British Airways Reviews

Name: British Airways
Rating: 1.73

1.7 Rating 297 Reviews

16 %

of reviewers recommend British Airways

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1.7

Based on 297 reviews

Shipping & Delivery
Delivery Methods	Own Driver, Courier
On-time Delivery	Greater than 7%
Customer Service
Communication Channels	Telephone, Live Chat, Email
Queries Resolved In	Over A Week
Customer Service	1.4 out of 5
Avg Email Response Time	29 minutes
Returns & Refunds
Refunds Process	Difficult

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ph:+44-844-4930750

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British Airways 1 star review on 31st May 2024

Anonymous

Anonymous // 01/01/2019

Filter: Rated 1 None 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Stars Helpful

“Why isn't British Airways classes as a budget airline? Cancelled our flight. Customer service then virtually impossible to get through. Went on outbound flight- Late. Wet on inbound flight - Late. Just like easyjet had to pay for any refreshments. Landed at T5 heathrow at what must of been the furthest point from security that we had to take the shuttle service. Poor service, poor customer service. Have had better flights on easyjet and Ryanair.”

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Posted 6 years ago

“Pathetic- I have phoned customer service about 6 times now and are just left to hold on for hours @7 pence a minute.. I emailed them to say the new times they changed my flights to is not convenient and they replied saying I should phone to change the flights. Its cost me a fortune in cost of phonecalls and time and I will be losing my whole families flights because THEY changed the times and to change on-line I have to pay fees. Unacceptable!!!!!!!!!!”

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Posted 6 years ago

“This company is a disgrace. Fake rates are advertised on the internet and when you try to book, there are different pop-up messages that either tell you that somebody else booked your flight or another 100 quid or so has been added to your total. It is utterly disgusting. Not even tenth-rate low budget companies offer this kind of despicable service. I wasted 2 hours trying to book flights from London to Madrid. AVOID AT ALL COST. Edit your review”

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Posted 6 years ago

“Flights to and from Leeds Bradford always late. Exorbitant prices for food and drink on board. Heaven must help you if you arrive and your luggage doesn't, because BA won't.”

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Posted 6 years ago

“They didn’t make us happy. Seats were double booked, flight was 1.5 hours late. On return journey, passenger with disabilities was seated in the middle of four seats which were together which resulted in person falling when trying to get out.”

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Posted 6 years ago

“Terrible cross and unhappy.”

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Posted 6 years ago

“Las Vegas to Heathrow case 17700704 , World Traveller Plus, 9 hour 30 minutes NO screen, hand control broken, foot rest broken, sun blind came out in my hand, very grubby, no wifi either way, aircraft 19 years old, 1 year left in service, paid extra to pick our seats £45 each way. They insulted me with £100 e-voucher off my next flight WITH THEM to be used within the next year. Got in touch which took 45 minutes on hold and they refused to give my £100 back in cash. I've paid 2018 prices for a 20 year old service.”

British Airways 1 star review on 16th April 2018

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

“The purpose of this review is to highlight the unbelievably poor customer service provided by British Airways. If there was an option for zero stars, that is what I would have chosen! My wife booked 4 return tickets to Qatar leaving London Heathrow on premium economy on 16/12/17 and returning business class 6 days later. Two weeks prior to departure, we received an email from British Airways Customer Service that the departure flight was cancelled with no mention of why or any alternative offered! Now bearing in mind that hotels are booked etc, this caused a right panic. My wife contacted customer services (after unacceptably long waiting times on the telephone) and as an aside, found out the return flight was also cancelled! After much frustration, she managed to transfer the flights to Qatar Airways for the same dates, leaving on economy and returning business. The mind boggles that despite British Airways and Qatar Airways code sharing, British Airways could not on their own initiative offer the alternative flights with Qatar Airways. When my wife enquired about the refund due for the outbound flight (as we were originally booked premium economy and now were flying standard economy), British Airways could not determine what the refund would be. Instead, my wife had to file a claim for the refund with customer services! Basically, British Airways cancelled scheduled flights with two weeks notice, did not offer alternatives and then expected the customer to go through their hoops to get a refund for their failure to provide any level of service! The story just gets worse. When my wife contacted customer services a few days later to chase up on the refund issue, she was told that customer relations dealt with this. However, that department only worked between 1 and 5pm! I have as yet to come across any other national company that offers such limited customer service access. At that stage, my wife emailed the CEO of British Airways out of pure frustration with the intention of informing him of this debacle and to try to come to an amenable resolution. We had hoped that by highlighting the atrocious service provided so far, British Airways might upgrade our outward flight as a gesture of goodwill. The day before we were due to fly out a customer services representative called Jane did make contact, in response to the email to Alex Cruz. All Jane could offer was an apology! My wife (quite rightly) did not accept this apology and was asked by Jane what was it that she wanted out of British Airways ( apart from the company making up for its monumental mishandling of a problem that they had created, and not being able to determine the amount of the refund rightly due to us). Totally infuriated at this stage, my wife asked for a personal apology from Alex Cruz and not from someone to whom her email was forwarded to. The intention of this request was to receive some acknowledgement from the head of British Airways of the situation and the service provided by his staff. According to Jane, this was not possible as Alex Cruz did not respond to emails personally. This is factually incorrect as there is evidence on the internet (just google it) that contradicts this statement. Perhaps the statement that Alex Cruz does not see fit to respond to customer issues is indicative of the malaise that seeps through British Airways, such that if the head is not concerned, there is no need for the rest of the staff to provide a minimal level of acceptable service. In summary, I think it is a disgrace that a company like this is the national carrier and carrying the name “British” is a stain on the country and its people. I thank you for taking the time to read through this lengthy review. Hopefully you will have a better insight as to the type of company British Airways is. Forewarned is forearmed.”

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Posted 7 years ago

“Bad customer service, unprofessional service. Do not care about helping people. If they make a mistake they just do not care and do not try to help but they tell you to just leave and they cannot help. British airways at San Diego airport just told my wife after a flight delay for 2 days that she should call british airway without booking her a hotel reservation. they just tell her to leave. This shows how careless they are. very unprofessional. will never recommend british airways to no one and will never fly british airways again”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

“Traveled to Sydney, Australia in September 2017, returning in November. Firstly, they misplaced one of my two suitcases, delivering it to me more than 24 hours later, damaged and broken. When I attempted to make a claim, I was informed it was 'out of time' and therefore would not be considered. The flight in economy was okay, but Customer Services were deplorable. They simply do not care in the slightest. Find an alternative carrier. Do NOT travel with this uncaring, money grabbing outfit. Shame, they used to be good, but now are simply dreadful. I shall not be traveling with British Airways ever again. and look forward to the demise of the airline.”

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Posted 7 years ago

“This airline is atrocious in more ways than one, however their customer service really is all-out abysmal. Their call centre service is outsourced (possibly to India), and the connection has been bad on every occasion that I have called. I spoke to two customer service agents yesterday and both were (despite their best efforts) totally unprepared to deal with my call and communicate with me effectively and professionally. I had a question concerning ID requirements on a domestic flight for myself and my non-British co-traveller. Initially the first agent falteringly read the API page on the website to me, then told me no non-UK form of ID was acceptable on domestic flights (once I had reminded him that London-Belfast is a domestic flight) and that we should contact the Embassy of the non-UK citizen travelling (he does not have a passport available this month owing to a visa renewal)... The second customer agent said (as far as I could understand, as there were major communication difficulties) that only a passport would be acceptable as ID for my co-traveller. I understand that BA has gone cheap-as-chips under IAG's management, but really, the level of contempt it must have towards its passengers to offer no reliable customer service (their existing service is truly not fit for purpose, even though there are, of course, many high-quality call centres in India), especially after the shocking IT meltdown in May, is chilling.”

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Posted 7 years ago

“My experience of BA customer service is absolutely terrible. I have a flight booked for next week but after at least 10 conversations with Customer Service I am still waiting for my e-ticket. I have been told of 4 occasions to expect a call to resolve the matter but no-one has called me back. I have spent hours trying to resolve the issue and it looks like I will be purchasing another ticket from a rival airline. Although I am an executive club member I will never use BA again which is sad as I always try to support British companies when I can.”

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Posted 7 years ago

“Awful service”

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Posted 8 years ago

“I had an issue that needed to be sorted phone my agent they were closed and said to contact the airline directly, so I did that. Spoke to a Indian named Naveen who said to have done and processed something. Phoned the next day as hadn't received boarding pass they confirmed he had cancelled us off all of our flights but the manager kept contradicting herself by saying he had processed what had been said but then saying he didn't do anything on the system and I need to go back to my agent to sort it out baring in mind this is one hour before flying from Athens and I was in the UK after 4 hours of being on hold and talking to the manager I did what she asked and went to my agent, they confirmed because BA had made amendments there was nothing they could do. Called the manager back out wait 13.50pm in the afternoon she had gone home so couldn't discuss this anymore and asked to speak to someone British as I kept having to repeat myself, ended up in me spending £900 on top of my flights! All my years holiday money saved gone! Do not fly with @British_Airways!”

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Posted 9 years ago

“Lounges were terrible and plates not cleared away No ice for cold drinks”

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Posted 9 years ago

“Bought a business class ticket, was downgraded to economy because of flight delays..on my way back was downgraded to economy again I guess an error happened by the booking agent originally on the return flight..filed a complaint and asked for a refund after the trip has been completed..customer service agent said I have to wait..been waiting for many months with no refund and everytime I contact them they say the refund team is backed up because they have many complaints..had to chase them on Twitter!!”

Helpful Report

Posted 9 years ago

“I missed my outbound flight with BA to luxembourg and decided to take a cheap easyjet flight next morning. I tried to chek in for my return flight with BA online and the website was non-responsive all day. No error messages, no notification. I showed up at luxembourg airport to take the return flight with BA to find out they had cancelled my ticket. I went to the ticket office who said they cant help me but sell me another ticket for €470, maybe I should call customer service. I tried calling customer service and it took them around 25 minutes to answer the phone who then said its their policy to cancel return flight if I dont take the outbound and the best they can do is to transfer me the sales team to sell me another ticket. I was waiting for the transfer for 20 minutes in which time trying to buy the ticket at the sales office who couldnt connect to BA server and was having technical problems. At this time they were telling me its too late to buy the ticket as there was an hour left for the flight. I tried speaking to the staff at the checkin desk to see if there is still time as it was the last flight home. the staff treated me as I did something really wrong, very rude and deffinetly not helpful. I managed to connect to the internet on my phone a quickly buy a ticket for €500, and as I press the buy button on my phone I was asking the staff if they are going to let me check in if I buy this ticket as they knew the situation I was in. I didnt want to buy it and get told that I cant take the flight. Their response with a condesending attutude was 'get in the queue and we'll see'. I bought it anyway and luckyliy I was able to check in. I obviously understand now that its the standard procedure to cancel return flights if outbound is missed but the least they could have done is let me know by email soon as it was cancelled so I could have bought a €50 return ticket with easyjet. I was shocked to see that none of the staff cared if I was stuck at the airport for the night and all they cared for was trying to sell me an expensive ticket. Awful behaviour that you would expect from Ryanair but not BA. Obviously there is not much difference between them morally.”

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Posted 9 years ago

“The customer service at British airways is appalling, the check in staff lost our passport and it's being 1 month now and they have still not compensated us for canceling our flight and all the inconviniences they have caused me and my family”

Helpful Report

Posted 9 years ago

“British Airways are touted as a premium airline. Unfortunately they fall well below their perceived standards. A little bit about me, I’m quite an experienced traveller, I have flown the London to LAX to route over 100 times in the past 6 years. I normally fly with Air New Zealand and before that Virgin Atlantic. I decided to give BA a try as they had the new A380 plane and we had recently been collecting there Avios points on a credit card (big mistake, I have since terminated the card). When booking the flight the plane seemed very busy and therefore the seats were quite expensive so I opted for economy with the intention of upgrading at check-in. The booking process online was quite simple and the email communication after booking very very good. Unfortunately the staff on check-in were simply the rudest check in staff I have ever encountered and made me doing an upgrade almost impossible. After join 3 queues at Heathrow I managed to get in front of someone who would process an upgrade for me at the cost of £500 for 2 people to Premium Economy (or whatever they call it). The A380 aeroplane was amazing and a true testament to engineering excellence, unfortunately this amazing plane was let down by moody uninterested staff. Half way through the flight I walked to the back of the plane to see if they had any snacks (i.e Crisps or Biscuits) as they do on Virgin and Air New Zealand. I was told by a very put out air steward that they had ran out of snacks and that I should have asked earlier. I was shocked how does a plane carrying 469 people run out of snacks in 4 hours into a flight. On my way back to my seat I spotted a different air steward whom I asked the same question, they replied “hold on I will check”, thankfully this steward was helpful and returned with one Twix. Our inbound flight was even worse than our outbound. One day prior to our flight I called BA (50 Mins on hold) with an enquiry about delaying the flight for one day due to the birth of my wife's niece. I got put through to a helpful customer service representative who told me I could change the flight for the change of ticket fee. I was very happy at this news and said ok I will call back. As I had to check with my wife. The BA employee said no problem call back when you are ready, I asked for a name and direct number but she didn't give it to me and instead said I could speak to anyone there. I put the phone down and spoke to my wife and made arrangements i.e hotels, transfers & work. I called back as soon as I could (1.50 mins later) only to be told “sorry sir you're within 24hrs now. To change your flight to tomorrow it will cost £6000 in economy as we have to issue a new ticket at short notice.”. I asked for the manager who came on the phone and very aggressively told me that it was my fault. I explained that the Manager should listen to the call, I clearly stated that at no point did the BA call centre rep say anything about a 24hr period where the flight would increase by 20,000%. The manager listened to the call agreed that I had not been advised but said there was nothing she could do and that I would need to pay the money or start packing! Not being made of money we decided to pack our bags and not see the new born baby girl, my wife was heart broken. On arrival at LAX we were greeted by another disgruntled member of BA staff who said through gritted teeth "Hi how has your day been." I simply replied "not great.". Its wasn’t her fault so I didn’t go into our recent experience with the call centre. I enquired about an upgrade and was told it would be $1400 per person, I thought this was expensive but due to my wife’s upset I felt it was the least I could do. I said "ok lets do it , I would like to upgrade please". The lady then said "oh sorry you can't upgrade" I was flabbergasted, you just made me an offer I accepted then you retracted and said I couldn’t have it. I asked if it was because it was sold out she said no, its because of another reason but she could not give me any more details. I was utterly shocked and appalled. She said economy isn’t busy I will give you a 4 together in economy, I grudgingly accepted and jokingly said “it's not by the toilets is it!”. With hindsight I should have pressed this point more, but she kept saying they were good seats. When we boarded the flight I was shocked to find that we were on the absolute back row (which on the A380 is row 44) up against a gang of 4 very loud toilets. My seat had a brown blanket over it, when I lifted the blanket I was blasted by the smell of stale urine. So now not only am I sitting next to the toilet, I'm actually going to be sitting where someone actually went to the toilet. Great! When a steward asked me why I wasn’t sitting down, I pointed to the seat with the blanket and explained that, thats where the smell is coming from. They picked the seat up and swapped it with the seat next to me. So now I’m not sitting in urine, I’m sitting next to urine. Great! After 40 minutes and being told that there was nothing the steward could do, the steward eventually moved myself and my wife to two middle seats in a gang of 4, not ideal but far better that next to the toilets and the urine seat. When I arrived back in the UK I contracted BA immediately with my issues. They gave me this boiler plate reply: “We appreciate how frustrating this must have been for you and are sorry for any inconvenience this might have caused. We'll also pass your comments to our Customer Experience team for improvements. Thanks for letting us know what happened.” I find it such a shame that an iconic British brand has been dragged down to such low levels of customer care. I actually feels sorry for the staff, they seem to be just going through the motions with very little passion or enthusiasm. My advise, to all London to LAX travellers is to give Air New Zealand a go. There plane is amazing, the staff are very helpful and knowledgable. Plus when things do go wrong you get a sympathetic ear instead of having the blame reversed and pointed directly back at you.”

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Posted 9 years ago

“My luggage did not arrive with me on the outbound and return flights to the US. Customer service very poor - only responded when I used social media and then would not escalate my complaint. Will not use again”

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Posted 10 years ago

British Airways is rated 1.7 based on 297 reviews