How many of you have had bad service from British Airways???
I swear, I have had 4 incidents involving British Airways from not booking me on the right flight; changing me to another flight and then not recording it, so that on the return flight, my seat was cancelled because I was a "no show" on the first leg of the trip(their answer to that was for me to go on standby..NOT!!! Stood and MADE the ticketing agent get me a seat.); losing a piece of my luggage on a trip back from S. Africa and having $1000 USD worth of items stolen out of it (and not taking responsibility for that..it was obviously MY fault, even tho you couldn't take luggage on board at that time), having the audio/video go out for the entire trip back from here to London, and it was only 15 min into the flight (ok for that one, they gave me 2,000 flier miles but never contacted me. The system blew for the entire row of 8 seats in business and everyone was not very happy, to say the least!), and the latest...charging me twice for the same ticket AFTER I gave them direct instructions NOT to...OHHH and I forgot to add, this was ALL WITHIN A 6 MONTH PERIOD OF TIME!!!
Now all of this might seem a bit silly to some, but...if you go and check the website, they give you a number you can call for customer service BUT the catch is...you can't TALK to anyone, not even leave a message! All you can do is email in your complaint and wait for a response. Which, on these, with the exception of the items being stolen, no one EVER responsed, either by email or by phone.
I will never be flying BA again...I don't care if they have the cheapest flights to where I am going. Tired of luggage being lost, overcharged, and being treated like I don't exist when I have an issue with them. Auuughhhh...You'd think that since people who travel are their income, that they'd treat their customers with a little bit of respect.
I LOVE QatarAir!!!!!
Air Canada. The highest ranked airline in the list of worst airlines.
I'll tell you what happened with me
I was going to London by AirCanada and for some reasons the flight was delayed. It was supposed to leave at 12:30 and I go to the counter at 12:50 and ask the guy what is the departure time.
and he tells me it is 12:30 at 12:50
Talk about common sense
back in august of 2000 i flew from Casablanca, Morocco to Cairo, Egypt on royal air marc. and i kid you not.when we reached cruising amplitude they turned off the no smoking signs and the people puffed away. it was the worst flight ever.i am not a smoker and no one in my family smokes.not even my friends smoke. so my lungs was no way in shape to take so much second had smoke in.im surprise i didnt get lung cancer on that flight. and to top it off they lost one of my bags.never got it back either
great food, lots of , um, juice...and a great flight all around. Course could be cause I was on vacation allll by myself and on my way to Fiji for a week then Australia for 3 weeks! lol
You will be away a long time! I think you planned it this way so's to avoid a 'dry' 4 weeks after you recover from the op. and before returning here. excuses, excuses.
smarty pants!
I leave on the 24th for Aruba..YEEHAWWW...and get back on Oct 11. no, unfortunately my vacation ISN'T that long..I have to have rotator cuff surgery (cause I'm a klutz!) on the 1st of Aug and doc wants me to stay and rehab there so he can watch my progress. So I'll get to miss all this lovely warm weather here and enjoy it in Texas!!!
Ohh fiddledeedee.....
I've almost had what we in UK would call a 'stand up fight' with some of those BA hostesses! Not easy to conduct a growling match in a hushed tone even WITH engine noise helping to mask most of what I had to say when you aren't in the aisle seat!
QA were lovely when I flew with them from UK. And any of the Asian Airlines could ferry me anywhere - they are all staffed by such nice, courteous, helpful people. Well, so far I haven't had a problem! touch wood.
Scarlett, that happened a few years ago, maybe seven or eight, and as a non-smoker, and someone who had already been inconvenienced by the delay, I was seething.
I think they let the idiot stretcher cases smoke because they were doing everything they could to indulge them and make them comfortable following their accident.
I doubt it would happen today.
Ooh, be careful Richard, I'm flying out there on Sunday, from Manchester, so you're going to be outnumbered by Mancunians! ;)
I'll take the Asian airlines anyday....Singapore, Cathay, ANA..i've had good experiences with all. WIth BA, which I used to fly regularly, I've had delays, trouble with a defected fan that caused us to turn back after three hours of flying, rude flight attendants....I've not been impressed. They're still a step above most American airlines though. Northwest is terrible. Don't fly them if it can be helped. I once saw a little old lady struggling to put her bag up in the overhead compartment and when she asked the flight attendant for help, he said no. Can't imagine that happening in most Asian airlines, which are more service oriented. Don't even know which airlines fly to Doha yet, but that's my opinon.
I can't be bothered reading back 3 pages lol Also my language would deteriorate if I started on the subject.
But .... speaking of flying when is it you depart for Texas and with which airline.
hehe...Wow..was he really 107??? Can you imagine all the things he's seen invented?
is the American way! We don't waste time thinkin' when we can be doin' stuff. We don't get upset, we get even.
Charles Atlas? Sure. He was an American hero. He died in 1953 aged 107.
Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary. Mahatma Gandhi
mine is still in Texas..as is my brain...which is why I'm having such a good time here..don't think too much and never get upset!
Yup, we had those advertisements...I remember them too well...
Did you guys have that Jack LaLanne guy too? Dang, he's almost 100 and looks amazing...now he's making juicers though...
and I'll take up body building!
You probably didn't have those advertisements in USA did you?
Picture of a weedy guy having sand kicked in his face by a big bully?
The advert was for Charles Atlas Body Building courses.
jeez I've got to stop this muttering to myself.
Qatariiii! I need a delete button here!!!! I keep opening my keyboard before my motherboard is in gear.
cause about 2 pm, I couldn't even see the streetlight across the street! Clear as a bell now tho...want me to throw some sand your way, my dear?
as it goes...you guys are way too humorous...
I do it on purpose because I am teaching Oryx about grammar, pronounciation and vocabularly. She is from a village in north England called Manchester and she hasn't seen much of the world. For her, I am keeping everything real British.
Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary. Mahatma Gandhi
No sand storm here - I just brought a towel in off the line (been there since about 6.30 a.m.) and it was fine! no sand, no dust, fine!
gotcha !
no fair, my foot! nah nah nee nah nah
was going to say more about dear old drawling Lloyd, but I shan't cos I don't want to twist the knife - sowwee
(giggles)
i forgot to eat lunch again...guess I better go do that seeing as its 3...hey sand storm ended..yeah!!!
the other night, Richard...my goodness hon, but you write in such British form...
I know who Lloyd Grossman is. He is an obnoxious pseudo Brit. I do not talk like him, if anything, I have a slight southern inflection having spent so much time in Dixie.
That's like me saying you sound like Dame Edna. No fair.
Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary. Mahatma Gandhi
Did you ever understudy for Lloyd Grossman? Every time I read your posts I hear his voice speaking your prose :P
I would so love to live as you do, my dear! I hate mixing with the riff raff on commercial airlines but am destined to do so until I can rise above the crowds.
I do not use commercial carriers because I find that a lot of lower class people travel on them.
I use my own pilot Ralph (ex RAF) and my own plane that is usually located at Croydon International Airfield. It really is the only way to travel.
Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary. Mahatma Gandhi
hints from those that know what they are doing! I certainly don't! lol
Serendipity..never heard of a flight that is smoking...certainly not a nonsmoking to a smoking.......
It could be because it recognises your machine via a cookie.
Having identified you as having been on the site previously looking up that flight, it increases the price (thinking you are hooked).
Clear the cookies before you log on again.
More BA grumbles:
Flying back from Paris C de G to London Heathrow a rug that I'd bought in Tunisia, which they refused to let me take in the cabin, never turned up on the carousel.
Flying back from Madrid to London, the flight was very badly delayed as there was a stretcher case that they were waiting for. It turned out the injured passengers were a couple of idiot teenagers who'd been riding a scooter and had an accident. To make matters worse, the non-smoking flight was changed to smoking to further accommodate these idiots, so the air on the plane was foul.
the cost of the flight switched within 30 seconds...now tell me, HOW does it do that that quickly???
Ok...I fly a LOT in the states and have for many years..what I have found...AA is good IN the states...overseas..don't go there with them.
US AIR...don't go ANYWHERE with them, period. Flew to Germany with my family for a ski trip, got from Houston to Philidelphia and waited 6 hours, boarded then had to wait 2 HOURS on the plane while we waited for 5 more people to arrive due to bad weather. Made us all miss our connecting flights and we had to be rescheduled. They just wanted to fill the plane. On the return flight, same thing, only this time I had been up for over 36 hours, and then when we loaded, they made us all get off the plane and told us we were waiting for another 6 passengers who had "bad weather". As we all kinda gathered around the one guy who was the "official", he said..ohh this NEVER happens, its just a fluke" to which I loudly said Bullsh*t..happened on the flight over to Germany...He gave me a go to heck look and then got bombarded with tons of angry people. So..whoever has a flight with USAir..bless you hon...
Hm...continental...overseas flights are not bad but not up to European standards as the seats even in business don't recline as far as they should and the food's not as good, but they are usually on time and take care of things with a smile. Flight attendants are great. Also, your luggage usually arrives!
Delta..haven't flown much but interstate was alright the times I did.
Just a footnote....Right now American Airlines is having enormous trouble with keeping on time but it isn't their fault. The weather in Texas, where they are based, is horrendous. They are having flooding like you wouldn't believe. Trust me..that's NOT normal for Texas but they are having to deal with the airport being shut down. Can't do anything when its nature related. AA has always been good with finding your luggage should it decide to take a trip of its own.
So, hope this helps everyone...Me, I'm still ticked off at BA...and they are finding out just how annoying an angry Texan can be. :)
but with all airlines in general. What I don't understand is when we are paying out the wazoo for tickets, can't they upgrade or at least KEEP the airplanes in working order???? And as far as flight attendants are concerned..most are wonderful but there are the few that you just want to wring their necks as they smirk at you while you are being drenched with "condensation". I find it funny that the issue I had with the double charging of the tickets with BA and them not responding to ME, they were extremely quick to respond the my credit card company when I stopped payment on it and filed a dispute. Amazing...
Tried to book tickets with BA from Izmir to Aberdeen via Gatwick. The system wouldn't accept the cridit card details (I even rang HSBC in the UK to confirm the details). Apparently it's a common problem with BA.
Sent a long e-mail suggesting some changes but didn't even receive an acknowledgement.
Incidentally, the price increased from £100 to £122 overnight (and yes I had cleared the cookies). Reason given for the increase was the exchange rate variance between the € and the £....overnight?
the last time i traveled to bahrain on BA the a/c peed water all over me during take off and landing. there was clear stains of rust on the cover above me. on my complain to the crew member, he just smiled and said sir that's just condensation. like he cared...anywaz its still the cheapest flight to bahrain.
Yeah right Tobias you probably used to crawl around JFK waiting at the employees lot. lol BRUH just joking. Man I am so ready to see the Trey.
Act your age not your shoe size
Baggage Afterwards!
I just got back from Houston last week! Lived there 5 yrs
I agree continental is the best one in the US. I went to miami beach with that airline 2 weeks ago! And i use to date a flight attendant from that airline, but thats not the reaosn y i like them! lol
PM. I am from Houston so I am kind of partial. I think Continental is the best out of all the American carriers. The customer service is outstanding and resolving issues are very easy.
Act your age not your shoe size
I had a great experience with BA coming from Texas to London, the American side of BA was proffessional, fast, and they even gave me a free upgrade to buisness class, and all i did was politly ask them if i could since i never flown buisness before!
But once i got to london and transfered to gatwick it was down hill from there! i arrived to doha with just my laptop, and thats it. All 3 luggage pieces with all my new clothes was gone, missing. And the BA crew in doha airport provided me with a debit card that had 200QR on it and told me to go buy clothes and bathroom items till my luggage arrives! 200QR? WTF am i suppose to do with that? a pair of underwear and a toothbrush and that card is empty! so till this day i emailed them and they didnt do s**t!
i have flown american airlines from london to new york and back a couple of times. i thought american airlines sevice was pretty good.not as good as qatar airways.but american airlines is the only US carrier i like.
BA is crappy the seats are not good.and the seats look at bit worn out a dirty to me.
but if you ever want to fly domestically in the US don't take US airways.they are the worst airline ever. their international flights are not any better either. they damaged my luggage.the seats are made with some cheap material.the flight attendants dont know how to be nice and smile.and the food is unspeakable.and you have to pay $5 for a set of headphones and the entertainment is no even that great.and even the envoy class(first/business class) sucks.
that I took back to the States, I flew QatarAir to London to connect with the BA flight that lost the electrical on..The Qatar flight also lost the electical part of the video, entire business section...BUT when I wrote to them, they quickly wrote back to me, checked into the matter and then gave my sons and I each, a $100 voucher for our next flight with them. Will be using that for a trip in Dec!!! How lovely to be treated like a valued customer!
And, the flight crews are just SOO nice!!
I am beginning to wonder if I have something about me that electrical systems just don't like! lol
Ohh fiddledeedee.....
I just can't sleep in the coach seat, especially with a wounded left wing..plus hubby doesn't fit in those..he's way over 6 ft tall and can't fold up that small..lol
Ohh fiddledeedee.....
I think BA is brilliant. Flew with them in several occasions, never had any bad experience. However, QA, that´s another story, every time I´ve used them, something has gone wrong, what a bad bad service.
I guess is down to luck, then...