Here is an example of what BA will do (or not) if there is a problem with your flight:

I was booked on a flight from London Heathrow to Singapore in economy class although at around 700 Pounds it can hardly be called a budget price.

On arriving at the airport I was told that due to a baggage system failure I could not check in any luggage and would have to fly with hand luggage only or re-book for another day.

One final insult was that I could pay to upgrade to first class and travel with my bags no problem. They suggested a service at the airport to send on my suitcase but when I went to enquire how long it would take, I decided 10 days was a bit too much for a 2 week holiday !

So I joined the queue for rechecking for the next day. Strangely they had decided to make the queue go from the desk through the nearest door outside into the cold where they were handing out blankets and sandwiches for what was obviously intended to be a long wait.

Meanwhile Qantas who were affected by the same airport problem were accepting their passengers with bags to the same destination.

I think it was about 2 hours later whe we were handed out leafets saying the desk would be closing and we might not get there before then. It was suggested we telephone for the re-booking.

Another leaflet said they were unable to find us a hotel for the night but would pay I think it was about £80 towards a hotel if we found our own. Well I went to the hotel booking place at the airport and was told most were full and all that was left would cost £210 for the night.

Not wanting to spend that much on a hotel, I decided to drive home and back again the next day.

Well the next day I saw they were now not accepting bags for anyone regardless of ticket class so I boxed up my things and sent them by UPS.

So I was a day late arriving in Singapore, my belongings took 5 days to reach me, I had paid £130 for UPS and I still had to pay for the missed hotel night and the missed days car hire. My camera tripod which was essential to my photo trip was too big for the hand luggage so I was unable to do anything for 5 days.

So what did BA offer in compensation ? £100 voucher off a future flight which can't be used on the web and "something towards" the UPS cost. Nothing for the wasted hotels, car hire and nothing for the petrol to get me home even though I saved them £80 in hotel claims and more in taxi and meal claims.

Well BA, I can guarantee your voucher will never be used. Frankly I would rather pay £200 extra to book with any other airline than give any more money to a company with such poor customer service.

I am not saying things can never go wrong but a good measure of a company is what they do to put things right. See my Continental review for an example of how it should work.

Flight to/from Rio
I already had this flight booked before the above problem so this is my last BA flight. No problems to report - it seems they are fine when nothing goes wrong. Food was actually rather good, entertainment system good. They boxed up my monopod when security stopped me taking it as hand luggage and it arrived in one piece. Someone enquired if everything was now OK at the gate having helped me previously with regard to the monopod.