Avianca

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.

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.