Avianca

✅ 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.

✅ 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.

✅ 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.

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.

✅ 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.

✅ 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...

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.

Not Verified | This airline cancelled my flight due to COVID 6/16/2021. I was informed I had 1 year to re-book. I just called in to book a flight on 6/03/2022 and I was informed I was supposed to call by 5/01/22 because that is the day I booked the flight. Seriously? I said to the lady, "are you sure you do not want to bend/flex by a matter of days to keep a loyal customer because as a home owner in CR I fly down there a lot and she said no. I am a lost customer forever.

✅ Trip Verified | Had to get to Curacao for a meeting. Had to be in person. The only airline available was/is Avianca, with whom I've never flown, as I haven't had the opportunity to go to South America to this point. I read reviews and watched one or two videos that showed a pretty ordinary but fairly typical business class experience in terms of food and drink. I took note of the 1990 - 2000-era business class seats and figured I could pretend it was still 2003 just this once. The flight out of YYZ to Bogota left after midnight Toronto time and they served a little box lunch with a small sandwich, a bag of plantain crisps, and a tiny Hostess-like chocolate cup cake. No wine, only a small bottle of water. I figured, OK, everyone just wants to sleep so nothing fancy is fine. we arrived in Bogota at 5am or so for a very long (9 hours) layover and, although I paid for a C-class ticket, the 2.00pm flight to Curacao was all economy, loaded from the tarmac after we all crammed into busses from the airport basement for the ride to the plane. Fast forward to yesterday's flight. This time there was business class out of Curacao but still had the crammed bus ride back to the basement at BOG. I went to the lounge where I'd spent some 9 hours on the way in, grabbed a glass of wine, and noticed that at 2.07pm, the 2.50pm flight to TTZ showed, "closed". Panicking, I ran to the plane and sat down. No, it wasn't closed, and we waited a good 40 minutes after I sat down before buttoning up. I was tired, frustrated, and really annoyed at this point. Now the fun part. This is a 6.5 hour flight. It starts after lunch and goes over dinner so I figured we'd have a nice 2003-era business class dinner with a glass of wine. Oh boy - did we ever not have that. Once again, the same pathetic little box lunch, this time with a tiny cheese sandwich, the requisite plantain chips and cupcake, and tiny bottle of water. The only time I ever saw a flight attendant after that (other than landing) was the one time I went to the washroom and, while standing right in front of the seated flight attendants, asked for more water. I cannot believe that I paid for C- and J-class tickets so I could ride in dilapidated blue leather seats with no footrest, and then be treated to the "service" provided by the indifferent and disregarding flight attendants and their poor box lunches. Unbelievable.

✅ Trip Verified | At the airport, my husband and I were late and we were told by Avianca to re-schedule our flight with the call center. We were calling back and forth, being tossed between Avianca at the airport telling us that our reservation doesn't require waiver and the Avianca call center telling us that Avianca at the airport needs to provide a waiver and at the very end, Avianca call center cancelling our entire reservation. The only thing we got was that Avianca airport telling us that the person/people we talk to at the call center doesn't know what's going on and the call center telling us to contact Avianca airport to have them change what's on the system, otherwise, our reservation remains cancelled. Even after we got Avianca at the airport to put in the system that we can reschedule, the call center still refuses to reschedule for us.