British Airways
reviews and complaints

Flights cancelled January 2022

Letter in March said vouchers would be cancelled and full refund would be sent in 6 week's

In in October no refund received

Many calls made to BA and BA executive club often not replied or told working on it.

I have all communication including one from MD Sean Doyle.

Can any one help

Ken Davies

Last case reference [protected]

Hi - I've tried for months now to get a response from BA regarding Avios / Tier Points missing for 4 flights on partner airlines as advertised on the BA website (Alaska, Jet Blue and Aer Lingus). I sent in paperwork in June - no response. I sent a complaint in July - generic email response almost 2 months ago. I can't for the life of me find any email address to which I can send a follow-up (as I have a case number). Does anybody have a working email address for BA? The email address listed on this website is not working as I just got a bounce back. I want an email to maintain an audit trail with these people. Thanks in advance!

Best regards,

Robert

On 23rd September I should have flown from Istanbul to Mexico City with British Airways. I arrived at check-in where I was told by a British Airways employee that I couldn't fly because I didn't have a British passport or a visa for Canada or America. I told them that I hadn't seen this rule, and was told that it isn't an official rule. I had an electronic visa for Mexico and an invitation letter from a friend in Mexico. I didn't expect that I also needed these visas.

The employee told me that I would get my money back 100%. I believed them as I was tired and shocked by the situation and also because they are an employee from such a respected airline. However on returning home in Istanbul I received information that I would not get my money back.

I searched online for information regarding the rules for transiting in London, but I couldn't find any rules which the employee stated.

I returned to Istanbul Airport the next day to speak with British Airways staff at the information desk. The staff said it was the first they had heard of such rules regarding needing an American or Canadian visa. They also said that if the airline refused boarding, they are required to issue an official refusal - I did not receive this.

I wouldn't like to think badly of such a respectable airline, but I'm very disappointed by this situation. I've lost my money for my tickets, and for travelling back and forth to the airport.

The employee who refused to check me in said that I could only fly direct with my Russian passport. I explained that I didn't have $2500 for a direct flight from Istanbul to Mexico City. The employee replied that I should "ask my friend in Mexico to sponsor me". It was a shock for me, I am an independent woman, and when I have heard such sexist remarks in Russia I tolerate them as it isn't a progressive country, but I was not expecting such comments from such a prominent and respected airline I thought that British Airlines wouldn't employ such sexisy ideas. Why should I feel like a poor woman without a sponsor? I work a lot and have only the money that I've earned. Is this a problem for British Airways?

I expect that this problem is because of my Russian passport. However I was not presented with any rule stipulating that I required a transit visa.

I left Russia at the outbreak of war as I vehemently oppose what is happening. In Russia I was a political activist and it will be very disappointing for me if the reason for me being refused boarding is because of my nationality.

I will seek legal advice. I will seek access to the airport's video and audio surveillance to prove I was on time for my flight, and that I was given such information about having my ticket refunded.

Firstly, I would like my money for my ticket refunded with an explanation as to why I was refused to board the flight. Secondly I would like compensation for having to travel to the airport twice.

Filed a Refund Case with BA due to my flight cancellation without any warning. I had to purchase another ticket in Heathrow with a different airline. I submitted all paperwork and information to BA on June 11. After about two standard emails from them in June mentioning they "are working on it", all communication stopped. Trying to get someone on the phone to help is like trying to connect with God! Nobody there or being pushed from one person to another until someone hangs up on me. The case information and initial contact email from BA is below:

Case reference number : [protected]

Dear Customer,

Thank you for telling us about your issue. We are now directing your case to the appropriate department and you should hear back from us shortly.

We are currently experiencing exceptionally high volumes and aim to get back to you as soon as possible. If you’ve been waiting a while, it is likely Customer Relations are busier than usual. Please don’t contact them to check the progress of your case or submit a new one online, as this may delay the time it takes to resolve your case.

If you are sending expense receipts or supporting documents by post as part of a claim, or need to contact us for any other reason, you'll find our office address and contact details here:

Don't forget to quote your case reference number which is at the top of this email.

We take pride in providing the very highest standards of customer service and are sorry that we fell short on this occasion. We hope we can make it up to you.

Yours Sincerely,

British Airways Customer Services

***************

I am beyond disappointed by their total lack of professionalism!

Issue one - My husband and I travelled from UK to Cayman Islands on December 16th 2021 (L8SYQ6) and due to the flight being delayed we received compensation of £1508.25. I used that amount to book a ticket for my husband from UK to Cayman on May 3rd 2022 to travel on 22nd July 2022 (MTSHQT). The cost of the flight was £1276.66. I was supposed to receive another voucher for the remaining balance of £231.59 but I never received it despite me chasing this since May 2022.

Issue two - When my husband and I travelled from UK to Cayman on 22nd July 2022 the flight was delayed and we had to overnight in Nassau, Bahamas. I claimed compensation for this as well for me and my husband on 26 August 2022. These flights were booked separately so his case reference is [protected] (for booking ref MTSHQT) and my case reference is [protected] (for booking ref 5223RB which was booked with 3rd party JustFly). My husband and I are still waiting for this compensation even though his parents who were on the same flight received theirs within a week.

On the 14th September I sent the email below to BA on their "manage my booking" site. I received an automated reply saying they were unable to help, but giving no details of how else I could contact them. There does not seem to be any customer contact centre whatsoever and it almost seems that the websites are designed to be as unhelpful and inflexible as possible.

booking email - [protected]@outlook.com

card 4 digits - 1001

Expiry - 06/25

8 Moat Farm, Tunbridge Wells, TN2 5XG

We have just tried to cancel this flight for medical reasons and have been offered only £51.84 as a refund, despite saying that we would be happy to receive a voucher in its place.

On 10th August 2022 I had to have a radical prostatectomy at Medway Maritime Hospital as I had just been diagnosed with prostate cancer. We hoped that we would still be able to go on our holiday, but yesterday realised this was simply not possible and tried to cancel the booking. After a very long wait we finally got through to a call centre, but quite frankly they seemed uninterested.

BA changed the original date of our flight by one day, which we had little choice to accept, despite losing the cost of one nights accomodation. Now when we want to change the arrangement for very genuine and unfortunate reasons BA are totally inflexible. We choose to fly with BA because my wife was a staff member for 14 years and we genuinely believe BA to be the best in the world. Sadly this no longer seems to be the case. I do hope that this isn't so and that you can help us by issuing us with a voucher that we can use once I have completed my convalescence

Thank you in anticipation of your help

Neal & Sharon Hunt

Hi

First of all a big Thank you from me and my wife to the ground staff at LHR for taking good care of us on rebooking our missed flight. On the 08 Sep 2022 we missed our flight BA 209 (AA 6960) due to delay of flight BA 118 (AA 6656) from Bangalore to LHR. There was an unfortunate delay on the tarmac to get a deboarding stand for around 45 minutes and by the time we reached the gate of Terminal 5 for our onward flight, the gates were closed. We were put up in Renaissance hotel with to and fro Shuttle bus service, dinner and breakfast included. We were booked on the Flight BA253 on 09Sept 2022 to Grand Cayman, our final destination, with a stop at Nassau. We had a Hotel Booking with Miami International Airport Hotel (Receipt No. #[protected] for USD 192.00 for two) for overnight stay which we lost as were booked directly to Grand Cayman. We informed the personnel who helped us with our onward booking about the hotel stay and were informed that we file for compensation of the same. Unfortunately now with the direct booking to GCM from LHR we had to pay for the VISA for GCM (CI$ 184.00 for Two passengers), which would have been avoided if we had travelled from Miami as we have a valid US visa that entitles us to visa on entry for one month without fee. We request you to kindly look into the issue and advise.

We were well looked after all through our journey by British Airways and appreciate the inflight services too. It was a pleasant journey and look forward to our return journey with BA.

Thank you

Booking Reference: OMQDB9

Dear MR LANE

We're very sorry to let you know that the following flights on your booking have been cancelled. We apologise for the inconvenience this has caused.

You have been rebooked onto the best alternative flights below:

(Did not take alternate flight or access the BA website after receiving this email)

I booked a package holiday to Mauritius for 3. The hotel had a fire so I was texted from BA to either cancel or take the other hotel offered. I clicked cancel. I didn't get any confirmation about the refund so I called them several times but the number kept saying they were busy helping others. I tried chatbox and was kept holding there too. I eventually managed to get hold of customer services and spoke to Danny who said I needed to take his word that the hotel has been changed even though my account still showed the old hotel and that as everything was already confirmed I couldn't get a refund. I asked to speak to a manager and he said no, as there is no refund available and that I wasn't understanding what he was saying. This experience has left me confused and none the wiser about the other hotel that I am supposed to be going to as I still have nothing in writing from British Airways to say so. The holiday was booked in April 23 so why I can't just get a deposit refund?

My GPS is telling me that my Microsoft laptop and Microsoft bag that was mistakenly left on BA0599 on 15/7/2022 is still in the possession of BA. I have credit cards with my name on them in the bag and NOBODY will get back to me after I've filed claims and called multiple times.

If anyone from BA reads this message, please refer to Case reference # [protected].

PLEASE HELP!

On the 26th May I received this reply to my request for an e voucher refund.

Dear Mr Cook

An update from British Airways.

Thank you for coming back to us about your refund.

I’ve contacted our Refunds team and asked them to look into this for you. They'll investigate your case further and get in touch with you soon.

Thank you for getting in touch with us.

Best regards

Kranti Shirgaonkar

British Airways Customer Relations

Your case reference is:[protected]

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I repeatedly chased by email and sent this on 25/07/2022 10:56 because they said it had been repaid.

Dear Sirs

This situation is intolerable why is it so difficult to get a response from you regarding a voucher refund that has clearly gone wrong your end because we don’t and never has a credit card ending 8646.

Pleas can somebody contact me on [protected]

Kind regards

Chris Cook

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My last email was dated 11/08/2022 10:49 which still remains unanswered

Dear Sirs

I am currently the holder of an e voucher reference 125-[protected] for £1230.88.

I have accepted the voucher as a suitable alternative in absence of a straight refund and you have held the money in your account for 2 years.

My booking was for a family wedding in USA, which has happened and I have no intention to go back there, or have an over Atlantic flight.

I do not travel enough to be able to offset my voucher, apart from few small trips to Europe where budget airlines are more suitable and flexible due to airport flexibility.

I therefore decided to use my voucher on a family holiday, as the only via option and found something suitable.

I have been shocked when I realised that my voucher can only be offset on flights and not on holidays.

I find it very unfair, that the money we paid 2 years ago, not only has been devalued due to inflated current prices, but also has been converted to something not redeemable with conditions attached, and contrary to consumer Act.

Furthermore, I find it rather disappointing as BA is the only company that went down that path, understandably at the time of covid to be funded by the customer but it is time now that BA does the right thing and allows us to redeem the voucher as money rather than a conditional token.

Finally I stretch the point that having been made redundant, I need the money back in a form of a refund, unless you allow me at least to offset it against a small holiday with my children, rather than losing the money. I will off course follow this up through the small claims court and I will be sending letters to newspaper, displaying the injustice carried out by a so called reputable company.

I look forward to hearing from you asap

Yours faithfully

G Konstantinidis

6 Hillstone Court

Stanwick

NN9 6RT

[protected]

• Incident 1: I was on the flight (BA0092) from Toronto (YYZ) to London (LHR). The flight supposes to depart by 18:35 on 12th July 2022 but it’s got delayed almost 4 hrs and departure by around 22:00 on 12th July 2022 and landed at London (LHR) around 10:30 on 13th July 2022. Due to this delay, I missed my connecting flight (BA0139) from London (LHR) to Mumbai (BOM) which was at 10:15 on 13th July 2022.

• Incident 2: As I missed the connecting flight due to a delay. So, I was given 2 new boarding passes after standing in a long queue at Heathrow airport. I got the information from the airport authority officer that my new boarding passes have been issued. The first one was from London (LHR) to Bengaluru (BLR) on flight number (BA0119) and the second one was from Bengaluru (BLR) to Mumbai (BOM) on flight number (UK0858). Now, the first flight (BA0119) was delayed, and it landed around 06:50 on 14th July 2022 at Bengaluru airport. So, Due to that, I missed my second connecting flight (UK0858) whose departure time was 06:40 on 14th July 2022. So, I was unable to catch the flight due to my first flight got delayed.

• Incident 3: At the Bengaluru airport when the flight (BA0119) landed on 14th July around 06:50, there were no any British airways authorized persons present at the airport to help with inquiries. There were many British Airways passengers who were present and looking for help with their missing luggage and other inquiries. The local airport international passengers help desk officers were not helping us at all. They are simply saying that the British airways officers will come shortly to the desk. I waited almost 2-3 hours after the flight landed but no British airways authorized person present at the desk. Which is very disappointing. It’s not expected at all from such a big well-known British airline. There should be someone present to take care of once the flight landed at the airport to help passengers with their different inquiries!

• Incident 4: As The flight (BA0119) got delayed I missed my connecting flight (UK0858). I didn’t get any help at the airport as there was no any British airways authorized person available and the local staff refused to help with rebooking. I had no choice and I had to book another flight privately which was ‘Vistara airlines’ (UK0544) by myself which cost Me 9000 INR Rupees and as I had 2 travelling big bags with (both 23 kg) and as they only allow 7 kg. I have to pay them extra for all my luggage which cost me around 15500 INR rupees. I had no Indian rupees, so I had to do currency exchange (receipts attached) and I got the lowest rate so, I am calming that as well.

I HAVE ATTACHED ALL PROOFS WITH THIS, KINDLY SEE BELOW THE BOARDING PASSES AND RECEIPTS FOR EXPENSES WHICH I SENT DUE TO BRITISH AIRWAYS FLIGHT DELAYS. I AM HOPING FROM YOU TO GIVE ME JUSTICE, PROPER EXPLANATION AND COMPENSATE OF ALL EXPENSES WHICH I MADE.

For the last 6 weeks my Business Corporate Card is denied when making reservations on the BA website. I contacted the credit card issuing bank, who has confirmed there are no restrictions, this has to be a BA website problem. Having spent 2 hours tryting to raise this issue with BA, I have failed miserably., the advise is to use a different credit card, i.e my private card or book through a different website. Apparently BA has no suport for technical issues. This is truly appalling.

re:lost luggage: File number BHDBA40378 Last name Smith. Bag AA218350

My luggage failed to get on my BA flight out of Atlanta, Georgia, USA for several days. I have an AirTag in my bag. I filed a missing luggage report on 6/29/2022 when my bag failed to arrive in Belfast Ireland.

As I moved around Northern Ireland I dutifully changed my hotel addresses. I finally received notice my bag was on its way. Days in Atlanta followed by more in London. Finally! Well instead of delivering to my hotel in Northern Ireland it was sent to Northern England! My trip ended and I again dutifully using your APP gave my home address in the USA.

Just as I was loading my flight home I get a call someone had my bag! She indicated she didn’t have my address. I told her it was definitely there at which time she read it back to me. Assured me it was coming.

I know my bag is still in Newcastle England in baggage claim. I have called Newcastle Airport daily and after getting transferred to luggage my calls are always disconnected.

I need someone to help!

My phone is +[protected] Cathy Smith.

My entire trip was affected by this situation. I had to spend hundreds of dollars on necessity items and spent too much of my valuable vacation time on this unnecessary situation.

I am trying hard to contact British Airways about a partial change of flight that has been cancelled by Latam. It affects a connecting flight (Latam) from Rio de Janeiro to Sao Paulo on my way back to London. The substitute flight offered requires me to leave Rio at 0450 on LA3987 (instead of on LA3323 at 12.15) on August 12, giving me an added 7-8 hours waiting time in Sao Paulo. The online connection offered to me does not work. When I try to book a later flight on the same day, I receive the following nonsensical message: "Your selected dates are either before today's date or are out of sequence."

I have tried to telephone BA on a number of occasions but calls are not currently being taken. I do not want to wait too long for this connecting flight to be rescheduled since the chances of an available seat will diminish from day to day.

My flight number is JXKH5I and I can be reached at +[protected]. E-mail: either [protected]@gmail.co OR m.g.[protected]@lse.ac.uk

Please respond as soon as possible.

Professor Michael Bridge

My partner and I recently traveled via British Airways from the US, our final destination being Ireland. We were and hour late taking off because of a customers bag they needed to unboard. We arrived in Gatwick with just enough time to make our connecting flight but sat on the tarmac for another hour which was not given an explanation. After running through security and the airport we were told that we had missed our flight.

We went back to the check in desk (another hour of waiting) and the man there told us that he had no authorization to rebook us on another flight. He resorted to calling an 800 number around 20 times as they kept hanging up on him. When he finally got through British Airlines would not help us get on a flight to Cork, where we were trying to go, and if we booked ourselves and ate the cost they said they would cancel our return flight.

We ended up having to get a ridiculous priced taxi to Heathrow to catch a flight to Dublin. All of this made us late for wedding festivities that we were in the bridal party for. Extremely disappointed with the level of care or even just understanding that this airline lacks when dealing with customers who were not at fault. At the very least the airline could have paid for our transportation to another airport to get on a flight that they told us we had to be on or else they would cancel our return flight.

I just recently flew on the BA flight 2166 from Tampa to London Gatwick. I paid for the Premium Economy seat and was extremely disappointed with the overall experience!

The plane was changed at the last minute to one of the last two older fleets left. The seats were not as nice as I had flown on previous Premium Economy flights. There was no WIFI, the screen was way to small to enjoy any kind of entertainment, the touch screen was non responsive most of the time.

The seat panel near my foot at the base of the seat in front of me kept falling off. I did not complain to the flight attendant because they were too busy counting the passengers, looking for a particular passenger half way across the Atlantic! (Where could he have gone and surely the boarding pass was cross referenced upon boarding!) Also the seat belt of the passenger next to me did not even lock!

Overall the seat was uncomfortable. The food was not good at all and we were were not offered additional beverage. I have always know BA to care about the well being of the passengers and keep them hydrated throughout the flight and periodically offer water. BAD EXPERIENCE. I hope I will receive some compensation for this terrible quality of travel. I am flying back to USA and hope I don't get this rubbish flight again!

I tried to upgrade but the BA app wouldn't allow me.

I am travelling from Glasgow to visit my Daughter in Brisbane at 07.00 tomorrow 22nd June. I am elderly (76 yrs) and journeying alone and as my funds are limited, I asked my Son in Mexico to find the best deal for me. He did the booking through British Airways Ref: ORGCIK, and I was delighted to learn that the flying would be with BA and Qatar as I have heard good reports on both airlines.

I have tried many times to check-in but each time you tell me that it is not possible online as the trip includes another airline. This means that I cannot choose a seat or reserve a meal and presumably I will have to check-in with you at Heathrow and Doha. My luggage includes 2 x 23g cases plus on 7kg cabin case and you are charging me 400GBP for the second large case.

Please can you confirm that I will not have to handle these cases between flights? You have been most unhelpful also as I cannot check-in online there either and they offer no advice regarding any part of the trip beyond Heathrow. I tried to book the extra bag with Qatar Airways but having advised 575USD, they then said that they could not help me as it was a BA booking reference.

I am no longer looking forward to the next two days of uncertainty and I am so disappointed that two major airlines have little regard for those in my age bracket.

Yours sincerly

Douglas A.R. Cardow

My wife and I were in Europe all of May and both flew British Air a couple of times. Now at home in the States I have found on our charge card account a payment to BA on May 8 for $561.36. The only identifying information for this charge is "AIR TICKET BRITISH AIR [protected] TX."

Because of a medical emergency we had to cancel a BA flight from LHR to Venice scheduled for May 7 (booking ref. M4DYHW) and we rescheduled that flight for May 8 (same ref. code). There was no charge for rebooking other than a few fees for one thing or another totaling 100.72 pounds.

And there were no additional bookings and certainly no services or fees amounting to $561.36. So, as far as I can tell, you owe me that amount, which was a bogus charge.

Name: Steven Nash AA#2805246 [protected]@gmail.com [protected]

Please see to this repayment as soon as possible. Thank you