IAN-UK

It's better you avoid the Sunday Times today. There's some pretty vicious criticism of BA from the paper's travel editor. The piece ends with:

"...It is a long time since the airline... was the national carrier. Now it is an international laughing stock"

Andriyko

I actually read that piece, and he did not say anything new that I have not read here before. He is entitled to his opinion, but it is just that.

IAN-UK

Well, I guess there is only so much you can say about it; which is why we find the complaints so tedious.

OK, yesterday's fiasco is a new stone in the sling, joining the grubby aircraft, buy-on-board etc



His comments appear to be based on a consensus of reader comments, rather than personal opinion.

Though I'm guessing he has had a bad experience with the airline: always a mistake to upset a travel editor

husseinbadr

Cocooned in a window CW seat, I've increasingly been finding the general lack of a sense of space around me (except on the 747 UD) a little claustrophobic a few hours into a flight. This can be alleviated to some extent, I suppose, by sacrificing privacy and taking an aisle seat. But what has been obsessively increasingly irritating to me is the lack of elbow room at the divider-side armrest.
I've pretty much given up on BA anyway, except on the (very rare) occasion when there is no better alternative, and have had no cause to regret my decision so far.

GordonS3

Had the same thing happen to me last night! I'd just fallen asleep, then *splosh* - an entire glass of champagne spilled all over me

The only saving grace is that they take the piss and serve the champagne in tiny glasses!

I wasn't offered anything to make it up to me, I just got what seemed like a rather insincere apology from the cabin crew member (honestly, really don't think she cared). Oh, and she gave me a few tiny little 'gauze' towels to dry myself with - can't have been any bigger than 3.5" squared, and full of holes. Thankfully I always keeps spares in my hand baggage (this is actually the 2nd time this has happened to me).

copenhagenBA

As a follow up to my opening post..

I flew back today in J on the GIG 248 flight with my family who had paid full cash for our tickets. No avios redemption used. The cost we paid per ticket was 1500 GBP which in sale terms isn't bad, but when you book 4 tickets that is an awful lot of money. Now todays debacle was that there was no IFE from start to finish. The only thing you could watch was moving map. I realise things happen from time to time, but i had the same thing happen on my previous BA flight in F back in December. At the time i was awarded 10k avios as compensation. I filled out the forms as did most of the plane for service recovery today.

Now, i ask for advice, quite frankly I'm not interested in receiving another 10k of avios. I have enough to last for years, what are my options for giving honest feedback as to how totally awful both my outbound and return journey was in its contexts, and compensation claim ? Can u ever get any money back from BA?

Thanks

Jagboi

Not likely, with possibility approaching zero. Your best course of action to have the least mental stress is to forget about it and take your business elsewhere.

ORDPLATAA

Flew CW on BA295 to Chicago on Tuesday. Reaffirmed that I don't like CW. Was in an aisle seat in the mini J cabin. Hate staring at a stranger while settling in then you have that very awkward moment of "how do I raise the privacy screen?" Ask the person sitting opposite if it's okay or just do it? Can't view screen during taxi/takeoff/landing. CC leaning over you toto serve pax sitting in the 2 middle seats. Footrest is flimsy.

I will say J catering was better than the last time I was in J in 2011 (the onion tart starter still gives me nightmares). It took 3.5 hours to complete the lunch service (at least that's when I fell asleep missing dessert).

ORDPLATAA

Flew CW on BA295 to Chicago on Tuesday. Reaffirmed that I don't like CW. Was in an aisle seat in the mini J cabin. Hate staring at a stranger while settling in then you have that very awkward moment of "how do I raise the privacy screen?" Ask the person sitting opposite if it's okay or just do it? Can't view screen during taxi/takeoff/landing. CC leaning over you toto serve pax sitting in the 2 middle seats. Footrest is flimsy.

I will say J catering was better than the last time I was in J in 2011 (the onion tart starter still gives me nightmares). It took 3.5 hours to complete the lunch service (at least that's when I fell asleep missing dessert).

BrianWBrazil

The planes on the LHR-GIG route are truly awful; some of the oldest I have experienced. As for taking your business elsewhere, the problem is that there is no effective competition as all other operators do not fly direct. The good news is that they are being pulled in October and replaced with 778s.

ttama

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) provides some guidelines on compensation, and offers a dispute resolution service. I don't know if anyone here has had any experience of using them?

I recently used the UK government's Money Claim Online service (which the CAA mention) to claim against a mobile phone manufacturer who was illegally refusing a refund under the Consumer Rights Act. It was simple, cheap and effective, and I got a full refund within 14 days after bashing my head against a brick wall for months. I didn't have to go to court - issuing the claim was sufficient to get them to budge. You don't have to claim a full refund; perhaps you can come up with something you feel is reasonable for the poor service and negotiate from there.

If you do decide on legal action you have to follow certain steps to give the company a chance to resolve matters before proceeding, and you have to be able to provide proof that you've done this.

I've not tried it myself vs an airline, so I don't know if it will work. But it only costs £25 to file a claim, and you can decide to drop out along the way if you don't want to pursue it. And it seems to have worked in the past for others: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...h-Airways.html