British Airways
Airline in Outdoors & travel
People recommend its premium cabins for extra legroom and a private-jet feel. Critics say refunds and customer service break down during outages.
People recommend its premium cabins for extra legroom and a private-jet feel. Critics say refunds and customer service break down during outages.
15 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 6
- criticize it
- 9
- approval share
- 40%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 6 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 0.6 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Premium cabin with extra legroom
“we actually ended up with premium seats with extra leg room”
Comment from 12 Jun 2026 in “Ryanair dark UX patterns summer 2026 refresher” “It felt like a private jet up there, very cool.”
Comment from 28 Jun 2026 in “The Boeing 747 Begins Its Final Descent”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Refunds and cancellations handled poorly
“Try cancelling a flight on British Airways months in advance.”
Comment from 17 Jun 2026 in “Sixty percent of US consumers say 'AI' in brand messaging is a turnoff” “so I did not receive my money back”
Comment from 4 May 2026 in “Let's Buy Spirit Air” “I tried in 2017 with BA when their system went down and received nothing.”
Comment from 8 Sep 2026 in “Flights cancelled at UK airports due to ATC issue” Weak service during system outages
“I tried in 2017 with BA when their system went down and received nothing.”
Comment from 8 Sep 2026 in “Flights cancelled at UK airports due to ATC issue” “our business model precludes timely responses in times of system stress”
Comment from 8 Sep 2026 in “Flights cancelled at UK airports due to ATC issue”
What people recommend instead
The same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delta Air Lines | 11 | 8 | 58% | 9 | — | — |
| British AirwaysThis page | 6 | 9 | 40% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
14 of the 15 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“BA sells the accent folks. not service.”
“Along the way they tried every scummy tactic that exists”
“our business model precludes timely responses in times of system stress”
“I tried in 2017 with BA when their system went down and received nothing.”
“For British it was in 1976.”
“Western Airlines ( American, British, Lufthansa, KLM,Qantas)”
“a failure that merely burned money”
“It felt like a private jet up there, very cool.”
“Try cancelling a flight on British Airways months in advance.”
“we actually ended up with premium seats with extra leg room”
“all have curbstomped my American Airlines and British Airways experiences”
“so I did not receive my money back”
“In the EU, Lufthansa, KLM, BA, etc. I trust the low cost carriers in the EU more than the ones in the US”
“the airline and telecom privatisations were largely successful”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.