British Airways

Customer Reviews

4 star Skytrax Rating
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Seat Comfort 12345
Staff Service 12345
Value for Money 12345
Customer rating from 2042 reviews
5/10
4 star Skytrax Rating
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1/10

"Absolute worst travel experience"

(United States)

Trip Verified | British Airways oversold my LHR to LAX flight; I booked months in advance paid in full and actually paid over $1000 extra to fly their Airbus A380. Tried to check in online day before flight, got unknown system error couldn’t check in. Arrived at LHR 3.5 hours early; none of BA kiosks worked, all manual check in by understaffed BA staff who were all unhelpful. Insane queue times; lots of other frustrated passengers in line. Denied boarding at the gate because flight oversold, no explanations, no apologies, constantly ignored by BA staff who don’t have the patience to listen to your situation or be helpful. Finally gate manager books alternate flight to Paris CDG, supposedly to connect with an Air France flight. We get to CDG only to be told by Air France their flight was full; no idea why BA manager bumped me to AF flight that’s also full! That’s insult to injury to be bumped twice! Went to BA desk at CDG, no help at all they told us to call BA and couldn’t even provide the phone number; just told us to look online. On top of all that my luggage is lost somewhere between BA and AF in Paris CDG. I’m an American citizen and speak perfect English, but I feel completely humiliated and treated like second class citizen by multiple BA staff through the whole ordeal. Mostly they just ignore you or bounce you from one counter to another without even trying to listen to your problem. Zero accountability. Will never ever fly BA again! Absolute worst travel experience of my life.
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteLondon to Los Angeles via Paris CDG
Date FlownJuly 2024
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
1/10

"my travel pram confiscated from me"

(United Kingdom)

Trip Verified | When dropping off my luggage at the luggage drop off at Toulouse airport, I had my travel pram confiscated from me and I was forced to take my sleeping 2 year old in my arms while traveling alone with him at 5.30am. I was told by the staff outsourced by British Airways to check in passengers that only yoyo prams were accepted on board. I corrected her that it was "yoyo type" prams but she contested and told me that only yoyo prams would be allowed and if I insisted to keep my sleeping 2-year-old in his pram I would not be permitted to board the flight to London. This happened to 2 other families and we were forced to go to the oversized baggage area of the airport. To clarify my pram is the Silver Cross Jet stroller pushchair which I specifically purchased as it is conform to the British Airways specifications. I was then required to carry my toddler for 30 mins through security, and then again for another 40 mins while waiting to board the plane (I was "allowed" early boarding only to be moved from my seat to stand on the other side of the staff with no more options to sit down). At Heathrow, I was then required to carry my toddler again for approx. 40 mins to go through passport check and luggage claim (as mentioned previously, I was traveling alone with my child with no other support). All this, despite purchasing a very expensive pram to fit to your requirements and coming to the airport prepared with this pram. I'm sure you agree this is unacceptable and it is illegal to force passengers to purchase a specific brand of products in order to be able to keep their child in their travel pram. In addition to this, once on the plane, I installed my Kids Fly Safe Cares Child Airplane Safety Harness for my son. The cabin crew then proceeded to tell me this was not allowed. I had to go on the website to show them that this was incorrect and I was in fact within my rights. Then, for landing, the crew had the gall to tell me to put the harness on my son and that it was mandatory to which I asked, if it was mandatory why did I bring the harness myself. British Airways is the most discriminatory airline for parents traveling with children and this needs to change. My advice; don't treat a mom traveling alone at 5am with a sleeping toddler like rubbish, and don't confiscate her travel pram that is within regulation forcing her to have the worst travel experience possible.
Type Of TravellerFamily Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteToulouse to London Heathrow
Date FlownJuly 2024
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
1/10

“VERY uncomfortable seats”

(United States)

Trip Verified | If you can’t fly First Class don’t fly British Airways! VERY uncomfortable seats. You can’t even get out of your seat when the person in front has their seat reclined (and who doesn’t need to recline their seat!) You can’t pick up ANYTHING off the floor during the flight because you can’t bend to touch the floor - there isn’t enough space to! If you have long legs don’t think you are going to be comfortable - as soon as the person in front of you puts their chair back your knees WILL be CRUSHED! Terrible food, Terrible plane, Terrible air-hostesses, Terrible flight and unfortunately I have to fly back home with them.
AircraftBoeing 777
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteSan Diego to London
Date FlownJuly 2024
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
1/10

"Customer Service is shocking"

(United Kingdom)

Not Verified | I reported my damaged/ruined suitcase 5 weeks ago and I'm still awaiting a reply. I'll think twice about booking with BA again as the Customer Service is shocking to say the least. I've followed up with British Airways with at least 3 emails per week requesting an update but with no joy so far.
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteGlasgow to Munich via Heathrow
Date FlownJune 2024
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Wifi & Connectivity 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
1/10

"left me extremely disappointed"

(Germany)

Not Verified |   On March 1st, I flew from Berlin to São Paulo with BA but encountered several issues. My first flight was delayed by several hours, causing me to miss my connection at London Heathrow. Upon arriving at the airport after midnight, I was given a hotel voucher. However, the hotel designated by BA rudely denied me check-in, claiming it was fully booked. I had to return to Heathrow at 1 AM and found a different hotel, paying for the taxi out of my own pocket. As a result of these complications, I arrived in São Paulo more than 24 hours late. Despite my efforts to assert my rights and seek reimbursement for the taxi, BA's customer service has been extremely poor. Their phone lines are non-functional, emails are only answered automatically, and the appropriate channels for such requests have not been responsive since the first week of March. This experience has left me extremely disappointed, especially considering the high standard of service I once associated with BA.
Type Of TravellerBusiness
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteBerlin to São Paulo via London
Date FlownMarch 2024
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Wifi & Connectivity 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
1/10

“customer service was awful”

(United Kingdom)

Not Verified | The WORST customer experience! British Airways (BA) is effectively robbing people! They are not here to help and show no compassion. My partner and I fell ill and had a doctor’s note stating we couldn't fly. BA said they'd hold our flight amount as a voucher valid for a year. Fair enough. Caveat to this (which was not stated to us): you must call them and it is not usable on holiday packages. However, using this voucher was a nightmare. We can't use it for both our tickets because the original was long-haul, and they refuse to refund half the amount. BA's customer service was awful and rude, effectively stealing £400 from us. This policy must stop. We feel held hostage with no solution.
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteLondon to Corfu
Date FlownSeptember 2023
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
1/10

"over 2 weeks to respond"

(Canada)

Not Verified |   Had to cancel my flight months in advance due to a change of schedule. I was flying with American Airlines and British Airways. Selected seats and when I attempted to get a refund on the selected seats, AA refunded me with no issue when BA refused despite both companies having similar policies. Avoid them, fly with anyone else. Customer service is a joke, taking over 2 weeks to respond to my email and giving me no further justification than what I was told on the phone.
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteToronto to London
Date FlownJuly 2024
Value For Money 12345
no
1/10

“wholly inadequate customer service”

(United Kingdom)

Trip Verified | Flight cancelled with no reason given less than 24 h before departure. The earliest offered replacement on their (terrible to use) app was 3 days later, which was unacceptable. Their phone lines do not work and would reject your call due to being overwhelmed. Even submitting a claim on their website is frustrating due to their terrible interface. Overall, terrible company with wholly inadequate customer service.
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteLondon Gatwick to Verona
Date FlownJune 2024
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Wifi & Connectivity 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
3/10

"cannot recommend BA"

(Canada)

Trip Verified | While BA may have made some positive improvements to its Club World product, its World Traveler product and catering leaves much to be desired. The first meal service was very slow, more than 3 hours to serve the meal. The portions were incredibly small - the chicken dish contained maybe 5 pieces of chicken, 2 pieces of broccoli, and a piece of unknown food. Small snacks were available during the flight, but the real let down was the snack before landing in Vancouver. It was a bizarre tasting chicken pastry wrap, which didn't have much chicken and did not taste at all like a pastry. It was too sweet, too mushy, and too salty. The seats, although not exactly spacious, were tolerable, although the aisles are very narrow, and cabin crew and other passengers frequently bumped into me while walking up and down the aisles. Cabin crew were generally responsive to passengers' request, and once or twice during the flight, came down the aisles with drinks. However, the poor level of catering made for a very frustrating trip. I certainly cannot recommend BA.
AircraftA350-1000
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteLondon Heathrow to Vancouver
Date FlownJune 2024
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
2/10

"cancelled our return flight"

(United Kingdom)

Not Verified | We travel extensively over 25 years and tend to use BA on our regular trips where possible and in recent years we have had overall good service from them however more recently we have experienced flight delays, operational issues, flight cancellations, poor check-in experiences etc. On our last two recent trips, one to Zurich and another to Iceland they had cancelled our return flight an hour or so prior to the scheduled departure time despite the flight showing as on time and no problems being reported. We have just returned from Iceland and our experience was one of the worst we have ever had with BA. Again our flight was just cancelled due to operational reasons but what made matters worse on this occasion was the flight was quite early at 7:45am. We went to bed at around 11pm (night before), checked the flight and it showed as being on time with again no issues being reported so we went to sleep fairly rest assured the the flight would be fine. We woke up at 5:30am and then discovered our flight had been cancelled without any warning! We were then left with virtually no other return flight options for that day. It soon got worse as the earliest flight option then being offered by BA was 3 days later! We opted to choose Tuesday with BA as we were left with no other option! If we hadn't acted quickly the Tuesday availability was sure to sell out leaving us with a return option of Wednesday onwards having experienced the same problem with BA in Zurich back in December. We were lucky on this occasion as BA offered several flights back on the same day in Zurich but this wasn't the case with Iceland! We were then left in a right predicament as hotel availability in Iceland was very limited to non existent given the very short notice of our cancelled flight. Our hotel was fully booked and our hire car had to be returned to the airport. From a logistical point of view this was a complete nightmare having to then rebook another hire car and to find alternative hotels. We then decided to search for any in-direct flights online to get us back to the UK sooner with another airline and after a good half hour of searching we came across an in-direct flight into Gatwick with Norwegian Air but it went via Oslo and a total journey time of 8 hours! This was not ideal as our car was in Heathrow! Assessing our options which were virtually none, we had no guarantees that the flight with BA on Tuesday would also have proceeded on time and checking with Norwegian Air both flights were on time and looked promising so we decided to get these booked at an additional expense of £600! If we had stayed in Iceland we would have also incurred additional cost to then fight back with BA or the insurance company. Our priority was to return home ASAP as we had important work and personal commitments on the Monday so we had to return ASAP. We eventually flew back fine with Norwegian Air and the service we received was far superior to that of BA. The boarding process was slick on both flights compared to a complete shambles with BA. Norwegian Air offered a full food trolley service with soft drinks, tea's and also a range of alcoholic drinks. Compare this to just the water and snack bar on BA!! Both flights were on time and we eventually landed in Gatwick shortly after our expected arrival time. We got back very late home after having to then book a hire car at Gatwick and in the morning we contacted BA to cancel our alternative Tuesday flight
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteLondon Heathrow to Keflavik
Date FlownJune 2024
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no

British Airways Photos

British Airways is the flag carrier of the United Kingdom, with its main hub being at London Heathrow Airport where it operates from Terminal 5 and Terminal 3. The airline also has substantial operations from Gatwick Airport. British Airways is a member of Onweworld alliance, and part of International Airlines Group (IAG).

FIRST CLASS

British Airways offers First Class on many long haul routes operated by widebody aircraft (Boeing 747-400, Boeing 777, Boeing 787 and the A380). Most aircraft have 14 flat-bed seats in First Class, and 8 seats on the Boeing 787-9.

flat_seatsFlat bed seat / suite
power_iconIn-seat &/or USB power
No WiFiOnboard WiFi
AVODAudio / video on demand
DiningOn demand dining
WinesFine wines & beverage service
SleepingPillows & duvet / blanket
PyjamasPyjamas / Sleepsuit
AmenitiesAmenity kit

BUSINESS CLASS

Branded as Club World for long haul and Club Europe for short haul services, British Airways was one of the pioneers of flat bed seats in long haul business class. The product is overdue an upgrade, with the seat layout on a Boeing 777 being 8-across in contrast to the more standard 4-across layout. British Airways Club Europe cabin uses a standard Economy class seat, with the middle of each 3-across section left empty. British Airways charges business class customers to reserve seats for both long haul and short haul flights..

LONG HAUL
flat_seatsFlat bed seat
power_iconIn-seat &/or USB power
No WiFiOnboard WiFi
AVODAudio / video on demand
On demand dining
SleepingPillows & duvet / blanket
PyjamasPyjamas / Sleepsuit
AmenitiesAmenity kit

SHORT HAUL
Seat pitchSeat pitch : 31 ins
Seat widthSeat width : 17 ins
In-seat &/or USB power
No WiFiOnboard WiFi
Inflight entertainment
DiningComplimentary meal / snack

PREMIUM ECONOMY

British Airways offers a premium economy cabin on their long haul / widebody aircraft, branded as World Traveller Plus. With the exception of the larger seat, the onboard service and product varies little to the standard long haul Economy class.

Seat pitchSeat pitch : 38 ins
Seat widthSeat width : 18.5 ins
No WiFiOnboard WiFi
power_iconUSB power
AVODAudio / video on demand
DiningComplimentary meal
WinesComplimentary beverages & wines
SleepingPillow / blanket

ECONOMY CLASS

British Airways has been reducing economy class standards recently and now charge for all food and beverages on short haul services. Further cuts are expected to their long haul product standards. The cabins are branded as World Traveller for long haul, and EuroTraveller for short haul.

LONG HAUL
Seat pitchSeat pitch : 31 ins
Seat widthSeat width : 17.5 ins
No WiFiOnboard WiFi
power_iconUSB power
AVODAudio / video on demand
DiningComplimentary meal
WinesComplimentary beverages & wines
SleepingPillow / blanket

SHORT HAUL
Seat pitchSeat pitch : 29-30 ins
Seat widthSeat width : 17 ins
In-seat &/or USB power
No WiFiOnboard WiFi
Inflight entertainment
Complimentary meal / beverages