The worlds favourite airline? (British Airways in general)

Member Name: frankie1984

Product:	British Airways in general
Date:	19/06/08 (199 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Professional, great staff and food

Disadvantages: Can sometimes have delayed luggage

I have flown with British Airways on numerous occasions and so will share my views on them.

The company:
British airways is a British company and the national carrier of the UK. They have bases at the majority of the main UK airports including London Heathrow, London Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow. They operate a fleet of 20 different size aircrafts including Boeing aircraft and Airbuses.
The company fly both short haul and long haul routes from the UK and also has an alliance with 'Oneworld' which means there are more routes available to customers and the airlines in the alliance include American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, Lan Airlines, Malév, Qantas and Royal Jordanian. The airline also operate a codeshare agreement with their oneworld alliance members as well as other selected airlines which means that you can book with British airways and may be flying on of their codeshare partner aircrafts.

Booking:
Booking with British airways can be done in a variety of ways. Customers can either book through an agency who will book the flights for them, You can book on their webiste which is ba.com or you can book over the phone with them. As a general rule it is better to book directly with them as you will get the best rates and normally booking on the website will mean you can sometimes take advantage of offers they have on.
Once you have booked with them they will send you an E-ticket with your booking reference on.

Checking in:
You can check in for British airways flights online on their website which will mean it will be quicker at the airport as all you need to do then is go and print your boarding card from the self service machine. If you don't have access to check in online you can check in as normal at the check in desks.

Staff:
The staff I have ever come into contact with have always been really good and I always notice how friendly they are. The staff are usually trained to a pretty high standard and even though they are a British company they do try to recruit staff that can speak a foreign language.

Flying with them:
I have only ever flown economy with British airways but they do operate a business class and first class service too. A lot of their aircrafts have leather seating and on short and long haul routes customers are served a meal. I personally really love their breakfast meals as find they are really yummy!! Depending on what flight you are on you may be served more than one meal as well as snacks.
The flights I have ever taken with them have always been pretty smooth and professional in service levels within the cabin by the crew.

Luggage:
Customers with British airways can take hand baggage up to 10kgs as well as hold baggage up to 23kgs. This is probably the only area I've ever experienced problems with British airways as they have had my luggage delayed a couple of times but this could also be due to the baggage handlers at individual airports so I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt here as it could and has, also happened with other airlines too!

Cost:
Bristish airways offers flight from around £49 before tax so they do offer good rates for a good scheduled service. Costs for a long haul route can start form as little as £120 to New york before tax so they do offer pretty competitive rates!

Overall opinion:
I do like British airways as they do offer a professional service and I like that they do nice food. They also have really good staff which is always really important as after all they are looking after you!
I would highly recommend British airways to anyone wanting a great service although I can't honestly say that they're the world's favourite airline!!

Summary: A good choice for a scheduled airline