British Airways Reviews 

Our family’s experience with British Airways following severe disruption to our Nassau–London journey on 21 August was appalling.

We were a family group of nine, including three children — one just two years old — elderly relatives and a family member who is PEG-fed and has specific medical needs.

After our aircraft returned to Nassau, what followed included hours of uncertainty and inadequate communication, children trying to sleep on the airport floor in the early hours, repeatedly having to ask for drinking water and food, long waits for luggage despite staff being made aware of medical circumstances, our family being split between hotels, unsuitable accommodation with no cot for our two-year-old, refreshment vouchers that didn’t work, and further difficulties after BA rerouted us via Charlotte.

We eventually arrived home approximately a day later than planned.

Things go wrong in aviation. I understand that. What I found unacceptable was the lack of care and communication when they did.

I subsequently submitted an extremely detailed formal complaint setting out 12 separate areas of concern and specifically asked BA to investigate each of them.

After waiting two weeks, BA’s response effectively addressed one issue — why our family had been split between hotels. I was told there wasn’t enough hotel availability and that the feedback had been passed to airport managers.

That was essentially it.

No substantive response to most of the welfare concerns I’d raised. No meaningful explanation of what investigation had taken place into them. No response to my request for goodwill redress for the customer-service failures.

I’ve now escalated the matter to senior leadership at British Airways and asked either for the complaint to be properly investigated or for BA to confirm its final position so I can pursue independent escalation.

For me, the most disappointing part isn’t that an aircraft developed a problem. It’s how we were looked after when it did — and how little ownership I’ve seen since.

I am utterly disgusted by the way BA is handling its 26 hour delayed flight BA 2238 from Trinidad to London. No accommodation, transport or meals were offered despite an email from BA saying that these were available. BA staff simply said its ‘it’s a pay and claim situation’ situation, which is very unsatisfactory indeed. Many passengers were left totally stranded.
Never in a long lifetime of international travel have I seen such a poor response from any airline, let alone one of the standing of BA.
I expect to be flown to London tomorrow on time, plus a full refund for the cancelled flight and full compensation for the emotional and psychological trauma experienced.
Moreover, trivial as it may seem by comparison, I was offered a voucher for 14.00$US to cover the initial 3 hour expected delay (which is now 26 hours). This voucher had to be accessed by downloading an app called Swiipr, a name unlikely to inspire confidence, given that swipe is a synonym for steal. I will not and never will download this app. Once downloaded, I was required to transfer the $14.00 to my mobile wallet. I do not use and never will use a mobile wallet, the very idea makes me cringe.
The horribly delayed flight will now hopefully arrive just a couple of hours before my onward flight with a different airline takes off. That connection is of course not covered by BA’s claims service, a service which is complicated, riddled with obstacles and intimidating, rather than helpful as BA claims.
All in all, the experience has been appalling and I hope other passengers (not customers) will complain in a like manner.

1/5 - would give 0/5 if it were possible.

British Airways cancelled our original flight and then somehow rebooked my girlfriend and me onto completely different flights on different days.

After around 45 minutes on the phone, I eventually managed to get us moved onto the same flight. Despite us having already paid to sit together on the original booking, BA didn’t bother to reinstate our seats next to each other.

Because of the cancellation and rebooking, we lost our original train tickets and had to pay for replacement tickets, as well as an additional hotel near the airport.

Unfortunately, the replacement flight was no better. Boarding was painfully slow and disorganised, with seemingly no urgency at all. We weren’t even seated until after the aircraft was supposed to have departed.

We then arrived around 30 minutes later than the arrival time quoted by the pilot, which caused us to miss yet another train and pay for another replacement journey.

To finish things off, our hold luggage then took more than 40 minutes to arrive at baggage reclaim.

What should have been a straightforward journey became a complete disaster, involving cancelled flights, being separated onto different flights and different days, lost seat reservations, multiple replacement train tickets, an unexpected hotel stay, further delays and an excessive wait for baggage.

A significant amount of additional expense and inconvenience caused by BA’s handling of the journey from start to finish.

Absolutely appalling experience. I’ll also be submitting a claim for the additional expenses incurred.

I have used BA for both business and personal travel for many, many years but after my recent experience I give up! What used to be a brilliant and reliable airline is now awful. And they clearly do everything to avoid engaging with their customers. I lodged a complaint with them, ref 14730940, and when I go and check the status they have closed my case. They say they need more info but they don't say what and anyway why close it if you need more info. I tried calling and using their digital assistant (after 20 mins I am still 47th in the queue!). I also note they don't monitor/react to these reviews. Interesting tactic to ignore complaints in the hope they go away. I was part of the BA Future Labs but clearly box ticking exercise rather than a real wish to listen to your customers. Funnily enough my husband is due to book a trip this week for us and I've told him to avoid BA. So sad that a once excellent company has sunk so low.

We recently flew British Airways BA049 from London Heathrow to Seattle in Premium Economy, seated in 31A and 31B, and came away genuinely impressed with the whole experience.

The comfort of the Premium Economy cabin was excellent. After taking many, many long-haul flights over the years, we really appreciated the extra space and the overall comfort throughout what is a long journey.

The food was also a real highlight. In particular, the pasta was absolutely beautiful, genuinely some of the best pasta we have tasted on an aircraft, which is not something we say lightly given the number of flights we have taken over the years. It was exceptionally good and a very pleasant surprise.

However, what really stood out and made this flight special was John, our cabin crew member.

John provided the kind of service that you remember long after the flight has finished. He was friendly, attentive, professional and genuinely interested in making sure we were comfortable and well looked after. Nothing felt forced or mechanical, his service was warm, natural and incredibly personable.

John is a real credit to British Airways. His attitude, attention to detail and genuine customer care are exactly what great airline service should be. He is an excellent example of how one member of crew can make a very positive difference to the overall passenger experience.

Interestingly, this flight has also changed our view of British Airways more broadly. After many years of flying predominantly with Virgin Atlantic, we have recently started using BA again. Virgin's decision to cancel its Companion Ticket seat rules has been a very disappointing move for us and, ultimately, has contributed to Virgin losing us as a customer.

Following this flight, and particularly the excellent service we received from John, British Airways is now very firmly back at the top of our list when choosing an airline.

BA049 was an excellent experience from start to finish, and John deserves particular recognition for the part he played in making it such a positive one.

British Airways should be proud to have people like John representing the airline. He is a credit to BA and a fantastic example of what outstanding customer service looks like.

Thank you, John, and thank you British Airways, we look forward to flying with you again.

If you are in London and in a position where you have a business meeting at 21:30 in Glasgow and you need be there , you will have options. Car takes 8 hours to drive. , coach takes 9 hours, Train takes 3-4 hours and plane takes only 1 hour and 10 mins. Its a no brainer take a plane, like the BA8728 19:45 from London City Airport which gets you to Glasgow by 21:05 . You can even go Business Class . Then British airways delay the flight by one and half hours meaning the flight is going depart London at the time it was meant to touch down in Glasgow. Now im going to reach Glasgow at 22:13 by which time the meeting has ended. Meaning a wasted trip , wasted ticket, waste of time, and waste of money/ air miles. Another issue no smoking area at London City Airport even if they keep you in lounge for extra 90 mins. If you the option always choose the train especially if its business .
Just went to customer service desk where there were staff having a chit chat when they finished i asked why the delay, they said flight late in. Asked about compensation they said no then went back to chit chat . UPDATE: issue resolved by way of avios air miles refund for the flight. All parties happy 1 star to 4 star

Booked a return flight to New York but were unable to add baggage to one of the flights as it was American Airlines (who were really helpful). I tried to resolve the issue regarding British Airways chat and the customer service member of staff just left the chat purposely and ignored my questions. I then made a complaint, was told I would have to wait a number of days for a response. I received numerous update emails informing me they were dealing with the issue over the next two weeks. I received an email informing me that they were unable to deal with this issue. Customer service and policy is an embarrassment, sadly shown up by the response I had from American Airlines. I will not fly with them again. Dreadful!

Totally broken seat, no support at all, sat on a metal bar with a cushion balanced on top, and lack of water on 11 hour flight and customer services resolution was an insult

Booked from Heathrow to Amsterdam. Checked in 2 suitcases for my wife and myself. Had one small carry on case between the two of us. Confirmed at final check in desk that we could take it on board as had my wife’s medication in it. They said we could.
We were the second couple to board in economy. Turnaround manager told us to leave our case as it had to go in the hold.
We explained what we had just been told. He did not believe us. My wife had to board on her own.
Turnaround manager made a call. Told us no one had told us this at all as he checked with the man at the desk.
We actually spoke to a woman at b.a. he was not interested at all.
He took our carry on case from us whilst all the other passengers were allowed to board with two or three cases and holdalls.
Pointed this out to him. He said he would wait until everyone else had boarded then check to see if there was any room in the overhead lockers to see if we could take ours. He never did. Ours stayed in the hold.
My wife complained to the flight manager, alex, on board, . She also was not interested.
We made a written complaint to b.a. about how we were treated.
Received a response saying thank you for your feedback. Unbelievable!
It was not feedback. It was a legitimate complaint that they have totally ignored.
Why was it ok for every other passenger to take their cases on board but we were refused?????
We were the second couple to board in economy and when my wife boarded all the overhead lockers in economy were empty.
We are a couple aged 70. Frequent flyers with b.a.
we were treated appallingly and singled out from others boarding who were allowed by this turnaround manager to take on loads of cases.

Disgusting greedy airline,
I had booked a flight from Inverness to Bangkok, Inverness to Heathrow then 9 hr layover leaving from Gatwick of which I will need to collect my bags then check them in again, then thought I’ll come to London the day before via easy jet and get a day in London, then just check in on the Gatwick flight, but no!
The greedy airline wants £350 to change a flight that I already have and they will also get extra for the flight I wouldn’t be on from Inverness,
Been using them on and off for years but won’t be giving them anymore of my money

Arrived at Athens airport almost 4 hours early. No online checkin, BA not available in check-in kiosk, and hours long queue to get boarding pass (and that’s before security and passport control.). BA only airline with this line, all others have no or reasonable queue.

A few years ago, after returning from a holiday in Istanbul, all three of our suitcases failed to arrive and took three days to be returned to us. What frustrated me almost as much as the missing luggage was the complete lack of proper communication. After that experience, I decided to stop flying with British Airways.

This year, we decided to give BA another chance and use some of our accumulated Avios for our trip to Spain. Unfortunately, I now regret that decision.

Our return flight was cancelled at very short notice, causing considerable stress and effectively ruining the final day of our holiday. We managed to rearrange our journey for the following day, but our flight was then delayed by around two hours. At Heathrow, we had to rush to make our connecting flight to Glasgow. We made it. One of our suitcases did not.

It is now Sunday, and we are on the fourth day since arriving home, yet our suitcase is still missing.

I completely understand that Heathrow experienced a major air traffic disruption and that many airlines and passengers were affected. However, our journey took place several days into the disruption. By that stage, I would expect an airline of BA’s size and experience to have contingency measures in place to deal with the aftermath.

More importantly, Heathrow is British Airways’ main hub. If BA cannot manage this kind of disruption effectively at its own home base, where exactly can passengers expect it to do so?

British Airways is not a budget airline. Customers choose and pay for a major full-service airline partly because they expect better operational resilience, communication and customer care when things go wrong. The true test of a large airline is not when everything is running normally, but how quickly and effectively it responds during disruption.

I can understand a suitcase failing to make a connecting flight during a chaotic day. What I cannot understand is why, with numerous flights operating between London and Glasgow every day, that suitcase cannot simply be sent on the next available flight and returned to the passenger promptly.

What makes the situation particularly unacceptable is that, according to the baggage tracking information we have had to find and check ourselves, the suitcase appears to have been located. At one point, the system indicated that it would be handed to a courier for delivery.

Yet here we are, on the fourth day since arriving home, and we still have no suitcase, no confirmed delivery date and no reliable indication of when it will actually reach us.

Apart from a generic apology email, there has been virtually no meaningful or proactive communication from British Airways. We should not have to repeatedly search online tracking systems ourselves simply to work out what might be happening to our luggage.

Since arriving home, I have been reluctant to leave the house for any length of time because I have no idea when the suitcase might suddenly be delivered. I also have no idea what condition the belongings inside will be in. There are clothes, personal care items and other belongings that I need to use and wash, and I simply do not know when I will get them back.

The original baggage delay may have been caused by exceptional disruption. However, as we approach 72 hours since arriving home, the lack of effective recovery and communication is becoming increasingly difficult to blame simply on what happened at Heathrow.

Problems happen in aviation. Flights are delayed, systems fail and baggage occasionally gets left behind. What distinguishes a good airline is what happens next: how quickly it reacts, how well it keeps its passengers informed and how effectively it resolves the problem.

This is precisely where British Airways has failed us.

What makes this particularly disappointing is that this is not my first similar experience with BA. I stopped flying with the airline after my previous baggage experience, gave it another chance several years later, and have ended up regretting that decision.

At this point, I cannot recommend British Airways. If I have to accept this level of disruption, baggage handling and communication anyway, I might as well fly with a budget airline and pay budget-airline prices.

Whenever possible I always use BA for my flights, both internal and international. I've had reason to contact customer services to confirm seating, Despite tech issues they continued to support sorting my issues. I’ve always been happy with the service I’ve received over many years. I think with age comes a realisation of what can/should be expected. As far as I’m concerned BA have never let me down and I'm more than happy to support our national carrier. We are flying from Manchester on in Nov 2026 and a hotel stay so we can be ready for our 11 am flight to Costa Rica. Our connection is using BA even though there were budget flights available 👍 keep up the good work. Kind Regards, Graham

Gone downhill. Arrived to the airport 4h in advance. Bag drop wasn’t open until 1.5h before the flight. Arrived extremely early only to be rushing in the end and then for the airport stuff to be telling us we need to hurry up?

Was on Flight BA054, 08 Sept from JHB to LHR to Belfast. Absolute chaos at Heathrow. Although BA cannot be blamed for the mismanagement of Heathrow Airport, they should have stronger contingency plans for their passagers belongings more especially that this has happened several times over the past few years.

Impossible to track online for delayed baggage as there was no reference number given. Finally a mail this morning advising that my luggage was on a flight to Belfast.

It's now been 96 hours without luggage and no further feedback whether I should collect? Or will they deliver?by when?

Heathrow being one of the main hubs to the UK & Europe and BA being UK's national carrier reflects very poorly on the nations ability to handle emergencies.

BA’s WhatsApp support was able to smoothly deal with my query and resolved it without fuss.

I always book BA if I can as they have good leg room and are more flexible on luggage than the budget airlines

As a loyal customer of BA I am appalled by their negligence. Why would BA tell people to check their luggage if they can’t deliver or handle it properly?? They have put our belongings in the hands of EcourierAir, and like BA, they are completely non-contactable to customers using an automated AI voice that cuts off. Instead of helping us the AI voice sends a link to the ‘live portal’ that we already have, that’s inaccurate and out of date. So customers are left without luggage and without any sufficient communication. The delivery couriers did not contact me, and the system was not up to date or accurate but claim to have ‘attempted delivery’ and took my luggage back to the depot. So my luggage has been on a round trip of London and has yet to be returned to me after 48hrs. This is appalling BA. People are entrusting you with their belongings and you have failed them!!

If I could give 0 I would. Booked my flights for my honeymoon with British airways and used Avios for a discount. They took my money and my points and then later told me there was a glitch and the booking didn’t go through. After that there were no more flights available so I am having to change my plans. I called and they told me to complain online, the online team told me I had to call…

I think worst airlines in the world, I did purchase flight this year, to fly from Chicago to split Croatia, what they did I arrive with my family three hours prior flight they told me the plane have issue it’s not going to fly, they give us different alternative plane Lufthansa what was scheduled to go four hours later, we had to wait so long to sit on that plane, the same time original plane from British Airways left on a regular time🤔 somehow they screw us up and then I pay for the special seats what I wasn’t able to use into Lufthansa plane, on the way back my return flight they canceled, I was shocked, I had to spend four days to investigate why they canceled my flight return flight, we went so much stress with this company, first time we was flying with them, and this is the last time, I recommend anybody who looking for the plane to go oversee. Do not even try to go with the British Airways worst company in the world.