British Airways

I recently travelled British Airways from Phoenix to London Heathrow. This is my 3rd time I have flown this route onboard one of the Boeing 747-400 and I must say British Airways have got to either fully upgrade their B747 fleet or retire the aircraft. The seats are far too cramped and not comfortable, the in flight entertainment had to be rebooted several times as they stopped working or didn't work at all, the heat in the cabin was unbearable at times and very uncomfortable. The only plus points were crew who were very attentiveand willing to help and the food wasn't too bad. I am aware that around 18 Boeing 747's are getting refitted but by the look of it unfortunately the B747 on the Phoenix route is not, and for me as the route I travel, causes me concern and has me wondering if I will travel with BA again. Not everyone can afford to fly business or first but that doesn't mean that we give up on the right to have a little space to move, seats that don't feel like they are going to cripple you, have an entertainment system that works and has a better selection of movies/tv shows/music. Other airlines such as Emirates have a fabulous system even in economy so why can't British Airways use the same type of technology. If BA want to compete, please do something about it.

Check-in for my British Airways flight at Gatwics North Terminal with no queue and staff friendly and chatty. Boarding was quick. The A319 had not yet been fitted with the new seats, but they were still comfortable and moderately spacious. The cabin crew were friendly and attentive. The return journey was also quite good, except the flight was change to a 01:10 departure instead of 23:40 so it meant that nearly most shops (except duty free) at Alicante were closed. Also it meant that the flight arrived back into Gatwick at 02:40 which wasn't very pleasant as we had to then drive another hour and a half home. British Airways Gatwick operation is quite good and punctual not like Heathrow.

These British Airways flights were undoubtedly the worst we've ever had to South Africa in ten years of travelling there. The seats were narrow, lumpy and incredibly uncomfortable especially for a long haul journey. I thought initially that we were unlucky and got broken or faulty seats on our outward journey, but they were just as bad on the return journey. To add insult to injury, we'd selected and paid for seats of our preference, but when we got to the airport for our return journey we were told the seats were gone, and simply told we would have to apply for a refund. The worst aspect of the flight however, was the heat. The aircraft was oppressively hot and stuffy for hours on the way from Johannesburg to London. Many passengers complained but the crew could apparently do nothing because the air conditioning system appeared too old to regulate the temperature. Also the entertainment system had to be switched off and rebooted several times because many passengers' consoles were not working. There were passengers who had to do without entertainment for the entire 10 hour flight. These aircraft are not fit for flying and should have been retired a decade ago. Pity the poor crew who have to work on these clapped-out aircraft every day. We've been travelling to South Africa several times a year for the past decade and this was our first time travelling with British Airways. Clearly it will also be our last. Avoid British Airways or their Boeing 747-400s at all costs.

Vienna to London Heathrow return in September 2015, both flights in Economy on an A320. Crew pleasant but not doing more than absolutely required. A snack and drinks were served on both legs. This time the sandwich consisted of a mini pastrami and cheese sandwich and a mini black currant bun. Edible, but not BA´s best sandwich offering. Additional drinks were served on request. Both legs featured the new slim seats in the cabin with reduced legroom. While the seat are slightly better than the Recaro slim seats, I miss the older more comfortable seats with better leg room. I did not really realize that BA has changed the rules recently and travelling only with hand baggage now also means that one is no longer allowed to pick a seat during check-in, but a seat is randomly allocated. Selecting any seat (even a middle seat in the back of plane now costs EUR 18). Also, if one later decides to check a piece of luggage the costs are a whopping EUR75 at the airport or EUR35 on line. The final fare with BA can be substantially higher than the initial price quote - the additional charges are displayed during the booking process and if one commits to checking luggage during the booking process, the charges are lower. With the exception of a free drink and sandwich, British Airways Economy product is now pretty much a low-cost airline product. Being Oneworld Sapphire does not help either. No privileges here; still the same charges for seat selection and checking luggage. While VIE-LHR was on time, the return LHR-VIE leg was delayed for one hour. After a timely boarding the full plane was waiting for the departure, but then the flight deck announced that they are waiting for some cargo to be loaded and they missed their assigned slot, which meant waiting an hour for a new slot. So, basically BA inconvenienced a whole plane of passengers to load some delayed cargo. Flying with hand baggage only, I used web check-in for both flights which worked fine. Boarding procedures were unremarkable and pleasant. BA uses a shared lounge in VIE. The Lounge as such is acceptable (small and mostly packed), but far from great with limited and lower quality offerings. The selection seems to be more or less the same in all lounges in VIE. BA Galleries Lounge in LHR T3 a comfortable oasis amid a busy airport and food and drinks selection was better than VIE. Wine selection was nice. BA still uses T3 for its flights to VIE, which I consider a huge benefit over using T5, which tends to be a mess for passengers. While I stopped flying British Airways Business in Europe they BA changed Business seating to Economy seats with no additional legroom, I see no valid reason to pay any surcharge for this product, but I still consider BA one of the better options for Economy flights in Europe. However their new low-cost airline concept also means that the times when I was willing to pay higher prices just for flying with BA over easyJet or Austrian on this route are unfortunately over.

The British Airways seats were extremely small, uncomfortable and did not operate properly. In order to recline the seat or return it to the upright position you had to do it manually. The bathrooms throughout the plane were dirty and smelly from the minute we boarded. The meals British Airways served were abysmal. On the way home from London to the U.S. passengers had the choice of a chicken curry dish with saffron rice or the vegetarian option. The smell of curry makes me nauseated so I opted for the vegetarian dish. I was served greasy, overly seasoned pasta soaked in oil and covered with a soggy bread crumb topping. It was inedible. My partner received the chicken curry dish which was small, fatty pieces of chicken overly seasoned and soaked oil. The dishes served are poorly chosen for the general population of people who fly British Airways. The food should be clean, fresh food not covered in grease and oil and not overly seasoned. The portions are too small and the dessert items chosen are also odd and not appealing to people. It appears British Airways will serve just about anything so they can keep the food prices down and the profits up.

Denver to London with British Airways. We were allocated rubbish seats near the toilets. The seats would recline but would creep forward during the night which bent the jack in my headphones. Lately we've found the aircraft are tired and in much need of an update. Poor quality screens - very small seats. Not much bigger than a short haul flight. Find the air hostess / stewards are often quite bored and provide a no thrills service. There's not much wrong with them per se, but a smile would go a long way. We now specifically look for other airlines to fly with as we've had enough of British Airways for long haul flights.

Heathrow to Munich return with British Airways. I have never published a negative review of anything ever before, I work in the service industry and have several friends who are cabin crew. I am not a demanding passenger, I rarely request anything unless invited to do so and I rarely request anything other than water. However my first experience of British Airways business class was let down by crew serving me. The female cabin attendant on my return flight could not have been nicer, but the male attendant on my flight out was noticeably dismissive of me as a female passenger. To the men sitting near me he was chatty and offering them extra drinks etc. I was made to feel like a huge inconvenience. Such a shame and it has made me reconsider whether the extra cost is worthwhile.

Have flown previously in British Airways Business Class. Flew in World Traveler economy class on this trip, with adult children on their first flight to England. Loading was chaotic. Seated middle four seat section, row 49. No air conditioning in cabin. Several of us complained about heat and lack of air flow. Did not get answer from stewardess until an hour into the flight. Took 3 hours before air conditioning kicked in. No room under the seat to store handbag. Seats appear to be smaller. When person in row in front of me reclined, I had minimal room to move or to access my purse. Little attention from cabin attendants. Told them I was getting dizzy from lack of cool air, and they allowed me to move to seat in galley where air was cooler from Business Class seats. Food served was terrible. No advance menu to choose from. No individual lighting or air. I thought it was my worst experience until immigration 2.5 hour wait in line to clear immigration / customs. Our prepaid taxi waited 90 minutes and then left. Horrible experience. The return flight was worse. Delayed 1.5 hours on the ground due to no air conditioning in Coach seating again, though First and Business had it. They brought us water in the last 30 minutes. Will never fly British Airways again.

A very pleasant experience apart from the so called fast track lane that took 20 minutes. The business class lounge was very nice with a great choice of drinks and snacks for early morning departure. As a regular on the Gatwick to Sharm el Sheikh route it was a breath of fresh air to have the option of a full service airline and Oneworld member. The business class seats are the same as economy class on the A320 but the middle seat blocked off worked for me, and the fare paid was very similar to easyJet flexi rates. Excellent service from take-off to landing.

Sharm el Sheikh to Gatwick. I checked in at British Airways business class counter and the agent was unprofessional and unwelcoming. All my questions involved him having to ask a colleague in the adjacent economy class check-in. I asked staff where the lounge access was located and was abruptly told there was No lounge access - despite BA stating on their website that business class passengers have access to the Royal Jordanian lounge (which I saw no sign of) so I had to use the general and expensive SSH airport facilities. Boarding was absolute mayhem with no separate call for business class or Oneworld members to board first. So I jumped on the bus to be called off and told the check-in agent had booked me in economy class row 8D, which was listed as business class at on-line check-in. After a wait of 10 minutes, a new boarding bass was issued for seat 1C, and the aircraft bus had to be called back to pick me up. Onboard things did improve and chatted with friendly crew. However the pre-boarding did not represent a premium product.