British Airways
Reviews and Complaints

As someone who has flown with British Airways, I understand the mixed experiences customers have had. While some have praised the service received during transatlantic flights, others have faced challenges with customer service and flight operations. It's disheartening to hear about instances where passengers felt mistreated or faced difficulties with flight changes and luggage handling. These reviews highlight the importance of consistent service quality and efficient problem resolution. When choosing an airline, it's essential to consider both positive and negative feedback to make an informed decision.

BA 0256 Delhi 24 jan, paid for premium economy DEL - ARN, saw message on manage my flight, no premium cabin from Heat to Arn so Id fly business in RED letters, happy.. at Delhi airport got an economy boardingpass for BA 0786, complained, no help, do it in HEAT madame so I did! no help, she wanted proof.. show me the message, but it was not there anymore.. flight from Delhi to London was delayed so I missed my con flight to Stockholm, stayed overnight in a hotel paid by BA, and flew BA 778, 25th of jan. what to do?

Salme Jaijee

Arrived 08.08pm IAH. Waited on tarmac until 08.30pm. Luggage unavailable for three and a half hours? No one available to ask anything and local staff didn't know anything. Disgraceful after a ten and a half hour flight. At eleven forty a representative appeared offering bottled water. What an insult! I expect decent compensation for this even though according to your reviews you have resolved a very small percentage of complaints. I was under the impression BA was a reputable organization, however, I will never use your service again.

Fiona McPhedran and Douglas Hickman. [protected]

The purser said the flight was booked however there were empty seats in World Traveller. We were seated in the middle section of seats (777) in the middle two seats with passenger on both sides of us. The passenger in front of us had two seats, one on the isle and the next one over. When reclined the seat came so far back that it came into our space. See picture attached. My leg space had a fixed metal box with a seat leg next to it. See picture attached.

We could not get boarding passes in advance or select seats because BA's website required reentry of our passport details and would not accept our home address. We tried at least 10 times to meet this requirement. We booked with AA since we are gold for life.

It is now a month since I submitted a claim for costs incurred due to a delayed and subsequently cancelled flight and despite two reminders I still have not been reimbursed.

I would also like to complain about BA's cabin management system. On every flight I have taken with BA recently they insisted on my carry-on luggage being placed in the hold "due to insufficient space in the overhead lockers". First of all this places additional stress on travellers who have an onward connection to make but BA chose to ignore this , which was further compounded by the fact that every one of these flights was a delayed departure.

Secondly, there was no attempt by cabin staff to impose the cabin bag dimensions restrictions and some passengers' bags were so big they had to be placed in the lockers sideways thus taking up extra space.

Thirdly, cabin staff turned a blind eye to passengers placing small bags and other sundry items in the overhead lockers instead of placing them under the seat.

I am complaining about booking flight. I know it's pick and busiest period. Web site opens and it seems ok till I get to booking and 1st page for outbound will open and as soon as I search and choose outbound flight, no movement for next page to book inbound flight.

I am trying this literally everyday as I love BA services and punctuality. I am feeling so frustrated and upset now.

Now please advise what to do. Now after trying from nearly 10 days, flights are getting more expensive as well which I can not afford.

This journey is crucial for me as I am taking my ill partially disabled husband with me.

Hoping to get positive reply soon and get reasonable flights. I am getting stressed now.

I tried to download photos but it shows upload error every time I try.

Kind regards

Kashmira Trivedi

E mail - [protected]@msn.com

Name: Low Lai Har Michelle (contact number +[protected])

British Airways Executive Club number: [protected]

Case Reference number: BHDBA44523 / SINBA23623

Baggage Tag Number: BA375543

Missing Luggage: Red Lojel Luggage. The luggage’s unique serial ID is F9D25-8F097.

To whom it may concern,

I am writing to lodge a complaint about the extremely unsatisfactory experience and service I received from British Airlines staff in the past 8 weeks.

On the 27th of June 2023, I boarded flight BA12 from Singapore to London before sitting a transit flight BA1414 from London to Belfast. However, despite checking in 3 luggages at Changi Airport on the 27th of June, there were only 2 luggages that arrived at George Best Belfast City Airport on the 28th of June 2023. Upon realising this, I immediately reported it to the Swissport staff available at Belfast Airport, who assured me that I would receive my luggage the next day as it was still at Heathrow Airport. The Swissport staff also proceeded to report my missing luggage on BA’s website. I subsequently called the BA helpline on the 29th of June 2023. The BA staff on the phone reassured me that they were actively searching for the missing luggage and told me to get back to them in 24 hours.

On the 30th of June, I called the BA helpline again, and this time, the BA staff told me that my missing luggage was now at Heathrow Airport and that I could go to the Missing Baggage department at Heathrow to search for my luggage. On the 1st of July, I boarded a plane from George Best Belfast City Airport to Heathrow Airport and immediately went to the Missing Baggage department upon arrival. However, despite reassurances from your staff on the hotline that my luggage was still at Heathrow, I proceeded to wait for over 6 hours at Heathrow Airport and still could not find my luggage, to which BA airport staff informed me that it was not at the airport.

On the 2nd of July 2023, I dialled the BA helpline again, and the BA staff informed me that my luggage was found at Heathrow and that I could go to the airport to find it. I proceeded to ask for my missing luggage to be sent to Singapore’s Changi Airport so that I could collect it when I returned back to Singapore on the 8th of July 2023.

However, on the 4th of July 2023, I called the BA helpline to enquire when the missing luggage would arrive in Singapore, to which the BA staff that served me replied that they were unable to locate my missing luggage at Heathrow again. On the 5th of July 2023, I called the BA helpline again, to which the BA staff told me that my missing luggage had arrived back in Singapore.

Yet, on the 7th of July 2023, when I called the BA helpline to facilitate the delivery of my missing luggage, the BA staff serving me said that my missing luggage was not in Singapore but still in Heathrow Airport, which they were still in the process of sending it back to Singapore. They also instructed me to approach SATS Baggage Services Singapore, which handled BA luggages that arrived at Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 1, once I arrived back at Singapore's Changi Airport.

When I returned back to Singapore on the 8th of July 2023, I immediately approached the missing baggage department at Changi Airport, to which the Changi Airport staff tried but failed to locate my missing luggage. I then called SATS Baggage Services Singapore, to which they were unable to locate my missing luggage in Singapore.

On the 11th of July, I called the BA Baggage Tracing helpline twice. The first call, to a BA staff member by the name of Anirudh, informed me that my missing luggage was still at Heathrow Airport and that I should wait for a further 72 hours for my missing luggage to be delivered back to Singapore. However, shortly after, a BA staff at Heathrow airport, who did not give me his name, asked me for further details about my missing luggage and said that they had yet to locate my luggage and that it was still missing. When I enquired about why the BA staff (Anirudh) on the first call had said my luggage had been found, he was surprised to hear this and confirmed that it was still missing. I then called the BA Baggage Tracing helpline again, to which an unnamed staff told me to wait for 24 hours to expedite the process of locating my missing luggage and send it back to Singapore.

There are many valuable and confidential items in my missing luggage. Having to live without it for 3 weeks in the UK has brought much physical inconvenience and mental hardships, to which I have had to physically purchase and replace many of my missing items. I would like to claim back the sum of money I have spent on these replacement items from British Airways. I require a letter of proof from British Airlines that my luggage is still currently missing. I would appreciate that this letter be given to me as soon as possible to prevent any further inconvenience.

Overall, I am very displeased and disappointed with the sloppy and inconsistent service I have received from British Airlines over the past 8 weeks. Whilst my luggage should have only taken at most a few days to get back to me, the inefficient and lacklustre service as well as repeated contradicting information provided to me from your British Airlines staff have prolonged this matter much longer than it should have lasted. As a long-time BA customer, this is not the standard of service I am used to and am paying for.

I had submitted my expenses and baggage claims on the 11th and 13th of July respectively; however, this has yet to be acknowledged from any BA correspondent. I have further sent an email to the BA general claims website to enquire if my claims have been received by any BA staff. I will also require a confirmation letter from BA confirming that my baggage has been officially lost. This, too, has gone unacknowledged.

Booked me on a flight where the connection to and from BA flights could not be made, lost my bags on both arrival and departure, couldn't find customer service on their site, so wrote a letter to them with my complaints which they blamed on another carrier which I had to use because the, again, connection between BA flights they made for me could not be made. Very incompetent.

I have already made a complaint reference number [protected] which has was not dealt with in a satisfactory manner. I have tried to speak to the Executive Club helpline again but they are too busy. There are no contact details on the email with the complaint number for me to contact directly.

I flew back from Paphos on 10 July to Gatwick and paid for an upgrade to Club Europe, I have only been credited with tier points of 20 and associated miles when I should have been credited with 80 points,

I have spoken at length with the Helpline previously and was given an email address to contact directly as trying to claim points on the website didn't work. I provided the upgrade confirmation and boarding pass stub copies with this email.

Clearly whoever read the file took a cursory look at the file and ignored the upgrade which is the reason for my complaint, I followed up the response but have not had the curtesy of a response,

I booked my flight through Capital One Travel who confirmed, in writing, that my outbound trip on July 10 was booked in Economy Plus per BA confirmation code R3PD26 :

Outbound to Dalaman

Economy Plus

July 10, 2023

4h 15m Nonstop

I spent four weeks speaking with Manish Salvi who refused to accept this information and simply kept repeating the same message in that I did not purchase economy plus, but basic economy.

I asked numerous times for confirmation of this statement so I could go back to Capital One Travel with this disparity but was simply told to contact my agent. This statement was made four time in all as I asked various questions - none of which were ever answered. My last question to Manish was as follows:

Is there such a thing as Economy Plus with British Airways flights?

If there is, please confirm how it differs from Basic Economy.

As with all previous questions, neither of these questions were answered.

I think I finally understood the problem after two phone calls to Capital One who followed up with British Airways and were told that BA do not have an Economy Plus seat as this class simply waives baggage check in fees.

Had Manish told me this to start with, it would have been somewhat acceptable but he continued to dig his heels in and ignore all of my questions.

Overall, a terrible experience dealing with customer service and one that I will not be repeating.

Our flight to Miami from Edinburgh on 18th April 2023 was cancelled at about 5pm on 17th April. Both internal flight and trans atlantic flight were cancelled even though the Transatlantic flight actually flew as far as I know. That took away my option of getting to Heathrow under my own steam. I put in a claim and was told by email that they were very busy and it would take a while to resolve. I waited for several weeks and got in touch by phone, email and chat line. Was told eventually it had been resolved. The information never reached me. I am still regularly trying to find out what the outcome was but nobody will/ can tell me. The best I get is " check your spam email" BA never sends sale info to my spam folder so why should this go to spam? I checked spam but no email. ( spam is automatically cleared after a month so may have been cleared) On the way back our flight was delayed by more than 3 hours and again no response to my claim for compensation.

I have complained about this already but have not received papers response yet. Here it is again:

On the 13/07/2023 our London to Phoenix AZ flight BA191, which was due to fly at 11:30 am underwent by about 2+ hours delay pre and post boarding time.

Heres what happened: Myself, my wife and 4 children ranging from 11 years old to 5 months old were due to travel, as we went to check in our ticket said Terminal 3 when it was terminal 5! So we had to use the Elizabeth line to travel to Terminall 5. After that as we checked in staff was slow to process our luggages causing us to delay more, then more delay because of cues which needs to pass through to boarding area.

As then waiting to board no announcement of delay due to check ups done on Flight BA 191 which took more than an hour.

As we had arrived to Austine TX, USA, we were told we missed our connection flight to Phoenix AZ, so we spent the night in Austin TX Airport as British Airways failed to provide accommodation for the night. Airport staff did their best to contact BA but they told them its closed!

I bought a British Airways ticket on 21 March, 2023 and paid cash into British Airways Standard Chartered Bank Account in Ghana.

Booking Ref/PNR: W72NOR

Ticket number: 125-[protected]

But the booking was cancelled. I requested for a refund and the Airline claims that they have processed it with below information:

Expected Value: GHS 11857.11

Date of Transfer: 2nd April, 2023 or 4th April, 2023 or 4th May, 2023

Transfer Bank: Standard Chartered Bank

Transfer Via: NOVUS CPR

Transaction No: [protected]

(This information was given to me by British Airways Customer Services in Ghana via phone calls)

However, the money has not been credited to my account, almost 4 months after providing the Airlines with all my banking account details.

All effort to trace the transaction by my banks (including Standard Chartered Bank, Ghana) and I have proven futile.

The British Airways have stopped responding to all my recent emails. And they are not making any effort to help in any way. My request to them to send me the refund/payment advice to enable me trace the transaction has not been responded to.

I would be most grateful if you would assist me to get the refund.

Name: Bismark Kwasi Boateng Agyenim

Address: 100 Pinanko Road, Ashtown Kumasi. Ghana

Passport No.: G3859702

Email: [protected]@gmail.com

Phone No.: +[protected]

A friend of mine sent me an iphone, Laptop and 900 pounds which the identification number is 647, I waited for 7 hours for the plain to arrived in Nigeria before contacting the customer officer, Later the customer officer demanded a clearance fee of 10500N and also 5000N for Dispatch Rider as I won't be able to go to the airport myself which i paid but now he's asking for 24500N am not willing to pay these so I demand for a refund to my account

5/24/2023 flight BA0212 was 3 hrs late. We would miss our connection in Heathrow. BA customer service changed us to Luthansa Airlines. I pd $110 for seats on 0212 not used. I've called, emailed, forwarded everything pertaining to my complaint. Sudarshan Wali, customer service continues to give me the run around with incorrect information, more forms to fill out and any other way of stalling my request. Last request # [protected].

Horrible Customer Service:

On May 25 we checked one bag with British Airways at BWI/Baltimore. It was tagged to go to Naples, Italy via Heathrow. The flite from BWI was hours late departing; we completely missed our connection to Naples. BA rebooked us on a later flite which arrived at Naples at midnite. Our checked bag did not appear.

We filed all the paperwork with the Missed /Lost Luggage office at the airport, and left a copy of our itinerary with them as well.

The BA online Baggage Customer Service showed our complete itinerary.

We departed from Naples on May 28. On May 30, the hotel where we stayed in Naples called to tell us that the bag was delivered there. The hotel could not keep it, so the bag was returned, we believe, to Naples airport.

Repeatedly, over the course of our trip we contacted Customer Service by phone and checked the website, but the people we spoke with were less than helpful.

We returned to Baltimore on June 9. Since then we have been in nearly daily contact with Customer Service, all to no avail. The people who answer the phone (after a wait of 20-25 minutes) seem to work in a windowless closet, with no supervision, as there is no manager or supervisor to speak to. They profess to know nothing about our bag's whereabouts.

We have emailed the BA CEO, and a variety of other senior management. We have received no response, not even an acknowledgement of our message.

This company, which boasts on its website about its concern for its customers, has a serious problem with the reality of its actual service.

David Lindenstruth