British Airways Terrible customer service, no sympathy at all Internet

I quit using 3rd party agencies years ago. Nothing really wrong with them when all goes well but in cases like yours or when problems keep you from making your flight there becomes a jurisdictional battle between you, the 3rd party ticketing agency and the airline. Theoretically there shouldn't be a problem but there often is. The airline is irritated because you might have gotten a cheaper ticket than they would have sold you and they are not interested in helping you out of a crisis.

I've always had good luck with BA and back in the '90's when I flew them a lot the service level was better (in my opinion) than the American airlines. I never had a problem at Dulles but I always got to the check in counter at least 3 hours early.

Karl - Clovis (U.S.A.) wrote: "buy a ticket directly from British Airways website"   
 
Not a good idea, in my opinion,  since you will be charged an intenational transaction fee on your purchase. In my case it cost me an extra $24-$25 more.  See:
 
http://www.ripoffreport.com/airlines/british-airways/british-airways-overcharged-o-e7316.htm#

First off -always buy a ticket directly from the airline's web site. Numerous problems occur (as documented on ROR) with third party booking agencies especially when you have to cancel or change a flight.

I've taken BA from Dulles numerous times. You need to get to the airport at least 2 to 3 hours before flight time just to avoid check in delays. This is an international flight and security checks need to be factored in. Public transport is not the problem. You just got to the airport too late. With an hour before the flight even if the line was short it was dubious whether you could make the flight. Transatlantic flights leave in peak times and LOTS of them leave from Dulles in the evening. Better planning would have avoided this problem. It is not the fault of BA. The Indians at the front of the line made the flight.