British Airways Reviews

In the meantime, we booked flights for 4 passenger to Alicante from Heathrow departing in September and paid on my AMEX. Shortly after booking the flight, we discovered that one of our party was pregnant and by the date of the flight BA would not permit her to travel, they initially refused to refund the money. On 17th June, I contacted BA Customer Relations to try and sort out my mother's return flight from Seattle. The agent agreed to change the date of the flight for only 100 but he would need to speak to my Mother to take the payment. I contacted my Mother through FaceTime and she gave the agent her card details and he advised her that he would take the payment. I thanked him and said that he was a great help and if only he could have sorted out the refund of the trip to Alicante, he advised me that they would refund the entire amount, which he proceeded to do and informed me that he would put the refund on to my AMEX.

At the end of the month, I received my statement from AMEX. He had put the refund through but had also taken the charge of 100 for my mother's flight off my card. I immediately contacted BA who advised me that it is not possible to take a payment without my CV2 (signature strip). I pointed out to them that their systems must be malfunctioning as I did not give out my CV2 which is not on the signature strip on an AMEX but my card details have been stored on BA Systems without my knowledge or consent. BA's official response is "We have not taken the payment, you have no claim." I have emailed them a copy of my AMEX Statement, and am waiting to hear.

We reported the entire problem on your local number, they said to raise a claim at Lost Baggage Claim. We raised the claim with case ID **. Till date we have received one email asking us to send the bills. But nothing about the lost bag and damaged bag. After repeated reminders to Canada call center, I was told ultimately to contact British Airways in London on British Airways telephone Number +44-8444930787. I contacted this number from Calgary for three days but they could not contact the Customer Relations due to long waiting and ultimately the line had to be disconnected as the Customer Care department was closed at 5pm UK time.

Then I was given a direct number of customer care in London +44-3444729665. I contacted this number today from Calgary at 5am Calgary time and after waiting in queue for full 59 minutes my call was responded. The answer I got that "you have not submitted the bills till date against your lost baggage".

Does British Airways expect that all the travelers in Business Class should carry Bills for all the belongings (old or new) in their bags? They are required to go from pillar to post and spend the entire money on international calls just hold the call for hearing music. I am sorry to say it is my worst experience. I have traveled in Emirates Airlines and Singapore Airlines in the past and I have all the good memories of their treatment. But with British Airways I have experience my worst experience which I can call nightmare.

After planning they kept the plane doors shut maybe 15 minutes. I don't know why. The trip turned out to be an endless series of corridors, lining, bus trips, lining, running, lining, security checks, taking a train. We really tried our best, never stopped anywhere, never got lost but missed the gate about 20 minutes. They wrote us new tickets (to American Airlines flight) but we had to pay for these over 1000 pounds, because we couldn't explain why we were late - but that's what we would have liked to know also. No other choice was given. The officer decided the blame was ours. He refused even to believe we were held in the plane - there was no markings in his screen. "Make a complaint," said the angry man.

I believe they sold us bogus tickets at the first place: The 95 minutes which I was talk about earlier was mentioned on the ticket sellers website but that means the time between landing and the time of the start of the next flight. But you have to be at the gate 20 minutes before the plane leaves. So the given time from plane to the gate was only 75 minutes minus the extra 15 minutes waiting on the plane = they gave us only 60 minutes to run the 90 minutes route. Have anyone done that yet - with waiting, standing on a plane and waiting in a terminal bus when an invalid lady is helped out of the plane and to the bus (slowly....), and waiting on 'the fast' track as ordered at the security check even though it's totally blocked?

Of course we complained but in vain. First response was: "You must understand the plane cannot wait for you" (of course, that was not the point) and "Please come back soon." Of course I was not happy with these answers and wrote back and asked for example about why we were kept on the plane (My travel insurance company would have paid the loss if there was even a mechanical reason to kept the terminal bus to arrive earlier, if that was even the case, but we were never given an answer).

This time we were told to phone to a number. I did. I could speak my mother language, Finnish. We were told there to write a letter and "Put all papers and receipts to an envelope, this will sure clear out." After six weeks, I phoned back and asked, "What's happening? Why no response?" "You have been answered already" was the only answer. That was odd, because the latest answer must had been the email which I got even BEFORE I was asked to write my story and sent the receipts.

After that I got help with the ECC (European Consumer Center) which tried to get my case again to negotiate with BA to get any compensation. ECC sees this as BA had 'not obey The Montreal Convention 1999'. BA answered only: "We have done nothing wrong." This spring I sent another email again to BA, but this time I didn't use my normal case reference number - to which they no longer answer at all - and ask some chief or boss to write to. One of them, I guess by mistake, gave her permission to write. So I did, I sent a letter and 3 emails... but guess what? I'm on a black list and never got another answer.

And my basic question would have been: what we did wrong? (Our interest was not to be late on the gate, so we tried our best to get there in time. We never lost or stopped needlessly.) But that is a nasty question. If they would say, "Well, nothing," then I was to ask the extra money back - because if we didn't do anything wrong, why must we paid extra to continue the already paid trip. And if they would confess and said it was their fault, we would get the money back also. So the silence is the only way. I know that, they know that.

So I said, I will not go to the courthouse because of this, and if the money is your biggest concern, keep the money. I am full of bitterness but I'd like to give it away and leave it behind. Could you ask for forgiveness? I would forgive gladly and could go on living to know I was right. No one has to know, if you are ashamed to do that. Just between me and BA. Did they? The silence goes on... The big companies don't ask for forgiveness from private persons, but I was inspired to try to give it a change.

After the trip - searching any information there was on the net related to our case I found out on Heathrow's own site: "If you travel from Terminal 3 to Terminal 5, reserve 90 minutes time minimum." So I wonder how legal is it to sell tickets that has '95 minutes' to make a change since you only have 75 minutes in this case to be at the gate? What about the responsibility of BA if everything is not going smoothly on the run? Sounds semi-criminal to me. Does BA make big extra money by doing this?? And who could get BA to answer to these questions? Sorry my clumsy English. Thanks for reading this through.

The seating is organised such that the person in each window seat is sitting backwards with the next (isle) seat facing forwards. Similarly the two centre seats are backwards facing with the centre isle seats facing forward. The heads (or faces) of the two adjacent passengers are slightly offset so that you are staring at your neighbour from a distance of about 12cm. This is compensated for by being able to raise a screen after take-off but results in the two centre seats becoming akin to a flying coffin, almost impossible for any stray flight attendant to see. There is no such screen between the two centre seats so you will need to be fairly friendly with your traveling companion. Unfortunately, for those who don't mind some 'friendliness', there is a non-retractable arm rest between the seats which also restricts the width potential in the lay-flat position.

Another result of this greedy configuration is that BA has probably achieved the narrowest Business Class seats in the sky. The seats do lay flat (after a bit of persuasion) but must be exactly 6 foot long as I had to lie with my head hard up against the headboard and my feet were held flat against the tailboard. With no room to lie on my side with legs drawn up due to the restricted width of the seat, this led to an uncomfortable and largely sleepless night.

Another problem with the seats in lay-flat position is that there is absolutely no storage space, so if you are looking for somewhere to put your book, water bottle, glasses, etc. too bad. My wife placed her expensive glasses next to her head but lost them down the back of the seat from where no amount of bruised arms could retrieve them. BA staff were in their best "not my job" mode and promises to have the engineers to help once we landed came to nothing. I dream about the frequent flyer points these glasses must be accumulating in their constant travels around the globe.

The feet end of the bed is achieved by raising a sort of footstool which was broken on my wife's side and collapsed on my side when I put weight on it in an attempt to exit the seat. Incidentally, exiting your seat in the middle of the night is a real adventure with the cabin lighting down. You must work your way down to the foot of the bed (placing pressure on the aforementioned footstool), find enough space to place your foot on the floor, squeeze through the narrow gap between your seat and the isle seat and then carefully stretch over the inert body of your neighbour - a task I would have thought all but impossible for any but the fit and agile.

The cabin was kept very cold during the night which would have been acceptable had BA provided a halfway decent blanket. I requested a second blanket but none was available. A request for a bottle of water during the night was also treated with blank stares but ultimately one was located. One almost felt an apology was in order for disturbing the cabin stewards tucked away in their cubby hole. The pull out TV has to be the smallest in class although watching anything was a futile exercise as the feedback through the headphones at my seat made listening impossible.

After an hour or so of serving a 'champagne breakfast', the lights were turned off and the cabin stewards disappeared until about one hour before landing at which point breakfast was hastily thrust upon us and retrieved with great urgency in an attempt to prepare for landing. In summary, BA's offering of Business Class on the A380 is a disgrace and not to be repeated.

He promised the luggage would be coming by the next flight that morning, past midnight. Did not happen. Every day calls were made to a number given by this man. He did not want to give his manager's name... official/ work number, his nor BA's official address at Chennai. He was very willing to give a call center number. I declined that number. Said within my legal rights and missing baggage being directly BA's fault, I wanted to deal with BA service personnel at Chennai. This documentation, communication with two extremely tired, frustrated, crying minor children took over two hours.

The next 5 days was a living nightmare. BA at Chennai never picked up calls or after putting us on hold for an hour, a different person a day with a different person not coordinating with previous calls. When asked isn't the complaint/ written, calls recorded, and imputed into their system so with the code originally given by the first person on landing at Chennai had given in the official missing luggage report. Descriptions, brand, colors, sizes were all provided with content, also baggage numbers/ originally issued at originating JFK. Our final destination was not Chennai, more inconvenience to stay at Chennai awaiting 9 pieces of luggage.

My child's landmark birthday was approaching. The children woke up with anxiety, panic and tears every day for their luggage. BA without giving correct information, different status of 9 bags a day from that of arrival, then inconsistent and untrue statements by new BA Chennai customer staff a day. One of children fell sick. My condition deteriorated, the other child mentally traumatized. When we finally the 5/6 day call came from BA. The 9 pieces were in Chennai, we informed them we had a flight in 5 hours, to get the luggage as BA consistently promised delivery would be made with a BA personnel who would accompany it, through their transporter (whose number, manager's they refused to give). Finally the luggage arrived, 30 minutes for us to leave for the next flight. No BA personnel accompanied the luggage, no apology letter, call. This happened after a call was made and put on hold for 90 minutes.

Adding insult to injury and illegal, the delivery men wanted my minor child to sign. BA was called. They too wished to speak with the minor child. As the adult, I refused on legal grounds, that they could not have the conversation with me, not minor children. No compensation yet, no apology, no reimbursement for necessities that had to be procured at Chennai.

The next flight (BA 0824) left at 5:25 PM, but that gate did not close for 20 minutes before flight time. So it appears that we have Americans or overseas tourist purchase tickets and then bump them in an overbook and they are then forced to purchase tickets at three times the cost in order to arrive at their destination. We contacted our booking agent right away and British Airways stated we were a no show yet they stopped the printing of our receipts. Booking agent and reference ** and we were not offered any phone number for complaints. It appears that EU has air passenger rights statement with a phone number. Unfortunately, we discovered that leaving Dublin. We will have justice and will not stop until we do. We are going to be reimbursed if this takes 10 years.

She instructed me to drive to SFO when I told her that I live in Sacramento. She had indicated that SMF would not be able to collect payments and I had 2-3 business days to make it to SFO to make the changes. This is a 4 hour drive round trip. It's 2014, we live in a civilized society, why would I need to physically appear to make changes as if my physically appearance would determine that I am not a reflection of "Algerian high risk". I asked to be transferred to a supervisor, and she hung up on me. I went ahead and made a second attempt in contacting customer service. The second representative indicated they will make an expectation this one time and change it over the phone.

Obviously something is not right and I am willing to take this to the next step. I am absolutely shocked by the vocabulary usage and the overall customer service etiquette. To classify a country "High Risk" is one thing but to order a customer to physically drive to an airport to make changes is not right. If that's the case, BA needs to stop selling tickets to High Risk countries via phone and email, and should start screening their customers physically to determine if they are adequate to travel. I would like someone to contact me as soon as possible. Thank you.

My question with all due respect to the immigration laws of UK is that if its mandatory for certain visa and statuses to obtain a transit visa, why is this not enforced by the site when I am buying the ticket? If it's the responsibility of the airlines, then BA should only sell the tickets through their website where buying a transit visa is enforced as a mandatory requirement? They couldn't care less about the customer who travels all the way to the airport to find out that he cannot board the flight. I was supposed to be in a wedding (luckily not mine), and now I came to find out that I am not traveling for some time. All I want now is my money back (roughly $2000) so that I can book my flight through other middle eastern carriers who are little caring and considerate. When I wanted rate my experience, I wanted to give it a negative five if it was there in this website. I am NOT flying British Airways after this, even if my life depends on it.

Calling customer service that night was even more frustrating. We were diverted to a call center in India where the agent could not even get my name after several explanations let alone assist us with any alternative plans. Whatever happened to customer service? Helping us find a solution on how to get back? All we were told was how it was our fault and BA cannot be held accountable for cancelling our flights and of COURSE selling them to someone else all under the excuse that we missed a flight a week earlier.... What happened to our money? We paid for those seats and all the government taxes that were never validated cause we were not on that flight??

Two weeks on after buying a full tickets with my wife from another airline to get back, we are still trying to find out what happened from BA, absolutely useless call center and appalling customer service! We were ripped off and there has been no explanation. The cost of rebooking other flights and connections within the US was astronomical, let alone time missed at work.

This is unfair and unethical business practice that essentially forces us to repurchase tickets already in our possession, when it's a simple matter of not boarding certain flights for valid reasons. It is unethical in that a family concerned for the safety of the kids is unjustifiably penalized while the seats on that flight can be resold given the 5-week notice we were trying to give as a courtesy. We contacted the airline every day over the last week and we get the same answer. The options we are offered are essentially these: pay or put your kids in harm's way!

Just before arriving into London, she got up and went to Galley deck where she went to lodge a complaint to the stewardess against my son. On arrival in London, the Police boarded the plane and to my son's utter surprise and removed my son and informed him he was being arrested for Indecent Exposure following a complaint by a fellow passenger. At the police station he was interviewed and it was established that the allegation was totally unfounded.

Does BA not owe my son a duty of care to have investigated the allegation before simply handing him over to the Police more so as he is a Juvenile. The staff did not even bother to ascertain whether there any witnesses to the incident, which in fact there were none. Indeed, he did not threaten the safety of the aircraft or his fellow passengers at anytime!

As matters stand, my son stands severely traumatized by the incident. I intend on taking BA to court so that the rights of passengers can be determined as well as to understand the extent of the duty of care the airline owes the Passenger. I do not believe that BA would have simply handed the young man over to the Police if he was a white Anglo-Saxon. I intend to warn parents not to send their children on BA unaccompanied as they have no protection whatsoever.

We searched the BA site for a customer service address that we could write to to explain our problem that we could not print off booking documentation. There were many people that had posted that it was impossible to get any point of contact with BA other than these premium numbers, but one stated to write via a recorded letter to a customer relations department that dealt with after flight complaints. We sent a letter detailing our problem and asked politely if they could either send our recorded mail to someone within BA to resolve our issue. After three emails no help was forthcoming, unable to either supply us with another address or email contact to try to resolve the issue other than of course the Premium phone contact.

I find it so frustrating these people employed in customer relations are so totally unhelpful they do not deserve a job. This is our first time with BA having flown with Virgin on five previous holidays. I have to say BA have a lot to learn from the Virgin staff who we have always found so helpful. Needless to say from our experience with BA, this was the first and certainly will be our last booking with them. Welcome back Virgin.

BA has a ridiculous policy that it won't pay for lost jewelry, which was extended to a jewelry making kit for my 8-year-old niece. Also, I didn't know I should exaggerate the cost of my lost items, so I only got reimbursed for half the value and of course nothing for the inconvenience this incident caused. I'm appalled that an Executive Club member could get such bad customer service. I'm not at the highest level in the club, but I've flown with BA over six times in the last year. My dad, who is on my family account, just bought 15 BA tickets with his BA/Chase credit card. Loyalty is definitely not rewarded, at least not for anyone flying in economy. I flew with BA two months later to Lisbon with a 6 hour layover at Heathrow and hoped to use that time to make some complaints. Not one representative I talked to could give me any information about who is the BA VP for customer service or customer relations. Nobody takes responsibility!

Why should I be chided for not having my items insured? Doesn't BA have its own insurance to cover the cost of lost or stolen bags? Don't I pay money towards the cost of lost bags every time I buy a ticket in case this happens? The one time it's my turn to collect I can't get my basic expenses covered. Most importantly, in our modern age it is absurd for any company to take up to two weeks or longer to respond to a customer inquiry regarding a claim. At this point I'm just getting ignored. I suggested that even though I don't have receipts for every item that was stolen I could at least show my BA credit card statement to document the purchase of most items on my credit card. We'll see what response I get. I have to fly to Madrid again next month, and even though the BA flight is the most convenient, I would rather fly with another airline just because I don't want to give them my business.

1. Woman sitting next to me apparently lost her passport while siting at her seat. Saying nothing to me, she put some leftover of her breakfast on my table and started looking on and under her seat. I did not intervene, even if it fixed me at my seat. Yet, under the circumstances her upset has been understandable.

2. When she could not find the passport, she apparently went to crew and asked for help. So then one member of cabin crew came to me and while saying nothing to me (!! ) she started crawling under the seat and under my feet. At that time, I still did not know what is going on. I continued watching movie with my headphones on. But of course, I was not happy about such intervening to my paid space without any explanation. And it was all happening after about 6 hours of flight not to count my previous connecting flight and long wait at Heathrow.

3. Next that cabin crew member gesticulated something to me and it looked she was asking for me to move away or what. I asked her to remove leftover of my breakfast and the woman sitting next - I have still my headphones on and I might have talk too loudly as I it is difficult for me to adjust my loudness with the headphones.

4. The cabin crew start to talk loudly right away saying I am shouting at her: And she said that she is going to kick me out of the plane for being rude - I was real shocked with such a turn. And this crew member finally told me they are looking for the passport. So I asked again her to remove the garbage so I can get up. When she did it I got up, cleared my seat and my friend sitting next to me started looking for the passport and it was him who found it sunken in some slot in the seat leg. Nobody even thanked us for our help. The cabin crew involved went to the cabin phone and filed a complaint to her boss for my bad behavior (!?? ) while I told her I was going to complain about her behaviour. About three other crew member joined in all happily supporting their fellow crew member. Nobody ever asked how I saw the situation - they all just kept intimidating me.

5. Anyway ,I went back to my seat and resumed watching movie. Yet soon another crew member show up and asked me in a strict manner to follow him. So I went to kitchen in the back. He again did not asked what happened but just started to lecture me about me being rude. I had to asked him assertively to listen to what I had to say. When I told him me version of the situation he said it might have been misunderstanding and said to me he was not going to report me ...somewhere. He said they had strict policy to their passengers after 9/11. Yet, he had never apologized for his crew behaviour.

Summary: BA crew seem not know that they are paid to help their passengers to survive long flights and make sure there are no misunderstandings or unpleasant situations. They seem to believe that their only mission is to catch terrorist or what. I have flight many airlines including quite a few developing countries, eastern Europe, South America etc. But I have never experienced anything close to this. I suggest to anybody to stay away from British Airways - who knows what they may come up with next time.

I reached the Boston Logan airport at approximately 5:15AM to catch my flight to London, scheduled to depart at 7:50AM. I went to the British Airways counter (one handled by Ms. Silvana **) to check in my luggage. From her demeanor, she seemed unhappy about something. She started looking into my passport and tickets. She kept looking for a few minutes and then pointed out that my passport does not have my last name in it. I showed her that it is in there. She again kept on looking at my papers and then asked to put my check in bag on the scale. She pointed out that my luggage was 5 pounds heavier than the allowed 50 pounds. She suggested that either I pay $60 for the extra weight or I get rid of the extra weight.

I reduced the luggage and gave it to my wife who was at the airport to drop me off. I went back to Ms. ** and this time she said that because I only have a 50-minute layover in London while flying to Munich, she cannot accept any check-in baggage. She said that the minimum transfer time required for baggage is 55 minutes and that she can let me board the flight if I completely get rid of my check-in luggage. I moved some essentials to my carry-on baggage and gave my check-in bag to my wife to be taken back home.

When I went back to the check in counter, again, this time she said that she cannot let me board the flight at all as I need to have at least 55 minutes to be considered eligible for a legal connection. She also mentioned that I do not have a UK visa and therefore I cannot pick up my luggage at London Heathrow. I mentioned to her that I am not taking any check-in bags anymore. I also told her that I had confirmed with British Airways and UK Border Agency and they allowed me to travel via London based on three conditions: (1) I arrive and depart London Heathrow by air; (2) I transit through the London Heathrow in less than 24 hours; (3) I have a valid visa for my final destination.

Also, it's clearly stated on UK Border agency's website, that if you have a valid visa for entry to USA, Canada, Australia or New Zealand and a valid airline ticket to travel via UK, you can Transit Without Visa (TWOV).

Neither during my travel bookings nor during my due diligence with British Airways was I told that there is a minimum requirement for 55-minute connection time at the London Heathrow Airport. Despite that, I offered to Ms. ** that I can modify my booking from London to Munich and take a later flight to meet the minimum 55-minute layover requirement.

At that point, her manager Nick ** joined the conversation and told me that I should go to Ms. Bernise ** at the Ticket Sales counter to book the next flight from London to Munich. I ran to Ms. ** and told her the situation. During our conversation, I requested her three times to expedite the matter as it was already 6:50AM and I might get late for my 7:50AM flight from Boston. She advised me to not worry about it as it is the Check-In Counter staff which gives the final clearance to the flight to leave. She started looking into the later flights from London to Munich and then informed that the 7AM flight from London to Munich on November 4th, 2013 is full. I asked for the next available flight and she said she could put me on the 9:40AM flight from London to Munich. I agreed to it and took out my credit card to pay for it. As she was going ahead to book the ticket for me, Supervisor Nick came rushing and said to her that she cannot check me in for the 7:50AM flight as I am late. Not only me, but even she appeared shocked by Mr. Nick's sudden announcement.

As Mr. Nick was walking away from the check in counters, he told her to call Ms. ** and ask the reasoning why I couldn't be allowed to board. Meanwhile, I walked with Mr. Nick and asked why I am being not allowed to take the flight. He bluntly said, "No matter what; I will not let you travel today." I felt extremely discriminated by the content and manner of his statement. When I came back to the ticket sales counter to learn what had happened, Ms. ** said that she just spoke to Ms. ** and her "hands are tied to not let you on the plane".

I was completely shocked by what had happened. I asked if I could get a refusal to board statement in writing and Ms. ** completely denied it. I asked for her name and she blocked my view of her badge and told me in an extremely rude manner that she was just doing her job and doesn't need to tell me anything. Ms. ** did take the initiative and gave me her name and those of her colleagues (Ms. ** and Mr. **).

From my description above, it is clear that no one from the British Airways staff (Nick **, Silvana ** and Bernise **) honestly performed their duties and also Ms.** and Mr. ** got personal and acted in a discriminatory manner. I believe the British Airways officials have unnecessarily harassed me and were focused on not allowing me to board the flight on one pretext or the other without any cogent reason in spite of me holding valid travel documents and confirmed tickets. Hence I was forced to abandon my trip resulting in loss. Not only did I lose a huge professional/business opportunity in Munich but also a tremendous amount of time and money on making my travel arrangements. It has caused me considerable mental anguish and physical stress. It amounts to complete denial of services on the part of British Airways.

Under all circumstances, British Airways must compensate me for the personal and financial damages caused by their discriminatory actions. I look forward to your response and I welcome the opportunity to discuss this matter in detail.

Since people would totally avoid BA if they know of this transit visa, I believe this is a trick BA plays to extract as much as possible from customers by not giving any guidance. Something like, "You might need a transit visa," on the ticket would have been so much helpful. The customer service was not helpful at all. So finally ended up losing close to $4000 and so much of stress which totally could have been avoided. This is the worst travel experience I ever had. Never ever BA again. VERIFY YOUR TRANSIT VISA REQUIREMENTS WHEN YOU BOOK TICKETS VIA LONDON.

I had purchased these tickets couple of months in advance and during that time I had clearly mentioned the status of the applicants and British Airways had no issues during the purchase time. But on the day of travel you stopped my family to travel including my two children (2 yr old and 8 yr old) which caused her and my family a lot of grievance and hardship. The customer service was the worst we have experienced, some much lack of empathy. We have never experienced such kind of apathy from any other airlines in the past with our infinite number of travels. To top it all that day, the lookout for other airlines cost us 8000 USD for alternate arrangements with Emirates for same day travel.

We are not willing to take this kind of ordeal and that too without any prior notice about such requirements. Due to this inconvenience and emotional roller-coaster caused by British Airways for stopping my family not to travel even with valid Advance Parole/EAD, we lost the money paid for the tickets through British Airways. This is a huge loss for us financially as well as emotional torture. We are looking for a full refund as well as a compensation for our last minute purchase with Emirates which is 8000USD.

Her nightmare began when she arrived at Heathrow. She informed the ground staff that her daughter had requested a wheelchair for her and she told me, they just brushed her off. Obviously, a frail old lady from Malaysia was not worth bothering with. My mother trekked all over the airport trying to get to her departure gate, asking for directions all the way, getting right and wrong ones; hence the trekking. It took her close to the entire duration of her transit (close to 3 hours) to finally reach her departure gate.

When she arrived at New York, there was a wheelchair waiting for her but then, the next problem, British Airways had lost one piece of her luggage. It was later located and sent to us the following evening. This was the last straw. My mother was bent over and limping when she arrived, and started to cry when she saw me. She had gone through a terrible time. I had begged her to visit me and after much persuasion, she had agreed. I regret it with all my heart, thinking of what she went through. She flew Cathay Pacific when she visited me last year and had no problems whatsoever. This time around, she developed a fever which lasted for 3 days after she arrived, due to the overwhelming stress to her body.

I am beyond appalled at this treatment of a human being and a senior at that. When I paid for her ticket, I made a specific request for a wheelchair. If a wheelchair was not available, they should have informed me at the time of purchase, although I know this to be false. Wheelchairs are always available for the infirmed or elderly. In all the airports we've traveled to, you can find them all over. It has never been an issue, which is why this is even more appalling that it happened, and in an airport like Heathrow.

My mother will be traveling home in September and I dread, as does she, what will happen to her in Heathrow. I had written to complain about what had transpired but till today, British Airways has not bothered with a response. I had been told by friends, relatives and have also read blogs and discussion sites, that British Airways has a terrible reputation, with absolutely no customer service. They don't bother because they think they are too good. They are the opposite.

All I want is to ensure that my mother has wheelchair assistance for her entire journey home in September. Needless to say, no one in our family will ever fly BA again. I have also taken the opportunity to share my mother's experience with all our relatives, friends and acquaintances, social media, etc. to ensure everyone knows how BA treats seniors and how they respond to complaints. I wanted to log my complaint down anywhere I can in the hopes that something will be done and other passengers don't suffer the way my mother did.

Despite all our efforts with a totally unhelpful and didn’t-give-a-** Iberian representative, we got nowhere. At 1 am Sunday morning, were given a chit with a reference and a phone number to call and basically told to clear off! The phone number didn’t work and at 4 am that morning, I find myself at Wal-Mart trying to buy clothes and toiletries! We spent the next week phoning and e-mailing British Airways, Iberian and Miami Airport trying to find someone who could tell us where our luggage was! We would be on the phone for hours a day and getting nowhere. BA says its not their problem as they were not the carrier; yet it is their name on the tickets, luggage receipts, boarding cards and they are the ones who took my money! With Iberian, you cannot get through to the luggage department. If you call the office and try to get to speak to a human being, they say that they do not have a number for the luggage department and have no way of contacting them! Twice, I got through to Iberian (via Miami airport main number) who then said that they cannot find the luggage and have no record of it!

We got back to Miami Airport yesterday. We had been on a much anticipated cruise with no clothes, great, huh? We stormed up to the Iberian desk to ask where the bags are and the supervisor says one minute and hey presto, he brings them out! No explanation, no apologies! Then we checked in at BA for return flight absolutely seething. The supervisor knew all about it and explained that she had just returned from leave, had heard about this and went over to Iberian that morning and sorted things! Remember BA, said it’s not their problem! So BA and Iberian they did not reply to my e-mails or phone calls. They offer no explanations or apologies. They just ruined a dream holiday my wife's 50th birthday!

If someone had at least texted me or e-mailed a response saying, “Sorry and we’re looking into it,” that would have been something to alleviate the worry. You know, I have flown all over the world even with third-world airlines and have never been treated so badly! Bottom line is this: BA and Iberian will not take ownership of any problem they have caused. If you are happy to risk losing your luggage, then fly BA or Iberian. If you are happy to fly with a carrier who is impossible to contact, then fly BA or Iberian. If you want to fly, then fly BA or Iberian and then take hand luggage only! If you are happy to fly with a carrier who really doesn’t care about you, then fly BA or Iberian!

On 11 Mar 2012, one of the group members had to cancel. We contacted BA and informed them of the cancellation, assuming that the passenger, as per the terms and conditions, would lose its own deposit. They informed us that since we would not be 10 anymore but 9, we would lose all the deposits, so our best option would be to find a replacement passenger. We weren't happy with this obligation, but we managed to find another passenger to join the group.

They now seem to have processed the name change for the Lon-Veg flight only, but refuse to do the same name change in the Lis-Lon flight. I understand that the conditions for a regular booking (non-group booking) don't allow name changes. However, since this is a group of 10, that both flights are, in the end, part of the same trip, and that the name change is only required because BA themselves asked us to find a replacement, I strongly believe that BA should make an exception (which they can make, as long as they decide to). I have tried contacting BA in several ways (groups department, reservations, customer service, and Lisbon airport office), none of these helped me or even accepted an escalation to a manager.

This is meaningless for the company, but a big customer dissatisfaction issue for me. I'd like to see someone look at this holistically and feel that I'm treated as a person/passenger/customer, not just a booking reference. In case this is not resolved, I am now looking at competitors options and considering cancelling this with BA (10,000 £ business loss), plus never traveling with BA (which I do, at least 3 times a year), plus advising the approximately 50 guests, that are traveling Lon-Lis this summer, for an event I'm organizing, to use another airline.

I departed Bloemfontein, South Africa at 16:10 via South African Express SA1024 arriving in Johannesburg at 17:15. Prior to my departure at approximately 14:10, I checked in with two parcels - one being a suitcase and the other being a large cardboard box containing a carved wood statue of a lion. The South African Express attendant notified me that he was not able to retrieve my boarding passes for the flight from Johannesburg to London-Heathrow (flight BA54) which was scheduled to depart at 21:15. He told me I would have to retrieve it from the gate once landed. I arrived in Johannesburg on time, walked through passport control and then headed to the gate to check in. However, upon arriving at the gate, there was no one to check me in. I waited for approximately fifteen minutes then proceeded to the Club Lounge.

In the Club Lounge, I waited for another three and a half hours until 20:45, at which point I headed down to the gate. Again, upon arrival at the gate, there was still no one there to assist me with check-in. After roughly a half hour, someone arrived but informed me they were not responsible for checking people in and I would have to wait until the correct staff arrives. About fifteen minutes prior to departure, a staff member named Fiona arrived and informed me that they had overbooked both economy and business class. I was not guaranteed a seat and would have to wait until all passengers boarded (Fiona even mentioned she would pray for me). I requested to speak to her manager, who was unable to offer any assistance. I then asked to speak to his manager and after a thirty minute wait, I was able to speak to Robby ** (BA Staff Number **). He also informed me there was nothing he could do until all passengers had boarded to see if any seats were available.

I continued to wait while the plane boarded and witnessed two people without seat assignments in business class walk up to the gate, immediately received seat assignments and be allowed to board. In another instance, I watched a woman get upgraded while I still stood there, having paid for a ticket but not being given a seat. I asked Fiona's manager why these people received seats to which he had no answer. At that point, a baggage team member approached me very aggressively in essence telling me to leave and not ask any more questions. I can only surmise that this discrimination was a result of my appearance. While I am a professional in the biopharmaceutical industry, I have a 3/4 quarter sleeve (tattoo) on my right arm and did not appear the "typical" business class type.

After all travelers boarded, I was told by Robby that there were still no business class seats and that I could be downgraded (there was only one available seat not in business) and given the difference in the price of the ticket plus 200 pounds. I informed Robby that this was unacceptable as I had a confirmed business class seat on this flight and needed business as after this 11-hour journey, I have another 11-hour journey to San Diego, California. Robby attempted to find me additional flights. However, none were open so I was placed in the Intercontinental Hotel across from the airport. While this was occurring, my bags had been offloaded from the plane.

In parallel, I asked Robby who I could speak to for assistance and he mentioned that BA has no customer service staff in the airport and that all matters had to be done through BA.com. He also said the staff that were in customer service were located overseas and not available on the weekends. In a last attempt to resolve the issue, I asked to speak to Robby's manager who was based in London, however, Robby refused to give me his contact information. Two British Airways staff then assisted me with my baggage and after a long walk around the entire terminal and re-passing through passport security, I arrived at the hotel. Important to note is that in speaking with these two BA staff, it became obvious (from the information provided and experiences detailed by them) that this was routine behavior/practice on BA (specifically, overbooking both economy and business). Interestingly, they were grateful I was in high spirits as the majority of those bumped were not.

Upon arrival at the hotel, I was given a room. However, the voucher stated that I would not have access to any drinks or refreshments, mini-bar, etc. Once in my room, I logged on to BA.com and filed a formal complaint, BA reference number **. I was given a voucher for lunch, breakfast and dinner for the following day, however, per hotel policy, I had to check out by 11:00 and thus, was only able to use the breakfast voucher. Prior to my departure, I asked the hotel staff to phone BA to confirm my replacement flight (tentatively BA56) and advise what I should do for the next nine hours as my BA56 was not scheduled to depart until 20:15 on Sunday, March 18th, 2012. The hotel staff informed me that BA refused to assist them with my flights, citing confidently as the reason why they could not share any of my information.

The hotel staff even commented on how rude and unhelpful BA had been. As a result, I went to the airport. However, upon arrival, I found that I would not be able to check in until 17:00 as no BA staff were available. I was directed to Menzies Aviation (BA's contracted ticket representatives) where they informed me there was not much they could do. I asked again to speak to Robby (who I confirmed was working), however, he did not answer the phone nor return the message that was left. I then spoke with a woman named Jen who worked for Menzies. She was quite helpful and after an hour or so of waiting, she was able to locate a staff member to check me in (the London flight only with no assigned gate) so that I could head through security and wait in the BA lounge. After I passed through security, I went to the BA lounge only to find that it did not open until 3:00PM. So I sat on the floor and I began writing this letter. At just before 13:00, BA staff began arriving and I was able to speak to Alex, who after some internal discussion, let me enter the lounge on the understanding the staff would still be cleaning and setting up. I thanked her greatly and entered.

In closing, I would like to reiterate the complete and utter disregard BA has shown me. While I hope this is a matter that can be resolved outside of the courts by the filing of my claim, I am stunned by the complete lack of respect and attention to customer service. This has been without a doubt a traumatizing experience and is inexcusable. It has not only cost me a day's wage, but also a high-level meeting which I needed to attend to complete work on a $3 million bid clinical research bid. Needless to say, this may no longer be an issue of simple compensation.

Update: Today, I followed up with BA customer service and was first put through to an outside vendor when all BA staff were busy. I spoke with Cameron, explained my ordeal and then asked to speak to her supervisor. She put on someone with a name that sounded like Pukad, who hung up on me. When I tried to return the call, I was informed there was a wait time of 39 minutes. I waited on the line finally reaching Pam. I briefly explained my ordeal to Pam, who put her supervisor Monica on the line. Monica informed me that Pam was correct in stating that their department (customer contacts) had no integration with customer relations located in New York. Additionally, she informed me that the Customer Relations department accepts no incoming calls. I asked her to advise me on what to do and she said I should simply wait 7-10 days (it has now been three) and try back. I have continued to contact BA.com referencing my claim number with no response.

My wife again researched hotels and decided on Holiday Inn London Regents Park for 90,200 and $220.00 cash. The same exact thing happened; error message trying to complete the reservation. Trying to book again, Holiday Inn London Regents Park was no longer showing, only Holiday Inn Regents Park at a higher rate. I contacted Executive Club again and was told they could book this, but only at the higher rate. I feel this is very deceptive. The manager, Angel **, was not helpful in any way possible and basically said he had no authority to handle any problems. We could not speak to anyone above the manager and were told to file a complaint.

She again tried to book a hotel on Monday morning with the same results. Everyone we talked to at Executive Club US or UK was unable to help. I have screenshots of all attempts to book. No one at Executive Club US or UK wanted the see them or were even willing to go to the Internet to see what customers see. I am very concerned about the practice of offering a reasonable rate that won't complete; receiving a message to call, only to be told I could only book at a higher rate.

British Airways have double standards and they do not mention about this clearly when you buy the ticket. Of all the airports, London is the only airport where you need a transit visa even for landing in the airport. I lost all my $1500 that I spent. BA also cancelled my return journey ticket, telling me that if onward journey ticket is cancelled the onward journey will get cancelled automatically. They have charged me $1500 for no service provided and I feel conned. When I call the customer care, I am on the phone for hours and once I tell them that I call for refund, I am being put on hold and eventually the phone call is hung up.

On October 13th, I transferred flights from Athens to Boston in London Heathrow Airport. My problems did not begin until we got to our gate in terminal 3 and I learned that our flight was delayed. As I had needed to catch a bus in Boston that stopped running at midnight, I asked the British Airway staff at the desk what time we would be estimated to arrive. I had to ask the woman at the desk four times, rephrasing the question at each request, what time we were estimated to arrive in Boston. The conversation went like this: "Excuse me, I need to catch a bus by midnight in Boston in order to meet the person driving me home. Could you tell me about what time we're expected to arrive in Boston? "

"They can help you with that in Boston". "Well, what time might we arrive in Boston". "I don't know". "I understand we may be delayed by an hour. Given that, what time would we be expected to arrive in Boston? " "I don't know". Exasperated: "How can you not know? If the flight takes 7 hours, then what time might that put us in Boston? " "I'm sorry, I didn't understand the question. " She then gave me the estimated time. I could have figured this out myself, had I not been so jet lagged and had such a bad cold. I busied myself with making other arrangements for a ride home with two of my fellow travelers: Diedrick ** and Nancy ** since it was not at all certain that we would be delayed by only an hour. Then I went for a walk. Mr. ** agreed to watch my bags for me at the gate.

As I sat in a cafe, I was joined by Ms. **. We heard a flight being called to board for Iberian Airways to Boston leaving at 1930. I asked Ms. ** if that was our flight since we were also to leave for Boston at 1930, but we decided it couldn't be our flight because we were not flying Iberian Airways. We did not hear the flight number being announced or the gate number that we were using.

When we arrived back at the gate, everyone was gone. Only our baggage sat in the waiting area. There were three staff at the desk who began to berate us for leaving our bags unattended. We assured them that we had left our bags with a friend. They replied that when they asked him whose bags they belonged to, he told them he didn't know us. Since I know Mr. ** to be a reasonable gentleman, I knew this not to be true. We then provided our passports and boarding passes for the staff to board the plane.

Ms. ** hurried to board ahead of me. Just as I pressed the button for the elevator to get down to where I would board the plane, I saw a man come around the corner and asked if I was the one who left her bags unattended. He was told by the staff that I was one of them. He came over to me and began to berate me as well. I again reiterated that I had not left my bags unattended, but with a friend. The elevator door opened and I began to get into the elevator. This man grabbed my arm and prevented me from going into the elevator. He told me that I was being "very rude" and that he was talking to me. He wanted to state again that I can't leave my bags unattended, that it's against the law, and that I could be arrested or could have had my bags confiscated.

I asked: "leaving my bags with a friend is leaving my bags unattended? " He then told the staff to take me off of the flight. I asked why and he responded that I was not taking what he said seriously. I explained to him that I had already been told by the three other staff present and that there didn't seem to be any more to say about it. He then allowed me to board the flight, although tossed a few more inflammatory statements at me as he followed me down the stairs to the plane. Although I made a mental note of his name, I did not want to start writing things down out of fear of retribution. I believe his last name was ** and I noted the title of terminal security manager on his badge.

When I was seated on the plane, I told Mr. ** what had occurred. I then learned that when they began boarding the plane, he had asked the staff to page Ms. ** and myself. They insisted that he board the plane and he asked them to watch our bags. He did hear them page our names, but we did not .I suspect that they put the page out only in the gate area, rather than in the terminal.

Things continued to go poorly on the flight with the stewards. When I requested that the steward help me get my bags into the overhead, because I was too short to reach and our overhead, I was told, was full, he asked if my bags were heavy. He did eventually help me, but put the bags in the overhead at the end of the plane, so that I was required to wait until all of the passengers got off before I could retrieve them. I should note also that when I received my dinner on the flight, it had clearly been tampered with. the seals for the entree and desert had both been opened. I did not have any sugar that I could find on the tray and had pressed the call button to request some. The stewards ignored my request, even when they passed by with the food cart a second time, forcing me to call out my request at them after they passed.

The incidents with British Airway and staff at Heathrow were a more serious offense than simple rudeness and I feel at this point, need a more serious response than an apology. I am requesting a refund of my entire amount of my round trip ticket, including taxes in fees, in damages. I can only estimate this cost, of $1200, because my agent only provided me with the cost of the fees and taxes. I would also like to receive some indication that the staff involved in these events will be reprimanded.

I should have arrived at the airport three hours early for my British Airways flight to Verona. However, when I got to Victoria station to take a 35-minute train to Gatwick airport, a water main had just exploded and flooded all the train tracks. I quickly jumped on another train going to East Croyden where I then got a replacement bus service to the airport.

I could have still made it to my flight but two miles outside the airport, the traffic completely stopped. When I finally got into the airport, I had 20 minutes before my flight, but British Airways wouldn’t let me fly, which is understandable enough.

But the understanding stops there. British Airways then charged me a hefty £60 to change my flight to the next day. Hundreds of people missed their flight because of the transportation problems that was no fault of their own, but British Airways charged them all £60 to transfer their flight to the next day. However, other airlines were a lot more understanding, like Easy Jet, which didn’t charge their customers anything.

I asked British airways, who are always advertising how much they understand their customers and care for them, where did they get the arbitrary charge of £60, why did they have to charge so much, and why did other airlines like Easy Jet not charge their customers anything? They wrote back in a cold robotic way and basically told me to piss off.

British Airways definitely made a lot of money that day. And I actually originally paid £20 more to fly with them because I bought into their brand and thought they were more reliable and understanding. But from my experience, and other people I have talked to since then about their negative experience with British Airways, I think those days are over and I think they need to change their brand song from the Flower Duet to John Lee Hookers ‘I need money’ song.

At least I’m giving my money to Easy Jet next time.

My frustration is that British Airways does not give any telephone numbers for customer service and I have not been able to discuss the issues with anyone. Reservations give me one answer but the emails from British Airways refund department do not address the issues I discussed with Reservations.

My last contact to British Airways today was via their online email form. My email listing the details of my contacts to them was also included. I also tried to pursue via MasterCard but they said I needed to deal with British Airways directly.

I have just received an email that does not address any of the issues in my email of August 8, 2011. Please read my issues and respond to the fact that I am owed $4,537.42.

The damage was losing my all time favorite items which I always travel with. Many valuables and sentimental things as well as expensive suits, perfumes, sportswear, watch, Ipod, and many more. The biggest damage is that no one at this airline actually care. They email you back and it is obvious that they only copied a generic reply that has nothing to do with the details of my case. It is a very frustrating airline. I would never step on their aircraft even if it is the last airline on this planet.

That night, I called the BA phone number as stated on the PIR card. The BA told me that my luggage was still on a not found status and then told me to wait. I could not go back to the Munich airport as we were on schedule for traveling, but I kept calling the BA phone number to check my status.

Finally, after my traveling ended and it was time to go back home, we went back to the Munich airport where I met the same person from the BA staff again and I asked about my claim. She told me that I have to make my claim with my BA representative in Jakarta, Indonesia. I asked her about the toiletries compensation (I checked it with friends who had lost their luggage and they got compensation for toiletries daily until the baggage was found or at the end of the travel), but she told me that the BA at the Munich airport could not pay for any claims as I have to claim through the BA from Jakarta, Indonesia. I have to buy everything including a new luggage, clothes, etcetera with my own money to compensate for it.

At the BA Jakarta, Indonesia, the staff told me that the BA Jakarta only act as ticketing sales and does not have any authority regarding delayed or lost luggage so I have to make a complaint through the BA website. I did fill in the claim form for my lost luggage on the BA website and sent it to its Customer Relations officer and after a couple of weeks, I received a reply from the BA Customer Relations officer named Nitin **:

"Dear Mr. **: I apologize for the delay in replying to you. I am very sorry that you and your family had a bad start to your holiday plans as you had a problem with your luggage. I do appreciate how stressful it is to arrive at your destination without your personal belongings. I regret to report that we have not been able to locate your missing luggage despite a very extensive search. Please accept my sincere apologies for the inconvenience caused.

We know that getting our customers' bags to the right place is a critical part of our operation. That's why we worked so hard to improve our baggage system. However, it didn't work smoothly on the day you traveled and I can see that it caused you inconvenience.

In order for us to process your claim, please send me receipts, card slip, insurance valuation, quotation, or any other document to support the value of your missing property. If you do not have these, please send me a detailed list of the contents lost specifying the amount and date of purchase. Please send them to the address mentioned below and mark our Customer Relations reference number on the letter. I will also need a letter signed by Mrs. Andryani ** authorizing you to deal on her behalf. I should add that the airlines only have a limited liability when it comes to compensation in a situation like this. So if you had travel insurance, I suggest that you also inform your insurance company about what's happened.

I know that this delay with your luggage isn't what you expect from us. Thank you for letting us know about it and I hope my email reassures you that this area is a high priority for us."

I sent the details of my items that were lost by email and the receipts of the items that I bought in Europe as I traveled after my luggage was lost. The problem was, until now, there was still no reply from the BA as if they were withholding my compensation claim. I asked the BA through my email about the daily toiletries that the BA had to pay for me and my family.

The tagged luggage that was lost had my wife's name so I sent an email and detailed letter of my lost items with my wife's signature. I don't know what to do anymore as I am planning to put these matters on international media and class action against the BA. I hope that you, AUC UK, can help me in solving this problem. Thank you very much for your kind help and information.

My 86 year old Aunt was hospitalized on the 6th with the expectation that she was not going to recover and that indeed proved to true. She passed away on the 8th, the date I was supposed to travel to London. There was absolutely no way that I could have traveled at that time as I needed to be here to support my family. I just lost a sibling last year and I really needed to be here for my family. In addition to the death of my aunt, I also had an allergic reaction to a medication I was prescribed the month before. Both of these issues made it impossible for me to travel at the time.

When I have had to change my travel plans with other airline companies I remember being charged a change fee but did not lose the entire ticket price. When I called British Airways ticketing people, I was told that I needed to reschedule a flight right away; otherwise, I would lose any money I spent on the ticket. Frankly with the stress that I was under, I wasn't able to make additional travel plans at that time. To expect me to make addition travel plans while I was under that sort of pressure is rather brutal and unkind to say the least.

I can provide documentation regarding the reaction to the medication and the obituary of my Aunt, the e-ticket print-out, the itinerary as well as some correspondence where I asked about the ticket flexibility options but was not able to get an answer.

I first tried contacting BA via their fax line but did not receive any response. Then I contacted the Better Business Bureau of New York and through them I received an email from Steve **, British Airways Customer Relations, telling me that there was nothing they could do for me. I have since written Willie ** and FedExed a package to his office all my supporting material and was just emailed today by James ** of British Airways Customer Relations who told me that, even though he was concerned that their agent was not able to give me any information regarding their "flexible ticketing", he could do nothing for me.

I seem to be at the end of my options but thought that it wouldn't hurt to make a personal appeal to see if you could help me in any way. They have made it clear that there is no possibility of recovering the money I spent on the ticket, but a travel voucher for a future trip would seem to be the very least they could do. I recognize that my situation is slightly uncommon but if you could see your way clear to help, I would truly appreciate it. My life has lately been very stressful and a little kindness would go a long way.

The max I am willing to pay is for one change of flight. Nobody ever told me I would have to pay for each rescheduling of flights, all they said I would have to pay 134 pounds at the airport. And now this? It is not acceptable to have to pay more then one change, plus I will have to pay another 100 pounds to get myself from London to Barcelona. So I am hopping British Airways can be fair and at least fly my to London! Plus each time I have to wait for the financial department answer, it takes way too long, and there is no way to find out what is going to happen! Cancelled flight, now being charge 900$ for a rescheduling!

Hours later, I received an email saying that my claim was denied because they could not verify the fare I found. Luckily, I had printed the screen showing the fare. I submitted that as an attachment to BA and was then told that they needed evidence as a screenshot in JPEG or doc form. I took a screenshot and submitted it in JPEG format. Since then I have had over a dozen email correspondence with BA in which I am being sent an automated response requesting proof of the lower fare. I have contacted BA via phone several times, and even had a supervisor tell me that he was not responsible for upholding the price promise, and that the only way to be in contact with the branch that handled this situation was via email. I was told that he himself could not even contact this branch and that I needed to continue with email correspondence as he could not help me with this case.

I have emailed BA with my complaints as well as responded to the automated response asking that someone please contact me, all to no avail. I am absolutely confident that the flights and fare policies are within the guidelines set by BA and feel this is just the company's way to avoid repayment. I am currently an unemployed student living off savings, which are dwindling. The difference in fare is about $120, money that is needed to help pay my student expenses. The financial burden of this expense has been causing me severe emotional distress as every dollar needs to be accounted for.

In spite of being with 2 little children (one of them is US citizen) and all valid documents to enter my final port of destination, I was harassed unnecessarily. If this was the rule, then how did they let me travel via London while traveling from Los Angeles to Delhi? This completely shows that I was unnecessarily harassed and discriminated on New Delhi airport by BA staff. I am traveling on the same documents to India through London, UK and Frankfurt, Germany from last 8 years. I even requested BA employees to transfer me to any code sharing airlines. Lufthansa Airlines was ready to take me and my kids if BA could give them something in writing, but the BA staff was extremely rude, not at all ready to cooperate (I don't even have words to explain that) and they didn't even seem to consider that to help a lady with 2 children and one of whom is a US citizen.

Finally, I told BA to rebook me on their flight on July 15th so I could get UK transit visa, but they showed their extreme customer harassment by asking another amount of about $4,007.61 to rebook me on another flight. So, it looks like that BA's primary goal was to make money without even thinking about customer's problems or maybe their plane was overbooked and they were just trying to save themselves besides making more money. I am extremely disappointed with BA service and how their rules change. I believe the airline was not honest about the transit visa. If that was their primary requirement, they could not have let me travel to India in the first place. By allowing us to travel without transit visa and then harassing us for the same reason, it clearly shows that they want to make money from people.

I wrote to them to refund unused part of my return trip price as I had to purchase fresh tickets for my return trip via a different airline (Cathay Pacific), as BA didn't show any concern for myself and my 2 little kids who are still in such a big trauma after this experience. I can provide a proof for my purchase of the fresh tickets, which I got in less than half the price what BA was asking me to rebook. When I called British Airways customer relations office (Mr. Robert **) for the refund of my unused part of my trip, they were very rude and impolite. They said, "Do whatever you like. Complain wherever you may want." This type of bad attitude you could only expect from British Airways.

But, at Calcutta airport, they insisted on a UK transit visa and ignored the fact that I has a Canadian Visa stamp and that my wife's visa expiry date was still within six months. We were stuck in Calcutta for a day and finally had to rebook ourselves in Singapore Airlines after paying $2500. Singapore Airlines recognized the travel documents we have which is called the 'Advance Parole' and we came back to US. British Airways is not willing to refund the price for the ticket for the return trip even though it was clearly their fault to not inform us about correct visa rules and letting us fly out in the first place.

The heat was so oppressive, I have no idea why we were not allowed off the plane into the terminal again into the air conditioning and our meal given to us whilst waiting. I became so nauseaous in the plane that I had to spend most of the time in the toilet. We then took off after midnight and were served dinner at 2.30am That I did not have nor the breakfast that was served a few hours later. Our family had all made arrangements to be at the airport to meet us as it was a holiday there in Durban. That should have been 10.00am we only flew in 3.30pm with nobody there. What a ghastly end to a wonderful trip to Europe and Scotland.

Extreme nausea and violent headache from excessive heat.

I proceeded to backtrack and called British Airways in U.K on Monday September 1 and was told that my bag was in London. BA would not send my bag since my claim was made with Iberia. Had I known the bag was in London, I would have filed it with BA. I called Iberia to let them know the bag was in London which they verified with BA on Monday, September 1st. Iberia has told me that they repeatedly asked BA to send the bag to the hotel which I was staying but did not receive any response from BA for remainder of the week. I stayed at Valencia until the 5th of September for my conference and since my bag did not arrive by this time, I requested the bag to be sent back and delivered to my house.

On my trip back from Valencia on Sept. 5th, I was assured by Jon of BA ticketing counter in London that my bag was going on American Airline flight 79 from London Heathrow to Dallas Fort Worth then on American Airline Flight to Sacramento, CA which is an hour north of my house. It is now September 10th and I have been told by Iberia that they do not know where my bag is, British Airline has no record, and American Airline do not have any luggage information with my name.

I was attending the largest solar energy in the world. EU PV SEC 2008 in Valencia Spain. I had a pair of shorts and golf shirt for the entire week and my meetings were totally embarassing as my suits were all in my luggage. I have to get my suits tailored and therefore could not find any suits that would fit me for my meetings. We had lost a contract due to this matter. My meeting with a client was for $5 million. My luggage contains three suits which were priced at $1500 each, my two dress shoes were $500 in total, my three dress shirts were $150 each, and my ties were $100 each. My 3 cuff links were $150 each.

Upon this first agent contact we were not aware of an additional charge. At the Check drs. insistance we called again for a sooner flt. We were then booked for 6/26/08 but were charged additional $$. We put this on our Visa Debit card and hoped to straighten out the matter upon our return to the states and our our travel agency.

Economic hardship of $1500 for re-booking due to an unexpected medical condition. Letter denied any obligation to refund. We are asking for negotiated refund.

But the nightmare started when we were coming back to the USA on August 24th and 8.05AM flight via BA departing from Chennai MAA. We were, more specifically my wife was denied entry to flight as my wife was 28 weeks pregnant, the BA official named "Mr. A. and Kim" wanted a medical letter from an Indian Dr. We had a letter dated July 31st from my wife's OB/GYN in USA (that was the last appointment she had before flying to India) stating that she is fit to fly and the date of delivery is November first week. But the BA official "Mr. A." was so inconsiderate and so rude to us stating that he cannot let us fly in the plane as it is a risk to other passengers.

My wife spoke to the Airport Manager in Chennai MAA "Mrs. P." where she pleaded for my wife to allow her to travel on that ticket day. For no avail he did not budge for anything and casually without consideration he denied access to the flight, stating that he needed a Medical certificate from an Indian Dr confirming that she is fit to fly and she will not have child birth on flight.

after this ordeal we (4 passengers) had to return back home (Chennai) with so much disappointment and stress due to this one man's decision not to allow us to fly more specifically my 28 week pregnant wife where she did have a letter (can be produced if needed) from her OB/GYN in the USA. BA official Mr. A. was so inconsiderate of the fact my wife is pregnant and he did not even give us any direction on what we should do in order for us to get back to New York. I specifically had to ask Mr. A. for a British Airways number to call to re arrange the tickets.

Note we did call up British Airways before booking the tickets with Alanita travels what they will need as my wife was 26 weeks pregnant at that time. The Representative told us that they would not need a letter but it will be a safe bet if my wife can have a medical note from her Dr her due date and stating it was a single pregnancy - which we did. Also Alanita travels (Discounted ticketing agency) Personal Mr. K. told us we will only need a letter from her US Doctor.

More of the story is, since we were denied access to enter the flight now comes the toughest portion of the travel, as we missed the flight due to denied entry we needed to re-arrange the ticket dates, connecting flights and so on. First in order for us to re-arrange dates we had to find an OB/GYN in Chennai India to get a Medical certificate to clear my wife so she can fly and do a checkup. After some intolerable circumstances we were able to get an appointment with an OB/GYN where she checked my wife and provided a fit to fly medical certificate. (Which can be provided). Second, now we have the medical certificate now time to find the earliest date to fly back to New York.

On August 25th we called the number that Mr. A. gave for British Airways office in Chennai, when we called this number, the number was wrong and we left with finding via other means to find the BA office number in Chennai, India. When we called the correct number, the rep told us they no longer have an office in Chennai India and the earliest they can book us for a flight is on Sept 13th. Also there was a flight on August 27th in Business class which will cost almost $10000.00. It is so not professional that a BA official does not know the correct telephone number for the local BA office in India. This added tension and frustration to our already stressed situation. We were frantically tried calling the local travel agents to see if they can find a earliest day than Sept 13th but for no avail.

British Airways ticket agent we called in Chennai told us if we wanted to get he Business class tickets since it will be an upgrade that they will not be able to do it and we needed to contact our travel agent that we booked the ticket. Now comes the unprofessionalism at its peak. August 25th, we called our travel agent, Alanita travels located in Watertown in MA, USA as they did not have a Indian number to call. Without understanding the situation the agent we called did not return our call for almost 3 hours, when she returned the call (that is also to an US number - as per the agent their company policy does not allow them to call Outside of US - not sure what kind of policy is that!) So I have to give my friend's number in NJ to call and make a 3 way calling so I can talk to this so called agent.

Agent I spoke to supposedly named "Dorothy" said that she can only have us for Sept 13th as all the flights are booked in BA, and she did not offer any other option for us to travel back to the US as its kind of not her job (like once we paid for the ticket your are on your own!) as your travel agent you would expect that they will give you some option via some other flights to come back to USA - at that time we are even ready to pay extra to come back to the USA.

Also during the call she told me that she is getting another call that she has to drop off. Where is the customer service, I understand discounted price tickets but hello I am calling almost 30000 miles away from India as the agent you should be at least considerate of your customer's agonizing moments f his or her travel. During this time my friend of New Jersey called 3-5 times within 3-4 hour span and no one has returned her call on getting another flight back to the USA. Since the Alanita travel agent has no help at all, we resort to US Embassy in India and asked for help they told us to call the British Airways office in the US 9 718 335 7070) that is when we felt little better after some agonizing 2 days.

We spoke with Ms. Leila, an agent with a heart, as I was so stressed out I asked my wife to speak to her on this ordeal she gracefully listened to our concerns and calmed us down and also booked us for flight Sept 13th which no one including the Alanita travel agent or the BA agent in Chennai office could not do.

Since staying in India for another extra 3 weeks is not an option considering my job I had to find other means to fly back to USA. On August 26th we were able to find 4 tickets back to USA via Air India which cost us $3,978.95. Total cost of approximately $9000.00 for a trip USA India.

I have given high marks to British Airways during the flight from USA to India on the survey, but the ordeal we had at Chennai airport was so frustrating, stressful and expensive HOW WOULD BRITISH AIRWAYS COMPENSATE THAT? I can provide both the medical certificate one we had from the USA and from India. mental stress and monetarily $3,978.95 due to buying new tickets

Several more weeks later I get am email from [Pete] saying I need a property irregularity report from lax. I go to lax, the clerks say my online claim is all I need and they won't give file a report because it is now august not may. It is now the end of august and BA will not pay for my guitar to be repaired or replaced.

It costs 1200 to fix my guitar and or 1500 to replace it.

On the way back home, when we arrived all of our luggages were delayed for 24 hours. We were home and were able to waite for our luggages. Even though I had to go to Pharmacy and buy my daily medications I did not even think about filing a claim for the return misshap, but I filed a claim for expenses in Paris.

A month later and after several emails of inquiry about the status of our claim, BA notified me that they will pay less than one third of what we had spent. I am deeply upset that a large company like BA can get away with such a remedy and I do not know what I can do about it except never fly BA.

After trying to get through to BA Customer I finally succeeded on June 27, 2008. When talking to the rep, I was instructed to file a claim with Customer Relations who would be able to credit back the difference. I again did as I was told and have only had communications telling me to be patient. On July 15, 2008 after being extremely frustrated at the lack of response from BS Customer Relations, I again contacted Customer service. I spoke to a pleasent customer serivce rep. who informed me that the avereage turn around time for Customer Relations is 4-6 weeks. Next I was told that I should have never been sent there any how as this was a pre-flight issue and they are handled by the customer service supervisors. When I had all my flight information in front of me, she instructed me to call back and talk to a supervisor who could then issue the credit for me.

I called for the last time on Juky 16,08 and finally spoke to a supervisor. All the supervisor could tell me was that he was sorry for all the mis-information on behalf of British Airways, but they would do nothing more. He would speak to the reps and re-train, but it was British Airways policy that they do not compensate for their errors. They would not credit the difference in the ticket prices, they would not offer a coupon for discounted flights in the future, they would not offer an upgrade, nothing.

I asked to speak to a manager above the supervisor to whom I spoke, and he refused stating that there was no one above him. Having been plagued by the horrible service on British Airways I am not looking forward to having my family fly on this airline. I cannot believe a large company such as British Airways would allow their employees treat the customer so rudely and do nothing about it.

British Airways also made no effort to reroute us on any of their partner airlines. The only solutions they offered were either to cancel the reservation entirely and issue a partial refund, or to rebook us onto the same flights the following day (Monday, June 9, 2008). I should note that our original outbound flight (Boston-Heathrow, May 20) was also cancelled by BA without our being notified. In that case, the flight was cancelled then reopened, but we were not rebooked onto the reopened flight. Again, BA had not notified us of any changes to our itinerary.

In addition, the supervisor at this terminal (Laraine) was extremely rude. She initially ignored us, then became impatient with us, and finally told us she was doing us a favor and could deny us boarding altogether if she wanted. Ultimately, she walked away without warning and we were helped by someone else. Laraine was not at all helpful and behaved in a completely unprofessional manner. We were, understandably, somewhat frantic; we were in danger of missing an expensive flight and had an extremely tight schedule through no fault of our own. However, that is not an excuse to be treated with disdain and contempt. We expect customers to be treated with courtesy at all times. British Airways employees should be respectful and understanding, especially considering the stressful and potentially frustrating nature of air travel.

We have flown with British Airways in the past and were very surprised at Laraine's conduct considering the impeccable service we have received from the staff previously and on this flight. We hope that British Airways will address this issue so that future customers do not have to experience similar treatment. This delay caused us to lose an entire day of our vacation in Ireland. An overseas vacation is expensive and travel times reduce the amount of time available. The loss of a full day can not be recovered due to other commitments (i.e., work). This was an unpleasant start to our vacation.

In attempting to reschedule the flights with the airline, I was talking with Reservation Agent Jessica, who advised me to completely cancel the tickets, since there were no available flights for our required dates, and request a refund from the airline. She mentioned that, since my mother was unable to fly due to a health matter, there would be no problem in getting a full refund. She also advised me to fax the appropriate paperwork from the doctors to BA, prior to the time of our first scheduled flight,saying again that there would be no problem in getting a full refund. I followed her instructions and the fax was sent within the hour prior to flight time.

Other than one email advising us that we were entitled to a refund of taxes only, British Airways have thus far ignored our correspondence and requests for a full refund. At this point, they are not responding at all to us and we have tried on several occasions to contact them. We are currently $1775.98 out of pocket and have received no further response from BA during the past two-plus months, other than an automated fax receipt.

I have contacted my credit card company but they cannot help in this situation as we are more than 90 days out from the time of booking, on November 27, 2007. Other than one email advising us that we were entitled to a refund of taxes only, British Airways have thus far ignored our correspondence and requests for a full refund. At this point, they are not responding at all to us and we have tried on several occasions to contact them. We are currently $1775.98 out of pocket and have received no further response from BA during the past two-plus months, other than an automated fax receipt.

I have contacted my credit card company but they cannot help in this situation as we are more than 90 days out from the time of booking, on November 27, 2007. Any help in this matter would be greatly appreciated. $1775.98 is a lot of money for a Senior Citizen (my mother) to be duped out of. Thank you.

The lost bag agents told us they had no idea where our bags were and all I could do was continue to check the status of our case file number (SFO BA 28927) online or by phone. I checked twice a day online and by phone which always resulted with a no information message about our bags. By the 5th day I finally reached an agent, as the voicemail number I called and left messages at never resulted in a returned phone call. On that day I was informed that one bag had been found and would be delivered. The next day our stroller was delivered.

This means my husband and I and our 5 year old and 15 month old who had packed for a 21 day trip were getting by on about 2 pairs of underware, socks, undershirts and a change or two of clothes. Most all of what we own in the way of clothing was packed for this trip. I also was without face cleanser & moisturizer, shampoo, hair gel. My husband without any shaving sundries. But in giving BA the benefit of the doubt I waited to purchase anything.

The day after the stroller arrived another bag arrived. It had been packed with wine. Upon arriving at our home, the bag was ripped open and a bottle of Barolo wine worth about $100 was missing. I was advised by a reservation agent to file a claim. I was also advised by 2 different agents to go ahead and purchase the essentials we needed, since they still had no trace on our bags which meant I didn't know when or if they would arrive, and that we would be reimbursed. At this point we were at least 7 days without any bags containing clothing or sundries.

After 2 weeks all but 1 bag had arrived. This one bag is now classified as lost. I should add that each time I called to speak with an agent about the status of our bags each agent had a different explanation of the status. The bags that had actually arrived to my home were not even logged as having arrived and furthermore, the baggage claim number for each bag was never logged upon arriving at SFO. So I could never know exactly which bag was missing, had arrived, etc. Even when finally filing a claim for the reimbursement of expenditures, which I was advised to do by several agents, I could not accurately report which bags had been delayed and which was still missing.

In this whole process it was never possible to contact customer relations by phone but only by email or fax. The reservation agent, not being customer relations agents, were limited in their knowledge and authorization of this matter. Once I filed a claim for the costs incurred in the 2 weeks we were without our bags, for undergarments, cosmetics, etc, I then followed up with faxing the receipts that totaled $355.

Mr. Rick W of the Customer Relations department informed me that it is the policy of BA to not cover any costs incurred for delayed baggage if the delay occurs when you are arriving in your home country. In 2 weeks of speaking with agents this was NEVER MENTIONED. I expressed my outrage since BA agents told me I would be compensated and advised me to buy what was needed. Furthermore, I bought the items I did because we truly did not have the back up surplus at home that BA assumes we did. It was an inconveinence to have to go out and buy these necessities after returning home form a 21 day trip with 2 small children and then having to return immediately to work and school and keep up with the lost baggage process and not even have enough undergarments to get us past 2 days at a time or shoes for my 5 year old who returned home in sandals and had her tennis shoes in the delayed bags. Despite my appeal, Rick of BA is not willing to reconsider.

Additionally, I filed a claim for our one lost bag of which the contents were valued at a total of $1680.00. I submitted a detailed list of the bag's contents and their values. These were the purchase prices when they were bought years ago. The current value to repurchase them would be much higher. Additionally, some items could not even be replaced based on sentimental value and on the fact that they were puchsed during travels which most like will never happen again. So I was contacted by a Customer Realtions agent on Wednesday May 14, 2008 who informed me that I would be compensated the full amout within their legal limitations of $1630.00. This was despite the fact that I was not able to provide BA with any receipts for the contents of the bag. I expressed that it was unreasonable to expext to see receipts for items that had beed puchased of the course of many years (many of the items were things left behind in a move from Italy to the US from 3 years back). Today, May 19, I was informed by Rick that I would be compensated only $815.00 due to a lack of receipts for proof of value and due to decreased value and wear and tear over time. I requested an appeal and to speak with a manager and I was then advised that the management supported his decision and that the case is closed.

I am out a total of $1200.00. And I have spent at least 5-7 hors dealing with this situation and dealing with ery rude customer relations agents.

the BA officer told me she can't let me go into the aircraft as I was late, I have tried to let her understand that I have no luggage, I had already done the online check-in, and I have got my boarding pass by fax from the BA, she insisted that nothing in her hands, and she offered to change my flight to the next day, even she asked me to pay a penalty for being late, then she told me that is all she can do and if I need to talk with anybody else I have to go to the head office and she gave me the address,

I went to the head office, and they have repeated the same, even if I have done the online check-in I need to go to the counter in the Cairo Airport and go through the normal check in process.

Questions: 1. What is the benefit of the online check-in if I have to go through the normal check-in process? 2. If you have sent me a boarding pass by fax then whey you didn't mention that this boarding pass is useless and I need to go to the airport two hours before the departure time? 3. Who is the responsible for all the losses that I have encountered of not being able to travel today? 4. I am really disappointed with the way BA officers handled my situation.

1 week later my luguage was found but to my suprise when I got it there was some womans stuff in the bags instead of my own, I then called france ba they told me to call uk well needless to say after a week of phone here or there I finally got someone to tell me to call the states. Well I call the states and tell them what happened and asked them what to do with the womans stuff ( perscriptions also) they said simply ( keep it) I said what there are perscriptions then she said oh well hmm take it to the airport then.

then they told me I needed to fax a list of stuff lost which I did they said up to 8 weeks I would hear something. * weeks rolls by and nothing I call and call and call only to be passed around and ignored and told to fax or write because no phones so I could not find out anything. I then got frustrated and emailed which they replied I needed reciepts so i sent them and of course nothing,I called and was told they would be in contact and called again and told well was nothing they could do, so their neglance cost me alot of money and I refuse to ever fly with them again.

I had lost christmas gifts, clothes, and things I needed for the trip only to get a pat on the back saying oh we are sorry. I spent a ton in international calls wasted alot of my vacation trying to resolve plus the money I had to put out for new items to replace all that was lost. I also feel for the lady who had her stuff in my bags especially the perscriptions, British airways is by far the worse airline I ever been on and I will not ever use them again, I lost alot of money and time thanks to them

They would either arrange a hotel for the night or pay me a taxi home.

Arriving in Amsterdam at around 22.00hrs including getting myluggage and through customs there was no BA staff at the airpot.

At that point I had to make my own descision and took a taxi home costing 285 Euro.

In a letter( receit inclosed!!) to Bremen I asked them to please return the costs.

In the return letter they offered me a travel voucher worth 75 Euro!! valid for a year!

I have returned the voucher explaining that I never travel BA,except once every 3 years for a company course.

I also explained that this was not what I was promised by BA staff at Gatwick.

Instead of me getting my money back BA is making me an offer so that they get their money back.

I just received an answer!!

They are very gratefull for my time I have taken to explain my concerns and are looking forward to welcome me on board again soon.

Medications were not available causing him to become ill. Emotional distress due that he has very limited resources to pay for new clothing and items needed for his travel. The claim asks for compensation for items purchased.

I am very angry that my mother is thousands of miles away without her luggage and clothes for 2 weeks. She is coming back on December 12, 2007, which is next week. And who knows where her luggage could be? This is utterly UNACCEPTABLE.

Lesson 1 make sure you get the ground staff to check the computer records. We were advised to arrive at least 3 hours before flight time the next day to ensure that our bags could be retrieved from overnight storage. We then spent a pleasant but unwelcome night at the Hilton.(getting back to Baku one day late cost me a days pay). After a lengthy check in time we arrived at the gate to be told that one bag was there and the other was on the way? but guess what, we arrived in Baku one bag short. This was in the early hours of Sunday the 20th and I finally got my bag back on Wednesday the 23rd. Needless to say the bag while in the hands of the Azeri ground staff had been rifled and my medication in the form of two months supply of tablets had been stolen.

Lesson 2 dont put anything you can not afford to loose in you suitcase. I work for a British company in Baku and there have been numerous occasions when colleagues have lost items from bags that had been delivered late.

It all added up to a very frustrating and expensive exercise which I would not like to repeat. So Lesson 3, in future look at an alternative airline for my visits to the UK

The ticket amount of US $ 2,508.97 that was erroneously charged to my account on 09/01/2006; plus interest charges incurred on the balance on my credit card since the transaction date.