Avianca

Customer Reviews

3 star Skytrax Rating
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Seat Comfort 12345
Staff Service 12345
Value for Money 12345
Customer rating from 707 reviews
3/10
3 star Skytrax Rating
Filter Reviews by :
Show
1/10

"waiting for 120 days+ now for a refund"

(United States)

Not Verified | Worst airline ever! The airline decided to change my flights to a completely different day, so that was not going to work so. So now I've been currently been waiting for 120 days+ now for a refund. I've made many, many calls, and emails, and created case after case. Escalated said cases to the "supervisor of the department" that conveniently does not have a direct phone line (lies). A simple refund has turned into a whole event and hours and hours and months of my time wasted. If you like yourself and you want to enjoy your life, just do yourself and never use this airline for anything.
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteMiami to San Jose
Date FlownOctober 2021
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
1/10

"couldn't care less attitude from Avianca"

(Spain)

Not Verified | Avianca lost our luggage on our route from Barcelona / Madrid / Bogota / Cartagena, they sub contracted our first part to Iberia and now say our journey started in Madrid (lies). Our luggage which should have been transferred from Barcelona to Cartagena did not arrive and they say they cannot find because the baggage ticket must have come off, so we arrived on our family visit without our clothes and presents for the family which we had bought. We have had to return to Cartagena airport twice in order to fill in their baggage reclaim form but they have not been in touch to say sorry or admit any responsibility. Poor service and couldn't care less attitude from Avianca.
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteBarcelona to Cartagena via Madrid / Bogota
Date FlownJuly 2022
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Wifi & Connectivity 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
1/10

"fly a different airline"

(United States)

Trip Verified | They have single-handedly almost ruined my wedding . They have cancelled my entire families flights without any notification and changed them to days before. The App doesn’t work, the customer service reps don’t pick up the phone, even when you call the system constantly hangs up on you. The baggage fees are insane. 120 dollars per bag is ridiculous. My flight has been changed three times in the last 2 weeks without my consent and my fiancé is extremely sad and nervous to even fly with a company that does not care about its passengers =. Save yourself the headache and fly a different airline.
Type Of TravellerBusiness
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteBogota to Cartagena
Date FlownJune 2022
Value For Money 12345
no
1/10

"never fly again with this airline"

(United States)

Trip Verified | The worst airline that can rip you off when it comes to checking in and luggage as well. The app doesnt work therefore you cant check in your luggage. one rep told us to take screen shots of errors on the app, so we did, When we were on line to check the rep said that she could not do anything. I insisted to speak with a supervisor, none around. We had to check in 3 bags, they charged us $120 each total of $360, this was on our way to Honduras from Miami. We then return to Miami, and the same issue at check in, the app doesnt work, it took forever to check in, we almost missed our flight as i tried once again to check in. Our luggage was once again charged, this time with the effort of the rep gave us a 15% discount totaling $310. We spent $640 on luggage that we considered and used on other airlines with no issues as a carry on. They dont believe in carry on, they call it a personal bag. I will never fly again with this airline. I got better service w Spirit, Allegiant and Frontier as the most economical airlines around.
Type Of TravellerFamily Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteMiami to Honduras
Date FlownJune 2022
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Wifi & Connectivity 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
10/10

"Wonderful experience"

(United States)

Trip Verified | Best customer service I've ever received. We didn't know a covid test was required. They gave me a lab to go to outside the airport and held a person at the counter for me when I returned to give me my boarding pass and then held the plane door open for me. They were kind and courteous the whole time. Wonderful experience.
AircraftA320
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteSan Jose to Bogota
Date FlownJune 2022
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
yes
2/10

"I do NOT recommend"

(United Kingdom)

Trip Verified | London to Medellin via Bogota. It is sad to write this review since Avianca was my favorite airline, but many things have changed and not necessarily for the better. It should be noted that on the B787 aircraft, the seats in both, business and economy class are still very comfortable and on a par with other star alliance member airlines such as Singapore Airlines, Turkish, United, etc. The big difference is in the service and food on board. On this particular flight, the offer for business class was two kinds of pasta served on a plastic container, a sandwich for starters and an ice cream for dessert. When I asked the crew if there was any other option, with obvious embarrassment she told me that it was the only option since this was a temporary menu due to Covid. Curiously, other airlines have resumed and even improved their menu on board, which clearly indicates that this is just an excuse to cut costs. The airline has also introduced new fares (XS, S, M, L, XL, XXL) The only fare that still includes 2 pieces of baggage in business is XXL, which is the same as a full fare business. Back in 2019 you were able to check in 2 bags in both, business and economy (32kg each in business and 23kg in economy) Sadly now is all gone. Most tickets are Size S which means you still pay what you used to pay back in 2019 if not more, but if you want to check in even just one bag you are looking at least £100GBP. The frequent flyer program Life miles has also changed for the worst, Accrual was previously based on distance, now it is based of the price paid for the ticket, excluding any taxes. In this occasion I've earned a total of 920 miles for the LHR-BOG sector. If you consider that the fare often exceeds the £1300GBP for one way and that you need 11.500 to reach Silver, 80% of which must be flown with Avianca, it is almost impossible to achieve elite status and perhaps also the most difficult program to achieve status in any airline member of star alliance. The inflight entertainment has been reduced to just a few old movies, no music, no games. Apart from the 787 and a couple A330, all IFE screens are being gradually removed. The only saving grace is being the only airline to fly directly between the UK and Colombia, but apart from that there isn't much to look forward to. Sadly, I do NOT recommend Avianca, better service, baggage allowance, on board food, and reasonable prices to reach Colombia can be found by just having and extra stop in Madrid (Iberia, Air Europa), Frankfurt (Lufthansa), Paris (Air France), Amsterdam (KLM), and even in Istanbul with Turkish Airlines.
AircraftBoeing 787-8
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeBusiness Class
RouteLondon to Medellin via Bogota
Date FlownJune 2022
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Wifi & Connectivity 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
3/10

"clearly they have repositioned themselves as a low cost carrier"

(United States)

Not Verified | Have been taking a few flights with AV recently, after this Covid panic has subdued. Very disappointing to see that AV is still using this as an excuse to absolutely cut costs. On close to 6 h flight they offer you a box of cold sandwich and 2 cakes plus a bottle of water and coffee. Nothing else. No juice, no alcoholic beverages, no hot food as it used to be before Covid. Must admit that AV is still trying to leave a seat next to you empty, if you are Star Gold, which is great. Also, there were no pillows neither blankets avail on this night flight. Be careful on taking AV - unless no other options avail. The company was in Chapter 11 protection 2 years ago, clearly they have repositioned themselves as a low cost carrier.
AircraftA319
Type Of TravellerBusiness
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteAsunción to Bogotá
Date FlownJune 2022
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
1/10

"the worst airline"

(United States)

Trip Verified | Broken seats, broken ceiling panel, no air vent above you, and it was hot. It is the worst airline, I asked for water and they didn’t offer that on an international flight.
AircraftA330
Type Of TravellerFamily Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteLos Angeles to Bogota
Date FlownJune 2022
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Wifi & Connectivity 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
1/10

"rip you off with your bags"

(Puerto Rico)

Trip Verified | San Juan to Medellín via Bogotá. They rip you off with your bags (their system doesn't let you register them and then charge them more at the counter, they take us off a flight due to problems with the plane, we lost the connection and they left us in limbo. After asking 10 employees different each one with a different instruction, a supervisor tries to solve but they put us in the worst hotel, (the one they wanted) nothing compared to where I was staying. A problem to pick up the bags again, in short. ALL BAD. | LA PEOR EXPERIENCIA!!! Te timan con las maletas(e sistema de ellos no te deja registrarlas para luego cobrarlas más caras en el counter, nos bajan de un vuelo por problemas con el avión, perdimos la conexción y nos dejaron en el limbo. Luego de preguntarle a 10 empleados diferentes cada uno con una instrucción diferente, una supervisora intenta resolver pero nos pusieron en el peor hotel, (el q les dió la gana) nada comparado a donde me estaba quedando. Un problema para volver a recoger las maletas, en fin. TODO MAL...
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteSan Juan to Medellín via Bogotá
Date FlownJune 2022
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Wifi & Connectivity 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
1/10

"pay a little extra to fly with a company who actually cares about their customers"

(United States)

Not Verified | Words cannot describe how truly awful my customer service experience with Avianca was. It was worse than any negative experience I have had with American and Spirit combined. First, my Avianca rep told me that I would need to pay an extra $150 in order to board my plane to leave Ecuador, a fee which my friends did not have to pay. After speaking with the manager, they dropped my cost to $80, which I paid so that way I could board my plane and not miss my flight. On top of that, I was told that my luggage could not be checked all the way to my final destination and instead I would have to grab my luggage, get a Covid test and then recheck my baggage at my next stop, something my friends also did not have to do. After completing everything I was told to do, I went to recheck my bag but was told I was too late and that baggage check had closed a couple minutes ago and there was nothing they could do to help me. I explained that I was following the orders from the previous Avianca rep, but they still would not assist me and my customer service rep was very rude. I asked to speak with the manager, who was also rude, disrespectful, unwilling to help, and unprofessional. I explained to the manager that I also would be missing two connecting flights and was to the point of tears asking for any sort of help. After arguing for almost an hour, my Avianca rep finally agreed to schedule a new flight for me and my friends, but wouldn’t leave until 4am, which was almost 12 hours after the time we were supposed to take off (around 5pm). Since I was in a foreign place where I don’t speak the language, I asked for any sort of accommodation for the next 12 hours to which we were immediately shut down. So, I paid an extra fee to board the plane, paid to change my connecting flights, and pay to get a hotel room, all thanks to Avianca who refused to be helpful in anyway. Once I thought my Avianca nightmare had finished, I unfortunately left a piece of luggage on their plane under my seat and when I asked to go back and get it right after disembarking, I was told that no one was allowed back on the plane and that was their policy. So, after once again doing what they told me to do, I went to a customer service rep to ask them to report the item and to get their help. Not only did the customer service rep practically refuse to help me, I was sent to three other reps before one would finally assist me and try to find my item. Sure enough, Avianca said they found nothing and that there was nothing they could do . Whatever you do, do not fly this airline, even if it is the cheapest option, pay a little extra to fly with a company who actually cares about their customers. I hope I help prevent this from happening to another person.
Type Of TravellerBusiness
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteEcuador to Miami
Date FlownMay 2022
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Wifi & Connectivity 12345
Value For Money 12345
no