British Airways
Reviews and Complaints

HI There

I had to wait one Hour to get my Bags from the convier Belt, when I arrived at Heath row Airport on the 30th Jan. At Terminal 5.

I went around asking Staff what is Happening! and no one wanted to reply or Help me, or the other People asking the same Question,s! very bad service, showing no Respect or concern to there customers, and what Huge inconvenience that they caused us, Not Good at all:(

My BA PNR was VWYTU5 Flight ID [protected]

Hi, I made a booking, for 6 people to fly to Portugal 18 months ago, with the Covid, it was postponed, l received a voucher / 125-[protected].

I tried many times to use it by phone with no luck, in the end l drove to Heathrow T5, when l asked a member of BA staff for a service desk, l was told there is not one, the only way to deal with it is by telephone, which a waste of time, I then filled out on their website a complaint form 2 weeks ago, no reply.

Regards

Patrick O'Reilly

My mother is a 76 year old widow. She was on BA 2166 TPA to LGW January 7th 2022. After takeoff plane was diverted to NYC, passengers were then told to collect luggage leave the airport, get your own hotel and would get up to $200 refund for the hotel stay aslong as they shared the room with another passenger. This is in NYC, covid capitol of the USA, in minus freezing conditions at night. The only advise the one BA Representative had was "Dont take a gypsy Cab". Many passengers did not leave the airport but slept on the cold concrete floor including my mother.

Finally my elderly mother boarded a flight which was then diverted to Heathrow from Gatwick.

Really, British airways abandoned these passengers in New York. There was no duty of care provided by the airline or its representatives. Customer service in New york was an absolute Joke. Messages were sent by text that apologised for the inconvenience and that airline staff were working very hard on the situation but absolutely nothing was done to provide passengers with any accomodations, any food or indeed any water.

Disgusted with this airline and its hypocritical treatment of passengers.

Every passenger on that flight was delayed over 14 hrs, given no accomodation, food or water and then flown to the wrong airport. Absolute disgrace!

24th Sept 2021
Complaint Originally Incident [protected]
Booking Ref OI4FQK, Flight BA 0099

Booked Seats 29A and 29B. Charge = 12007 BA Point (approx £224)

The seat map provided for seat selection put these two seats in the last row of the First Economy cabin. We are regular flyers and prefer rear cabin seats to avoid having people behind us who constantly kick seats or pull on seats in front in order to get out of their own.
However, the aircraft on the day placed 29A & 29B in the middle of the second Economy cabin.

We didn't book select the seats based on the love of the number 29, we selected them for their position within the seat map they would be using.

I didn't take a photo of the seat map but would never have booked the position we received. BA have ignored my request for reimbursement of the points used to reserve seats.

They also refused to reimburse us for hotel costs incurred due to a missed connection, despite us telling them weeks in advance that the connection time was insufficient.

Additionally, they gave us chicken instead of the rebooked vegan meals we had ordered, which was only noticed after we had taken a bite. Again, a complete lack of concern or apology was shown.

In short, this flight was a disaster but the least they can do now is reimburse for mis-selling the seat reservation.

I have booked the hotel and paid in advance, but suddenly and without any prior warning, the British Airways flight number BA0106 cancelled the flight, which forced me in this case not to be able to travel from Dubai to Portugal to celebrate with the family, so could you please make a refund because I am not able to come

Booking ID [protected]
Reference ID [protected]#[protected]
Afnan Mazen Kasem Abdul Almawjood

I had to cancel my flight to Ireland for Jan 2022 due to the Irish Government putting in additional travel restrictions so the Work Event I was going to was cancelled. I paid for upgrading seating and now British Airways says since I did not book the flight direct with them they will just be keeping my money ( we have to use AMEX Concur to book our travel).
The company literally did nothing to book these seats as I did it on-line and I am appalled that you would "STEAL" your customers money and not even offer a credit for future but you should be offering a refund since this is a Government Regulation being put in place which EVEY other airline agrees too.

I am a senior citizen, and I was travelling on a business class alone on flight BA0258 on 15th November 2021 and the booking reference number PIPQYV.
The BA staff at the airport checked my vaccination card, which I had double jabbed and two booster shots. The staff said your booster shot is not 15 days old, but only 14 days; therefore, you cannot travel. There was no such rule and policy, but they did not check me in and said contact to the office. When I went to the BA office in Lahore after 9 am they said, you are appearing as a no show; therefore, your ticket can not be changed or refunded.
However, I am a British Citizen, and they did not let me board the plane. I had to buy an economy class ticket to return home to London.
I am a pensioner, therefore, please help me with my refund.
Waiting for your reply:Mrs Shamim Akhtar Khan. email: [protected]@hotmail.com

British Airways has cancelled our family of 5's tickets to Delhi just before Christmas and have cancelled all flights for three weeks prior to our dates to Delhi. My three children were flying Premium Economy and my husband and I were in Business Class.
BA are able to reschedule myself and my husband in Business Class on Qatar through Doha to Delhi but there are no seats available for my children. I was happy to have them in Economy but that is full for 5 days before my original date of departure.
BA now are saying that the only way I can have my children fly with me is to buy totally new one way tickets on Qatar airlines at a total of £ 10, 100 for these single one way tickets.
I have spent 6 days on the phone waiting hours and hours to get through to various people. My calls have been dropped 4 times and each time I ring back it is another 30 minute wait to speak to someone else and go through it all again.
How am I now expected and ultimately forced to buy three new one way Business Class tickets for this trip. I am in a total bind as we are going for Christmas and New Year and have hotels booked and paid for. How can this be the only option they give me ?
This is totally wrong. I have now been on hold for another 40 minutes and the call has been dropped again.
I am a Silver BA member and this is the worst service for anything I have ever experienced.

26/06/21

I booked a one-way flight to Dublin from London Heathrow on 07/06/21 on the British Airways website.

I was then given a voucher on 09/06/21 via email worth £76.92 which was the price of the flight that I paid reference PMWEGN. The e-voucher number is 125-[protected] I was unaware that this voucher was not to be used for my flight on Saturday 26th June.

When I went to check-in for my flight on 25th June my reference number didn't show up, therefore, I had to buy another ticket for my flight which cost me £153 which means I had to pay twice for the same flight.

Booking ref OMFJPF for flight BA0824 which was added to my executive club no [protected].

I am not happy that I had to pay twice and such a high price last minute which caused me such distress and financial loss.

I cannot find a flight worth £76 on my return.
I would like a refund of the stress caused and financial loss to my account.

Thanks

Jillian Ryan

Re booking: U63SN4 From LHR to GCM and return.

Initial booking for 19th May. Unfortunately our PCR Covid - 19 tests were not completed in time before departure. Living on the Isle of Wight makes this procedure more difficult because of the need to send the tests to a mainland laboratory.

Our only option was to postpone our journey. We contacted BA to re-book for 2nd June and were charged an additional £3732.58 plus £1 for re-reserving our seats in Club World. This charge is totally contrary to BA's advertising about how flexible the airline is and it makes great play about the 'Booking with Confidence' commitment. Meanwhile, BA cancelled our return flight TWICE meaning we had to re-arrange all our plans and documentation TWICE. Seems that BA can change flights when it wants to but for us it's a costly and stressful pastime.

We've been flying this route for many years and consider ourselves loyal BA customers but the treatment we have just experienced has certainly tainted our opinion of BA and doubt if it can maintain being the 'World's Favourite Airline' for very much longer. We have also written to the Chairman and CEO, Mr Sean L Doyle.

I had purchased a ticket PNR ref N9G7Y6 for my wife, for a flight scheduled to depart from Chennai, India (MAA) on 27th Jan 2020 to proceed to Seattle Tacoma Airport USA

The flight from Chennai was cancelled.

I applied for refund on 21st December

The ticket was purchased by me using bank to bank transfer. The account to which the funds were to be sent was given by BA customer care executives and the ticket was issued only after receipt of money in BA account

Despite several telephone calls to British Airways customer care as well as requests lodged through BA website. The refund has not been made till date (16-1-2021). Refund not received neither in my account from which payment was made to BA, NOR in my wife (passenger) ‘s account. BA customer care executive asked me to provide the passenger's (my wife's) account details, which I had also provided

Booking Reference RLQQ2G 30/10/2019 Oslo
British Airways cancelled the tickets and I went onto their site and followed a link saying apply for a refund.
The link directed me to a voucher scheme.
I rung BA explaining that the original link was allowing for a full refund and was told there was a glitch on the BA site. I have consistently refused the vouchers and have sent three e - mails to BA asking for a full refund and had no reply's.
II cancelled the tickets with Barclaycard bac in March and I seen notification on the BA site confirming a full refund.
I check my Barclaycard this morning and noticed that BA have once again charged me £205.52 for these tickets.
I would like to lodge a complaint against British Airways and once again request a full refund.

Regards
Peter Docherty
34A Pack Lane
Oakley
Basingstoke
RG23 7BJ
Tell.[protected]

March 15 - flights were cancelled by BA with request to wait a few weeks to submit a request form. End of March - I waited the requested time and then filled out the request forms for each of the tickets (nine tickets). Late April - I called the phone number to check on the status of the refund. Apologies were made and I was informed that they had only just started to work on refunds as many centers were initially shut down. I should see a refund in two weeks. Mid-May - no refund. Followed with another polite call, similar response : only just started to work on refunds as many centers were initially shut down. "I should see a refund in up to weeks." One of the nine refunds processed. None of the others. End of May - no refund and BA removed seven of the eight remaining refund requests "by accident" which were then added back into the system. Otherwise, a similar response with the addition of "we have escalated your refund so you should see it soon". End of June - no refund and same response including escalation verbiage. So far I've been very nice and understanding on the phone. I sent a complaint via the website - not as friendly as I questioned the integrity of the refund department. Expected a response in a few days. End of July - response to online complaint received from a VP who has "escalated the issue to refunds" with still no refund. The response to the online complaint was nearly word for word on what has been stated during the phone calls.

On October 1, 2020, it will be 200 days since British Airways cancelled my 8 flights (record numbers MGZDD7 and MG5QP9). Other vendors provided refunds accordingly:

1. Norwegian Airlines: Less than 90 days (for cruise through Mediterranean)
2. American Airlines: Less than 30 days (for upgraded seats on AA/BA flights to Rome from Chicago).
3. United Airlines - Less than 30 days (for flights from our original home airports to Denver in order to board the AA/BA flights).
4. Hotel and excursion refunds - less than one week.

Once again, on October 1 it will be 200 days no refund in sight from BA. Waiting on eight ticket refunds totaling $6145. 28 USD. Please help.

Dear Customer,

Your package has arrived in Istanbul, Turkey at exactly 09:07 AM (local time) this morning and would be dispatched from Turkey to Romania, because there was no available flight from Canada to Romania.

Upon arrival in Istanbul, Turkey, our delivery agent was instructed to pay import duty charges of €950 euro before he is allowed to proceed to Romania.

As you may know, every imported goods into Turkey is subject to import turn over taxes and duty charges, (typically 15%) or per unit basis.

Please note that you're legally obliged to make the payment today to enable our delivery agent proceed.

WESTERN UNION PAYMENT DETAILS!

First name = Ismail
Surname = Karakuzu
Country= Turkey
City= Istanbul
Postal Code=3451
Payment is to be made through Western Union so the payment can be received and processed today.

Ensure to send us the payment receipt after making the payment for acknowledgement and reference purposes.

Thank you for using our service

This is the emai I received, as from my knowledge no respectable company uses western union, I have received packages from abroad before and payed it all on arrival. As to my knowledge company's uses Banks with a legit acc to receive payment for they're service. Also this email has some elements missing from it to make it legit.
The package was coming from a person I met online, he was claiming to be a Canadian citizen working for Imperial oil limited, he asked me to receive a package for him in Romana as he couldn't be here to receive it, later on after sending it he claimed it continued money and it was important for me to pay any amount asked immediately the way the person emailing me requested. I refused to make any payments because it didn't look legit to me. On which he became verbally abusev, thing that only confirms more my suspicion that it was a scamm. If anyone can please look into it and find out who this people are I would be very grateful. I have bouth phone nr, first from the person asking me to receive the package (+[protected]). And the person that called me on whatsapp claiming to be an employee of the company British airways courier (+[protected])... Bouth people have used whatsapp to always call me and always refused to video call. I am also pasting below the first emai I have received from them.

Dear Customer,
Your consignment has been registered with us from Imperial Oil Limited, IMO TO, Ontario, Canada, for delivery to Mrs. Dumanschi Andreea Johanna, Bucharest, Romania. The tracking number of your consignment is: [protected].
We wish to inform you that the shipping charges have been paid by the sender before the consignment was registered.

Please note that your consignment will be delivered within two working days and will arrive in Bucharest, Romania on Wednesday morning [protected]). Our delivery agent will contact you upon arrival before delivering the package to your door step.

For more information and to also track your consignment, kindly visit our website www.britishaircourier.com with the tracking number to track your parcel.

Thank you for using our service.
I'm attaching the photo of the person that asked me to receive the package with money for him. I can't confirm if this photos really belong to him or its taken from the internet. If you please recognize this person please link him this email so he can make a formal complaint also, because this is also an identity theft and would hate to see an innocent person having to suffer from someone else's wrong doings.

British Airways is by far the worst in customer service and is doing nothing to help those customers impacted by the Corona Virus. They refuse to offer flight changes to anybody without charging $300 in service fees to change the flight. I am traveling with elderly parents not in the best of health and a small child and the rest of my trip has been cancelled due to this outbreak. They do not care about their clients. Only their bottom line. They are offering $0 change fees currently to keep sales up because of drops caused by the outbreak but do not care about those who already paid who are traveling within that same time period. Their company is a joke and do not care and I encourage everyone to seek flights on any other airline than British airways.

My name is Jean Marc Grosfort
I was booked on a return flight from Doha on the 10th of december 2019- flight was changed for the 11th and confirmed by BA
but on the 11th Qatar airways refused to check me in as they said my reservation had been cancelled- in oder to fly back for a large meeting following day in London, Qatar airways asked me to buy a ticket ( same price than the return i already bought).
British airways confirmed that they cancelled (theyhad sent me a confirmation of my booking) and that i should be refunded.
HOWEVER till now i have received nothing. It is absolute shame and if i do not receive full compensation for the second ticket i had to purchase before the end of march i will have no alternative than to ask my lawyer to claim for the full ticket plus compensation for stress and unfair treatment.

BA alrerady all the file
booking refrence was RJ9BDJO
flight were LDN to Doha on the 7th of december 2019
return was on the 11th december 2019
return ticket bought from qatar airways was ETKT [protected]
Cost of ticket was Qar 19915.00

my ba ex membef is [protected]
my email address is jm.[protected]@yahoo.co.uk
Yours sincerely

A friend purchased 4 tickets for us to travel to Germany in the summer of 2019 (JE3TJ5).  My husband and I were unable to travel due to medical reasons.  I submitted a medical form and was told that it was approved and a note was added to my booking to confirm that the money we spent could be used to rebook tickets.  The last email I received said that we needed to call by January 10, 2020 to rebook.

I started calling on January 8, 2020, and after staying on the line for over an hour, I was told they couldn't help me and to call customer support, which is only open from 9-1 Monday thru Friday.  Since it was already past that time, I had to wait to call customer support on the 9th.  Having to call during work hours, that call ended in not being able to help me because I didn't have all of the personal information of the friend who originally booked the flight.  I was told when we cancelled the original flight that the new booking (QC2XY4) would be specifically for us and everything prior would no longer be needed. By the time I got to a computer, pulled up the original information and was able to call back, the customer service office was closed even though it was only 12:50.
I called once again during work on January 10th, and after again waiting was transferred from the complaint department to customer service, where I was hung up on before I could speak.  I called back and was told I needed to be transferred to the complaint department.  When I told him that I had earlier been transferred to him from the complaint dept (I called the same number every time, not targeting a specific department besides customer service), he got extremely nasty and started shouting over anything I could say, and then hung up on me.
My husband then called on the same day (January 10th), also while at work and on hold for an hour, and was told that the booking was approved, got a confirmation number (MGQVPV), and said they would contact us within 3-5 days on the difference in flight costs.  When my husband called customer service back on January 17th, he was told that we didn't call by January 10th and we have lost all of the money we paid for our tickets, over $1300.
He called back the following day and was told to stop calling and they would send an email.
February 15th we received an email saying we needed to contact British Airways. My husband called the following day and was told we owed over $300 each to reserve our seats. My husband gave the person the credit card, which they were unable to process. He then gave them another card which they said went through. My husband called on February 24 and was told that since our case was so convoluted, we have been assigned to a special counsel that would get in touch with us. They have not gotten in touch with us, the money has not been deducted from our account, and I checked ticket prices and our exact flight is only $541, less than what we paid originally.
This entire experience has been a frustrating mess of wasted work time, being lied to, and dealing with people who seemingly have no idea what they're doing. We are 2 weeks out from our supposed flight date with no idea on whether we actually are booked or not. I am not paying any more for tickets that cost less than we already paid, and we have to make plans if we are actually flying or not. At this point, I do not even want to fly with British Airways and want the money we have paid refunded.

Flight number: TXWY6P
My name: Souad Bejoud

I am writing to you to complain about the booking that I made with you.
I bought a flight ticket from Istanbul to London with checked luggage included. However when I arrived to Istanbul airport. British airways adviser told me that I have no checked luggage in the system. They made me pay for 2 luggages.
I Am not happy with what happened in the airport. So I would ask you to get me the full refund for the 2 luggages that British airways made me pay for them. And in my booking ticket it's said. Checked luggage included for both passengers.
The cost of the luggages was. $200.
Thank you.

So on 31/12/18, I booked a holiday to the Dominican Republic for 27/06/19 - 11/07/19.
We were travelling from Manchester. 6 weeks before departure, I learned that we had to travel from Manchester to Heathrow and then to Gatwick for our onward flight to DR. We naively assumed that BA would provide the transfer between the London Airports, but discovered we had to do it ourselves. I called BA customer service and asked if we could swap to a direct flight from Manchester to DR, and was told that I had to take it up with the agent I'd booked with. I called the agent only to be told I must take it up with BA. I tried again with BA who referred me back to the agent. I was getting nowhere fast.
Eventually the agent advised they would speak with BA and request a change to the flights as I had offered to pay any difference straight away. They came back to me within 2 days to say that BA had advised it was not allowed to swap flights - even 6 weeks in advance of the journey. So i asked if it was possible to miss out Heathrow and fly direct from Manchester to Gatwick then. Again I had to wait two days to be told that no such flight existed and that there were no options for me to change any flight details. - The itinerary did not appear until the holiday was paid in full, which was 6 weeks before and we immediately questioned the flights - after all, who on earth would choose 3 airports in one morning to get to one destination?
Anyway, despite every effort to sort something out with BA - I was told that there was nothing I could do.
Resigned, I booked a BA transfer (batransfers@yahoo.co.uk) to get us between Heathrow and Gatwick.
27th June arrived and we set off at 1.30am for Manchester as we were told by BA there was a 3 hour check in for the Caribbean & we were flying at 7.05am. We arrived at Manchester airport at 3am, only to discover all the BA desks were closed. there were no seats or anything and we had to stand there until 4.45am when 2 bleary eyed staff turned up to load the baggage tickets etc. We were already checked in and just needed to drop the luggage - but we were given new boarding passes anyway. After all security checks, we boarded the flight at 6.45am - so it was already clear the flight was going to be delayed. 7.05 came & went - we eventually took off at 7.45 - so we would already be pushed for our transfer to Gatwick as we were already 40 minutes late. Got to Heathrow - no sign of the BA transfer taxi driver who has emailed instructions that advised they would be waiting at a designated point with out name on a board. We waited 25 minutes and called them. They said they would meet us in the short stay car park and not the designated meeting point. Luckily a very helpful chap told us where that was. We waited there for another 25 minutes always mindful that we still had to get to Gatwick and were fast running out of time. Eventually a tatty black VW Jetta turned up and an Asian woman advised she was our driver. She then proceeded to remove a child seat from the car in order to fit us in. Seriously? this is BA airport transfer service?
We just managed to get to Gatwick in time, but no time at all spare.
Our 12 noon flight to DR again was late and took off at 12.30. The flight was an utter nightmare. Rude and surly staff who simply ignored the call button, or if they were asked when passing, 'forgot' to bring the order - so during the whole 8 and a half hour flight, we had 2 drinks.
The seating space was an utter disgrace - I'm 5 feet 3 and struggled. Matters were not helped when the inconsiderate passengers in front decided to recline for the duration of the flight, despite being asked politely by both myself and the staff to sit up at least during meal times - They didn't which meant we couldn't put the trays down when the food arrived. We couldn't watch the entertainment screen as it was only 7 inches from our faces. I asked staff if we could move seats and were advised that there were none available, but in fact there were several rows with no passengers.
Keep in view that we had begun our journey at 1.30am, it was 16.40pm when we finally landed at Punta Cana airport.
The return flight on 11 July was no better. Take off was due 17.35pm, but didn't happen until 18.05. Same scenario - inconsiderate passengers reclining - I should add that I did try to book the business class seats on all flights, but there must have been a mass rush when the check in opened only 24 hours before the flights, as all of those seats had gone.
This long flight had the additional bonus of a child screaming for a full 8 and a half hours without stopping for breath. Despite requests for staff to intervene, nothing happened - the parents made no attempt to calm the child. Again we were restricted to two drinks for the whole flight. We landed at Gatwick at 7.20am instead of 06.55am, No sign of the BA airport transfer taxi - I phoned only to be told the driver had a puncture...I asked if there was more than one driver and reiterated the importance of us getting to Heathrow for our onward flight and that we were already late - they said they would text 2 other numbers for taxis and put the phone down.
The first number didn't answer - the second number advised they would be about 5 minutes. 40 minutes and 3 calls later they had still not turned up - they were coming from Gatwick north apparently, we were at south.
Luckily an airport employee could see our distress. I quickly explained. He called a number and a cab was there in a few minutes. Relieved and with just about enough time to get there, we set off - then the motorway signs started flashing and speed reduced to 40mph and only one lane open because a car was on fire on the M25! I was on the news as well.
This journey simply wasn't going to be made easy - So we got to Heathrow at 9.35 - boarding had started at 9.30 for a 10.10 flight. We ran to the BA desks and quickly explained all that had happened, showed our boarding passed and begged to be let on the flight. Your abrupt member of staff looked bored and totally disinterested and she said - 'you're too late and will need to book another flight - go over there' and pointed vaguely at some desks.
We got to the desks and explained again - the staff member just looked at us. There was by that time still 30 minutes until take off - but he told us boarding closes 45 minutes before departure, which is clearly a lie as the boarding pass showed 9.30 boarding for a 10.10 flight - I make that 40 minutes? I pointed this out which didn't go down at all well and her came back with - 'there are no flights available until 8.40 tonight' And gave us new boarding passes for 10 and a half hours later. The 10.10 flight was delayed - there was plenty of time to get us on board, but no - 10 and a half hours sat on hard chairs after already having set off 11 hours earlier. Is this your usual standard of service British Airways? This was a truly diabolical service on all flights concerned. Absolutely no empathy for the customer, herded about like cattle, rude staff in every part of the journey. Even a your girl in cabin crew said how much she disliked working for you and couldn't wait to get away.

Flight details are -
PNR LQUJF8
27/06/19
7.05 MAN - BA1385 - LHR 08.15
12.00 LGW - BA2205 - PUJ 16.05

11/07/19
17.35 PUJ -BA2204 - 06.55 LGW
10.10 LHR - BA1839 -11.20 MAN

I would like suitable recompense for this disgraceful treatment in the form of refund for all flights and the additional taxi fees incurred, which has had a detrimental affect to my mental health & well being.
Please acknowledge receipt of this mail & a full outcome within the next 14 days.

We purchased premium economy which was expensive. The flight home on British Air was worse than standard. We were seated in Seats 13D and 13E which were in the center.

The tray tables were broken, the seat in front could recline to where they were practically in our lap. The seats were very tight and we aren't big people. It was a miserable flight home.