A new survey of British travelers places British Airways near the bottom. But is British Airways really that bad?
If we are talking about economy class, my answer is yes on shorthaul flights, but no on longhaul flights.
Let’s start with the survey, commissioned by Which!, a brand name used by the prominent UK non-profit Consumers’ Association. Which! is similar to Consumer Reports in the USA, comparing products and services in order to objectively inform consumers.
The 2019 airlines survey found British Airways finished only ahead of Ryanair and Vueling for shorthaul flights and only ahead of American Airlines for longhaul flights.
Passengers pummeled British Airways for charing for checked baggage, food, and drinks onboard. Many survey respondents indicated that British Airways simply was not worth the premium over its low-cost competition.
Not surprisingly, British Airways disagreed with the results:
“Our own data shows customer satisfaction scores have increased, and continue to increase, as we deliver our £6.5bn investment for customers on new aircraft, new food, new lounges and new technology.
“We offer our customers a choice of cabins on all our flights, lounges for business class customers, free food for all long-haul flights and business class for short haul, and we are delighted to be able to offer our customers the most extensive network by any UK airline.”
All true, but there does seem to be a disconnect from reality.
While I’m not a British Airways cheerleader, I have to admit–having flown longhaul flights in economy, premium economy, business, and first class–that the product is 1.) perfectly serviceable and 2.) improving.
> Read My British Airways Flight Reviews:
- Economy Class (World Traveler)
- Premium Economy Class (World Traveler Plus)
- Business Class (Club World)
- First Class
The onboard World Traveler Plus product exceeded United and Lufthansa while recent enhancements to first and business class make it an airline I look forward to flying, especially on the new A350-1000.
But even my economy class seat from Los Angeles to London onboard the A80 wasn’t bad.
Shorthaul flight, however, is another story. I agree with survey respondents that the tight legroom and lack of amenities on shorthaul flights really bring into question any value for a non-status flyer in choosing British Airways. That’s why I always upgrade to business class on shorthaul flights.
> Read More: My Last Flight In British Airways Economy Class…
CONCLUSION
I don’t don’t find British Airways bad for longhaul flights. In fact, I like it in all four cabins. But I certainly agree with the survey when it comes to shorthaul economy class. British Airways likely won’t reinstate its cutbacks, but this survey should be a reminder of how far it has fallen.
How do you rate British Airways?
All these capitalist economies don’t have black slaves or brown servants in their colonies so they need to squeeze their own population to serve the 1%. We are seeing the effects now. The more homogenized societies become heterogeneous the more they move away from egalitarianism towards hong kong style lassiez faire.
Bad service in short haul airlines is just a sad show in this bigger shift in the economy.
Ethno-homogenous societies have some of the most extreme forms of inequality there are in the world.
Increased or decreased ethnic heterogeneity or homogeneity, business is business, government is government, and the way the players play and players big and small play xenophobia is all out of the same playbooks again and again.
Nope. The USA had moved away from the 1950s when whites took care of whites. Similarly in the UK. And there is a similar talk in Scandinavian countries. People are tribal. Ethnicity is the easiest way to form the tribe but they can form it along other characteristics, religion or caste or profession. People need “us” vs “them” to function.
BA’s physical seats in Club Europe/business class on some of its short haul planes have been much more uncomfortable than any SAS economy class seat I’ve ever had on routes where BA and SAS are in direct competition on the city pairs.
Yes, BA is that bad. Add in the bad shopping mall and security screening experience that hits at LHR T5 when flying BA, and yes, BA is that bad in the main.
BA got what it deserves in terms of the votes. The other airlines got better votes than they deserve, but BA is that bloody awful sometimes even in the front cabin on short-haul flights.
Also, let’s keep in mind that most people’s experience of BA is as an economy class customer and much of that probably mostly or maybe even exclusively on BA. So they have more experience of BA than other airlines and probably paid as much or more to fly BA as when they’ve flown previously on other carriers that charged less and maybe even provided more than BA provides as part of the ticketed fare. So of course, BA got what it deserve in terms of votes on this front too. It’s just that less-commonly-experienced airlines wouldn’t have many passengers with so many negative and costly experiences as happened with BA given the voting pool.
@debit – Huh?
@ patrick kerr
debit is an angry, deluded, fantasist who doesn’t seem to be able to cope with the world as it is. He was banned from other travel blogs and hopefully Matthew will wise up and do the same here.
I’ve flown about 5 million miles on multiple airlines throughout the world. My experience with British Airways has always been sub par. Most recently on booked premium economy to Capetown from the US, BA refused to allow me to buy up to business. They were completely intransigent even though it would have increased the fare by $6000. When I arrived at the airport I was offered an upgrade for $700 to LHR. Business seats were uncomfortable and there was absolutely nothing premium about their premium economy. Staff was rude or worse and every single flight was delayed. Food choices were disgusting and onboard video was absurdly dated and limited. The worst part of the experience was the culture of rude, often nasty and completely unhelpful staff. I am not surprised by poor survey results. Personally I’ll do almost anything not to get on a BA flight again.
@Patrick- leave him alone. He ‘s off his meds again.
I don’t mind short haul Y, so long as it’s cheap. On the other hand I was horrified to have paid for Club Europe on an Italy-LHR ( either Rome or Venice, can’t remember) earlier this year: most perfunctory service EVER, followed by 90 minutes of listening to a very risqué conversation between 2 staff in the front galley, replete with chortles and guffaws ( there was no way to avoid hearing it). They simply didn’t come back after serving the meal, until the only other pax in the cabin used the call button to ask for a drink. Very, very poor show.
@rjb
Wish we used that line on most old white farts. The world would be a better place today.
@debit
“Wish we used that line…” Who exactly is “we”? LOL
Nobody takes you seriously because “we” all know that you’re a one trick pony who can’t cope with the real world.
I’ve have status with British Airways for ages (Gold/Silver) and I recall that at some point it was even my favourite airline to cross the pond. Over the years the service has deteriorated and flying mediocre service First class or dirty, cramped Club World didn’t really make any sense.
I totally agree that they have the right direction for many things; the new soft service isn’t too bad, and they are receiving new planes. There’s still plenty of issues to cover, and not sure what they can do about LHR..
I will probably book one more BA trip to keep the status for another year but I already booked our next summer vacation on Lufthansa instead.
BA takes a lot of heat, but perhaps I always just get lucky. I find their crews to be charming every time I fly. As a OWE Heathrow is a fairly pleasant place to be, and their champagne offering in the air and on the ground is always solid.
I agree with Matthew’s assessment in calling it “serviceable” on intl. routes. It has gotten much better, and with the new Club being rolled out (more routes added on the 787-10 to the U.S. in 2020) it continues to be one of the best options across the pond. While F is only worth a a cheap last minute upgrade (Lufthansa and Air France are far superior) I will venture to say that the new Club will put them leaps and bounds over Air France and Lufthansa for Business in the coming year or two. The food has also improved immensely.
Short haul Euro flights? I book in economy and only upgrade if a cheap last minute check-in option is available. I could care less on an hour or two fight. No worse than AA domestically and I still get Emerald benefits such as lounge access which is all I care about.
My own experiences on BA are quite different from others perhaps mind you I’m not too interested in flying up front. I’ll relate my experiences starting with my most my recent (feel free to gloss over):
BA from SFO-LHR A380 upper deck exit row- great service, excellent staff, lovely FA with over 30 years BA provided great conversation (advised against visiting Benidorm), felt as if she was allocated to my seat, although, noticed she provided this same level of excellent hospitality to her entire section, I received unlimited Cava (love), the entire flight my glass (bottle) never runneth less than 50%, this was code-shared from BA
BA from LHR-MAD A320 knew what I was getting into with economy and yet they had a concierge waiting for me at the gate due to delays at LHR causing a 10 minute time to get to my next flight, this was code-shared from BA
IB MAD-VLC CRJ-1000 first time on this small aircraft, thought it was good, great crew, quite young and friendly
LX A220 VLC-ZRH ok crew, tasty snack (quiche) , the chocolate at the end was a nice touch
LX A320 ZRH-CPH good crew, nothing memorable or to write home about
SK CPH-SFO A340-300 not likely to fly them again, the experience overall felt more like a basic economy (SAS Go-Light) ticket although I was SAS Plus
AA 777-200 BCN-PHL good flight, good crew, nothing bad to say, free Gin tonics and Vodka Cran, this was code-shared from BA
AA A321 PHL-SFO typical transcon flight, got me where I was I going, this was code-shared from BA
EI A330-300 SFO-DUB unfriendly crew, enjoyed the drinks and meal services, wouldn’t choose to fly them again, this was code-shared from BA
EI A320 DUB-LGW not a bad experience, prefer this to the BA short haul, this was code-shared from BA
BA A321 LGW-BCN not bad/great just meh
RV YYZ-BCN 767-400 was UA that code-shared to Rouge, no bueno
AC BCN-YUL I can’t recall which plane, had the old maple leaf, totally forgettable (obviously)
AC YUL-SFO see above statement
AC SFO-YYZ 767-300 just meh, had their old maple leaf design
LH MUC-SFO A340-600 great service/crew/experience, had a “more of everything” experience, would fly them again anytime
LH TLS-MUC A320 let the wine snacks and good times flow
LH FRA-TLS A319 let the wine snacks and good times flow
LH LHR-FRA A320 let the wine snacks and good times flow
UA SFO-LHR 777-300? good experience, good crew, good food & drinks
Upcoming flights:
DL SFO-DTW 737-900er
DL DTW-AMS A330-300
KL AMS-MAD 737-800
IB MAD-SVQ A320, SVQ-VLC CRJ-1000, VLC-MAD CRJ-1000
DL MAD-ATL 767-300, ATL-SFO 757 I like the 757!
Yes, I like airports.