*A touch of class*

Looking at some of the comments raised in earlier reviews for British Airway and the surprisingly low average rating given to them by fellow reviewers, I can't help but wonder whether we're thinking about the same company. My experiences of BA have been, for the most part, exemplary and they remain one of my favourite airlines to fly with. I've always found the service to be polished, with a good range of features and for me a flight with BA is always a more distinguished event than a budget flight.

*British Airways, serving the world*

For most people, the BA experience will begin on their website, www.britishairways.com It's a well designed if not massively innovative booking portal and I find it very easy to use. To begin with, you're prompted to choose a suitable country location and a language. While BA support 11 different languages (some of them very exotic), there seems to be a real focus on the most lucrative markets in the UK, US, Japan and the like. Easyjet, on the other hand, have a far smaller global reach but support 18 languages just the same.

*Exploring www.britishairways.com*

The main features are clustered in the top part of the page, with some attractive adverts for special offers and the like lurking at the bottom. The front page features an easy to use booking form, as well as online check-in. In addition to this, there's a travel news menu that links through to information on flight delays and breaking news.

The rest of the content is divided between four drop-down menus that slip down very smoothly to expand the range of content available.

Flights and Holidays: Covers booking, package trips and value added features such as travel insurance, foreign currency, the BA credit card and others.

Manage my Booking: Provides access to existing bookings and another access point to the online check-in. Online check-in is great fun with BA, as you get to select your seat by dragging a small person along an image of the plane interior before dumping them in your chosen space.

Information: Includes sections on travel preparation, baggage essentials etc.

Executive Club: This section of the site allows Executive Club members to manage their accounts. BA offers various options for frequent flyers and I know several people who have remained lifelong members of the Executive Club due to the benefits provided.

*Google helps make BA supremely searchable*

All content on the site can be searched through an embedded Google search feature, which makes it easier to find documents or T&Cs that are hidden away. Commercial websites can often be very poorly indexed, which means that the convenience of Google functionality is definitely a plus.

*Prices - don't assume BA can't compete*

Although BA have a reputation as an expensive airline, they can compete on quite a few key routes and they also have some good special offers. For example, they've been the cheapest option from Gatwick-Glasgow on two out of the last three times I've flown. As always, shop around, but the difference between BA and some of the budget carriers can be painfully close to call. For what may be as little as £10-20 extra I'll always opt for BA, as you'd be surprised the difference dignified check-in, a free paper, something to eat and an allocated seat can make to the fun of flying.

*Check-in with British Airways*

I try and make use of online check-in whenever possible and this is made easy through the BA website. In addition to this, customers with suitable tickets and baggage can often use the fast check-in machines provided by BA at most major airports. I've always fancied using one of these, but have never quite got the right combination of tickets/e-tickets and boarding cards!

Staff at check-in are always well spoken, immaculately presented and go about their business in a professional and efficient manner.

*Boarding BA style - more a saunter than a scrum*

One of my major gripes about budget carriers is the way in which large numbers of passengers are herded into quite large groups in large chunks to await boarding. It makes you feel a bit like a farmyard animal and once a few people start queuing, everyone jumps up (myself included). BA has a more traditional approach to boarding and as passengers have allocated seats this removes the usual gut clenching feeling that you get when you spring up from your seat to 'beat' your fellow passengers to the line! It's simply more civilised.

On the way to the plane passengers can grab a free paper ranging from the Daily Mail to the Financial Times. This is great, as a good read can really help to wake you up during an early morning flight (or is a good distraction if you're flying long haul). Another small touch that no doubt effects your ticket price slightly, but I suspect not by that much.

*Comfortable cabins*

The cabins of BA planes are, in my experience, very comfortable and decked out in the branding of the company which is recognised around the world. Leg room isn't always the best on domestic flights (I'm a touch off 6'), but online check-in means that I've always been able to reserve an over wing exit seat with masses of leg room (a metre plus!) Seats certainly don't feel as cramped as other carriers and even when I'm sitting next to men on both sides the unspoken 'elbow contest' for paper reading space never seems to occur.

*Small screens scan through safety procedures*

Another small point that I like about BA are the small screens that pop out from the cabin roof to display flight information, in-flight entertainment and the safety demonstrations for most of their fleet. I think that this is a great way of displaying safety information for shorter passengers, anyone with mobility issues or the hard of hearing who may not be able to crane their necks to see stewards or stewardesses half heartedly miming the evacuation procedures in the gangway.

*Free food... on an airplane?*

Like a lot of men I'm ruled by my stomach. The fact that BA still offers something to eat on their flights is good for helping out with 'rumbling travel tum'. We're not talking about big meals here (a small cooked breakfast and a coffee for breakfast, a sandwich and a drink (alcoholic if required) for evening flights). This is great for short flights as it prevents you from having to buy a ruinously expensive airport breakfast. As an example of what I'm talking about, a bagel, bottle of water and a small coffee recently cost me over £6 at Heathrow. Ok, you're best to make breakfast at home if you can, but early flights tend to put the kibosh on this.

*Smart staff, stringently maintained service standards*

Harking back to the point that I raised at the start of this review, I'm genuinely shocked at some of the comments in other reviews that say that BA staff are at all surly or disinterested. In my experience they are always immaculately groomed, well informed and helpful.

You get a genuine impression that they're proud to be doing their jobs and while much negative press has been made of the unusual decision for one of their senior executives to ask staff to work without pay for a period, I can certainly grasp at the thinking behind it. The fact of the matter is that BA is a very British institution, with historic standards of excellence, a strong brand and motivated staff. There aren't too many companies in the UK travel sector that instil the sort of staff loyalty that BA crews demonstrate to the public.

I'll certainly be flying with them for the foreseeable future and while the months and years ahead will be tough for them I hope that they find the direction they need to come through the global economic downturn.

*Reliability, delays etc.*

I've never had a delayed flight with BA (in 10+ years of using them, maybe 1-2 flights a year). For this reason I find them to be exemplary, although there's no doubt people who will have had an entirely different experience.

Originally published by me on www.dooyoo.co.uk