Avianca

✅ Verified Review | Since I am an Elite member, I was given a free upgrade. The flight was operated by TACA Peru. The quality of service for this relatively short (2:30 h) flight from Cali to Lima was very high: I was greeted by my name by the flight attendant, sparkling wine was offered before the on-time departure and the inflight meal/wine were above the average. The flight attendant was ever present in the cabin. The seat was quite comfortable and in-flight entertainment was good. Return via Bogota on a new B-787 (Avianca operated), spacious and quiet, in economy class, noticing that even in economy the quality of service has approved: a hot meal and wine are served, and in-flight entertainment is good as well. Avianca is still my favorite airline.

✅ Verified Review | New York to Curitiba via Sao Paulo with Avianca. Good food on the plane. The check in employees both in New York and São Paulo helped me twice by making exceptions (letting me go through priority TSA so I wouldn't miss my flight and allowing my international limit on domestic flight.) Cheap tickets. Cons: No communication with passengers beyond check in. Flights are often delayed. (2 out of 3 were at least an hour late). We were not made aware until the departure time. And we had to ask! Lack of following group boarding, it's kind of a free for all. Seats were too tight and uncomfortable on flight from NY to Colombia. Almost felt more like a domestic plane than international. But most disappointing was employees lack of interest or communication.

The A320's between San Francisco and SAL only have overhead shared movie screens, even in Business Class. Same with their A319's between Lima and Montevideo . However, their A330 on SAL-LIM have back-seat, individual screens. Meals were decent, but make sure to have a meal before the SFO-SAL flight, as breakfast is not served until the end of the 6-hour flight. Cabin attendants were courteous. Smiley and engaging. Boarding gates can be very chaotic at SAL, though. International transfers at LIM require going through an X-ray security screening. I had a 55-minute connection there, which was shortened by a late arrival. I made my connection, and my checked luggage also made the airplane transfer. I purchased an upgrade to Business Class for the SAL-SFO leg on the return trip. The in-flight experience was not really worth the US$200 (e.g., the seat legs are still designed for a 3-seat row, instead of the 2 seats actually there; so your feet, and your seatmate, have to deal with the divider). Still, access to the VIP room in SAL is worth it, especially if you are lucky enough to get one of the 8 reclining chairs in their quiet "rest room". Although their departure and arrival times can be very inconvenient, their price and service make them a great option for this flight. By the way: in their on-board announcements, they point out that they are "TACA Peru on behalf of Avianca".

Puerto Maldonado to London Heathrow via Bogota with Avianca. Worst airline I've ever flown. Arrived at Puerto Maldonado to be charged for seemingly excess luggage and then had to inform staff that I was on an international flight so was allowed extra baggage. Our flight stopped at Cusco even though we were meant to be flying through to Lima. The plane was filthy, my friend had to ask for a wipe to clean her tray. The cabin crew staff were so unhelpful, spoke very little English and couldn't crack a smile if they tried. I moved seats to try to sleep as it was an overnight flight but they had blocked off rows for cabin crew. Surprised me as I thought they're meant to be working and don't they have specific seats for crew allocated for take off and landing? There was no water offered throughout the flight apart from with the bland 2 meals given. On a long haul flight that's over 10 hours, passengers should be expected to be kept hydrated. As we disembarked, the staff were more interested in talking to each other and didn't even acknowledge the passengers walking off. I will never fly with this airline again.

✅ Verified Review | Flew Avianca from Madrid to Bogota, return Cartagena to Madrid via Bogota. On a connecting flight from and to Geneva. Quick boarding, the flights on time. Nice crew on the way to Bogota, not so good on return. Seat comfortable, I could sleep. Meals were not really bad, but nothing special and very little to eat. Best meal was breakfast. In fact it was like an economy class meal on European or Asian arlines, but served on China. But the price was lower than Iberia or Lufthansa. Don't bother to book business on national flights, you only get a drink in a real glass!

Santa Marta to Bogota flight with Avianca was delayed and eventually cancelled and I subsequently missed my connecting flight back home. It was chaos, no one knew what was going on, there were no updates and they refused to take responsibility for me missing my flight. They even had a flight going direct to London that night which I could have taken but they lied and said it was full. I had friends on that flight who said it wasnt.

✅ Verified Review | Had 5 flights with Avianca in the past 2 weeks (4 domestic within Colombia and 1 international from Bogota to New York). All flights left on time and all had (albeit rather limited) in seat entertainment. Cabin crew were generally friendly. However, a couple of things on the international sector were unacceptable. Firstly, some of the crew had no English. What would happen if there were an emergency? I would not want a crew member who could not instruct me what to do. I have never been on an international flight with any airline with crew members who cannot understand a word of English. Also, the food was appalling - badly presented and bland. I was given spaghetti with no sauce and 2 slices of overcooked zucchini plus two green cherry tomatoes. On the side was a stale roll and some crackers. It was all presented in a polystyrene container. And that was it For a six hour flight. It is just not in line with what other carriers are offering on similar lengthed international flights. I would use Avianca again for domestic flights but not for an international flight.

✅ Verified Review | Bogota to Miami vkia Medellin with Avianca. The service at Bogota was fast and efficient, the plane arrived on time to Medellin. I was traveling with my mother, she had recently a knee surgery. We ask for a wheelchair in Bogota and also at Medellin, and this service was provided without any delays. The flight to Miami was good. Lunch was given during the flight, the entertainment system was great, with good selection of movies and TV series.

Cartagena to London Heathrow via Bogota with Avianca. Despite being booked and confirmed some months ago, my sister and brother-in-law (with whom I was travelling as a "Group") were given standby status at the very last moment. I was given a boarding pass. We were unable to use the privilege lounge I was entitled to use as we were anxious to be in the front line regarding their standby status, and there was a distinct lack of English speakers among the ground staff. The plane was delayed, finally boarding passes were issued, we boarded the aircraft and waited and waited. We had been able to eat small bite at around midday before boarding our first Avianca flight (AV9551) from Cartagena to Bogota but nothing to eat or drink since, and we were hungry and thirsty by the time we boarded. We were not offered a drink, not even water, and there were no announcements from the flight deck. When finally dinner was served (after midnight) it was totally inedible and my dessert was missing. We were offered a drink at that time, but I had to repeat my request for both wine and water. The cabin staff seemed utterly oblivious to passenger needs. All the cabin lights went out leaving cabins in total, velvety black darkness. I was not able to call for more water although I pressed the call button regularly. When I wanted to go to the WC I could see nothing at all in the utter darkness, and so tripped over a pair of legs which had been pushed out into the gangway. I went flying and my bag landed somewhere ahead of me. As I have two replacement knees, I am unable to actually kneel at the best of times, and of course I landed on both of them. I screeched because the pain was intense. People got up to help me, but no cabin staff came to investigate and neither did a single light go on. I retrieved my handbag and staggered off to the WC. I felt my way back to my seat with everything still in total darkness. When breakfast was served it again was really horrible and we were very hungry by that time. I ate two salty biscits and tried a yellowish roll of what seemed to be made of plastic and gave up. When I asked for milk with my coffee, for I was not offered any, a small packet of powder was chucked on my tray. I said I didnt care for creamer and wanted milk, but the stewardess shrugged and said they didn't have any. I insisted and she eventually returned with a small carton of milk. Thankfully I managed to get a small glass of water, too. When we finally landed at London not a single member of the cabin staff was at the exit to give us the usual spiel of thanking us for using Avianca and wishing us a pleasant onward journey etc.

Quito to London via Bogota. The outward Avianca flight was grand but the return was not. When we arrived at Quito airport the girl wanted to change our flights, we were not interested in another up and down (via Madrid). We asked for window seat but were told that it was not available on the first leg but it was for the long haul part - that was 9 hours before we were expected to take off at Bogota. Unfortunately we hadn't looked at our boarding passes but then when we discovered that not only had we not a window seat, but we were also sitting in different rows. As it happened there was another drama going on (the flight was overbooked) but the air hostess was excellent. I feel the check in girl at Quito didn't know what she was doing - she should be trained better for the job and improve her English or else just deal S American flights. The food on the long haul was good but going to the Galapagos and to Bogota the food was awful, just something greasy with inedible plastic pink stuff inside! No vegetarian option!