BA and their surcharges (British Airways in general)

Member Name: Antani78

Product:	British Airways in general
Date:	30/12/08 (158 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Free miles

Disadvantages: not so free

I have been flying with British Airways in the last 14 years, primarily for business and also on leisure, mainly using the airmiles I clocked up on my trips. Depending on the year, I did between 15 and 30 return flights on business to the following destination, Lisbon, Madrid, Barcelona, Milan, Prague, Geneve, Rome, Moscow, Johannesburg and few more.

I like their business lounges in London, which are large and well stocked with food and drinks and overall I am also satisfied with the quality of their planes. The flight to Johannesburg has got large reclinable seats, so that you can more or less get a good sleep on your way there, while the flight to Moscow, which is more or less the same flying time as the one to Israel, is much more crowded and not very comfortable.

The thing I like the less about British Airways si that they are supposed to reward you with free miles each time you flight. For example a return flight to Johannesburg shold earn you enough miles for a free flight to Switzerland, but then when you try and redeem these supposedly free miles, you have to pay not only airport taxed, which are already punitive, but also all the "fuel surcharges" that British Airways levy you. These charges were the same when the oil was at 140 dollars and when it was at 40 dollars. If I promise you something free, I should not ask you to pay surcharges or staff like that. I think BA are really pushing it abit further here.

In terms of service on board, they are well trained and generally professional, but I can see the difference in the way we are treated when I fly in business and when I fly in economy and I do not like it either. In business they are much more servile than when I fly in economy.

Summary: I do nto like these surcharges