First up in my Airline App review series are British Airways, whose app is available on all major platforms (iOS/Android/Windows/Amazon/BBOS). In recent months, BA have continually improved their app, mainly by using frequent flyer forums like Flyertalk to recruit regular travellers to assist in beta testing the app prior to a release.

British Airways (BA) App

The BA app is a very user-friendly, well designed app that covers all the key search requirements that go far beyond just booking a flight.

Once into the app there are 4 options available to you.

• Plan a Trip – Gives you a straight forward, simple tool to book a single or return ticket.
• My Searches – Stores previous enquiries you may have made. As the app feeds any promotions and low fare finder deals to it, you can use it to do a good amount of research.
• Cheapest Fares – Enables you to filter by region/travel class/nights away to build up a view of the cheapest fares available on any route for the next 11 months.
• Reward Flights – Have Avios? Use this to see how far they can take you.

Booking a flight has been made simple and clear while giving you all the options the full website will (excluding multi city/stopovers).

Select your departure and arrival airports, the dates you wish to travel on and the class you want to travel in. Once this is done and you have your price, providing you are logged into your account, the app will bring up your Avios balance and offer any money off options open to you.

Finally, if you have a household account this is where you can assign multiple tickets if travelling in a party, or buy a ticket for someone other than yourself. You can then use your pre-stored payment details (or add if you prefer) to pay. Confirmation is fast and delivers your booking reference on the final screen. Email confirmation follows shortly after.

24 hours before your departure the app notifies you that check in is open.

Opening the app prompts you to check in and, if eligible, select your seat and inform on you baggage amount. If there are known delays it will notify you here. During the next 24 hours if any delays do arise, the app will notify you.

Once you have confirmed your details you are checked in. The app then provides you with a boarding pass which gets stored in your mobile wallet.

A full list of mobile v iPad features can be found here.

Final Thoughts

The BA app is a great, yet powerful tool that gives you access to all the options you need from their full website to research and book flights. In the latest version they have added connecting flight boarding pass access for those travelling multiple sectors.

Good Points

• Constantly being improved with feedback from regular travellers.
• New tablet version.
• Keeps you updated on your day of travel.

Bad Points

• Many still get a paper boarding pass in case of a flat battery!
• Barcode scanning on the self check in machines not great.
• Need greater Avios and multi city support.

For those using Apple there is support for Apple Watch.