Avianca Passenger Reviews and Avianca Customer Trip Reports

Recently flew 4 flights with Avianca throughout Colombia (BOG/MED/CTG/BOG) and was a pleasant experience on every one. Check in was a breeze and all flights departed on time. Quite comfortable on board and staff were very accommodating. On one flight to Costa Rica I was delayed a day due to not having my yellow fever certificate with me. Check in staff at Cartagena were more than understanding and helpful of the situation. For the price I paid it's the best value airline I have flown. Other people have had problems accessing cheap flights with a foreign credit card but with a bit of research I found a way to access them.

BOG to ADZ (San Andres Isla) on March 31st and back on April 4th: everything went smoothly, flights on time operated by nice and new planes with comfortable seats and good service delivered with a smile. Both A320 had the personal TV screen which is not common on a less than 2hr flight and a good entertainment system (suffering some rebooting problems during the return flight). Tickets not very cheap though (USD 900 for two persons) but very close to the only two competitors available for this route (LAN and COPA). The only problem with Avianca national flights is the Puente Aereo terminal they use in Bogota, kind of small and overcrowded building while the brand new international terminal (El Dorado) is a state of the art facility. Will surely consider to fly again with them in the future.

18/3/2013, BCN-BOG-PEI. Easy check in at BCN airport, smooth boarding and reasonable comfort seat on A330. Transfer in Bogota without complications to flight to Pereira on A321. All on time. Inflight entertainment is very good, meals basic but okay. Friendly staff. 2/4/2013, PEI-BOG-MAD, checked in too late to have baggage labelled to Madrid, had to collect baggage in Bogota and check them in for flight to Madrid. To have this done you need to be there 3 hours before your flight leaves. Bogota is airport is very efficient, checking in baggage was done quick. Worth doing this option as to wait for 3 hours on flight at Pereira airport. Flight to Madrid, left and arrived on time. Good service, will definitely fly Avianca again. Very good value for money.

MAD-BOG, business class. Cheaper than Iberia, sometimes much cheaper. Overall, not bad, but certainly does not let you feel "special" as when flying with the Middle East companies. Food is good. Staff are kind, but not attentive. Don't provide pyjamas. Food is served in trays and the table is not laid for you, they will just give you a set of cutlery. Linen are cheap quality, not sure if it is cotton. In the bathroom, low quality paper towels. Toothbrush is in two pieces and is uncomfortable to hold. No razor nor shaving cream. Only a dozen films to choose from.

Flew from Bogota to Neiva, and the Fokker 50 turboprop-powered plane was noisy. The views of the Andes were excellent though. The drinks were good but the coffee was not very tasty, which is odd for a Colombian airline.

JFK to BOG on March 19th in Business class. Check in was quick, however, made to wait in a long line before being let into the dedicated business class line. Directed to the Swiss Airlines Lounge which is nice enough. Onboard, everything was great. Flight attendants were nice and helpful. The toilets were clean and usable. Seat (1K) was comfortable enough but they should definitely have the option to lie flat for longer flights. Gave us amenity kits which contained L'Occitane products. One of the biggest selling points for Avianca is their Inflight Entertainment System. Served breakfast shortly after take off and it was rather good but afterwards flight attendants disappeared until one hour before landing. I would expect to be offered drinks or other services in between. Arrival had no issues and the new international terminal in Bogota has made a huge difference for international travelers since the building is comfortable, making visitors feel welcome. Hopefully, they will continue to improve their service.

Mar 12 from UIO via BOG and MAD to ZRH in Economy. Flight from BOG to MAD was on AV 26, with an Airbus 330-200. My aisle seat was very comfortable, and fortunately I brought my own entertainment for the flight, because in-flight entertainment from Avianca is very basic. The worst was the service and the quality and quantity of the food. The stewards were never seen in the cabin except during the meal distribution. During the flight we got two small hot meals which were both poor in quality. I had much preferred a single, but better quality hot meal, and before the landing a small snack. I got a cheap ticket on Avianca, for this reason I don't complain, and next time I will bring food for the flight. Avianca is fine if you can get a really cheap ticket from Colombia to Europe.

Flight from Madrid via Bogota to Cartagena on March 10. Check-in staff at Madrid unfriendly, I had only one bag with 23.8 kg and they made me remove exactly 0.8 kg, otherwise I had to pay baggage excess. Departure on time, but flight turbulent. No information that flight would be one hour longer than expected. Seat pitch poor. Food okay, nothing special and small portions. Due to turbulence, no drinks were served, but we were not able to stand up due to seat belts sign being on for almost 8 of 11 hours flight. Dinner served before landing but in such a rush, only water was served with it. Change of plane in Bogota, change to domestic terminal with bus, due to delay - less than an hour to reach the flight. Connecting flight on time, crew a little bit arrogant and poor English skills. No food served on one hour flight! Only some coffee, cheap juices, or water. Positive: in seat screens even on the domestic flight, but don't need this really. Bag did not arrive and had to pick it up at the airport, no delivery to hotel offered!

LHR-MAD-BOG-PEI (return) 29 Jan and 6 Mar 2013. Suitcase checked straight through to destination both ways, no customs check in Colombia. Departure level of new Bogota airport now operational and efficient. Uncomfortable 2-hour queue to have case contents briefly checked in Pereira airport on return leg. No electric fans or air-conditioning in the humid airport. Presented with another passenger's boarding card PEI-BOG and a surly attitude for the correct exchange. Bogota airport shop prices extortionate. LHR-MAD sector on Iberia: must pay for any food and drink. I had pre-booked special meals 6 weeks earlier BOG-MAD. Once on board the cabin crew made absolutely no effort to identify myself as recipient, as had been my experience on many Europe - Far Eastern trips. It was a night flight with evening dinner and breakfast being served. On deplaning the chief steward showed me the diet printout with my correct name and seat number, being one of only three, and admitted it should have been served. Stewardess on my section claimed I had been 'asleep'.

Took various international and domestic flights with Avianca in February and was mostly very impressed. Good IFE, fairly good food and quite helpful cabin crew (though not entirely smiley). Even had IFE on jet-based domestic flights so was able to keep entertained with Solitaire! Seating very comfortable on domestic legs, but tight on international flights. Competing with Iberia probably keeps standards low on flights out of Madrid. Most flights on time though on two of the domestic flights, one of our group's luggage went missing (though was sent on soon after). Am not convinced we will be able to check in online for our Cartegena to Bogota to Madrid flights but we will see and I will review those legs separately.

Very good service. BOG-JFK-BOG. Aircraft A330 brand new. Crew members very helpful and polite. Food was good. Business class seats very comfortable and on board service very good. Check in at the counters fast and efficient. I have flown other airlines all over the world but this one is for me among the best in the scale of services they offer.

SDQ-BOG-CCS-BOG-SDQ. A320/330, Business class. A320 interior clean and comfy. A330 worn out and 170 degrees flat seats, not important on 1.5 hr flight. Food is not the best. Only one choice, pasta on all sectors, no wine or spirit list. Crew polite but not really interested and very poor English. As far as lounges are concerned its a farce. The Bogota lounge is a section of the departure haul. No wine, no spirits, a few cheap sandwiches and a little fridge with a couple of beers. The fridge was locked and does not unlock till after 4pm. Unbelievable. CCS - no lounge. Will not use them anymore.

3 legs with them: UIO-BOG (operated by AeroGal) and BOG-MDE-BOG. Everything okay in the air with nice planes (A320), smiling crews and overall a good service. Late arrival in Medellin due to foggy conditions. Problems start on the ground: I had to change my return ticket from Medellin and this was easily done in less than 5 minutes, but, was told, I should pay the USD 40 modification fee in Medellin. Upon arrival in MDE I directly went to the ticket counter in the departure hall. After one hour in line I decided to leave. Later in the afternoon I found another Avianca office in Medellin - another 45 minutes before I could talk with an employee. My simple operation took 20 minutes. Never had such an experience before with any of the many airlines I have flown . My final rate is 8 for the air service and 3 for the ground service, that they should absolutely improve or they are going to loose many customers, including myself, in the future.

SSA-SDU on Friday Jan 4. Brand new A320. Great IFE for a 1hr 40 min flight. Hot sandwiches. Good beverages. Smiles from the crew. Expensive ticket but much cheaper than the competition.

Flew JFK-BOG-GRU on an Avianca's A330 and other then the fantastic fare, appearance of the aircraft, and warm attitude of the crew, it is not worth flying Business Class. The seat is extremely uncomfortable if you try to sleep and the lack of international standards in service, makes you wonder why didn't you fly coach! Again, the crew cannot be nicer, but their disregard for the basic concepts of business class service could be amusing if they did not include things such as not picking up glasses before landing and the way they serve meals.

BSB-GRU in A320. No thrills, reasonable legroom, good individual IFE system for a domestic route. Would be a good option if the company had a more robust network and consistent and reliable services.

Cali-Bogota-Barcelona. Disappointed by Avianca this time. Check-in at Cali airport chaotic, extremely slow service and employee at counter robotic. Changed our previous pre-selected seats without comment. Cali-Bogota delayed 30 minutes, arrival at Bogota at domestic Puente Aereo. 20 mins waiting time for bus transfer to international terminal. Fortunately we had 3.5 hrs connecting time, less is too tight! Long queues at emigration. Plane Bogota-Barcelona full. New A330-200 but not very well maintained - seats and carpet had stains, trash in seat pocket. Some staff friendly, others were not and uninterested. No help placing handbags in the bins. Inflight service mediocre. Food quality bad (chicken was dry and rice tasteless), only plastic cutlery. Beverage service average. Poor headphone quality and also uncomfortable, so it was not a great entertainment experience. Recommend to bring own headphones. After meal service crew disappeared, drinks only upon request during the night. Very bad breakfast before landing served in a hurry 1 hour prior to land, coffee was a shame for a Colombian airline. Seats uncomfortable for such a long flight. Entertainment box under the seat took me precious legroom. Staff at de-boarding tired and not so friendly. All in all, average experience, imagined service and comfort would be better. Customer service and food quality and quantity should be improved.

Flew BOG-MAD and BCN-BOG, Business cabin both ways, on time, excellent service by very nice flight attendants, good food. Very satisfied by their quality.

JFK-BOG-Bucaramanga (round trip). Trips went fine with the exception of a 3 hr delay going from JFK-BOG and had to take the 5pm plane to Bucaramanga, the trip back home was better than last year! Both flights on time, food great and staff friendly and helpful!

BAQ-MEX. With one stop in BOG to change planes. A319 from Barranquilla (BAQ) to Bogotá (BOG). Quick flight, nice service, only beverages in that short flight. Arrived to Bogotá, Puente Aéreo is a chaos. Connecting flight on time. Long queue in emigration but not so annoying. Staff friendly on gate. Inflight service attentive and nice. Lunch was delicious with a good selection of beverages and coffee. The only drawback was IFE, not good sound. Seats must improve for a flight of 4 hours. Will use them again.

J Class flight BOG-BCN. New aircraft (A33-200), good seating although not lie-flat, nice comforter but tiny economy class-like pillows. Crew helpful and attentive, offered preflight drinks (a decent Chilean sparkling and coconut lemonade), good quality amenity and sleeping kits, and food and beverage menu The only disappointment was food. Very poor sausage canapés and shrimp "ceviche", and as a main course, a horrible dish of chicken legs in a kind of passion fruit sauce, or a hard, over-cooked pepper steak. Good beverage offer, the wine list has improved. Overall, a nice and very punctual flight.

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Trip Rating :  6/10

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