jackr27

There is a lot of negativity on this thread, and to be fair, I have agreed with much of it - the cost cutting, some of the 'enhancements' and whatever else.

However, I thought today I should take the time to say that in my view, when it comes to it, BA are by far the best company I have dealt with when exceptional/extraordinary circumstances come into play.

When my baggage was delayed, as annoyed as I was, they got it back to me as promptly as they could, and refunded all expenses/items I had to buy without argument - saving me making an insurance claim.

The cabin crew on the whole (exceptions are to be expected) have been by far the best I have come across - warm, hospitable, with the right balance between the professional and the personal.

When I was rather horribly taken ill earlier in the year, they went above and beyond to help me, and make sure I got home okay.

And when I rather stupidly managed to damage my passport, they showed flexibility in helping me, despite the fact they didn't have to.

Whatever the various changes over the last year, many of which I agree have been negative, when it comes to it, for me service when it's really needed is what matters - and on that level, BA have consistently delivered - even when they didn't have to, when I suspect others wouldn't have and indeed when I didn't expect them to.

tobaornottoba

Your comments agree with several experiences I've had flying with BA. They get some things wrong, but they get a lot of things right.

One would hope that if they do start to make some nice profits they start to feed that back into further improving the quality of the experience, in all classes.

IanFromHKG

Jackr27, I'm genuinely delighted that things worked so well for you. Honestly, my experiences have been quite the opposite. Some fairly recent travails are documented here, and if you read the whole thread you will see that the incompetence and indifference shown by BA were truly outstanding

Things go wrong. I get that. Airlines are not immune. The key questions are how often, how badly, and how hard the culprit tried to fix the problem

Our own experience with BA is too often, sufficiently badly to cause significant disruption to holidays and important family visits, and (this being the real issue) really not very hard at all

jackr27

Indeed, and I'm more than willing to admit I've probably (this year certainly!) only really seen the good side of BA, and perhaps in many ways my experiences are more a case of good fortune along the way. I'm sorry to hear about the issues you've had, which do sound horrific.

In all of the three cases I mentioned in my original post though, I could have come away with an entirely different perception (although the passport issue was completely my fault, so I couldn't have begrudged them sticking to the T&Cs and being completely inflexible in allowing me to rearrange!).

My flying is mainly shorthaul - and the option is either BA or low-cost carrier. Even though the product differentiation between the two has arguably become very narrow, it is still my view that when something goes wrong, or when a bit of compassion is needed, BA are ahead of the competition - and ultimately it is this which is most important to myself.

Swanhunter

They are already making very nice profits - circa £1.2billion - and yet the cutbacks keep coming.

BA are still capable of surprising on the upside but too often now my experiences are deeply mediocre. I am flying less generally, and sharing the love around a little more which really does open your eyes to what others are doing for worse (sometimes) and better (more often).

oscietra

Cutbacks like this, at a time of great growth potential, presage some interesting corporate opportunities for IAG.

I would suggest the priority is to minimise expenditure in the short term, with a view to something transformational happening during 2015.

Personally, my experience of four BA flights in the past fortnight has been faultless on board.

IanFromHKG

Interestingly narrow phrasing, Oscietra. So it was faultless "on board", huh? In a thread about experiences other than on board that seems rather irrelevant but also, somewhat overly carefully phrased.

HIDDY

Hardly irrelevant when the OP did mention good onboard experiences as well.

How nice it is to see a happy BA story on the BA board instead of the usual whinging.

Padmeister

Well said Hiddy!