British Airways
Reviews and Complaints

Hello, I understand, you're a non low cost airline, yet still trying to take money from consumers where you can by charging for seat assignment before 24 hours. I couldn't do the seat assignment before this time period because of that, so I woke up at 7:00 am so I could the day before (mind you I have to wake up at 4 the next day to get to the airport, thanks) and guess what. It didn't work. So I had to call, sit on hold, and eventually get a seat assignment - all easily done online in 2015. But you couldn't do it. Then, when I asked for a seat assignment on my returning flight without a fee due to the glitches in my reservation, I was told it is only possible by paying. Funny thing is, as "family oriented" as companies these days are supposed to be, that is Christmas Day which is one day that is deciated to my family. Now, I need to undoubtedly call you guys again, sit on hold, to make a seat reservation simply so my girlfriend and I can sit next to each other. Now THAT is customer service. He refused to do anything beyond this despite noticing the glitch in my reservation. I'm extremely appalled that he could do absolutely nothing charging me and I will be sure to spread the word of such horrific I customer experience. I fly week in and week out and have never seen something so terrible - let a lone from a non- low cost airline. I hope there is something you can do to rectify this - if not you have my word I will never step a foot on your plane and I will make sure my friends don't as well. Happy Holidays - from a customer that actually cares about spending their holidays with their family rather than on a phone with you.

In September 2015 I purchased flights that would take me from Washington DC to Manchester England. First was a flight from D.C. to London. Then a connecting flight from London to Manchester. While I was away, my plans changes and I wanted to skip the flight back from Manchester to London and only use THE ALREADY PAID FOR flight from London home to D.C. British Airways charged me $800. to cancel the Manchester to London flight WHICH I HAD ALREADY PAID FOR. Not only did I not get a refund (of-course not) and you know they resold my ticket, but, I had to pay a cancellation fee AND PURCHASE the SAME ticket I HAD ALREADY PAID FOR from London home to D.C. Unbelievable. Unethical. Perfectly legal.

We were scheduled to fly from Budapest to Phoenix on Sept. 21, 2015 via London. On Sept. 20 we received an email from British Airways stating that our flight was delayed. It was clear from the new departure time that we would miss our London connection. No attempt was made by British Airways to reroute our ticketing at that time. We were told to get to the airport early to make alternate arrangements. No staff were available when we arrived and we were first in line. Rather than handle reticketing at the main ticketing desks, all passengers who needed to be reticketed were directed to a single line with one agent handling all reticketing. This line moved at a snail's pace. The multiple agents at the main desks continued to check in passengers who presumably did not have connecting flights or who did not need to be reticketed. The agents in Budapest are not British Airways employees, so they claim, and swore they could not make the necessary changes. Only the one agent could. To say there was chaos in the area at the time is an understatement. By the time we were told to queue in the other line, there must have been at least 50 people ahead of us. Finally, we were told there was only one routing that would get us to our destination that same day. This routing entailed an extra layover and we were not given seats in the class of service we had purchased tickets for. The only remaining seats on the flights were in the back of the jets by the lavatories. Hardly equivalent to World Traveler Plus quality. It has been almost two months and thus far I am in the dark as to whether my request for refund is forthcoming. We paid extra for a more direct route than we ultimately flew and we paid extra for the World Traveler Plus class of service. I am aghast that British Airways has not indicated that we are entitled to a refund given the fact that we paid for something they did not deliver. Case reference [protected]

BA891 - 13/10/15 Sofia to London No information given over the intercom as to the delay in landing at Heathrow. Obviously the circling was due to landing priorities, but would be helpful to be informed, as a passenger sitting one away from me was getting rather anxious & making inappropriate comments which could have unsettled other passengers. Just a suggestion to help keep passengers informed. Otherwise a good flight... Thanks. Andrea from New Zealand.

BA simply do not care about their customers! Having pre-paid for 4 specific seats to Orlando and back again to Gatwick BA did not provide the seats, and now still weeks later are not providing a refund, they simply want to offer "evouchers" - I want my money back not vouchers! Writing to the CEO makes no difference, he does not reply at all - one of his "customer relations" team members responds, I actually do not think Mr Williams, CEO of BA, cares at all about his customers - so far 6 different people all of which have no idea what the issue is have sent me emails - I only want my money back. BA HAS NO CUSTOMER SERVICE VALUES AT ALL - DO NOT FLY WITH THEM, IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM THEY SIMPLY DO NOT CARE!

Complaint regards safety demonstrations on board Embraer 190SR
FLIGHT FROM MAHON ON 26th sept [protected] am

I refer to the above and confirm I am a frequent flyer using British Airways flights from the London. City airports.

The flights are excellent, food very good and staff most helpful.

However I felt I must draw your attention to the fact that the most important part of the flight is customer safety. With this in mind myself and many other passengers seated at the rear of the plane were unable to see the inflight safety demonstration properly before take off.
We all noted that there were about 8 passengers seated in first class and they had the previledge of having a personal safety demonstration whilst the rest of the passengers were straining our necks and most passengers half way down the plane simply could not see the safety demonstration at all. In this day and age why was almost 95% of the passengers safety not considered important? All the steward needs to do was move forward from the end of the first class passengers about 20 foot and the problem would have been solved? I cannot believe British Airways make a distinction between the first and second class passengers when passengers safety is concerned? Are you saying now that the first class passengers mean more to you then the rest of us and the rest of us have to second guess what we have to do in an emergency?
I think you will appreciate how angry passengers feel about this, and I further think you will agree that when and if an emergency was to occur it is to everyone's benefit including your staff that every passengers knows exactly what they are doing to evacuate the plane and assist each other?

Please re consider your procedure ASAP, the first class passengers will be more comforted by the fact that their fellow passengers could actually help save there lives in the event of an emergency rather than have a personal broadcast of the safety demonstration. Who ever came up with the idea to give first class passengers a personal broadcast needs sacking, ludicrous idea and very outdated, all your passengers health and safety should be of equal priority.

Please can you kindly confirm how this will be managed in the future. This is the 3-4th time I have experienced this on British Airways flights- I feel disgusting and a massive oversight on your part.

Contacted them separately on two issues and received the most condescending replies from their staff who clearly did not read the content properly at first and when they actually had, did not offer any compensation that I would have expected from a company like BA to their Executive Club members. Both issues were BA's fault and yet they refused to do anything about it. One issue is with baggage: damaged on arrival at Philadelphia where a BA rep provided paper work which did not have a reference number but assured me not to worry as I would get a SMS containing but never did. When I wrote to them about it back home, they essentially said it was too late to claim compensation (the correspondence address on the paperwork as for NY which was no good to me as I don't live there). Second issue is from the same journey: I had to make a change to my return flight which was not actioned appropriately. I had spoken to their own sales rep before leaving who assured me my request was on the booking notes and would be actioned appropriately when I ring back to confirm. It was only when I was attempting to check in for the return flight that I realised they had not actioned it as I requested. I had to skype them from the US to fix this and where I got contradictory information - one sales rep said they treat each call as separate so the notes do not matter while another said the notes do matter. After writing to their so-called customer relations on both points, I received replies back which incensed me as it was clearly a scripted reply where they got basic details wrong with no genuine attempt at customer services, especially when one of the sale rep for the second issue stated BA have claimed fault during the phone call. I have even had a nil response after requesting an receipt of the whole journey so see how much they have charged me so I feel robbed too. I am, therefore, endeavouring not to fly with them again as I am so upset at how they can treat a loyal customer for almost over ten years.

It is appalling & so highly unprofessional, that BA can treat a complaint in such a manner. It's been a month & half since my initial complaint about my claim for missing items from my suitcase (which was broken into & destroyed from my Rome to London flight) has been lodged. After the initial correspondence there has been NO RESPONSE from their end. Since my return to Kuwait on 30th August, I have TRIED several times to contact you'll on +[protected] & + [protected]. It's impossible to get through, as when one dials the extension to speak to an agent the line gets disconnected. I have spent a lot of money making these international calls. It's been a very frustrating & unfulfilling experience trying to reach an agent of BA. I have lost valuable goods from my suitcase. I want the settlement for my compensation sorted out as soon as possible.

Dear BA,

I flew BA 203 from London to Boston on Saturday August 22nd and that is the worst flight journey thatI have undertaken in my entire life!

A/C didn't work and I had to endure the heat throughout the journey.The attendant did mention that it was a hot day outside and once the flight picks up, the temperature inside will cool down. It did slightly cool down, but it definitely was not a good A/c system. I had just flown from Hyderabad - London via BA & that was a good flight. A/C was good & Hyderabad temperature is hotter than the London temperature and still the A/C didn't work in this sector of the flight!

Next thing would be the entertainment sector - The same programs are being shown again and again with no changes. I flew from Boston-London & London-Chennai in July 2015 & the same programs/movies were repeated in August when I flew back. We pay hell a lot of money to travel by flights & this is not the proper way to entertain your customers! I was sick to my stomach during my return flight due to the heat & also there was no distraction due to the poor entertainment that was repeated. Also, some of the movies were deleted and no new movies added during my return flight - this added to my frustration!

Lastly, I saw droplets of water falling to the ground inside the aircraft, not sure if there was water leaking or if it was from the AC. But that was not good at all.

Also, the flight attendants were very rude and made my children & I wait for our food though we had already booked our meals.

I had a terrible experience & will never ever step foot on BA flights again. I am looking forward to discuss these issues with a BA representative so that others are saved from these issues

Thanks

To whom it may concern

I had an transit flight with British Airways on the 16/08/15, Los Angeles to San Francisco and then another flight from San Francisco to London. Due to an over hour delay in my first flight, i missed my second one. I called the British Airways contact center from the airport. They were able to put me on another flight for the next day (afternoon) and informed me that i will be able to pick my baggage from London. They were unable to offer me any other help in terms of additional expenses for an hotel or food. All the offices for British Airlines was closed at the San Francisco, there was no 24/7 service, which is ridiculous, because there is absolutely no one to talk to at the airport if there is an emergency. As i was not carrying enough money, i was unable to pay for an hotel and had to wait the whole night and half a day at the airport, with little food.It was one of the most stressful and tiring experience of my life. Adding to this, my baggage was also not found at the airport as they claimed it was arriving late that day and it will be delivered, still expecting baggage by 19/08/15 .Very very poor service, i do not recommend to use British Airways ever again. I do wish to request for a refund on my flight and food expenses, as they were not able to help.

File Reference Number: PHXBA37902
Luggage Tag: BA 583916
Flight No: BA 289
I’m writing in complete distress over a single suitcase that has been missing since our British Airways July 28th Flight from London-Madrid-Phoenix.
Every single day we contact the [protected] number to get the current status of our luggage and every day we are disheartened to find out our bag is still considered missing despite the fact that the bag with the same description has been located in Amsterdam since August 4th. We have done everything British Airways told us we should do and still to no avail the bag remains in Amsterdam.
We are especially disappointed and nervous because in this bag are items for three (3) people. We traveled with our children and so their clothes, my clothes, my sons inhalers for asthma (extremely important and time sensitive), my clothes and my jewelry (over $2000 just in jewelry alone) are in this bag and we believe we have waited long enough for it. As I write this letter the bag has been missing for over 17 days. If this bag (which is waiting for the Amsterdam team to double check the contents and to ship it to us) does not get to us we will be certain to create a lawsuit against British Airways.
Furthermore the customer service representatives for British Airways continuously give us conflicting information. One day we called and a representative said the bags are now in Phoenix and to give them another 24 hours to process. Then the next day we called and they stated that the bags are still in Amsterdam. The next day again someone said the bags are in Phoenix and to wait another 24 hours. Then again 24 hours later the next representative stated that the bag is still held up in Amsterdam.
Finally my husband decided to drive down to the Phoenix airport to see if he could get any true information. The representative there said that despite our daily phone calls and speaking to British Airways nobody actually requested that the bag be sent to Phoenix. At that point they attempted to make a formal request for the bag.
Then after making more phone calls to the customer service number we were asked to describe the contents of the bag more than 3 times.
At this point I’m getting nervous that our bag will forever stay in Amsterdam and get auctioned off to the best bidder. What kind of service do you think you are providing us? This is the worst customer service I have ever experienced and it’s coming from British Airways, a company I used to have a lot of faith in.
Please DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO GET THE AMSTERDAM TEAM TO SHIP THIS BAG.
We have been more than patient.

First of all I wasn't able to change the name of the passenger, which EasyJet do, for a fee but they do. So not only have I paid for that flight but I had to pay for the next on a separate booking. As the no longer required flight was on my booking reference I could not proceed any further, when selecting a return seat, unless I selects a seat for the other (no longer flying individual). I was trying to bypass the issue but ultimately cost me an unnecessary £15! Then I try to check-in but when I go to check in the bag, it asks you to tick a mandatory box that does not exist!
In the meantime I'm trying to coordinate the seating with the other booking, the child booking. And God knows what reason, this has a loop of it's own! It asks for passenger information, which it already has because it confirms this to be the case, so I click on check-in and questions start all over again!
After about 2 hours of this frustrating journey, I have no choice but to call your customer service. Half an hour later I finally get to speak to someone. I'm absolutely livid by this time!
It transpires the BA website has glitches with Fire Fox, which is why the mandatory check box doesn't show! No message to tell you otherwise though! One has to be psychic...
The phantom loop for the child ticket on the separate booking is it seems because it's not possible to get boarding passes for an child on their own booking number. Once again, one has to be psychic...no message to say so...it just keeps you looping in circles!
You had no problem taking the money though? Did you? Where's the message saying so? And if I were able to change the name on the previous booking, I would not have had this problem! So now I have to sort this little lot out at the airport tomorrow!
Then for some antiquated and backward reason I am unable to print up the return boarding passes, again something EasyJet do and allow passengers to do up to many, many weeks in advance! Why cant BA?

In short;
I have wasted over 3 hours on a crap website over a process that should be simple.
I only have 1 boarding pass out of the 4 that are needed.
I've had to pay for a return seat for a ticket the website had no passenger information for in order to try to get by for my ticket.
I've wasted just under an hour (and the cost of it) to call your customer service, as well as the stress of having to wait half an hour listening to the loop of annoying drivel about using the website, when the very reason I'm calling is because of your useless website!
Your backward policy of not to be able to change a passenger name is seriously outdated and as a result of this has caused be the bulk of the issues this evening!
BA you're a joke! If I can at all help it, I will never use your airline again. Furthermore I will go out of my way to discourage others from using you as well!

Even the BA complaints page doesn't work!

"BA to fly to serve"? I hope you get the flying bit right because your service is crap!

To Whom It May Concern:

I missed my flight scheduled for 01:08 on Tuesday, 23rd June 2015. I actually thought I was departing on Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. I know it's an obtuse mistake to make, but I believe it could have been avoid had I have received a reminder e-mail from yourselves. I was left stranded at the airport overnight because I had no money! Luckily, my brother booked me into the first flight the following with Thomas Cook.

I have flown with BA on numerous occasions in the past and have always received correspondence from yourselves, re: flight reminder/confirmation. However, on this occasion I received no correspondence from BA or eDreams, whom I booked the flight with Online. In addition, I had to pay for a National Express coach ticket from Stanstead Airport to London city centre!

I believe this is not acceptable and really bad service on your behalf, and I therefore feel that I am entitled to some form of compensation.

I hope to hear from you in due course.

Yours truly,

Ricardo Lara

First the aircraft had a fuel leak. Different folks from the aircraft came and told the passengers different stories. They would not release anyone's luggage so we all slept in airport for approximately 7 hours. Once probl resolved we boarded the plane. Not 5 minutes after we were seated, we were told we have to depart because crew has been woke too long and need rest. Took 2 days to get home and they miss placed all my luggage for 3 days

I am having booking with BA for 29th March 2014. BA rescheduled the flight and now I want to cancel my trip.
I called BA customer care had a discussion with BA customer care Manager that I want to cancel my flight, he convinced be my saying I can reschedule the flight for november and he want exact date . so I asked him that i can call again and give the dates.
He said that he will right notes so that when I call back next time, I would not have any problems.

Next time when I called there was some other guy and he told we cannot re-scheule ticket after 12 june, after long discussion and some so called phone approvals, he told that he need 24 hr to get refund of ticket and gave me his code as "SS" .

Next time when I called my call was picket after 35 min approx and new agent told that no such comunication has been noted.

She also told nothing could be done as per policy and I will be getting only taxes back and i need to pay $25 service fee. when I asked why cannot I cancel my ticket online, she was not having any answer and said you have to pay $25 fee.

I am fed up with call with irresponsible and unknowldeble people who say what ever they like.

BA dont want to return back my money .

I want my money back

I gave already made complaint to BA website. No reply as yet. On 4 Dec this year 2014
I flew from Sydney to London UK. I had booked Premiun Economy seats months earlier. I tried to reserve an aisle a number of times online but not possible. On the day of the flight I checked in online but was not given a seat number. I phoned the airport and was told I was on standby. Considering this seat was paid for months ago and also when I had to change my date of departure for family resons I was charged $1200 to make this change I was not pleased with BA to begin with. The lady at departure gave me seat written on pen on boarding pass and said I would get a different aisle seat for second leg of trip. Got to Singapore and was told I did not gave an aisle and the " Sydney does this all the time". I ended up being offered a middle row seat in PE but I said no to this. I preferred taking an economy aisle seat. I have had knee replacement and am due for second operation next year. I also have anxiety issues. I do not want to be climbng over another passenger hence the need for an aisle seat, I soent 12 hours at the very back of the plane in economy. Not happy. Do I get a refund for this?

I am tired of hearing "we apologize for the inconvenience" when I am grounded over 24 hours due to technical reasons - under BA's control - and charged exorbitant fees by the compay.

My employer purchased a two-way ticket for me from Phoenix, AZ to London, UK – a copy of which is attached here as Exhibit A, which clearly shows that I already had a valid ticket to travel from London, UK to Phoenix, AZ on August 23, 2014. On that day, I arrived at the airport a few hours before the flight and checked in my baggage with a BA employee. I was never informed by this representative of any cut-off time to pass through security, nor were there any details regarding this issue on the boarding pass that I was issued. When I tried to pass through security to get to my gate I was refused entry and told to check with BA representatives, which I did next. At this time I was informed that I missed my flight, even though there were at least 40 minutes to departure. I tried to reason with the BA employees; however, they were very rude and condescending and were thus unable to resolve the situation. I spoke with a ticket issuer and a manager and they both refused to listen to my pleads. They did not care about the fact that no one has brought to my attention this policy that they claim to have in place. Instead they asked that I pay a fee if I wanted to fly to a different destination the same day or be put on the next day’s flight to Phoenix. Under the pressures exerted by the BA employees and their gross and repulsive disregard, I paid the fee that they asked for and flew to Vegas a few hours later. Because no one informed me of any cut-off time to pass through security and no such details were available on my boarding pass I dispute this policy that BA claims to have in place. Furthermore, since I already paid BA for a service – a two way flight from Phoenix to London – I find it ridiculous to be asked to pay an additional fee.

British Airways adopted a perverse way of doing business is not at all consistent in how it treats issues of lateness. As an example, the first leg of my journey – scheduled for June 11, 2014 - was postponed by BA for technical reasons – i.e. circumstances under their control – by 24 hours. They refused to offer any type of compensation for delaying their customers by 24 hours instead they request and force their customers to pay fees for what they claim was a few minutes delays.

The word should be out about these unfair practices and others should feel encouraged to share their stories.

Nothing like being charged for seats that are "not as advertised", being told they can be changed dependent on the passenger capacity at the time of departure and finally getting stuck with the worst seats on the plane while others in "free" seats spread out all over the plane to make you despise the carrier, in this case British Airways. I wrote to them the day we returned (9/1/2014) and to date (10 days later) have not received a response. I requested a refund of $180 for the four seats I booked, since the plane was at less than 70% capacity and, as I have stated, they would not re-seat us in better seats (the ones we thought we had booked) which were available and empty. I will NEVER fly British Airways again.

I have travelled British Airways twice and both times have been a bad experience. I have travelled with other airlines and not received the bad service I did with B.A.First time I was transferred to B.A. From another airline my two young children were with me. They tried to separate us on a long haul flight, I had children's meals booked and paid for that wasn't on their list, so we didn't get them.When I enquired about the meals the staffs attitude was extremely rude and uncaring. Eventually she went to first class for a meal that didn't turn out to be any better. The whole experience was upsetting and uncomfortable for both my children and I, it resulted in having an argument with the air stewardess who then realised her mistake with no apology. The second time was last week flying to Rome. The flight had been cancelled we were given very little explanation and not told until after the flight should have taken off. We were redirected to Heathrow from Gatwick given a bus ticket and 1 1/2hrs to make the next flight. We went down to the bus station tried to get a bus only to be told we needed to book a coach. In the end because of rush hour we missed check in.LuckiLy as we had done it online they allowed us through but no one else on our coach made it. The whole experience was terrible stress levels were running high for everyone, with very little explanation, advice or help. Will I be using them again the answer is no.