I hate British Airways.
I first hit my “limit” in 2014. I swore never to fly BA again. Now ironically, in 2019, I’m writing this sitting on a British Airways flight heading home from Boston. I’ll tell you the story that lead me to not use them and then back again.
I didn’t always feel this way. As an English kid growing up in the eighties, BA was everything. It felt like a national treasure, flying the colours. It made you proud to be British. Virgin Atlantic was just starting out in 1984, incidentally as British Atlantic Airlines, and hadn’t quite found their footing. If you thought of the glamour of the airline business, it wasn’t Virgin staff in their red outfits, or the immaculate middle Eastern smart airways like Emirates or Qatar. It was British Airways.
Sexy Concordes
They had 7 sexy Concordes, capable of the London to New York run in 2 hrs and 53 minutes at a colossal 1350 miles per hour – or in layman’s terms, Mach Two. Concorde is readily accepted as a feat of engineering, a passenger plane with afterburners needed to take off and a transonic engine.
Conversely, there were also death traps. The plane had heat problems, structural problems and radiation concerns. They probably could have gone faster than Mach Two has not the aluminium alloy they were made from have a temperature limit of 127 degrees Celsius. This confined their max speed to Mach 2.02 at cruising altitude. Even the fuselage expanded in the heat of flight by 12 inches, creating a noticeable gap. Special white paint had to be used on the aluminium to reduce the temperature of the surfaces by around 8 to 10 degrees. Passengers would emark on landing that everything was warm, including the windows.
Heat problems aside, the turns at high speed actually twisted and distorted the body of the plane. The useable lifespan of a Concorde thus became 45,000 hours, roughly 9 years if flying between London and New York twice a day. Then there were the radiation scares. Concorde flew at a cruising height of 56,000 feet, way above commercial planes at between 30,000 and 40,000. The upside was it allowed Concorde to have its own air tracks across the ski, but they were fixed and changed daily based on weather conditions. The height made the ionising radiation double that of a normal flight, and there were worries it could cause skin cancer. In fact, one of the mandatory inclusions on the flight deck was a built-in radiometer. If the radiation got to high, the concorde would descend to 47,000 feet to compensate.
Oxygen masks were also not effective on the hypersonic jets. A loss of cabin pressure at cruising height would render an athlete unconscious in 10 to 15 seconds, or at least in a state of useless consciousness where they couldn’t react. A less healthy individual might have around 7 seconds. Even if you managed to get an oxygen mask on, hypoxia would render it useless. Therefore, all concordes had to be fitted with a reserve air supply. Smaller windows helped stopped the air pressure decreasing rapidly, but the only option for the jet was a rapid descent. And by rapid, we are talking rollercoaster G-force pace. Safety concerns aside, there were also incredibly cramped, and only took a hundred passengers.
But, did I mention they were incredibly sexy and fast? Onboard a concorde, in your tiny seat (smaller than a normal economy), you were regarded as glamourous. British Airlines was the only airline in the world to have them, except Air France. Overall, 20 conchordes were produced. 14 of them went into circulation to Air France and British Airways, until they were all decommissioned in 2003.
I Heart Virgin Atlantic
In the 80s you couldn’t hate British Airways. They were the epitome of style and appeal. As a kid, I remember if you went long haul, you went British Airways. Competition was not so fierce and they did a great job at the time.
For me, the turning point was around the millennium.
In 1999, as a family, we flew to New York with Virgin Atlantic. It blew away my little teenage mind. It was a new plane and Economy class felt like Business class. The stewardesses were glamorous, efficient and friendly. The planes all had inflight entertainment on the back of each seat with multiple channels of movies and TV. In those days it wasn’t the norm or the exception – it was magical. Two meals plus extra snacks were included in the price, and the bar just seemed to keep coming round and round. In these days, it pales in comparison. But in 1999, even cramped in the cattle herd pen of economy, I was in heaven. I could watch all the movies in the world while sipping on my fifth wine – I was 17 but asking for I.D didn’t seem to be top priority on Virgin. That one flight made me a Virgin Atlantic convert, instantaneously.
In the decade after 2000, I was travelling more and flying on more airlines. As I learnt more about other airlines, I started to realise that BA wasn’t so special. I didn’t hate British Airways at this point, but I was beginning to realise that there were less about them that stood out in the twenty-first century.
Starting to Hate British Airways
Then, in 2012, I had a bad experience with BA and I learnt something further about the airline – their customer service at the time was appalling. They had become a dinosaur in an age when business was adapting rapidly, and they could not cope.
While this was my personal opinion, we had started to see this on a business level multiple times in previous years. The controversy in 2003 stands out prominently, when issues occurred over British Airways’ introduction of an electronic clocking-in employee system. Thousands of staff refused to co-operate, even though the introduction came with a 3% pay increase attached to it as well.
The staff were experienced yet immobile. Change adaptability was a prize possession in the business world by this point, and a requirement in workers. If you couldn’t adapt, there was someone else out there that could. British Airways needed to change but they were being held up by their employees.
The Swipe Card That Took Down An Airline
British Airways employees were arguing over something as simple as a few seconds of clocking-in. In fact, it was quicker than the old paper and pen clocking-on system. You just swiped your card and just like that, you’re on the clock. The papers reported it as a controversial new system but that’s the media for you.
They were missing the point that service in 2003 was different from in 1980. Across the retail and hospitality industry at that time in England, most companies had been working with electronic clock-in and clock-out for years. As a shop manager, my first company had been doing it since 1991. Furthermore, if I refused to clock-in, I would be reprimanded and ultimately fired for insubordination.
But British Airways was bloated, full of more experienced staff certainly, but many that were afraid and unable to change. It seemed that many could not and would not keep up. The situation was all resolved and the “controversial” clocking-in system became voluntary for a few months. Plus, in the defence of British Airways employees, this change came at the end of a hard period where 13,000 jobs were cut, and the remaining employees saw the introduction of the system as a possible way of further cutting hours and jobs.
However, before it was all resolved, we watched on the news as thousands of BA staff staged a two day unsanctioned walkout. They cost British Airways an estimated £50 million, not to mention a whole load of passengers a considerable headache.
All over not wanting to clock in electronically. I was flabbergasted.
The Bloated Airline
Currently, in 2019 British Airways still has 45,000 staff including 16,500 cabin crew and around 4,000 captains (despite its earlier attempts to lower its workforce). They service at very peak 145,000 customers a day, still at a very comfortable – and some might say lazy – ratio of 3.2 customers to 1 staff member.
In 2003 I started to hate British Airways, and its descending service. By 2014, dejected by the airline in general, I decided to try flying with them again. The route was London to Amsterdam, a short hop of 2 hours, to which I paid British Airways £150 for a return ticket. Other airlines were charging £50-60 for the same journey, but I still believed that British Airways was a slightly superior airline. Additionally, the times of the flights suited me, and the luggage allowance was more than adequate.
I flew from Heathrow, Terminal 5. The newest of the terminals at Heathrow was opened six years earlier in 2008 to much fanfare, and British Airways was the only airline to be allowed access and use of it.
The Inglorious Opening of Terminal 5
The day Terminal 5 opened, British Airways had to cancel 34 flights and suspend baggage check in. In the week or two that followed, 42,000 bags failed to travel with their owners and hundreds of flights were cancelled. It took a full month for them to be able to offer a full schedule out of Terminal 5.
Of course, the difficulties were blamed on Information Technology and other such issues, but to a bystander like myself with confidence in the airline fading fast, it was just another notch on the bad press sheet.
When I arrived at Heathrow Terminal 5 on that summer day in 2014, six years later, all the problems had been ironed out. I didn’t completely hate British Airways and the negative publicity had long been forgotten. Terminal 5 was now known as the modern terminal for the future. I was eager to see what the terminal was like.
At this time, the terminal was also used by Iberia, and continues to be British Airways and Iberia to this day. It’s not surprising since the airlines merged, but it still feels very much like British Airways HQ. This has to be, anywhere in the world, the epitome of their customer service. In Britain, in a terminal used only by BA, if you can’t get customer service right, you’ve got nothing.
Senseless Customer Service
Suffice to say, my check in was disastrous. I was armed with a 90+10 litre backpack, fresh off a trip from South East Asia. It was a Lowe Alpine, nicknamed “Alpy”. Oh, how times have changed – I would never take so much stuff these days unless I was packing full camping gear of tent, sleeping bag and stove.
Despite having paid to take my colossal rucksack on board as hold luggage, British Airways refused to accept it. I showed them all my confirmations from the agent I had booked with, including all the lines that specifically told me I had hold luggage and what I was entitled to.
British Airways still refused. They asked me to pay £40 per bag, per flight.
I was informed that if I wasn’t willing to pay, I would ned to leave the check-in queue and head over to customer service. I had already been waiting for a fair amount of time to put in my bad. But I left and headed to BA customer service, a set of shiny desks with a massive blue board above them.
After a wait of thirty minutes, I’m next in-line. Customer service tell me I don’t have hold luggage booked and that there is nothing they can do. Or more specifically, that there was one thing I could do. Pay the amount today to take my bag, and call – don’t laugh – BA customer service. I was completely perturbed.
I try to get them to understand that they are British Airways customer service, but they didn’t seem to concur with this point of view. I have to contact the “real” customer service on a phone number they gave me on a business card.
To this day, it is one of the most ridiculous customer service situations I have been in. I informed them they had just wasted my time, when the check in staff could have just given me the contact card. Why would you send people from a British Airways staff member to a British Airways customer service staff member to then give you a business card.
In 2014 the internet was alive, so I could have found their contact and email detail in seconds. However, I had just waited twenty minutes in one queue and thirty minutes in another queue, for a number. And only to have to go back to the first queue and wait again.
I threw the business card back at them – probably not my finest hour – and walked away. I went back to check in. I checked in that colossal backpack and I paid them £40.
Oh, and I also vowed never to fly British Airways again.
Is This A Budget Airline?
I’d had a few poor flight experiences in the years leading up to this, and I now officially hate British Airways. Put it in my little black book of companies I never want to use again.
The flights to and from Amsterdam themselves were not bad. However, BA had started to cut back and the food was an awful bacon roll and mediocre coffee. At the time, you could fly Ryanair and for around €5-10 get a meal that was twice as tasty. Things were taking more of a downward spiral as the company struggled to compete with Europe’s low cost airlines. As the years went on, British Airways would scrap serving food altogether on most of their short haul flights.
When I made the return leg home from Amsterdam, I wasn’t asked to pay for “Alpy” the massive backpack, and I didn’t bring it up. Then, weeks later, £40 was credited from British Airways into my bank account. No email, phone call or contact. I hadn’t complained to them since that moment at Heathrow before I flew outbound. I’d decided it wasn’t worth the hassle of dealing with the perverse logic of Britain’s flagship carrier. The gesture was confirmation of their mistake, despite not receiving an apology. The damage, however, had already been done.
The Principles or Price Dilemma
Flash forward to 2019 and I’ve deliberately not flown British Airways for five years. Travel life without BA has been more relaxed, and it’s definitely been cheaper.
Yet I’m now planning a trip to Boston and I only have a week free, so not much wiggle room to make the holiday more flexible to get better priced flights. I have a conference I’m attending as well, so the dates are set, give or take 3 or so days. Plus, it’s summer, the peak time for the airlines.
I start looking for airfares and to my utter horror, the cheapest direct flight is BA. Not only is it the cheapest, but the competitors are significantly more expensive. British Airways is sitting at £330, Virgin at £470, Norwegian Airlines at £580. The latter is normally my go-to for cheap flights these days across the Atlantic, being one of the few low cost Transatlantic carriers. Their service and all round offer is better than British Airways, at a fraction of the price.
I decide to put the decision on hold. But, two months later, I’ve scoured the internet and can’t find better. I do the same searches every few days on Skyscanner, Momondo, Kayak, Cheap flights, Google Flights, STA Travel and others. I search and I search and I search.
It’s now two months before departure, and I know prices are likely to be on the rise. I’m a budget traveller and a difference of £150 is considerable.
In desperation, I put my “principles” in the bin, and book the British Airways flight.
Hold luggage is another £100 on the price, so I decide to go with hand luggage only. It’s only a week and though the conference throws up the need for a pair of smarter trousers and shoes than I’m used to wearing, I decide I will make it work. Moreover, I still have etched in my mind that memory of the last time I bought hold luggage which British Airways and they refused to believe it. Hell, I was going to make hand luggage work, even if I ended up taking the bare minimum.
Can There Be Salvation?
Now, you’re probably thinking “how did they do this time round”?
Awfully, and Awesomely.
Let me explain… I arrive back at London Heathrow Terminal 5. It’s only the second time I’ve visited the terminal, since British Airways and Iberia still having the “monopoly” on its operations.
Unfortunately, the airline is now charging for allocated seats, and they are charging more than the low cost airlines. A regular seat will set you back £29, one of the twin only seat sections will cost £65, and an emergency exit will cost you £80. That’s for one leg, meaning if I pick a normal seat and take hold luggage, the flight would have been £158 more.
I forget to check in until a few hours before the flight and I’m flabbergasted when the system automatically allocates my seat – it’s a window seat. In an emergency exit row. I’ve just saved £80 and got one of the best seats in economy.
This feeling of excitement dips shortly after arriving at Heathrow Terminal 5. Of course, the joy of going hand luggage only is the thrill of being able to stroll purposefully past the check in desks, right up to the electronic gates at security control, and scan your boarding pass from British Airway’s app. I scan mine, it declines, and informs me that I need to see a member of British Airways. Life in BA land is getting harder. Again. Man, I hate British Airways.
Bugs In The Technical System
Twenty minutes after waiting for a BA representative, they tell me that all passengers to the United States need their passport physically scanned before being allowed entry to the country. I feel like asking why they can’t do this at the gate on boarding, but I decide it’s not worth the hassle.
It would also have been nicer if British Airways had told me this before I arrived at the airport so I could adapt you’re my, but they didn’t.
Or more specifically, they do and they don’t. I was later to learn that there was an alert box at the end of the online check-in that informed you of this if you don’t have the BA app. However, if you do use the app instead, when you get to the last stage of online check-in, the system comes up with a big box over the page asking if you want to see your boarding card and finish the process in the App, you click “yes” and it takes you over. In this way, you never get to the section that tells you that your passport needs to be physically scanned.
I can perhaps excuse British Airways of a small technical oversight, even if it’s typical of their track record. I get my passport scanned, return to the security gates, get through, and a few hours later sit on a plane.
Tarmac Waiting and Security Delays
The flight experience is mediocre. We’re on a Boeing 787, nicknamed the Dreamliner. It’s a modern and comfortable aircraft that first went into service in 2011. Most airlines have Dreamliners that look a little funky internally, and quite a few have some nice mood lighting. British Airways seems to have designed theirs in a scheme that a paint company may call “1970 Office Depression” Most things are in a depressing grey, and for all its dimming windows and other technical advancements over older planes, in BA’s hands it still looks old.
Flight time is 7.5 hours, and I watch the entertainment system. Two movies and two TV show episodes and we are there. The choice of movies is not as varied as Etihad, Emirates or Qatar but there’s more than enough to keep me amused.
Although, British Airways could learn a thing or two about its inflight catering. The vegetarian meal, in particular, is disappointing – apparently three badly coloured tomatoes is a starter. I’d rather pay €10 and get a Ryanair meal.
However, they do a drink run, a meal run, then another drink run and a smaller meal before you get to Boston. The second meal is a humus, lettuce and tomato sandwich. It’s the sort of sandwich that has a great place late night on a petrol station shelf all on its own back, in 1994. It’s not nice so I overly enjoy eating the Sunmaid raisin pack that comes with it. I haven’t had these for years.
When we touch down at Logan airport in Boston, we sit on the tarmac for 45 minutes before a stand becomes available. I hate British Airways, but I keep telling myself this one is not their fault.
Security through Logan takes two hours, even for the U.S and Canadian residents. Again, not BA’s fault, though why does it have to happen on a British Airways flight?
At Least Boston Is Beautiful
I then spend a delightful week in Boston, and it’s time to go home.
Except, it isn’t.
British Airways doesn’t have a space for me on the plane I booked months ago.
I was due to cruise home on an Airbus A380, my favourite plane. I specifically booked this flight in the day as it was the only flight of several BA planes running from Boston that used the A380. It’s a double decker aircraft typically seating 525 passengers, and it takes off and lands with the sluggish but apathetic grace of a whale. I may hate British Airways, but I love the A380.
Yet, for reasons unknown to me, British Airways had to swap aircraft and they now had a lot of surplus customers.
Towards the end of the week, I received a text from British Airways asking if I wanted to change flight. I ignored it as I was both busy and set on flying out on the date I had booked. Then, a call from British Airways. They don’t call me when they mess up my baggage allowance and charge me £40. However, here they are on the phone when it suits them, asking me to swap on to any flight leaving between 1 July and 5 July.
I decline, and so I have to assume did most people. As much as I had fallen a little in love with Boston over that week, I was ready to go home. I had contractual work early in July back in the UK and wanted to get back. Furthermore, accommodation in Boston is $50 a night bare minimum for a hostel bed, and goes up to hundreds of dollars for a decent hotel. Added time in Boston would mean considerable added expenditure.
Bumping Passengers
Being as inquisitive as I am, I started researching on the net. Having not been in a situation to ask to be flight change, I was not aware that the officially term is called “bumping”. There aren’t as many regulations and customer rights governing cancelled flights and delays in the U.S but the EU have very fair (and better) practices around it. These rules govern EU carriers as well, of which British Airways is one. Additionally, they cover flights to or from EU destinations. As I write this in July 2019 London and the UK are still in the EU but let’s not get into discussion about Brexit!
Bumping somebody off a flight to London came with a legal compensation amount of €600 or roughly $800.
The US Department of Transportation (or DOT for short) had some different rules about “bumping” for US Citizens. However, airlines were not obliged to give a certain amount. The rules only applied if you have a confirmed seat, checked in the airport, got to the gates and experienced delays. A small delay came with a compensation amount of up to $675, and a longer delay up to $1350.
Not Taking "No" For An Answer
Before I declined to change planes, British Airways had nicely text messaged me a couple of times. Then, over the next day there followed missed phone calls which a quick Google search confirmed to be British Airways in the U.S. I think they left voicemail but I seemed unable to access my voicemail to get the messages left. My phone asks for a PIN to do so, and despite resetting my PIN number several times, I could not get in overseas.
As a traveller my phone plan comes with a generous amount of data abroad, and all calls and messages to a UK phone number included. But it costs £1.75 a minute to call a US number. I avoid making foreign calls, but I reluctantly decided that if may be important, and called back.
I connected and British Airways asked me to leave Boston earlier. I explained that I couldn’t. When asked to leave Boston later, I explained that this added additional costs and they weren’t cheap. I was told I could be upgraded to business class but it’s a 6.5 hour flight and I’m a simple guy. As long as I have some movies and the food back isn’t just three discoloured tomatoes, I’m more than happy in Economy.
I told them if they wanted me to fly back later, I would need a better incentive.
The customer service advisor on the phone told me they were prepared to offer me a flight with business class upgrade, or if I wanted to stick to economy, they were prepared to offer me $1350.
I was sure I had misheard. I’m not great with American accents over the phone. “Did you just say that was one thousand and three hundred and fifty dollars?”, I say, spelling it out slowly.
“Yes,” she said.
I metaphorically shit myself with excitement. The money would pay for my return airfare, my conference ticket and my seven night stay at the hostel I had booked in Boston.
The False Conclusion
At present, I hate British Airways but I kind of love them too. After years of dealing with awful British Airways flights and customer service, and my trepidation with booking them again, karma had arrived. It had paid off, but in the worst way. Because British Airways had yet again messed up, and they legally owed me compensation. At the very least under EU law they had to pay out €600.
I was ecstatic.
As I write this last section, I’m sat in the Boston Public Library. I could see all the green lights of the Bates Room casting a glow over the many desks. It’s a beautiful building that I feel privileged to have been able to work and write in, completely free to the public. I finish what I think is the conclusion to this post, close my laptop and go out to enjoy the Boston sunshine. And that was it, or so I thought.
Yet Another British Airways' Mess
Twenty minutes later a text comes through to my phone. I had just moments ago in the library checked in for my “new” British Airways flight, already one day out of schedule leaving the following morning at 7:30am. This most recent text informs me of a 15 hour delay to the “new” flight, with an updated departure time of 10:30pm. It’s also asking that I arrive at the airport at the same time as I would have. I smile with disbelief and shake my head to no-one in particular – only with British Airways.
I have a flight leaving 10:30pm and BA wants me to arrive at 5:30am. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate British Airways?
At 6:00am the following morning, I turn up to the airport bleary eyed. I had to book another night in the city, previously I was going to ride out the early hours of the night and make it to the airport very early. I’ve made it out my accommodation, and decided to Uber across town to Logan Airport rather than walking and taking public transport.
The Best BA Staff I've Met
The British Airways staff at Boston Airport cannot be faulted. I’ve spent some of the previous evening researching EU Regulation 261 further and I’m ready to ask BA for food, lounge access for the day, and my €600 in compensation that they are legally requested to provide me. But when I arrive, they already have $1350 loaded onto a prepaid credit card for “bumping” me off the first flight.
Incidentally, the British Airways Compensation Card is a nightmare but that’s another story. In short, it’s a Mastercard that runs out in three months, so you have to spend the money and spend it fast. It also has excessive charges on both ATM withdrawing and card payments, and limits on how much you can take out in total. Additionally, it’s in US Dollars so I have the conversion fees to use it in GBP back in England. In short, it’s poor.
The BA staff are also defensive to talk about the EU Regulations. I mention it’s €600 and they are quick to interrupt and tell me it’s up to €600. This is typical talk from airlines. Staff are obviously not lawyers, plus they are trained by the airlines to be as vague as possible about airline claims and amounts. I once worked for a travel company with an attached airline, and I am more than aware of what companies feel their staff are, and are not, allowed to divulge. They tell me anyway that I will need to make this claim separately to British Airways when I return to the UK. I fight back, quoting that given that British Airways is an EU operator flying to an EU Destination (at present) and the delay is over 4 hours, compensation payable is €600 exactly, unless the airline can prove extreme weather or extenuating circumstances.
After my retort, I decide to leave the topic hanging, as I’m still not sure why I’ve been summoned to the airport 15 hours early. I ask if there are any seats on the other three British Airways planes leaving for London that day.
Nothing, I’m informed.
Full English Breakfast, A Chicken Burger, And A Day Room
Airlines are legally obliged to offer you refreshments for long delays, and for overnights, a hotel stay. I ask about lounge access, and the team immediately tell me that they’re putting me up at the Embassy Suites near the airport with a day room. I’m pleasantly surprised. A shuttle comes to pick me up, breakfast is included at the hotel, and I have a voucher of $20 for lunch. It’s a little stingy as I have to pick one of the cheapest items on the menu but it covers me for a chicken burger and chips.
The room is massive, two TVs, lounge with desk area, bathroom and super king bed. I sleep fitfully, heading back to the airport 13 hours later to use my dinner vouch for a quinoa salad and beer which overspends me on my dinner voucher. Again, the voucher is $18 and stingy, given food costs in Boston in particular. But I can’t overly complain – I’ve had the use of a lovely room for the whole day.
Returning Home, Eventually
The return flight home happens without a glitch. I’m due some decent luck, at last. Again, the vegetarian meals are mediocre. There are many announcements to apologise for the delay to the flight, but strangely not a single one admitting that passengers can claim compensation. Ignorance is bliss, and clearly British Airways wants it to stay that way.
Yet it’s the first time in many years I’ve been able to sleep on a plane, tired after 36 hours spent mostly awake. As a traveller, I never am excited to be back in the UK, but as we land I’m feeling relieved and thankful.
"Your Claim Is Very Important To Us"
The next day, I put a claim into British Airways for the second flight, and am grateful when they email a week later to say, amongst another apology, that they will bank transfer me €600 in local currency and it will take three days. I expected them to put up more of a flight, as many airlines love to come back with excuses and deny claims.
However, I’ve written my claim like a lawyer word, citing the regulations and leaving them with little wiggle room. I remember thinking after five working days that they had missed the deadline they had advised me. I worried again this would become a tug of war. But, a few days later, the money appears in my bank and I breathe I sign of relief.
That leaves me with just one final question – would I ever fly BA again?
I Still Hate BA
I’ve been round the circle on BA. I liked them as a kid, and then I hated them. Then, I refused to fly them. I went back to flying them, and I can honestly say I both hate them and sort of love them. Suffice to say, I’m in a strange headspace about my views.
On the upside, the airline had single-handedly paid for my holiday to Boston – my return flight, accommodation, and conference costs. Additionally, they have been generous with their payout on the first flight, though I don’t think they had much choice with the number of people they needed to bump. On the downside, they have proved time and time again how you shouldn’t run a business in the modern age. They are a dinosaur, somehow amazingly celebrating their 100th Anniversary in August 2019. Moreover, I know they have a lot of loyal supporters, though I can only begin to guess why.
Let’s just say I’m extremely grateful at the moment, but I’m not going to be recommending British Airways soon.
Or let’s be honest, ever again. Holistically, I still hate British Airways.
Unless I’m suggesting British Airways flights that you have the most chance to be “bumped” off of, so you can get compensation from them.
Moreover, I’m not in a rush to book a BA flight ever again.
But this time, let’s play it safe and say, never say never again.
Further Resources
Click on each tab below for resources to plan your trip
- For flight comparison of Norwegian and LEVEL
- For a review of LEVEL Airlines, click here.
3 comments
Thanks for the article! Did you use the compensation card in the USA or overseas? I’m having a difficult time trying to withdraw any funds in the UK or getting the amount that is on the card. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Hi Marta,
I found the best way was to open up a US Dollar account – there are some providers that allow you to have one despite not being American – and thrn transfer the amount into there in Dolars. There was some money lost in the interchange as BA took the percentage fee for the withdrawal but it allowed me to not worry about the card and then have more than 3 months to use the compensation.
This article mirrors my experience of the last 4 flights with BA Rude Staff No way to contact anyone, Phone calls to the customer no way for the customer to contact them. This airline is a disgrace to the flag and the sooner it goes bankrupt the better the staff are appalling and they don’t deserve their pensions or their salaries