Avianca Ecuador

Not Verified | Charged us an extra $150 per person at the gate. Said we were told and that it was in our confirmation. When we showed them that our confirmation showed nothing we were told that we still owed $300 for the two of us, almost the price of our tickets, even though we showed proof. The people at the counter were rude in explaining and persisting, even though we showed proof that we did not have to pay. It was so bad that We would have cancelled our flight on principle but the rest of our itinerary in the Galapagos was non refundable.

✅ Trip Verified | Beware of flights from the Galapagos Islands. Because we don't understand Spanish, we bought a ticket on the Avianca English website (because it is in English, I naturally believe, that the site is intended for foreigners). I checked in the day before, add our passports and got the boarding passes. But we didn't know if we should go straight to the plane (because of covid, etc...), we went to the counter. There they told us that they wouldn't let us on the plane, that we had to pay $150 per person because we are foreigners. If they have different prices for foreigners and for locals, OK, but we would like to know when we buy the ticket, agree and pay directly. This seemed to us like blackmail or a scam. "Don't pay another $150, your ticket will be forfeited, because we won't let you on the plane." I've never experienced anything like this and I've been flying all my life and very often. And on top of that, the completely unprofessional behavior of the manager, who didn't even want to tell us her name. Because we were 3, it cost us an unexpected $450 more. What more can I say....Avianca never again. The rest of the trip we were flying by LATAM and it was perfect.

Not Verified | I'm writing this review after I've been in touch with Avianca's Customer Service and asked for financial compensation of at least 150 dollars. I flew with Avianca to the Galapagos Islands on Wednesday 27 April and returned on Sunday 1 May 2022. I had to pay a 150 dollar penalty twice, because I didn't have the receipt of the first flight anymore. So that's 300 dollar extra (as if a trip to the Galapagos Islands isn't expensive enough for us foreigners). First of all, I don't understand why I had to pay a 'penalty' in the first place. If this is stated on their website, it is certainly not clear (enough). And why? Just because I'm a 'foreigner'? The guy at the Customer Service told me this was my own responsibility to find out, but I flew with many airlines before and I've never experienced something so vague as this. Also, no one at the airport told me how important this receipt was, or else I would have been extra careful not to lose it. I will not fly with this corrupt company anymore and I encourage others to not do so either!

✅ Trip Verified | The worst airline I have ever traveled with. They asked for additional 150 USD per person on the check-in counter, just because we are not Ecuadorian. This was never stated on the app where I purchased my ticket. It is apparently stated in a very small box when you buy a ticket their website. The check-in lady even refused to give our passports back until we pay the 150 USD fee. The food on the plane is the bare minimum, some salty crackers and water.

✅ Trip Verified | On February 18th I purchased 2 return tickets from Quito to Baltra Galapagos (March 18-March 23) - direct from kayak.com to Avianca. Tickets were purchased for $216.85 each plus seats plus luggage. We took our flight from Quito to Baltra with no issues, no remarks, no comments from anyone. Since there was no proper internet on Santa Cruz, we could not check online. When we showed up at the airport 2.5 hours before the flight we were told that there is a $150 foreigner penalty per passenger and if we do not pay it, we will not fly. This was not mentioned anywhere on the website, just told to us by the agent and airport manager. Additionally we were required to pay $10 for airport check-in per passenger. The passengers who managed to check-in online did not have to pay this "penalty". We felt it was totally unfair and selective.

✅ Trip Verified | I have purchased a ticket for my Employee after a log day of work in Guayaquil, Emilio went to the airport to catch the flight GYE-UIO, Avianca had cancelled his booking. Since I paid this ticket with my USA Citi Master card I had to call my bank and by surprise the customer service at Citi said that Avianca had cancelled. As soon as I hanged up I called Avianca and I was told that my bank cancelled so totally unprofessional.

Not Verified | Our family of three adults flew from Quito through El Salvador to Los Angeles on November 20th, 2019. I have a few concerns about this airline. The crew on Flight 522 from El Salvador to LAX was very lax in regards to cleanliness and safety. It was a five-hour flight. The other passengers must not have been able to read Spanish/English because they piled their used toilet paper around the toilets in the lavatory. If this is an ongoing problem the airline crew should make a verbal announcement to avoid this health hazard. 2. The crew failed to have passengers put their seats in an upright position for landing. 3. The crew failed to have passengers put their trays and belongings up for landing. If we would have encountered a problem during landing objects would have been flying all over the place. 4. At baggage claim in LAX, my piece of luggage came out wrapped in plastic. We had to rush through customs to make a Southwest Airlines connection. Upon getting to their check-in we attempted to unwrap the luggage. My bag was soaked through. We stopped and documented with pictures what we observed and I placed a call to Avianca, before boarding, to file a claim. I then followed that up by filing Avianca's form and attaching all pictures clearly documenting what had been done to the luggage and it's contents. Once we got home, my husband, unpacked the bag in the garage and all damaged items were photographed and put in the outdoor trash. Today 12/14/19 Avianca responded by email and basically takes no responsibility for your luggage while it is in their care. We hope to warn others that this airline unethical and has safety issues.

New York JFK to Quito via Bogota. Absolutely horrible experience. I am 72 years old. I had a nose bleed due to dry air and sensitive sinuses a little while after boarding. I asked for a tissue and was handed a bit of toilet paper. It wasn't enough so I asked for more. I was given a bit more toilet paper. I later asked for water and was told that there was nothing but cola available. I asked if there was hot tea and was told rudely that there is only coffee. It doesn't make any sense for there not to be water on a flight. On top of everything, one of my checked bags was opened and 5 articles of clothing were missing. I flew JFK to Quito.

✅ Trip Verified | Quito to Baltra. Flight was cancelled less than a week probably because not enough passengers. I was then offered a new flight with an ungodly hour with a departure time of 06:45 and with an added stopover in Guayaquil. The worst part of it was calling customer service. It took them literally 2 hours on the phone to find an explanation for the cancellation with by the way was never clear. At some point, the customer representative told me I was entitled to a compensation in the form of a class upgrade to finally deny it after 2 wasted hours on the phone. By all means use an alternative airline. Worst customer service.

✅ Trip Verified | Medellin to Curacao via Bogota. Horrible experience with Avianca Ecuador! Flight from Curacao to Bogota was delayed by 1+ hour due to "Operational difficulties" causing us to miss our connecting flight from Bogota to Medellin. In this case Avianca Colombia was very helpful in adding us to another flight (next day departure) and getting us a hotel for the night. Return flight from Bogota to Curacao was again with Avianca Ecuador and the flight was delayed due to "Operational difficulties", this time for 4.5 hours! I think, it is unacceptable that a big airline like Avianca, which is a Star Alliance member to be having long delays due to "Operational difficulties". There are way bigger airlines that are doing a much better job than this. I checked on Flightradar and you can see that Avianca flights on this route Curacao-Bogota, Bogota-Curacao are consistently delayed by 1-4 hours. It is just unacceptable!