British Airways - BAW > Reviews (218)

British Airways markets itself as the “World’s favourite airline”. Having spoken to many frequent travellers, opinion appears to be very much divided. In fact, when you listen to the sentiments expressed, there does not seem to be any middle ground. People either love them or hate them.

And what is my opinion? Overall, I “like” them. I would not go as far as to say I “love” them, but I do consider them to be a cut above the rest.

I have been fortunate enough to travel Business Class on British Airways to America, which was a wholly pleasurable experience. I have also travelled Business Class on several other airlines, and far prefer British Airways. The standard of service was excellent, and the cabin staff were polite and professional. I have heard some people say that the cabin staff can be “stand-offish”. I disagree. I once travelled on a rival airline where the cabin crew lived up to the cruel nickname “trolley-dollies”. I would not have liked to rely on them in an emergency.

Due to my lack of finances and desire to travel as much as I can, it is fair to say that I have a much greater experience of economy class travel. Again, I consider British Airway’s economy class service to be perfectly adequate, and compared to its competitors, one of the better ones. To be honest, I can’t get as excited about travelling economy class. It is much more functional, a means to get me from A to B.

To summarise, compared with other airlines, what I like about British Airways is:

1. RELIABILITY OF SERVICE
I don’t have any statistics to back this up, but I have certainly been delayed less often with British Airways.

2. THE STANDARD OF FINISH INSIDE THE AIRCRAFT
The planes are very comfortable inside, and BA runs a modern, well-maintained fleet. (As an aside, I did not like the controversial patterns that they tried to introduce several years ago. I was working near Heathrow at the time, and even the buses were painted that way! Yuk!)

3. THE CLEANLINESS OF THE PLANES
The aircraft has always been properly cleaned, and the toilets stocked with an adequate supply of toiletries.

4. THE VARIETY AND QUALITY OF FOOD, DRINK AND IN-FLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT
They cater for most (if not all) dietary needs. What I am particularly impressed with is that my request for a vegetarian meal seems to be successful. This is not the case with many of the other airlines I use, even when I personally telephone them several days in advance.

5. THE PROFESSIONALISM OF THE AIRLINE STAFF
As I said earlier, I consider the staff to be polite and efficient, and they try their best to accommodate my needs.

6. THE EASE OF BOOKING ON THE WEB-SITE
The web-site is quick and easy to use, full of useful information. I particularly like the fact that you can see the seating layout of the aircraft on your route, and use this knowledge to request a specific seat.

7. THE QUALITY OF AFTER-SALES SERVICE
We had to cancel what should have been a non-refundable ticket. When we explained the circumstances, the Customer Services Department was sympathetic and issued a travel voucher.

The fact that they went out of their way to help at a difficult time is an indication that they do value their customers.

However what I DON’T like is the cost. I am prepared to be loyal to my country’s national carrier, and pay a little more for quality, but on many routes their costs are prohibitive. Several years ago, British Airways were quite open about their strategy of are aiming to attract the corporate clients, from whom they can make the most money. Perhaps given the recent events and downturn in the airline industry, they need to rethink that strategy and start to attract “Mr and Mrs Public”. After all, there are more of them!

The other thing I am less keen on is their frequent flyer scheme – BA miles. Compared to other airline schemes around it is one of the least generous, requiring a significant amount of travel before you earn a free flight. (See my earlier opinion for more details of how it works.) As someone who generally pays for all their own flights, I would rather the scheme was scrapped, and the savings passed on through reduced fares. However, I’m not sure that corporate travellers would agree.