British Airways - BAW > Reviews > The Sun Never Sets on the Empire but whatabout BA

Author's product rating:   

Food Quality	Good
Customer Service	Outstanding
Punctuality	Good
Space	Comfortable
Value for Money	Good

Advantages:	Lots of snacks and refreshments on long haul flights .
Disadvantages:	Usually more expensive than other airlines .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

British airways (BA) has been a constant staple of mine whenever I have to travel to various parts of the world. Usually I would purchase tickets based on price but if its a difference of just a couple of tens of dollars, I would pick BA. I have several reasons for doing so. First, I get frequent flyer points because BA is in the one world alliance. Second, its an airline I am comfortable with.

I had flown with BA to various parts of the world and I have mixed feelings about BA. Sometimes they are fantastic but at other times, BA can be downright horrible. I guess it is safe to say that the service is dependent on their local representatives and there are inconsistencies in their training and recruitment process.

I have flown with BA mainly in the economy class. Over the years, I have found the seats shrinking and than expanding. I'm sure its not me because I am consistently growing bigger so it has to be the seats. I guess BA went through a period of squeezing more people into a plane and than reverting to more space per passenger in the last decade.

In terms of flying, BA are usually punctual, except for a couple of cancelled flights. Once, I was waiting for the arrival of my husband's flight from the US at Heathrow and upon reaching the airport at around 6 am in the morning, I was shock to look at the board to see the words CANCELLED. Imagine the thoughts flying through my mind! I was later assured that an engine problem has caused the cancellation and all the passengers were put in a later flight.

At other times, late departures and arrivals are due to bad weather and airport control towers. During times like this, I found that BA staff usually cope fairly well. On a flight from Athens, when all the passengers had already boarded and we were all ready to take-off, the Athens control tower had refused departure because our plane had arrived late in Athens. The stewards just passed out newspapers, magazines and ice creams while we waited. I guess the waiting time seems to pass very quickly while munching on an ice cream because a half hour wait on the plane felt like 5 minutes!

In terms of baggage handling, I had not have nightmare experience with lost bags, only with delayed baggages through no fault of theirs. My connecting flights didn't give the baggage handlers enough time to move my bags when I myself had to run for my flight. Upon arriving at my destination, I checked with the BA lost baggage counter, filled out a form and went home. My baggages arrived the next day, unharmed. It seems like they put my bags on the next flight out. Throughout this entire saga, I only had one question: I was under the impression that baggages have to be accompanied by the passenger, so there can be no repeat incidents such as PAM AM or other similar incidents. So, what I want to know: If I wasn't there to accompany my bags, who did?

Food wise, BA had quite satisfying meals. Compared to Japan Airlines, BA isn't as good but much better than Air Canada, American Airlines and United Airlines. I believe they must be one of the few airlines that serve candies or chocolates with tea or coffee after each meal. Although after saying that, BA did manage to give me food poisoning on my flight from Singapore to UK. But they did try to remedy the situation by giving me a sleeping pill on the next leg of my flight.

Then again, the snacks on most BA flights are great. The snacks and refreshments are never-ending, I always seems to be indulged with drinks and snacks every 2 hours. More snacks and drinks are always available on trolleys near the kitchen whenever its needed. I could always find crisps, M&Ms chocolate, candies etc plus mineral water, juice as well as other softdrinks.

I remembered once flying while having the flu, I went to the kitchen for a cup of hot water for my limsip, the steward actually took the package off me and made my drink! Later, he came by every hour with a cup of tea with lemon. Isn't that sweet?

Inflight entertainment varies, depending on seasons, departures and destinations. I do know that the variety is diverse and there is always something suitable for everyone. I remembered watching most of the latest release from both UK and USA while flying between the two continents, from Bridget Jones, Bend it like Beckham to Monster Inc.

The staff on the flights are usually very patient and friendly. At times, their sense of good fun and enjoyment of work gets the better of them. I remembered flying during the Soccer world cup, and the cricket world cup and we were constantly given the latest scores during the flight.

So, are there any bad points about BA? Yes of course, nothing is perfect. Apart from the food poisoning incident, some lateness, engine problems because the planes are old, some of the BA staff in various countries leaves a lot to be desired. Sometimes rude, other times uncaring and lately, ignorant. One incident springs to mind, a BA staff at the check-in counter of a US airport ask to see my travel documents and then ask, "Is this the passport of a country or a state?" Come on!!

By far, BA is one of my favourite airline, together with JAL. Hopefully, they will keep up the good work and improve on other areas.