My BA Experience

My recent trip

I booked with BA as the flight was almost 1k cheaper than flying Emirates and now I know why. I travelled in January 2016.

First off I tried to book the offer of buy a Club ticket and be upgraded one way to First, this had to booked through a BA office. Absolutely impossible, the staff in the BA office in Bahrain had no clue what I was talking about even although I was reading it off the BA Website to them. I emailed BA and they apologized to me but that was it. So I had to book CW RT and forget the upgrade. How’s that for customer service.

Night time flight from Bahrain to Heathrow in CW only meal offered through the night, soup, or cheese and biscuits. I had travelled some distance before I got on the flight so expected something more.

Usual breakfast offering before arriving into Heathrow.

Heathrow staff obnoxious, rude and sarcastic felt like I was waiting in line for punishment. Still not too bad. Had hand luggage only as last time BA lost my bag for 3 days, although they did compensate me financially.

Now the return – again in CW, not busy. No welcome drink offered even although I was sitting in the first window seat. Had preordered my main meal which seemed to be ok but was then questioned “Did I want a starter – as you have already ordered a main course” as if how dare I order something else. I asked for 2nd glass of Rose champagne, was told one hour into the flight it has finished. Then I asked what other champagne was available…. answer “don’t know, as I don’t drink alcohol”. Is this really how cabin staff are trained to serve their customers. Miraculously another member of cabin staff appeared and asked what was wrong, they appeared with a bottle of the said Rose Champagne.

The “pantry” had almost nothing in it, although the 4 cabin staff were happily chatting and eating ice-cream never even asked if they could help. Really not good enough.

I will continue to use them if the price is right but there is no comparison to the service you get from Middle Eastern Airlines.
I emailed BA on my return to let them know of my experience, again they said they were sorry but not an AVIOS air mile was given to me, not that I asked. Next time I travel BA I will know not to expect too much.

“I’m not one for questioning the authenticity of reviews, and I feel everyone is welcome to their opinion, but I raise some eyebrows at vague descriptions from first time posters.

Fair point, so let’s assess the content:

“I booked with BA as the flight was almost 1k cheaper than flying Emirates and now I know why. I travelled in January 2016.” – likely to have been a deeply discounted ticket, as EK are usually competitive.

“First off I tried to book the offer of buy a Club ticket and be upgraded one way to First” – sounds like the pax is not familiar with BA’s upgrade offer, which is limited in scope

“Night time flight from Bahrain to Heathrow in CW only meal offered through the night, soup, or cheese and biscuits. I had travelled some distance before I got on the flight so expected something more. ” It’s a sleeper service, so the F&B is lite overnight, a pointer to the pax lacking familiarity with BA. Edited to add that there is no pre-dining facility in the lounge at BAH, unlike the US east coast airports (it is a contract lounge), so people not familiar with the flight service offered can be caught out and go hungry.

“Usual breakfast offering before arriving into Heathrow.” This is true for a sleeper service.

“Heathrow staff obnoxious, rude and sarcastic felt like I was waiting in line for punishment. Still not too bad. Had hand luggage only as last time BA lost my bag for 3 days, although they did compensate me financially.” – Plausible, for attitude (not just BA staff at Heathrow, the whole place can feel surly/aggressive) and bag loss – alos BA is usually good at compensating for missing luggage.

“Now the return…” I’ve been missed in a window seat (more than once) the question about the starter and the champagne incident doesn’t equate to anything I’ve ever experienced.

“The “pantry” had almost nothing in it, although the 4 cabin staff were happily chatting and eating ice-cream never even asked if they could help. ” Plausible.

On the balance of probability, I believe this poster probably doesn’t use BA regularly and expected something comparable to EK onboard.

The last para also makes sense to me (have lower expectations, buy on value), so on balance I’d say this is an honest post, not some form of web knocking by an agency or competitor.

That is a very fair assessment FDOS.

Most night flights from the Middle East on BA don’t offer a full meal service. Certainly out of Riyadh only a handful of people take the snacks if that.

That is so true FDOS, I’ve been to Paris a few times on Saudia which leaves Riyadh about the same time as the BA flight. Get up in the air and they whack the lights on to serve a meal for a good hour!

You might remember the lounge in Terminal 1 at Riyadh FDOS, we used to call it the sh*t lounge but in the last six months they have refurbished it and now have better catering

I agree the sleeper service isn’t great if you’re hungry when you board and the lounge doesn’t have a decent food offering. Have had many similar experiences ex Middle East.

I’m surprised by how the crew member handled the meal service. No passenger should be made to feel guilty for asking for a product they’re entitled to. Perhaps they mistakenly though you wanted a second main? Still, poorly handled. As for the champagne comment. I’ve never heard something like that from a BA staff member personally. But I’d have been onto the Purser immediately.

Finally, the Bahrain staff should have known about the promotion. It’s heavily marketed by BA globally and, even if it didn’t apply in their country, they should have been able to answer your enquiry. No excuse.