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
7/10

"attendants seemed friendly"

(Thailand)

Trip Verified | Lima to Cusco. I was happy to see that the tour agency that booked all my tickets booked me on Avianca, as they were a star alliance member. This meant I could use my Royal Orchid Plus Gold privileges. Our whole itinerary was from Buenos Aires all the way to New York City, making stops along the way. One thing that made me wonder straight from check in was the matter of people trying to cut queues by going to the Business class line. I went up showing my gold bag tag (I had lost my wallet hence my gold card) and the guy still asked for my name. This happened at two of the three airports I had to check in at. Star Alliance lounge in Buenos Aires is crowded not because of lack of capacity, but because too many priority pass users were getting in. When I went there they had stopped admitting priority pass but thankfully my star gold status was enough to admit me plus my mum. Due to the amount of people, I could not connect to the lounge wifi. That is quite a bummer for any lounge. Boarding was organised from A to F, with star gold getting group B. I actually liked this more than boarding with business class passengers as you can board in a more orderly fashion. I settled in seat 7K, but as two rows behind us were empty, i opted to sit by myself and give my mum an empty seat next to her for more comfort. The seat is similar to Thai airways in two aspects; it had massive legroom and a footrest. Something much appreciated on a long flight. After takeoff, service didn’t commence until halfway through the flight, and the flight attendants explained this was due to the turbulent weather while flying over the Andes. At least I ate in the lounge. A paper box served on a flimsy tray with a yoghurt, and inside the box was a potato cake which seemed to be too salty. Food on Avianca seemed to be of okay quality, not comparable to Thai airways or ANA, all of which are in the same alliance. The paper box makes the food look cheap but for environmental quality it seemed okay. We had to go to re check our bags in Lima for our flight to Cusco, and that flight was uneventful. For our flight from Cusco to New York via Bogotá, I asked for an upgrade at check in. This was met with a very quick yes. Unfortunately there was no lounge either in Lima or Cusco. Lima is a hub airport so why is there no lounge!? The boarding pass still showed I was in economy, but at the gate they said “you were already upgraded at checkin, here are your new seat numbers.” This was an older business class and I found that the seat was merely just wider and had better service. The food was still so-so but I finished as I was hungry. Apparently for our overnight in Bogotá, we found out our luggage didn’t make it to Bogotá, due to weight constraints. They arrived four hours later after being rerouted. Re-checking the bags in Bogotá, I was put first on the standby upgrade list. I wasn’t upgraded as all business class passengers checked in. The Avianca lounge left a lot to be desired. The Star Alliance Lounge finder with my filters put on indicated I could use the diamond lounge, but I was denied access and directed to the gold lounge. I was wondering why the New York flight is frequently delayed upwards of an hour, and I found out that they do strip searches at the gate. But this was to select passengers and they delay the entire flight. This was more or less the same story, and flight attendants seemed friendly. Given the choice of alliance, I wouldn’t mind flying Avianca again that much.
AircraftA330-200, A320
Type Of TravellerFamily Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteLima to Cusco
Date FlownFebruary 2019
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
yes
1/10

"no clue where my bag is"

(Brazil)

Trip Verified | Bogota to Curaçao. First of all the flight had a delay of around 30 minutes when we already boarded at the plane, so far Ok, but arriving in CUR airport the luggage of around 10 people didn’t arrive and the customer experience from their ground service staff - staff took more than 1 hour to attend us, but still we understand it. He told us that our luggage will fly on the next flight to Curaçao (arriving at 16:30 local time) and it would be delivered at our hotel at 17:00. Ok, we left the airport and end up receiving 01 of 02 bags at 22:00 at our hotel. Now it’s already 08:00 AM on the next day and no clue where my bag is. Besides that i’ve been trying to call then on the 0-800, but is the worst experience that i’ve ever had with any airlines. Terrible service from their staff, one time it took more than 30 minutes on the line and the other time they told us that their system was off. - so what else you can expect from an airlines who threat their customer without any respect?
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteBogota to Curaçao
Date FlownMarch 2019
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Wifi & Connectivity 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
2/10

"Do not use this airline"

(United States)

Trip Verified | San Francisco to Ibague via San Salvador / Bogota. It seems every time I fly this airline I have an issue. today I've been stuck at a airport for 7 hours for the last 52 minute flight. Yet again delayed. The airline has nothing but inconvenience after inconvenience. Do not use this airline.
Aircraft320 bus
Type Of TravellerBusiness
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteSan Francisco to Ibague
Date FlownFebruary 2019
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

"airline so consistently unpleasant"

(United States)

Trip Verified | Medellin to New York via Bogota. I write this on the return leg of my (almost) monthly JFK - MDE - BOG commute. I have avoided AV for the longest time but now that their nonstop from New York to Medellin is a daily frequency, it's the easiest connection. The convenience just about outweighs the indignities of the AV experience, though one wonders why this airline is so consistently unpleasant. The unreliability of their operations is of course well known, not just because of the temperamental Colombian climate (which finally might be addressed with better navigation equipment) but also because of notorious ramp delays. A combination of both delayed my MDE to BOG flight, endangering my connection to JFK. At the last minute, a stony faced attendant in the lounge moved me to an earlier flight. Both international flights ran on time, which is either an improvement or an exception. Their A330s now have pretty comfortable lie flat seats. The in flight service is minimal. While the meal quality has improved from inedible to edible in an emergency, the wines remain bottom shelf supermarket. And their practice of blaring advertising into the cabin from boarding till take off is one of the most head ache making, customer unfriendly practices I have encountered in 40 years of flying. Another bizarre practice is their habit not to announce in the lounge when flights board (particularly inconvenient because their boarding times are always moving targets). Ostensibly, that's to avoid noise pollution. Instead, they announce every five minutes that they are not making announcements. Same pollution, just without informational value added. That's Avianca logic for you.
AircraftA319 / A330
Type Of TravellerBusiness
Seat TypeBusiness Class
RouteMedellin to New York via Bogota
Date FlownFebruary 2019
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
10/10

"service was great"

(United States)

Not Verified | Orlando to Lima. The service from start to finish was great. The seats were large , the leg room great. A soft blanket and pillow were placed on every seat. The food was good and service was great. It exceeded my expectations and the flight was as good or better that many of the US planes I’ve flown
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteOrlando to Lima
Date FlownJanuary 2019
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
yes
1/10

"Reliably terrible"

(Colombia)

Trip Verified | Cali to Bogota with Avianca. Reliably terrible. Not the first time I’ve written a scathing review. If there’s a way they can mess something up, they will. Long lines, non-functioning app, check-in machines don’t work, make errors in the names of the boarding passes and can’t resolve them. As I write this, we might miss our flight because of one of their all-too-predictable mess ups. Seriously, do everything in your power not to fly with this airline.
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteCali to Bogota
Date FlownDecember 2018
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

"lacks customer service"

(Qatar)

Trip Verified | Madrid to Bogotá. The on board service fast ok, just ok. But the ground staff lacks customer service. Every time one of the customers approached to ask a question to the counter prior boarding they were yelled by one of the ground stuff. You do not treat your customers like that. Also lacking organization and communication, there was a delay and every one of the staff were giving different information which made customers confused and anxious. Even if they had excellent products, which they don't, this kind of customer service damages the image of an entire company. Very disappointed.
AircraftBoeing 787
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteMadrid to Bogotá
Date FlownDecember 2018
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
1/10

"Horrible service"

(Mexico)

Trip Verified | Cusco to Lima. Worst airline! They cancelled our flight and let us know 1 hour after the programmed departure time, letting us no option to take another flight that day. They tried to convinced me to take a flight at 8:30 am the next day, even when I told showed them I have a flight to Mexico at 11 am. They said I had enough time which is ridiculous talking about an international flight. They paid a 3 stars hotel when I had a 5 stars hotel paid in Lima, a reservation that obviously I didn’t use. The staff was even sarcastic when saying that’s all they can do for me. The flight they gave me the next day (5:30 am) was 1 and a half hours delayed. Finally, we arrived in Lima and they let us know our luggage was in the next flight, so I have no time to take my international flight with my bags. Horrible service, organization and company.
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteCusco to Lima
Date FlownNovember 2018
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
2/10

"flight was overbooked"

(El Salvador)

Not Verified | San Salvador to Los Angeles. A trip was booked with cash + miles, and Avianca provided a receipt/confirmation. At pre check-in, Avianca informed that the seat had been sold to someone else and the flight was overbooked. Even though seats were available on earlier and later flights, Avianca continued to question the validity of the receipt/confirmation it had issued and consulted and investigated internally, and did not even suggest an earlier or later flight as an option. After an hour on the phone and then another hour and half in Avianca offices, Avianca accepted the idea of booking on an earlier flight. BUT, it has not yet completed the change explaining that Avianca will complete the change in the next hour. Hours of frustration and concern over a flight that was confirmed more than six weeks ago, and still waiting to see if it has been resolved after several hours pleading with Avianca to honor its commitment.
Type Of TravellerFamily Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteSan Salvador to Los Angeles
Date FlownNovember 2018
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
1/10

"have the worst customer service"

(United States)

Trip Verified | I will never fly Avianca again. They have the worst customer service. I flew out October 30 and returned November 6th. I checked a extra bag and was told it may not arrive till the day I leave. I was okay with that and paid an outrageous fee. The day I flew home I was told the bag was delayed and would be there later that day. I had my family go back to pick it up. I was advised it never made it there. I have been calling every day since with no update. I was told today that it will not be there until November 12th, over two weeks from my original trip. The customer service supervisor refused to let me speak to her manager and refused to give me a name. I would recommend to pay more and use a better airline. I will never fly again or recommend anyone I know to use this unprofessional company.
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypePremium Economy
RouteDallas, TX to San Salvedore, El Salvadire
Date FlownOctober 2018
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no