Why are British Airways so hopeless?
Discussion
Hi all - general grumbling here so feel free to move on
Booked flights just under a year ago to SA for next month. Paid £260 and 16,000 Avios to reserve specific seats at the back of the plane (2 twins seats for my tall family on B777) both ways and paid for extra bag on the return leg.
Checked online at the weekend to see my seat choices werent there. Spoke to help centre who said 'sorry - change of plane. all pre-bookings are cancelled. Please rebook'. As the trip is only a few weeks away, there are no similar seats or even decent seats left.
Why didn't BA let me know that they'd kept my cash and avios without suggesting that I rebook? 'oh, would you like a refund, sir'. Yes, I bloody would.
Then checked re the extra baggage. Yes, that has been cancelled too. 'you can rebook that sir. Would you like a refund?'. Take a guess, pal.
When I asked why they didn't communicate any of these changes, 'its your responsibility to ask us for a refund if a trip is changed.'. But they changed it without telling me a damn thing!!
So, moral of the story is, don't trust BA with a damn thing and check, then double check your bookings
Bah humbug.
Booked flights just under a year ago to SA for next month. Paid £260 and 16,000 Avios to reserve specific seats at the back of the plane (2 twins seats for my tall family on B777) both ways and paid for extra bag on the return leg.
Checked online at the weekend to see my seat choices werent there. Spoke to help centre who said 'sorry - change of plane. all pre-bookings are cancelled. Please rebook'. As the trip is only a few weeks away, there are no similar seats or even decent seats left.
Why didn't BA let me know that they'd kept my cash and avios without suggesting that I rebook? 'oh, would you like a refund, sir'. Yes, I bloody would.
Then checked re the extra baggage. Yes, that has been cancelled too. 'you can rebook that sir. Would you like a refund?'. Take a guess, pal.
When I asked why they didn't communicate any of these changes, 'its your responsibility to ask us for a refund if a trip is changed.'. But they changed it without telling me a damn thing!!
So, moral of the story is, don't trust BA with a damn thing and check, then double check your bookings
Bah humbug.
It was always thus. Back in 2017 me & SWMBO were off on honeymoon in the US. The homeward flight was booked as an A380. I paid for a double seat upstairs (I don’t turn left on entry ever, sadly), thinking that would be a lovely way to round off the holiday.
A few weeks before we went I happened to look at the booking & the reserved seats had disappeared. Looking at the seat map, it now showed a 747. Tried to book the double seats at the back and it wanted more money!
After quite a while on the phone to BA and the very helpful reservations person having to get her manager to put the change in I got the 2 seats for no additional charge.
On the day, a 777 turned up and it was carnage with loads of people bumped off and no-one in their reserved seats, including a couple with a baby who went from a bassinet at the bulkhead to a middle block seat about 3 back from the bulkhead, so rammed in and holding their baby all night. I did eventually get the seat money back & to be fair to the ground staff in Washington they let us into the business lounge, but a pretty crap experience all round. I hate 777s.
A few weeks before we went I happened to look at the booking & the reserved seats had disappeared. Looking at the seat map, it now showed a 747. Tried to book the double seats at the back and it wanted more money!
After quite a while on the phone to BA and the very helpful reservations person having to get her manager to put the change in I got the 2 seats for no additional charge.
On the day, a 777 turned up and it was carnage with loads of people bumped off and no-one in their reserved seats, including a couple with a baby who went from a bassinet at the bulkhead to a middle block seat about 3 back from the bulkhead, so rammed in and holding their baby all night. I did eventually get the seat money back & to be fair to the ground staff in Washington they let us into the business lounge, but a pretty crap experience all round. I hate 777s.
Sorry to hear that. When this happened to us we had a specific e mail from BA.
Your seats have been changed
Dear Mr XXXXX, Booking reference: XXXXX
Your seats have been changed
For operational reasons, we had to change the seat(s) you had selected on one or more of the flights in your booking.
We have done our best to ensure that the new seats you have been allocated are of the same type as your original seats or a suitable alternative where this has not been possible.
I agree however their 'systems' are a clunky load of tosh from booking flights and / or holidays, Avios, their App, their website, their customer service in general just needs a whole shake up.
Your seats have been changed
Dear Mr XXXXX, Booking reference: XXXXX
Your seats have been changed
For operational reasons, we had to change the seat(s) you had selected on one or more of the flights in your booking.
We have done our best to ensure that the new seats you have been allocated are of the same type as your original seats or a suitable alternative where this has not been possible.
I agree however their 'systems' are a clunky load of tosh from booking flights and / or holidays, Avios, their App, their website, their customer service in general just needs a whole shake up.
If you like sitting at the front of the plane and want to sit next to your friend/partner, "That'll be an extra £300 to reserve your seats, Sir". EACH WAY!! So total £600.
On a recent flight to Spain they wanted to charge £15 to choose an economy seat. I decided against, so they allocated me a centre seat - in an empty row!
As a bonus, their IT is hopeless. I couldn't access my booking to check in with the booking reference but eventually managed to sort it out by going in through the Executive Club website. Madness.
On a recent flight to Spain they wanted to charge £15 to choose an economy seat. I decided against, so they allocated me a centre seat - in an empty row!
As a bonus, their IT is hopeless. I couldn't access my booking to check in with the booking reference but eventually managed to sort it out by going in through the Executive Club website. Madness.
On the other hand, I flew PE with BA for the first time ever transatlantic to Nassau last month, upgraded from economy only around 2 weeks before the flight and there was very limited spaces, but the final row at the back was empty, so I thought I'd wait until the usual check in 24 hours before to select my seat and found that row was now gone...however I'd be bumped right to the front of PE, in an aisle seat behind the partition wall/baby changing wall and when I got on, I had more legroom and space than ever, and there was also no one next to me, despite the map showing it! Score!
I will agree BA's processes are naff though, like in 2023 when I chose my preferred seat back to Gatwick from Tampa...ended up with a 6 hour delay and when I got on someone was in my seat, turns out they weren't and there had clearly been a change of plane and I was moved to the row in front of the one I chose. Talk about looking sheepish after asking him to move from my seat.
I will agree BA's processes are naff though, like in 2023 when I chose my preferred seat back to Gatwick from Tampa...ended up with a 6 hour delay and when I got on someone was in my seat, turns out they weren't and there had clearly been a change of plane and I was moved to the row in front of the one I chose. Talk about looking sheepish after asking him to move from my seat.
I don't normally mind them, bar the odd moan, but back in November 2020 they cancelled the return leg of my flight to Bahrain without bothering to tell me. Luckily I went in to my booking about a week before to check something, or I could see myself stuck in the Middle East trying to arrange a flight home. This was during Covid when flights were scarce, and paperwork to travel anywhere was extensive...
DeejRC said:
Hmm, in my experience BA normally keep you fully informed of such things. I’ve had it happen more often than I like - across multiple airlines and you kind of get used to planes having to change.
Yep, if anything BA over communicates. Had a flight with Iberia a few days back, first leg was on BA, I got two emails from BA and nothing had changed. Surprised I didn't get a text too.
If you want to stay with the IAG group, I'd recommend Iberia over BA. Same crappy seats but cheaper and decent support.
If you want a truly crappy airline, try Lufthasna. They re-routed a flight to South America via Panama to go via the US... and then it took 12 months to get a refund and that included having to go to the German ADR where they continued to lie about processing it. It was only £98 but the cheek of it.
captain_cynic said:
Yep, if anything BA over communicates.
Had a flight with Iberia a few days back, first leg was on BA, I got two emails from BA and nothing had changed. Surprised I didn't get a text too.
If you want to stay with the IAG group, I'd recommend Iberia over BA. Same crappy seats but cheaper and decent support.
If you want a truly crappy airline, try Lufthasna. They re-routed a flight to South America via Panama to go via the US... and then it took 12 months to get a refund and that included having to go to the German ADR where they continued to lie about processing it. It was only £98 but the cheek of it.
I had a major issue with Swiss (Lufthansa group) and they told bare faced lies that I believe constituted fraud. ADR resolution was quick but that’s not the point.Had a flight with Iberia a few days back, first leg was on BA, I got two emails from BA and nothing had changed. Surprised I didn't get a text too.
If you want to stay with the IAG group, I'd recommend Iberia over BA. Same crappy seats but cheaper and decent support.
If you want a truly crappy airline, try Lufthasna. They re-routed a flight to South America via Panama to go via the US... and then it took 12 months to get a refund and that included having to go to the German ADR where they continued to lie about processing it. It was only £98 but the cheek of it.
BA are ok. I’m having a bit of a scrap with them currently over a broken seat but as a rule my issues have always been solved to my satisfaction. The seat change thing I have always received emails for, I’ve found they often get junked for some reason.
DJC76 said:
I had a major issue with Swiss (Lufthansa group) and they told bare faced lies that I believe constituted fraud. ADR resolution was quick but that’s not the point.
BA are ok. I’m having a bit of a scrap with them currently over a broken seat but as a rule my issues have always been solved to my satisfaction. The seat change thing I have always received emails for, I’ve found they often get junked for some reason.
Same here, including having to provide the ADR with six months of bank statements to prove they had not, in fact, refunded my money. BA are ok. I’m having a bit of a scrap with them currently over a broken seat but as a rule my issues have always been solved to my satisfaction. The seat change thing I have always received emails for, I’ve found they often get junked for some reason.
The ADR were good, but LH were experts at playing them.
Hmm, so those with longer memories will recall my tales on here a decade+ back of living/working in CH and weekly flying with Swiss, or as I regularly referred to them: NaziAir. Highly efficient, unfailingly polite, utterly inflexible on anything that inconvenienced you but worked for them.
As for Lufty in general being s
te, all I can say is try - or rather, don’t - their cheapst.com ginger stepchild airline: Vueling. Now, that is an experience you will regret!
As for Lufty in general being s
te, all I can say is try - or rather, don’t - their cheapst.com ginger stepchild airline: Vueling. Now, that is an experience you will regret!I try my best to avoid Budget Airline now.
A mate’s wife is cabin crew and has been for many years. BA would love to get rid of their long term crew members, and others, and generally treat them like st so they’ll quit.
She won’t give in. If they want to pension her off….make an offer.
As for comments about LuftWaffe and Swiss - they’re my go to for long haul. Easy connections to FRA, MUC or ZCH from Luxembourg. I’ve flown many hundreds of thousands miles with them. Sadly, I’ve lost Senator and even FF statuses now.
A mate’s wife is cabin crew and has been for many years. BA would love to get rid of their long term crew members, and others, and generally treat them like s
t so they’ll quit.She won’t give in. If they want to pension her off….make an offer.
As for comments about LuftWaffe and Swiss - they’re my go to for long haul. Easy connections to FRA, MUC or ZCH from Luxembourg. I’ve flown many hundreds of thousands miles with them. Sadly, I’ve lost Senator and even FF statuses now.
BA have given up because they're the monopoly carrier at LHR with high loads factors. It's why they're generally anti the 3rd runway, they don't want the competition there.
They're happy to ps off a percentage of customers at the expense of investing in IT systems and an adequately staffed call centre.
They're happy to p
s off a percentage of customers at the expense of investing in IT systems and an adequately staffed call centre. DeejRC said:
As for Lufty in general being ste, all I can say is try - or rather, don’t - their cheapst.com ginger stepchild airline: Vueling. Now, that is an experience you will regret!
Good sir, I'll have to happily take your word on that as I've put in place a strict "No Lufthansa" policy.te, all I can say is try - or rather, don’t - their cheapst.com ginger stepchild airline: Vueling. Now, that is an experience you will regret!If it's LH or swim, I'll get my speedos.
As for anyone who recommends them long haul... you really need to try other airlines to realise just how bad they are. Air Europa is almost better long haul (well the food certainly was).
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