CemAir, which I had never even heard of, to replace my SAA flight. I suffer from flight anxiety and this is why I never book low cost airlines with tiny flights. My anxiety went through the roof on the flight! Besides all of this, I am also left with a huge credit card bill as I used up all my pounds on the 1st! I know BA is obliged to compensate me for the inconvenience under EU law but besides the compensation BA staff really needs to show more empathy for their passengers, like me, who had two hours long flight delays two days in a row and was alone with 3 children. I expect my full compensation for all of us as this has been by far the worst experience I have had traveling. All their staff kept saying is “that’s why you will get compensation.” I am now waiting to see if I get compensated as I was promised by all of their ground staff! Legally they have to under EU law, so let’s see if they put up a fight or do what is ethical and legal.

✅ Trip Verified | After an excellent flight on a 777 CPT to LHR the return was not as good. BA have moved the Business Class checkin from one end of the hall to the other at T5 for no apparent reason so a nice long walk to check in. Fast Track security was very slow (15 minutes). The indicator board suggested the South Lounge was "half full" but when I went it was uncomfortably full and it is still tatty as not refurbished, so I went to the B Pier lounge instead. Much better except as usual the staff are sort of trying to pack up early and have a bizarre way of refilling the food containers which involves actually removing them to the kitchen (which means they are gone a lot of the time) rather than replenishing them customer side. Very employee-centric behaviour. Time for the flight so down to the transit to take us to the C Gates. Except the transit had decided not to stop any more at the B Gates so we watched five maybe seven transits pass through without stopping. Eventually me and a group of maybe 15 other passengers of mixed ages decided to descend to the walkway and run all the way to the C Gates. We all arrived soaked in sweat - not a nice start to a long business class flight. The A380 is spacious but the seat is outdated now and in urgent need of replacement. IFE was not working and had to be rebooted. The headphone prong was bent so headphones not working. The USB port was not working. Drinks were brought out promptly. Starter (salmon) was delicious - truly excellent. Beef was tough ... I think a bad piece of meat rather than badly cooked. Wines were good. Cheese was average to good. Staff were friendly. Good night's sleep. Breakfast good. The recheck experience at JNB is a huge hassle - there is a giant screen saying "Domestic recheck" and a queue but when you get to the front of the queue you are told it is SAFAIR only and not for SAA, BA's local partner. What a hassle. Why aren't we warned or told this ... loads of BA passengers making the same mistake. Overall 5/10. It's the little things that would make this better: fast track actually fast track. Refurbish the South Lounge. Have food replenishment in the passenger area, not the kitchen; make sure the transits stop, even late in the evening; refurbish the A380s; ask Do & Co (who are generally excellent by the way) to monitor meat quality rigorously.

✅ Trip Verified | On a recent flight from Cyprus BA621 on 23/11/24, the second the cabin door was closed the pilot announced we would be held on the runway for 2 hours. They know this prior and did not inform passengers until after we had boarded. The flight home took nearly 6 hours due to weather conditions, this plus 2 hours waiting. What did BA offer during this 8 hour hell flight, 3 oatmeal biscuits and 250ml of water for our family. When I went to the cabin crew to ask for more water, which I was told there wasn’t any 3 out of the 4 cabin crew were asleep in the back row seats of the aircraft BA621 on 23/11/24. This infuriated me further as I had previously asked if there were any spare seats so that my 2 year old could spread out and get some sleep if available. I was told the flight was full. After we arrived late my connecting flight had now been missed. We then queued at the connections desk in a large queue only to watch the BA staff clock off for the night in front of us. No genuine support was given to me, or my family and we were effectively abandoned by BA. I’ve tried to speak to someone, but their helpline has an automated message saying due to the number of calls (not surprised by that aspect) they cant assist me, then hang up. Tried this several times at various times. I think it’s their default message. Have raised this via their email system. Unsurprisingly been mugged off and can’t escalate until 8 weeks have passed. Like I said a national disgrace.

✅ Trip Verified | Flight BA 0560 arrived in Rome on 11 December where ALL passengers received a SMS from BA to say that their luggage had been left in London. My wife and I completed the required form but were in a queue for 2 hours to have it checked. BA’ s agent in Rome believe the baggage would arrive on the last flight that night (10pm) and would most likely be delivered next day. Nobody from BA in Rome Airport made contact with us to explain what happened and when bags would arrive. We finally got our luggage delivered to us at 4pm on Sunday 15 December - the day before we were due to leave Rome. During the waiting period there was no contact initiated by either BA or their Rome agents and on several occasions when we called both Rome and London help desks, we received no updates. In 34 years of travelling together this has never happened before and the sheer neglect in keeping us informed is disgusting. Sadly for BA, we will never fly with it again and will share our horror story with others and strongly encourage them to fly with another airline. I would give BA an overall rating of zero.

✅ Trip Verified | This was the first time I flew British Airways, and it was a huge disappointment. While the seat is quite good, the food is very simple and the service is subpar. But not only that, Heathrow airport, their hub, is by far the worst large airport I’ve seen in Europe. When we landed in DC I had an email saying that my luggage stayed in London. This was last Wednesday. I have an AirTag so I could follow my suitcase. It came to Washington the following day, Thursday. Ever since, it’s been sitting in the airport. British offers no means of communication: the online chat is a bot. The bot tells me to call a number in England. I did. It’s another bot. When you say you have in inquiry about luggage it sends you a link via SMS and hangs up. No option to talk to a human. In the claim form they gave me there’s a local phone, which reaches a voicemail. I keep calling them (6 times today only) and leaving messages, saying that the AirTag shows the suitcase in IAD and offering to go pick it up so they don’t need to deliver it. No one replies to the voicemail. So basically I am shut out, with no luggage, no information, no customer service and no one to talk to.

✅ Trip Verified | Pretty good flight but still some small things that can be improved. Check in was quick. Lounge was good - tasty food and well chosen wines. Disappointingly they had not secured a gate so we had to bus to the aircraft and it was all a hot scrum. I got the last bus to avoid the crush. Emirates, Turkish, Lufthansa, Qatar all had planes on gates ... why not BA? Penny-pinching? Then it turned out the cabin crew forgot about those on the last bus so I had to ask for a welcome drink. It came and the champagne was actually cold. Well done BA ... first time they managed to serve champagne cold in my 10 years of flying with them. Big improvement. Cabin and seat were lovely as always (I greatly prefer to the Emirates white/gold bling). Drinks service was prompt. IFE was good. Starter (trout) was OK. Main (chicken) was excellent. Cheese was sold not cold (as it should be). Wines were excellent. We were not disturbed through the night so got a good sleep on a comfy bed. Cabin was a bit too warm though for my personal preference. Was woken up (as asked) and served a tasty breakfast. Small detail - as it is impossible to get water to 100C at altitude maybe BA could warm the ceramic coffee cups so coffee retains its heat a bit longer? Pouring not quite hot coffee into a nice (but cold) china mug means it is lukewarm instantly. Off the plane in record time (2 minutes) after parking. Bags were waiting for us on the belt. Excellent work by the ground staff. Overall 8/10. Improvement points: gate not bus to the plane; don't forget passengers on the last bus or who board late (but well before pushback). Standout cabin crew member was "Miguel" - what a star.

✅ Trip Verified | Check in was fine, but no priority/fast track lines for security or boarding. There is only one lounge option for first class customers in Mexico City, which is the American Airlines admirals club, which is abysmal. There is a free bar, serving cheap alcohol – an awful food selection – and nowhere to shower. On board – I find the seat really comfortable. The crew were fantastic, and I’m starting to really see some consistency in the quality of their first class crew. The drink selection was fine. The food was appalling. We were the victims of their new supper service. This is basically a dinner service with a lot less options/choice. No fish/seafood options on either the starters or the mains. First choice of Main unavailable as only two had been loaded. The fillet steak, so drying and overcooked, that I heard at least three people send it back. Pretty impressive for a cabin of just eight passengers..Dreadful dessert and cheeseboard. luggage off swiftly the other end – so good to see priority tagging working.