British Airways Reviews 14,923

Oh dear BA with 83% negative one star reviews on Tripadviser! Not a good sign for BA.
I returned from Cairo yesterday, which was a five hour flight and it was one of the most uncomfortable flights I've ever been on.
I was not able to recline the seat and there's zero legroom. So it was impossible to sleep because of the upright position. We were packed in like sardines. The angle my lower back and neck were at has left me with severe lower back pain and a stiff neck! .
The "meal" was an unexciting wrap with processed cheese, and all of two mouthfuls, a choclate, coffee flavoured bar and a miniscule fuit salad. Drinks were one glass of water and a cup of tea, both in tiny cups. Again only a couple of mouthfuls.
And finally there was no in-flight entertainment.
All in all a miserable experience and I will not be choosing BA again!

Booked a 6pm flight at an increased cost over the later less favorable 8pm flight, then find out a month or so later that they have cancelled the 6pm flight and have moved us to the later ( cheaper) flight with no refund for the difference! Leaving us in the airport for over 8hours! Told me if I had rang they would have looked at a cheaper flight that day however I checked and there wasn’t one therefore if I rang I would be stuck 500 miles from home !
After watching BAs site for a few months I can see they do this a lot so on that if they move 200people a day onto cheaper flights at a £50 difference they are pocketing 10k a week from fraudulently false bookings !
Avoid as the customer services are horrendous and past you from puller to post !

I am extremely disappointed with the lack of follow-up regarding a complex group booking to visit Grenada (Party of 10).

Due to persistent technical issues on the BA website, I had to complete this booking over the phone. The agent I spoke with explicitly promised that our two separate booking references would be linked. Most importantly, he assured us that we could select seats immediately at no extra cost to ensure our family stayed together - a necessity as we are traveling with both an infant and an elderly passenger.

The Issue: While one booking reference has been sorted, the system is now demanding additional payment for the remaining adults. Despite emailing the agent twice to rectify this as agreed at the point of sale, I have received zero response. I have also emailed customers twice and I have been ignored. Our trip is coming up and this is a disappointing way to start the vacation.

It is incredibly stressful to have a verbal agreement ignored, especially when traveling with vulnerable family members. I simply want British Airways to honour the original terms of the sale and seat our party together without further charges. I have the booking references ready for any representative who can actually resolve this.

Resolution Requested: Honour the original agreement to open seat selection for the full party or manually seat us together at no extra cost.

I am most surprised and disappointed with BA. Our leading airline!!! We were just parking at Heathrow at 4.30pm and had an email to say our flight to Dubai at 8pm had been cancelled and we were being put onto the next flight at 10pm to Abu Dhabi. Considering this, and this is our complaint/issue here - you would expect to have a member of staff at BA check in to help and assist their customers. Not one person!!! Imagine people who weren't confident with airports and air travel. Luckily we are but still wanted to talk to a member of staff. No! Just left to sort ourselves out. Sadly we couldn't sit together as a family of four with children. Meals were absolutely shocking both flights. Breakfast was inedible and I am not a fussy eater. The snacks they hand out are awful. A sausage roll would be so much better. Come on BA sort this food out. It's absolutely terrible.

Using the ba.com website is not unlike having your fingernails pulled out without anaesthetic.
I’ve tried to use it on multiplications and it is not far off useless.
And don’t get me started on trying to book a flight using a companion voucher. The BA/Avios experience is even more woeful.
Once the world‘s favourite airline, now a booking experience to be avoided all cost.
That said my experience when flying with the airline has been okay. Attentive and considerate staff as have the staff been that operate the call centres.

British Airways has consistently delivered the most frustrating and disappointing travel experiences I have ever had.

Paying approximately €600 for a short-haul flight to London, only to be forced at the gate to check my cabin luggage — despite complying with size regulations — is unacceptable. This happens repeatedly, with no clear explanation and no consistent enforcement of rules.

The lack of logic, transparency, and customer respect is astonishing. For an airline that markets itself as premium, the service standard is shockingly poor.

This was the last time I will spend my money on British Airways. I will never fly with them again

On a recent flight to and from Bangkok, my wife an I experienced unacceptably cold temperatures in the cabin. In particular, on our return flight, we had upgraded (more leg room) to seats by the door, and it became clear that extremely cold air was leaking in to the cabin through the door. The cabin crew acknowledged how cold it was, but we were told there was nothing they could do other than provide extra blankets. Customers all around us were complaining and wrapping themselves in extra clothing and blankets. I have subsequently written to BA and their response and been far from acceptable - a small token of an e-voucher to try and encourage me to use them again! I wrote back clearly setting out why this was unacceptable, but had to chase this several times before they responded. I say "they", but it was clear the response was written by a "bot" as it completely misunderstood what I had asked for. Come on BA - you're better than this, aren't you?

Having travelled all over the world with many airlines many times, I have to say the service we received on this BA flight was by far the best we’ve experienced.
Holly and Oscar in particular were incredibly attentive throughout the flight, making effort to engage with all passengers including ourselves.
Both are a real asset to BA and made a 9 hour flight pass smoothly and quickly

Lost baggage and could not get it delivered to my hotel so had to make my own way to collect it, took an extremely long time for them to retrieve it. There was a huge queue of angry shouting people.

After a serious medical emergency abroad, I was forced to urgently return to Canada and could not use my British Airways return flight from Rome. I immediately notified the airline, provided extensive documentation, and requested a modest credit for the unused return portion of the ticket.
What followed was more than four months of bureaucratic deflection and obstruction.
British Airways repeatedly demanded highly sensitive medical documents, many of which were already provided, only to claim later that they were “not in the correct department” or “not attached to this case.” I received multiple generic, clearly AI-generated responses that did not address my situation at all. At times, replies were factually incorrect or unrelated to my case.
Despite acknowledging my medical emergency, British Airways insisted on impossible or medically absurd requirements — such as retroactive certificates stating that I was “unable to fly,” documents that physicians do not issue in real medical practice. When I explained this and submitted official hospital records instead, they were ignored.
The airline also shifted responsibility back and forth with Expedia, their own ticketing partner. British Airways claimed Expedia was responsible, while Expedia explicitly instructed me to deal with British Airways as the operating carrier. I was trapped in a circular loop where no one accepted responsibility.
Even after confirming that my return flight was cancelled and unused, British Airways continued to delay, request duplicate paperwork, and ultimately refused resolution while expressing superficial “apologies.”
This process caused significant stress during an already serious health situation and gives the strong impression of a deliberate strategy of attrition: exhausting customers through automated systems, endless documentation demands, and procedural obstacles until they give up.
British Airways’ handling of this case was unprofessional, dismissive, and deeply disappointing. Based on this experience, I cannot recommend this airline to Passengers should be aware that when serious issues arise, British Airways’ automated processes may leave customers without effective support or accountability, anyone, especially passengers who may face medical or emergency situations while travelling.

Extremely Disappointed – AVOID BA (BAD AIRWAYS)
Bad Airways (British Airways’) handling of our luggage was disgraceful. After a storm-related delay on a connecting flight, my wife and child were forced to continue alone while I stayed behind waiting for our bags. When the suitcase finally arrived, it was water-soaked, having clearly been left out on the tarmac.
BAD AIRWAYS then refused to reimburse reasonable taxi and related costs caused entirely by their failure. Their response was dismissive and showed zero accountability.
Under UK and international air travel law (Montreal Convention), BAD AIRWAYS (BA) is liable for delayed and damaged baggage, yet they have ignored this and rejected a valid claim. I will be escalating this to the Civil Aviation Authority and relevant consumer bodies.
Think twice before booking with BAD AIRWAYS (BA) — they sell tickets, but don’t take responsibility when things go wrong.

I am writing to highlight British Airways’ unacceptable handling of my baggage damage claim (Ref: [09571698]). My Samsonite black XL hard-shell suitcase was damaged beyond repair. I submitted official documentation, including the BA requested written proof from Samsonite that clearly states the bag is beyond repair! Despite this, BA refuses to replace or reimburse me at today’s equivalent price, only offering partial compensation based on the bag’s 2016 cost.

Legally, BA is responsible for a like-for-like replacement—same brand, size, and color—at current value. This has now gone unresolved for over a month (filed on 18 December 2025). I have official proof of the damage(Samsonite document and photos), yet BA refuses to meet its obligation.

I will be filing complaints with Citizens Advice and relevant consumer protection authorities. British Airways’ approach is unacceptable and breaches consumer rights laws.

Worse customer service and very bad attitude. I paid for first class service but I did not receive a first class service.

Worse customer service ever. I paid for first class but I got 0 service.

For all the bad press BA get’s they’ve just been anazing on my connection. Flight to new york was delayed 2 hours, meaning i would miss my connection to Rio.

At nee york airport they met me with a special pass with my name on. Got me through passport control, bag pick up, bag drop off and security in 10 minutes and held the plane for a small group of us.

Absolutely incredible, we’re only in Economy. Had i missed the flight i would have had to sleep i nthe airport overnight and lost a day of holiday.

Thanks BA!

Some staff were brilliant, but others were just terrible. My daughter was in a wheelchair, which we had informed the airline of in advance. We were sent from one place to another, with nobody really knowing what to do or where to send us. Boarding the plane was just an awful experience, it was chaotic and we were separated, resulting in her having to get to her seat alone with all the other passengers boarding the plane at the same time. I would never fly British Airways again and it's a pity because some of the team are great, but they are let down so badly by others.

We supposedly booked British Airlines for our return trip to Miami from London Heathrow. This was to connect with a cruise in Fort Lauderdale. The trip out was ok, nothing special, but they changed our return flight to American Airlines. The drinks were few and far between and of cheap quality. It was an overnight flight and the breakfast consisted of a strawberry yogurt and a Fig Roll biscuit, unbelievable! How poor for an international airline!

We had an extremely upsetting experience flying with BA while travelling with our 1-year-old baby. One particular flight attendant was shockingly rude, aggressive, and unprofessional.

Instead of offering help or understanding, she spoke to us disrespectfully, shouted at us, and even accused us of lying in front of other passengers. Her behaviour felt like bullying and caused unnecessary stress during an already challenging journey with a young child.

We made a formal complaint afterward, but BA’s response was a generic apology stating they had “passed our comments to the appropriate team,” with no accountability, explanation, or reassurance that this behaviour would be addressed.

This is not the level of service or care I would expect especially when travelling with a baby. Sadly, the way this situation was handled has left us very reluctant to fly with British Airways again.

BA changed our flight times for July (2 hours later). Destination arrival now in the dark.
They wanted £435 to change to an earlier flight, even though they were the ones that changed the flight originally. Checking online, the flight cost is the same!
Disgusting behaviour. Going by the reviews and rating, I shouldn't have been surprised.

My blood is boiling!!!

Run for the hills and fly using a different airline!

Booked a return business class, long-haul flight/s from Heathrow to Nashville and then back. On the flight out, my headphone jack was faulty and after attempting to use multiple different headsets, I was unable to use the in-flight entertainment for the entire flight. To make matters worse, we were also informed that there would be no WiFi available for the entire flight. This left me with nothing to do but sit in a box and stare out of a window for over 9 hours.

It then gets worse... On my return flight (Business Class again) we were informed before take off that the in-flight entertainment sytems were not working and that the flight would be delayed for take off while they reset it. When completed, only a handful of the units/seats had their in-flight entertainment come back online, mine was not one of them!! Leaving me for a second flight/time in a row, on a long-haul flight with nothing to do!!

When you are paying for a Business Class seat, you are rightfully allowed to expect the type of service you are paying a hefty price for.. this was not the case and completely UNACCEPTABLE!

Then finally, the worst of all happens... When logging my complaint with British Airways, all I get is an apology and an offer of 20,000 Avios points as compensation.. again, completely unacceptable! In other words, giving me points to use when booking another flight with them that I'd have to pay towards and give them more money. What a joke!!

If you are considering booking with British Airways, especially business class, don't! I highly suggest choosing a much more reliable and professional airline to fly with. I know I will be for all my future flights.