Avianca Passenger Reviews and Avianca Customer Trip Reports   an official 3-Star Airline       Add your Avianca Review   Avianca detailed 3-Star ranking   Airline Reviews : A-Z Index   Customer Review scoring : Avianca   5.2 out of 10 98 reviews

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AVIANCA customer review :  10 May 2012 by Vladimir Rouvinski   (Colombia)

Original itinerary CLO-LIM-EZE cancelled because of the weather conditions, as Avianca Elite member, I was given upgrade with a new itinerary CLO-BOG-EZE. Usual delays and dirty interiors at El Dorado Bogota, but it is not the fault of the airline. Very nice business class section on board of A330. Seats are very comfortable and easily can be turned into almost flat bed. Big screens with a decent choice of recently aired movies. Welcome champagne is offered on boarding as well as amenities such as better-than-usual headphones. Colored menu is given with an interesting choice of meals. A number of cocktails offered with good wine as well. Food is tasteful and served beautifully. Shortly before arrival, another meal is offered. Overall excellent.

AVIANCA customer review :  25 April 2012 by J Furhman   (USA)

Ticketed by Avianca to go Bogota-Mexico City, connecting onto Aeromexico to Los Angeles. I had 2.5 hours to make connection in Mexico City. Physically not possible to arrive in Mexico City, go through immigration, get luggage, clear customs, change to the other terminal, check-in for new flight in that amount of time. Flight left Bogota 45 mins late, but then sat on the runway for 30 minutes. In Mexico City, it took 90 minutes before any luggage arrived. Upon missing the connection, they told me it was my fault, they offered no compensation or accommodation in Mexico City, and suggested I purchase a new ticket. Finally, after 2 hours they agreed to issue me a new ticket. The flight itself was actually quite nice with a good meal and friendly service.

AVIANCA customer review :  24 January 2012 by Hans Roloff   (Germany)

Four flight segments all in Y-class, two pax, senior age. MIA-BOG and BOG-SCL. We picked them because of convenient departure times out of MIA and due to a considerable price difference compared to LAN Chile. All 4 flights - domestic and international - were in almost new Airbus A320 and A330 planes, thus impressively clean. Departure procedures at MIA and BOG international airports were chaotic, the domestic terminal in BOG plus the terminals in Cartagena and Santa Marta are acceptable. Inflight service is ok for the domestic part - the service on international flights is probably the worst we have ever experienced. The only thing they care about is selling onboard duty free items. If you want to save money, take Avianca into consideration, their planes will still be pretty new in 2012 - if you want/need more quality and service, you have to pay the higher fares of LAN!

AVIANCA customer review :  16 December 2011 by Richard Winger   (USA)

There is actually one flight with decent business seats from BOG to JFK, that's AV 20/21 which uses an A330. Very comfortable angled lie flats, with comfy blankets and pillows. The flight north is a late overnight, so food is not a big issue. The flight south leaves early in the morning - make sure to eat something in the lounge because both breakfast and snack are up there with the worst food I have ever tasted on a plane.

AVIANCA customer review :  30 November 2011 by Alex Michaels   (UK)

BUE-PTY. Arrived at Buenos Aires 5.30am for 7.30am flight and the line was unbelievable. Told by customer services that the flight was delayed so not to worry about a 1 hour wait. When I started to ask her about our connection being effected in Bogota she walked off saying she can't help. We went back 30 mins later and there was no one helping out and only 2/3 desks open operating very inefficiently. The flight did leave late and it took about an hour to dump our bags without any information, but once onboard it was good, new seats, AVOD etc and the change over in Bogota was fine. FA's hopeless. I think it's worth paying extra for reliability.

AVIANCA customer review :  28 November 2011 by Pedro Gil   (Colombia)

BOG-JFK in business class. Continue to use A320 on long haul routes which are flights of 6 hrs or more. Business class seats on A320 are only adequate for a 3 hour flight because there is almost no recline or pitch space. Food is the worst thing, 8 out of 10 dishes come with corn, bell peppers and inedible sauces. Planes are new and staff do their job with a smile. Usually there are many delays in Bogota airport due to delays from domestic destinations so I would not recommend for connections. None of the airlines that fly from Bogota to US offer decent business class seats.

AVIANCA customer review :  4 September 2011 by G Kohen   (USA)

BOG-CLO in coach. New A318 with an exit row seat with the seat removed in front of me. Seat felt narrow, but excellent legroom. No snack service offered, just a drink on the short flight. Check in and security was a breeze in Bogota. All in a pretty good experience.

AVIANCA customer review :  8 September 2011 by S Miranda   (USA)

IAD-BOG-GRU. There was bad weather in WAS so we missed our flight from BOG-GRU. They are not required to give you anything except a flight to your destination in the case of an impossible connection. This being said, is they paid for everything, 3 meals and a four star hotel. Their planes are nice, the service alright. They are a little slow in the way they get things done, but other than their organization no bad comments, tickets are cheap, don't expect the best luxury in Economy, but you get a good deal.

AVIANCA customer review :  2 September 2011 by Joel Perez   (Colombia)

Madrid to Cali, seats were comfortable staff pleasant and nice. A330 airbus is welcoming and the service onboard was good. I flew from UK with a connecting flight in Madrid then on to Cali. Aircraft was on time. Menu was nice, especially on flights going to Colombia.

AVIANCA customer review :  11 August 2011 by N Ocampo   (Colombia)

BOG-BCN-MAD-BOG with my two kids. A330-200 very modern, great entertainment system. Seats in Economy are terrible for long-haul and the food was very poor. They were cheap tickets, though.

AVIANCA customer review :  5 August 2011 by Omar Reynoso   (USA)

LIM-BOG-MIA, round-trip. Service was poor, crew members did not smile during the flight, just when leaving the plane. Food was not up to standard. We passed security in Lima with no problems, once we arrived in Bogota we passed another security point even when we are on international connecting flights, and another one once you are called to the waiting room, in addition they called my name to let me know I needed to open my luggage for a random inspection. When I went with my keys, they could not find the luggage. On the plane I tried to watch a movie but even with full volume on my speakerphones I could still hear the plane engines. I saw a bottle of 7-up in beverage/food cart and asked for that, FA said that they did not have any but just coke or apple juice without apologies.

AVIANCA customer review :  1 July 2011 by K Marshall   (UK)

Excellent airline. I flew with them between Bogota-Caracas-Quito-Bogota. Efficient and helpful staff. We were on a rather tight connection in Bogota-Quito and the queue for the security, x ray machine etc. was such that we would miss the flight. I approached a passing lady wearing an Avianca uniform and explained our predicament, within seconds a military lady with rather large gun ran up to us screamed "Quito" and gestured us to follow her. We were whisked to the head of the security queue and escorted to the gate where the ground crew were anxiously scanning for us and on to the flight. Aircraft very clean and flight crew polite and efficient.

AVIANCA customer review :  4 May 2011 by K Warner   (Switzerland)

ZRH-MAD-BOG-CLO on A330-200. Madrid to Bogota was very pleasant, good ground staff, accommodated my last minute seat change request. Friendly cabin crew, plane in great condition with in-seat entertainment system. Compared to competitors (Air France, Iberia) you get great value for money. Only negative, the meal was rather disappointing, quality and quantity wise.

AVIANCA customer review :  25 April 2011 by F Bugg   (Australia)

MIA-BOG-EZE on new A330, clean and in excellent condition. Check it at MIA quick and efficient and priority access through security. Lounge in MIA was America's club which was very basic, but staff friendly. Very friendly Cabin Crew offering Champagne and menus prior to departure. Meal service was quick and efficient - basic for business class but good. Meal on BOG-EZE less substantial than the 3 hour from MIA which I didn't understand and I've received much better quality and quantity of meals when flying Singapore Airlines economy. The seat on the A330 is difficult to sleep, I'm 6'1 and I kept sliding down which made it hard to get comfortable. I found Avianca great value for money - considering its a new product and the US airlines business class on the same legs are old and tired.

AVIANCA customer review :  13 April 2011 by Pedro Gil   (Colombia)

BOG-SCL-BOG. Avianca's new business class is bad. I used to be a fan of Avianca. It's usually a reliable airline but it's new business class is a mess. On short haul (if you can call a 6 hour flight from Bogota to NYC or Santiago short haul) seat comfort is terrible: almost zero recline and ridiculous pitch between rows. On long haul (A330) they just installed new angled seats which are terrible to sleep on. So if you go to Europe, chose Iberia instead (fully flat) and within region, LAN remains unbeatable in comfort and service. In Avianca the food service is also mediocre and the wine choice (Trio and Trivento - both very average) is the same for 24 months now. The only good elements are IFE on demand and the flight attendants who are friendly. Boarding in Bogota is a mess (no priority lanes) and lounge is also mediocre, without enough seats on peak periods.

AVIANCA customer review :  14 March 2011 by Richard Winger   (USA)

JFK-MED-BOG-JFK, Avianca business class is taking a rapid nose dive. It's not just that food is getting worse (the new menu to NYC is basically inedible), you can't get a glass of wine on domestic routes (free rum and whiskey only), the uncomfortable A320 turns up on more and more NYC routes and the lounges are stuffy and overcrowded. The most disappointing part of the service is that Avianca makes absolutely no effort to ease the way for premium passengers through the deplorable Colombian airports. There are no dedicated security lines, no fast track through immigration (which can take up to two hours in BOG on bad days) and when you finally make it to the plane, there is no priority boarding. Obviously, equal misery for all is a well tested concept - it's called the discount airline. That seems to be where Avianca is headed - surely, with its present state of service, there is no way to mistake it for the serious world class airline it wants to be. The only reason I keep recommending Avianca is because Delta, Continental and American are hardly attractive alternatives. But if LAN ever opened a route between NY and Colombia.

AVIANCA customer review :  14 March 2011 by Pedro Gil   (Colombia)

BOG-JFK return business. Most of the time Avianca uses A319/320 in this route. These planes have a terrible business class seat, with limited recline. They are good for a 2 hour flight but not for a long flight such as BOG-JFK (aprox 6 hours). If you are lucky to fly 767 or the new A330 in this route you will have a good service from Avianca, but not in these smaller planes. AVOD has a decent choice and food service was OK (although I think that travellers would prefer a breakfast before arrival at 6am than a dinner at departure time on mid-night). It's sad to see Avianca placing a bet on this seat configuration for long routes such as Santiago or JFK, since comfort level is substandard.

AVIANCA customer review :  24 February 2011 by Cristiano Miro   (USA)

Miami-Bogota-Guayaqui-Bogota-Fort Lauderdale. With the exception of BOG-GYE on a Fokker100, all segments on a new A320. Good legroom and large individual touch-screen entertainment- including a nice pillow, blanket and quality head-seats. A small but tasty meal is served, with colombian coffee and good-quality whisky. All free of charge! Female flight attendants are courteous and attentive, but their male counterparts can be less so. One downside, not Avianca's fault, is the international wing at Bogota's Eldorado airport. Completely uninspiring, not providing even an intercom system. Flights are called by the gate agents in loud voices, as if we were in a bus station. However, major construction is already underway and it should improve considerably the experience for the connecting passenger. All is all, this is one of my favourite airlines when flying to South America. Not top-notch, but above average at competitive prices.

AVIANCA customer review :  9 January 2011 by J Escobar   (UK)

JFK-BOG-MDE. Overnight flight from JFK on A319. Ground staff efficient, and did a good job of trying to control excessive luggage. Still, overhead bin room ran out fast, with arguments ensuing. Onboard service fairly dismal - a small cold wrap offered by a mostly unfriendly and uninterested crew,e xcept one young FA. Cabin felt excessively hot and uncomfortable. Seats fitted with PTVs but uncomfortable. Only water round was before landing on a 5 hour flight - not even OJ offered. Connection in BOG at dawn was fairly easy. Domestic flight was on an A320, fine legroom for a short segment. A drink offered. Crew seemed much more professional and interested in doing their job than the ones on international flights.

AVIANCA customer review :  7 January 2011 by Vladimir Rouvinski   (Colombia)

CLO-BOG-SMR return. All flights on time, new A320, economy cabin seat equipped with a footrest and IFE offering good choice of short movies, music and flight info. Juan Valdez coffee, juices and small snacks are served. In addition, web check-in is working and useful.

AVIANCA customer review :  2 January 2011 by P Vernall   (Canada)

BOG-MED-BOG in economy class. Flights late both ways with no explanation. No announcements in English only Spanish so you just have to follow the crowd. Inflight service is virtually non existant with the exception of lousy coffee. For a Country that exports some of the best coffee in the world Avianca serves the sludge. Shame as the flight attendants look good in their uniforms but that is where it ends.