yiannis47

On my way home on the 1st of January 2017 (Athens to LHR) the flight BA633 had 3 hours delayed departure. Despite the fact this ticket costs £220 and an addition of a £20 for a seat which later came down to only £8 and an astonishing 70 euros for luggage the only thing that we were offered in flight was a sandwich. No headphones for us to watch the in flight entertainment and also the plain had an electrical fault on the lights on the panels above the seats for which I had to inform the crew.
Before the flight I was threatened to be bitten by the supervisor of the BA because I simply dared to complaint about the prolonged delay.
This company is going down fast and I will be happy to see this happening if it was not for some hardworking crew members which try to salvage the reputation of BA.
I will try not to fly them again. They are worse than Ryan air. At least with Ryan air you know what to expect.
BA has the logo to fly to serve I think it should be changed: to Fly to rip off and make your lives a heal on the air.

suze

<Before the flight I was threatened to be bitten by the supervisor>

"bitten"? Really??? That's a first.

janisj

I don't think BA will miss your patronage . . .

P_M

I used to be BA's #1 fan but not any more because their award tickets have such expensive fees.

The problem is that you can't take your business elsewhere because the competitors are all charging for dumb stuff too. Here in the US I fly Southwest Airlines whenever possible since they are the last ones left who do not charge for checked luggage or changes to your ticket. I look forward to the days when they start flying to Europe. Fingers crossed that will be soon.

joto

Well, TT. We were delayed by 3hrs in EDI on the 30th by fog at LHR, and missed our plane to LAX. BA did rebook us on the same flight the following day, 31st Dec, and also booked a hotel room for us at their expense, granted it wasn't the Ritz, but it was adequate. They did help out when it wasn't exactly their fault that the fog was delaying most flights to or from LHR. I do find your complaints a little over the top for what seems to be a minor inconvenience. My DH's ear phones also did not work, but he just read and slept for most of the journey, and didn't complain once, and we were squashed into economy.

Sue_xx_yy

yiannis47:

Hello, I hope you enjoyed your trip other than the flight.

If you want service over and above a sandwich, it is available in business class. You get fancier food, complimentary champagne if you want it; a guaranteed window or aisle seat, an included baggage allowance of two checked bags up to 32 kg, and access to the business class lounge if there is one in ATH. The seats tend to be big and comfy.

Sounds nice, doesn't it. There is one catch...

And that is, you can shop for airfares on the basis of price or service, but you can't get both. You also will pay more, on average, if you fly at peak times (January 1 falls in the peak Christmas season so I would not be surprised if you paid more than average.)

For what you paid, you were in their 'Euro Traveller' class, which is their way of saying you flew in Economy. I have checked the webiste and while they mention having onboard entertainment, I can't find BA's policy on headphones in their economy classes. On some airlines, and usually for long haul flights, they are complimentary; on others, one will pay a fee of around $5.

They do offer complimentary newspapers, the advantage of which those papers won't break down, as in-flight systems sometimes do.

The light over the seat is annoying, but you got to London in one piece. That is today's economy class on any airline, enjoy.

historytraveler

I can only assume you don't fly much. It's only about a 2 1/2 hour flight from Athens to LHR and you expect more than a sandwich? You have to have something to eat in that short time period? Actually you're probably lucky you got a sandwich most airlines in the US. would only have offered a soft drink and small pkg. of pretzels with a 2 1/2 hour flight.

BA posts all the information needed regarding baggage fees so you should've been aware of that beforehand, and their fees are much the same as other airlines. Since you apparently have no idea as to what caused the delay, complaining about it seems silly. Have to agree with the other posters.

suze

<This company is going down fast>

I kinda doubt that.

WoinParis

I fully understand OP complaining.
When I fly I expect to be treated VIP with the red carpet the champagne and two hostesses for me only. of course I pay peanuts.

We were discussing yesterday horror stories of air travel and I said I have been very lucky not to have any to tell.

Then my wife reminded me my train is sometimes one hour late.
Then she reminded me I had 2 flights canceled.
Then one that was 2 hours late didn't land at destination and came back.
Then ...
Basically I am happy when my flight lands - best in time - or within 2-3 hours of schedule.
As for sandwich I much prefer to have none for short flights if is more of a nuisance than a service.

And I have never been bitten or threatened to be.

My guess is that I ask much more politely when a flight is late. Or don't ask at all. Flight crew are usually not the cause of the delay and would prefer to be on time ime.

michelhuebeli

I recently flew BA DEN-LHR-ZRH. In Denver there was new snow and de-icing was needed - all planes had to taxi way out to the de-icing stations and take turns, so we left two hours late. The crew were quietly professional, the captain kept apologizing and updating us regularly - just one of those things.

Expressing one's dissatisfaction to the flight crew, especially in an agitated manner, rarely makes sense if it is a matter of delays and such - the flight attendants don't cause the delays, they can't help the delays, and - as WoinParis said - they'd rather be on time just like you and me.

HappyTrvlr

Almost every flight we have taken recently has had delays, mechanical errors, etc. This is for both international and domestic(US) flights.How about waiting in my seat for one and hours on the tarmac before taking off on a 16.5 hour flight? It happens.

michelhuebeli

My first flight was sixty years ago, on a Caravelle. Having lived in Europe, Australia, and the U.S., and travelled extensively between those for fun and for work, not counting legions of other trips, umpteen times over the sixty years, it still amazes me that we can expect - and often get - an arrival within minutes of the scheduled time. Vancouver to Sydney within five minutes, despite all the vagaries like winds and such - amazing...

I can't time my trip on a Friday night from home to the symphony that closely.

So I don't complain about delays - as long as I get decent treatment, I'm fine. I have nutrition bars and water with me, Kleenex, reading material and music with headphones; I can wait until the professionals have resolved the problems.

Smeagol

You don't normally have to bag for baggage on BA unless you purchased a hand baggage only seat.....
Whilst I do think BA are trading on a former reputation I would NEVER compare BA to Ryan Air- now they really are awful.....

sassy27

I won't ever fly BA again after some bad experiences on a trip a few years ago. The last dig was the they send me via text when they told me my luggage didn't make the connecting flight. Funny as my mom's made it but not mine. My brother was also delayed more than 10 hrs due to them not being able to print boarding passes. He didn't get an apology or anything because he didn't know any better and was just glad to get home.

HappyTrvlr

Only a sandwich on a 2.5 hr flight? We fly across the US dining inflight on peanuts and pretzels.

CarolA

MY experience is that most airline crew get "rude" after the passenger has made an Xss out of themselves and "rude" is code word for "When I pitched a fit they didn't do what they want' In this case apparently when OP demanded the plane take off NOW regardless of why something happened. But honestly how does an airline rep threaten to bite someone. I just can't even imagine that conversation....

Of course the "I will never fly airline X threat" really means "unless of course they are the cheapest option and then I will change my mind" LOL!