We noticed that you're using an unsupported browser. The Tripadvisor website may not display properly.We support the following browsers:
Windows: Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome. Mac: Safari.

“BA: British Airways aka Bloody Awful”
Review of British Airways


Reviewed 22 October 2017

We usually fly BA on this route 1-2 times a year and in First. Very nice. In December 2016 we felt like a get a way and I found great fares in Premium Economy and it looks great online so we tried it. We were on the 9:30pm flight. The seats are roomy enough and the configuration is 2-4-2 with three rows. We had the window and aisle on the right in row 2. We were pleasantly surprised and anticipated a good ride. The cabin was full, dinner was served and was fine. After dinner the two people in front of us (row 1) reclined and instantly fell into a deep sleep. They pinned us down so we could hardly move and we couldn't rouse them. Bonus: they broke wind all night! We never saw another flight attendant after the meal as they were also covering economy. We are mid 60's and healthy, but unbelievably I had to get up four times through that flight and the only way to get out was to fully recline onto the man behind me, roll over and kneeling on the seat straddle the middle compartment - about 7-8 inches wide, get into my husband's seat and climb over the arm rest into the aisle. Not an easy feat and the man behind was not happy with me. My tall husband could not get comfortable with no legroom. Across the aisle a man was vomiting all night into a bag and with all curtains drawn between Business and Economy the smell was noxious. Seriously, I am not exaggerating this. Obviously we did not sleep.
Once we landed and reached our cottage rental we began to look at our return flight to see if we could change seats or cabin, but they were full again.
A couple of days later I saw that my inner thighs were bruised and purple. I take a blood thinner.
I refused to fly back in the same exact seats so we called BA and explained everything, but Customer service told us all they can do is make note of the complaint and pass it on to another department. They could not seat us in PE anywhere in the near future as all seats were sold out.
We chose to extend our stay by 2 days until we could get seats in First. A lot of extra expense, not including extending lodgings, car and living expenses.
Many phone calls later ended the same as the first. I even called the CEO and got no response. No refund for PE seats, no follow up call or email ever, although we were assured by Customer service we would be refunded for the return portion of our tickets. It's been 10 months and no word, no refund. Nothing.
We are returning to the UK in February 2018 and trying Virgin's PE class. It too looks very good online and I have read really great reviews on Seat Guru so here's hoping.
BA falls down on Customer support and I can tell you their Business class in configured horribly. If you are in a window seat you have to climb over the person in the aisle behind you to get out. Forget that! Even First is not as 'special' as it used to be, however, it is the only decent seat they offer.
I hope I can spare someone this kind of flight from hell. I will say if you can book the first row I think it would be fine. BA should not allow the seats to recline as much as they do and unfortunately many people don't care or maybe realize they are causing discomfort to anyone. It's the responsibility of the airline in any case to limit the recline so that each row can move and enjoy some comfort. It's an easy fix if only someone would actually listen.

Date of travel: December 2016
    • Seat comfort
    • Customer service
    • Cleanliness
    • Food and Beverage
    • Legroom
    • In-flight Entertainment
    • Value for money
    • Check-in and boarding
1  Thank twobrits
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviews (59 356)
Traveller rating
Traveller type
Time of year
Language
  • More languages

34 676 - 34 680 of 59 356 reviews

Reviewed 22 October 2017

Having never flown BA ever before I have to say I was very excited to finally use them on a long haul flight, I'd always imagined that being our national carrier and being so universally well known the journey would carry a romantic sense to it.
How wrong was I. We flew to Tobago with a one hour stop off in Antigua both ways, the flight time from Tobago to Antigua is 90 minutes, on this hour and a half journey you aren't allowed a drink from the cart, alcohol or any other beverage you get one cup of water or an orange juice. Please can someone inform me why this is so? On the return journey this meant that we had to wait almost four hours after take off to get a beer and something to eat, madness.
Now let's get to the food, on a flight that takes up almost 12 hours I would expect to be fed pretty well, Virgin and Emirates both offer plentiful food why not BA? You get one hot meal and a sandwich/croissant with a gronala bar about 30 minutes before landing, the airline literally had no snacks (crisps, nuts, pringles etc) at all, no snacks! I can't quite get over that. The hot meal both ways were appalling, sausage and mash on the way out that just didn't taste good and chicken curry on the way back which was so bad I would have left it if i wasn't so incredibly hungry. Portions were really small and the bun with the chicken was so hard I did have to leave it.
Next, the staff. I understand the hostesses work long hours and flying so often must take it out of you but this is your job, if you can't do it, don't do it. The hostess covering my area of the plane on the way didn't smile once, in fact she grimaced the whole way, even raising her voice to me on one occasion when I asked her where my Diet Coke was, I'd asked for it about 10 minutes previous and she barked at me 'it's on its way' it took another ten minutes before it arrived. The trolley cart only comes out three times on the long flight and apart from those three occasions the hostesses will barely leave their curtained area at the back, if you want a drink you have to go find them, not once was I asked if I wanted a drink or a snack or if I was even enjoying my flight. Too much to ask?
I think you get the jist, I won't go further on about the extremely dated aircraft, with its 1980's almost unwatchable televisions, or the fact you can't get wifi or even charge you phone or iPad, how can you not even have charging ports on long haul??
Overall the plane made it to its destinations so I can't really grumble too much but flying is obviously a business and it's fair to expect a certain level from certain airlines, I certainly wouldn't expect anything special from Ryanair or EasyJet but our national carrier, British Airways? I would expect a very serious level of hosting, for me it seems BA have stopped trying to compete with the big boys at Cathay Pacific, Virgin, Singapore Airlines etc and are now competing with the budget airlines (you even have to pay a lot of extra money to pick your seat, I'm not kidding).
What a shame.

Date of travel: October 2017
1  Thank joey l
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 22 October 2017

Business class seats were very old, the foot rest was broken and next to me was a heavy person and each time he moved I was shaken also (top deck on a 747).
If the flight was not 10 hours then I would prefer not to eat at all. The staff. were trying but the quality of every thing else was bellow average

Date of travel: November 2016
    • Seat comfort
    • Customer service
    • Cleanliness
    • Food and Beverage
    • Legroom
    • In-flight Entertainment
    • Value for money
Thank Kostas K
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 22 October 2017

Boarding was quick, cabin crew was nice, the seats confortable and a bit spacious, the announcements and the new safety video were nice.
The only down side is that BA is trying to compete with easyjet and ryanair, and for this reason they are now charging money for the food during the flight.
When one pays more than 300GBP for a return flight at least a small drink and snack would be nice to try to justify this huge price they charge.
If i would have to chosse between BA and TAP for the same price, I would definitely will go with TAP.

Date of travel: October 2017
    • Seat comfort
    • Customer service
    • Cleanliness
    • Food and Beverage
    • Legroom
    • In-flight Entertainment
    • Value for money
    • Check-in and boarding
Thank rmcc83
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 22 October 2017

Overall it was a pretty good flight & the one thing about travelling with BA is that you feel safe in so much as you have confidence in the pilots, the plane & the maintainance of it.
Since BA moved on a lot of their old cabin crew & recruited younger staff they have vastly improved the attitude & friendliness of those serving you a much needed improvement.
As you would expect in first class the service was excellent as was the food & bar service with a good variety of quality champagne, wines & spirits. The cabin crew were very attentative & looked after my wife who was not feeling well, they even managed to make up a soup for her so it was a comfortable if long flight via Singapore.
Although I have no complaints as such I felt that it wasnt as "special" as I thought 1st class would be, I dont think it is any better than Emirates business class in fact if I was offered the choice of BA first or Emirates business, I would choose Emirates particularly on their A380.
The BA entertainment system is poor in comparison to Emirates as is the seat configuration business v business, and not a patch on Emirates 1st class "pod"
I think BA should take a look at their competitors for entertainment & seating because they are falling behind on both these issues in my opinion.

Date of travel: July 2017
    • Seat comfort
    • Customer service
    • Cleanliness
    • Food and Beverage
    • Legroom
    • In-flight Entertainment
    • Value for money
    • Check-in and boarding
Thank HemelGooner
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
© 2024 Tripadvisor LLC All rights reserved.

This is the version of our website addressed to speakers of English in South Africa. If you are a resident of another country or region, please select the appropriate version of Tripadvisor for your country or region in the drop-down menu.