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 1972 reviews
5/10
4 star Skytrax Rating
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1/10

"BA is worse than a low cost carrier"

(United Kingdom)

Trip Verified | British Airways has a total lack of respect for its customers. I was booked to fly from Frankfurt Main to London City Airport, and just a couple of hours before the scheduled departure the flight was suddenly cancelled by BA without explanation, when I was already at the airport. The worst thing was the utter callousness that staff showed towards customers. The ground staff’s attitude was that they are merely third party agents, not BA employees, and therefore they quickly washed their hands of us all, telling us we had to contact BA directly via phone if we wanted help. They couldn’t even provide us a phone number, telling us to look it up on ba.com ! So BA abandoned its passengers. They did tell us that the BA departure to Heathrow had also been cancelled, meaning there would be no further BA flight from Frankfurt to London that day (although other airlines were still operating the route- but BA refused to rebook us on them). The reason given for both cancellations was “technical reasons”. No assistance or information was provided on our rights due to cancellation, nor any information on help regarding food/ accommodation help etc. Their attitude was literally that the cancellation had nothing to do with them and it was our problem, not theirs. I received an email an hour later notifying me that I had been automatically rebooked on an alternative flight 24 hours later, which wasn’t acceptable as I had to get back to London that night. I rang BA’s call centre and again, they showed a high degree of callousness. 95% of the half-hour call was spent with me waiting on hold, with the phone just cutting off after half an hour, and no meaningful information given to me by that point. There was no attempt by the call operator to call me back when the line cut (and I had a solid phone signal and wifi as I was still standing in Terminal 2 of Frankfurt Main airport), even though my phone number is listed in my booking contact details. They just don’t care. In the end I had to arrange my own return to London by taking a coach to Hanh airport which was 112km away , waiting there for 5 hours and then booking an expensive last minute ticket with Ryanair to Stansted. At least that flight operated on time and got me back to London! BA is worse than a low cost carrier now.
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteFrankfurt to London City
Date FlownSeptember 2023
Seat Comfort 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
1/10

"British Airways absolutely does not care"

(United Kingdom)

Trip Verified | British Airways absolutely does not care. My reserved seat was change from an aisle to center seat for this overnight, full flight and it was quite awful. After enquiring at LAX check in, the agent said sorry, nothing we can do. Onboard the flight the attendants seemed to try and finish the meal service at a racing speed, with meals trays passed out with no proper questions about choice. Then back and clearing trays and they disappeared to rest in the kitchen for hours after that. No water runs, if you need anything do not bother with the call bell, as they simply ignore it. I used to like travelling British Airways 10-15 years ago, but the bean counters have been in and lowered it close to a lowcost carrier. I guess staff are badly paid from their terrible attitude and service. My last trip to London was with Delta, they are so much better than this very poor excuse of an airline that British Air has now become.
AircraftBoeing 777
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteLos Angeles to London
Date FlownAugust 2023
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
1/10

"utter abdication of responsibility"

(United States)

Trip Verified | My recent experience with British Airways was not just horrendous, it was an utter abdication of responsibility on their part. I arrived at JFK ready for my flight to Malaga, only to find it had been cancelled with zero notice. After a draining 2-hour altercation, I was finally placed on a different flight. The nightmare continued when I landed in Malaga sans luggage, containing essentials for my son's wedding. Thirty agonizing hours later, the bags showed up—but my brand-new iPad and a special watch for my nephew were missing. The items weren't merely valuable; they had emotional significance, which made the loss even more gut-wrenching. You'd think a reputable airline would make amends for such errors. Despite the clear mishandling of my baggage by their team, they refused to offer any reimbursement or even a modest amount of airline credit. Their customer service was not only ineffective but also astonishingly callous. Their response was, in essence, "It's your fault for trusting us with your belongings." This isn't just poor customer service; it's a complete disregard for basic human decency and responsibility. British Airways had numerous opportunities to right their wrongs and chose not to. If you have any respect for your time, belongings, and emotional well-being, avoid British Airways at all costs. They not only fail to deliver on promises but also refuse to make amends when they err, leaving customers to bear the brunt of their incompetence.
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteNew York JFK to Malaga via London
Date FlownJune 2023
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
1/10

"customer service being so horrible"

(Germany)

Trip Verified | I arrived at the airport about 2.5 hours before takeoff to have more than about time to get checked in, go through security, etc. All that went without any issues. Being that I was relatively early at the gate, I was one of the first passengers there. After some time boarding had opened. First the business class got called up, then families with children and disabled people. A couple minutes into the boarding they started to call up people, one by one, by name. Then there was an announcement: they won’t let anyone in anymore. Me and about fifty other people were still standing at the gate not being let in. The reason, they said, was that the plane was short staffed (Later I discovered, speaking to a manager, that not only the flight was short staffed but also it was overbooked). After the announcement people were getting angry because they wouldn’t be let in anymore. Nothing changed and everyone was sent away. I had a connecting flight later that day that I was going to miss because I was not let on the plane. First I tried to get my luggage back which I didn’t receive immediately but got a hold of later on thanks to the airport personnel. Then, just like everyone who was going to fly with the same plane, I wanted to talk to someone from British Airways. Since they don’t have a service center at Frankfurt Airport everyone went to the check-in counters where we received food vouchers but not a single person was either able to rebook my or anyone’s flight nor get anyone refunded. All the staff said was that we were going to receive an email in a couple hours with options to rebook the flight or get a refund. I waited four hours for the email at the airport that did not come until today. Trying to call the airline did not help either because they did not answer the phone or hung up in the middle of the conversation. After the four hours of waiting for the email me and some other people from the same flight went back to the check-in counter to get a confirmation from them that I will receive a refund. Being that there was a new shift the personell did not know what had happened. When they scanned my passport an looked at the flight they found out that the system was dying that it was my fault I could not attend the flight. It looked like I had missed it. For everyone standing there with me it was exactly the same. But the people at the counter said they could not do anything about it. Later on we were able to speak to the manager after many phone calls he said they were going to take care of it. We are supposed to get an email at some point in the future. I was not able to get a written confirmation that I will get refunded even after several times asking for it. I already flew a lot of times in my life but never ever has such a thing a happened to me. Not only that me and so many other people were not let into the plane but also the customer service being so horrible that they were not able to rebook or confirm a refund in any way. In the end the only option for me to get to my destination would have been to book a last minute flight for a lot of money which I would not know if I ever got it backed.
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteFrankfurt to London Heathrow
Date FlownAugust 2023
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
1/10

"still waiting for reimbursement"

(United Kingdom)

Not Verified | BA cancelled our flight and could not book us onto any flight for the next 4 days. I had to spend £5k in expenses to get us back with another airline. 2 months later I am still waiting for reimbursement and have had no response to my 3 written complaints. Even the call centre staff tell me that head office have taken down the telephone number and email for the department who deal with this, so even they cannot escalate or inquire. Utterly useless.
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteNewark to London
Date FlownJune 2023
Value For Money 12345
no
1/10

"Such a horrible experience"

(Canada)

Trip Verified | 8 months have passed and still wasting my time with the BA team sharing the same documents again and again. Our flight from Delhi to London got delayed in December 2022 so we missed the connecting flight from London Heathrow to Vancouver. BA put us on a flight after 24 hours. On reaching Vancouver we were told our baggage was lost. Such a horrible experience and their Customer Relations person did not even look into the details already shared in December, January, April, and July.
Type Of TravellerFamily Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteDelhi to Vancouver via London
Date FlownDecember 2022
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
1/10

"Never again, BA"

(Denmark)

Trip Verified | In June my flight was cancelled within three hours of departure. Was given a rebooking the next day and they lost my suitcase. It arrived three days later. Today - 25th August 2023 - it happened again. Offer of rebooking in two days. When trying to post a claim, the website doesn't work. Never again, BA.
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteCopenhagen to London
Date FlownJune 2023
Value For Money 12345
no
7/10

"Great customer service"

(United States)

Trip Verified | My family flew from Washington to London on a British Airways A380, we were able to secure seats on the upper deck for a pretty hefty fee. Our flight was unfortunately delayed by 2 hrs from 2245 to 0120 causing us to miss a connection from Gatwick to Turin and making it so that no lounges were open by the time we got to the airport. Onboard I sat in a window seat which had a nice luggage bin which was very convenient for all my stuff. In flight entertainment system didn’t work very well, the touchscreen was disabled and the controller was quite glitchy and hard to use, it could use updating. The food for dinner was decent, they had pasta with tomato sauce which tasted good by airline standards. The seat was pretty comfortable, and the flight was smooth. After we missed our connection and we’re stuck behind security for 2 hrs waiting for escorts, they rebooked us on a flight from Heathrow to Milan the next day, gave us free bus tickets to Heathrow, gave us a free hotel room, and gave us Dinner and Breakfast vouchers. Great customer service!
AircraftA380
Type Of TravellerFamily Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteWashington to London
Date FlownAugust 2023
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
yes
2/10

"asked us to check our bags"

(United States)

Not Verified | Flight delayed by an hour, it happens, no biggie. Had us change our gate at the airport, never happened before but I guess it's ok. Gate agent asked us to check our bags and after telling him we would prefer not to do that, he did it anyway. Second gate agent reassigned our seats from exit row to regular which is a huge squeeze my for 6'3" travel bud.
Type Of TravellerFamily Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteLondon to Paris
Date FlownAugust 2023
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
2/10

"service is extremely poor"

(United Kingdom)

Not Verified | The staff are very rude and not trained properly. No exceptions are made for children and elderly people. The price of the ticket is very expensive given the distance and the service is extremely extremely poor
Type Of TravellerFamily Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteLondon to Algiers
Date FlownAugust 2023
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Wifi & Connectivity 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