Yesterday, polar_b expressed the opinion that BA don't leave you high and dry when something goes wrong, but that BA takes care of you when the unforeseen happens (see thread: Why to fly BA). My response shared an experience I had flying to YYZ with a competitor and stated that my flight was delayed for four hours leaving LHR and ended up having to make a crew change stop in Newfoundland. By the time we eventually landed we were 6hours 30min late. I also said that the crew were very rude and that the catering wasn't brilliant. Crampedin13A responded saying that it if I was referring to AC (which I did not confirm or deny) then it would have been a bigger issue for them to resolve the issue as they were a long haul away from base whereas BA would have been much closer to base and therefore would have been able to sort something out.

I did not say in my original response, but we were waiting in the main terminal building (not the gate) with only the flight information board to go by for information. After the initial delay, we found and approached the airline desk to get more information (which was shared). In terms of 'keeping us comfortable' we were told that if we showed our boarding pass to one of two take-away style shops (Pret and Eat) then we would be allowed to buy whatever we wanted up to the value of £10 (which, at airport prices was a packet of crisps, a sandwich, drink and a cookie). We were flying in Y but I'm assuming the same would have been true for people travelling in a higher class than us as the person at the information desk did not ask to see my BP or ask me what class I was travelling in (although I assume they would have been in the lounge already). When we landed in YYZ, we were told that if we saw an airline representative 'at the top of the stairs' we would be able to get a $50 (Canadian dollars) voucher towards a future flight. Overall my experience was very negative and I did not feel as if the airline concerned took as much 'care' of us as I thought they could have done.

I do not fly much, maybe two or three short haul and one or two long haul flights a year (and as a result am only a Blue!), but when I do fly, BA is my airline of choice. On the above mentioned flight, my reasoning for choosing a competitor was because of their flight timings which meant that I could effectively save two half days annual leave.

So my question is this: would other travelers be willing to share experiences of BA resolving issues and taking care (or not) of delayed passengers when they were not 'at home' (in Europe or long haul)? I just wanted to compare my experience with a competitor with those from BA to gauge what I could expect from BA if I ever found myself in a similar situation abroad with BA.