Bulgaria Air

Not Verified | One of the worst services I've ever encountered. I was told I'm no longer on the flight less than 24 hours before departure. I emailed on the 22nd of April asking if I can receive a refund for my flight, which I did not receive. I was given alternative options such as rebooking my flight for a future date, but not once was I told that my flight would be or has been cancelled for me, only to find out myself a few hours before the flight. The woman I spoke to on the phone was very rude and unprofessional, ignoring my emails and ending the call on me several times. This flight was important for me to take as I had a connecting flight after, and I was told that the only way I could take the flight is if I upgrade and pay 400 levs. I paid for my original ticket, and for it to be cancelled for me without any notice is absurd, any other airline would at least email me or let me know? I have been on many flights and I have never encountered something like this.

✅ Trip Verified | So disappointed. I will never fly with this airline again. The most undereducated, complete even lack of try to understand arguments. My children 7 and 10 are flying today unattended by an adult with flight attendant. According to UK Government rules children under 11 do not need Covid test. I tried to reason with the check-in agent who wouldn't even hear what I had to say. Their tickets were detained by the airline staff and I had to pay GBP 420 so they could come home

✅ Trip Verified | I was booked to fly but travel restrictions prevented our even getting to Bulgaria. We were promised a refund but never heard more and Air Bulgaria stopped responding to emails.

✅ Trip Verified | When lockdowns started because of corona in March 2020 in South America, I was stuck in Peru. After 30 days of waiting for rescue flight back to Europe, finally I was able to go home. Rescue flight was operated by British Airways and they flew from Lima to London. Since I can't enter UK without visa, I had to buy ticket out of London asap as I land. There were no flights on the same day, but there was a flight on the next one operating by Bulgaria Air from London to Sofia. I purchased that ticket. I was about to wait 24 hours at the airport and I was fine with it. Meanwhile, Bulgaria Air canceled that flight and rescheduled for the next day. That was not fine for me as I can't spend 2 days at the airport waiting for the flight. I purchased another, more expensive flight through different city and went back home. It's almost a year and Bulgaria Air still didn't refund me my money. I tried to explain them that since they didn't operate the flight I purchased ticket for, they have no rights to keep my money. They give me some lame explanations that it takes them longer time to return money or that I can reschedule that ticket for another flight. Which one, I am asking, when whole Europe is locked at the moment. I don't want to travel, I just want my 200 euros back.

✅ Trip Verified | Booked a flight for 12.10.2020 and today, a day before I receive the cancellation of the flight. This year it has happened to me multiple times and I had to spend a fortune on buying new tickets to finally fly away. None of the Airlines I used ever refunded money so far and today I am in the same situation again, when none of the airline reps can clearly explain what is going on! How long this is going to continue? Covid is the reason? Are we going to use it as an excuse everytime and everywhere? How come that overnight everything so of a sudden changes, today is safe, tomorrow is dangerous (presumably), according to the logic of the airlines? Why, if it's so you simply don' t sell tickets and don't fool people into spending their hard earned money into something that is not guaranteed? If you cannot refund straight away, and it's a shame that 6 months wasn't enough for you to come up with some kind of solution for this then I believe your reputation and customers is not what you value! Of course, I can make it my last flight this year or even next. I think it's time for some changes from the customers side! This is ridiculous.

✅ Trip Verified | I have flown with Bulgaria Air more than 15 times. Mainly because on the routes I flew I didn’t have a better alternative at that certain moment. However, I don’t think I had a flight with them that didn’t have some kind of problem. Once I had to transport my dog and when we landed the ground crew returned the dog cage broken! (They obviously had dropped it while my dog was inside). Once I bought a ticket and I had to travel for business. When I tried to do the check-in it turned out there is an error in the system and the ticket didn’t exist. Imagine the surprise I felt when I had to buy a 2x more expensive ticket just hours before departure. But maybe the worst thing was when I had to fly from Lisbon back to Bulgaria and just hours before the flight I got an email that it got cancelled. Just a regular day with Bulgaria air. I am Bulgarian, travel a lot and honestly am ashamed of our national carrier. If you have a chance, fly with any other airline just not BG air.

Not Verified | My ID expired abroad in Germany during the COVID-19 Pandemic. The Bulgarian government extended the due date on all passports by 6 months and the German government recognized this measure. I wanted to book a flight from Frankfurt to Sofia and the only airline flying was Bulgaria Air. I tried booking my flight but the site of the aforementioned airline didn't allow me to book it because of my expired ID. I tried to contact them by phone 2 times. One was outside their working hours, understandable, even tho what kind of airline can't afford a 24/7 customer support? The second time I waited in line for 3 minutes and the system told me that they were unable to get in touch with me and I should contact them through email. Still ok, I contacted them in hope that they will provide a solution. To be frank, they did. It wasn't the solution I expected tho. They wanted me to send them my data so they could make the booking and then told me that it would cost 80 euros more than the original price of the ticket when I tried to book it. I, of course, told them that this isn't my fault and I shouldn't be charged 80 euros more because their system wasn't up to date with the measures taken by the Bulgarian and German governments. I waited for a day but didn't receive an answer. I decided to try to contact them once more on the phone and to my surprise they answered. The lady on the phone didn't even know that there is no way to get a new ID right now since the offices are closed and had no idea that you could travel with an expired card. I had to explain all that and then she still told me that it wasn't their fault and it is my fault. "You should have made a reservation with the expiration date one year in the future" she said. I'm sorry but that would be a lie, if not against the law. The responsibility of submitting wrong data about my ID on my own would certainly be mine. Customer service: ZERO, incompetent staff and slow email answers. In the end, I am glad that I never flied with them and certainly never will.

Not Verified | Larnaca to Sofia. On-time departure and a fairly pleasant crew. Safety standards a bit lax, e.g. the passenger in front of me had her seat reclined during boarding as well as takeoff. The crew said nothing to her. No entertainment of any kind. The fare on this route seems quite pricey - several hundred euros for a two-hour segment. Where the airline really needs to up its game is in online booking and communication. E.g. why accept and acknowledge my online request for a Muslim Meal, only to follow it up a couple days later with a confusing, fine-print email saying "we may not be able to accommodate your request", and finally, when on board, hand out the same pork sandwich to all passengers? (Even then, the ingredients were only listed on the packaging in Bulgarian, and in microscopic font.) Bulgaria is a leader in IT, but you'd never know it by interacting with their national airline.

✅ Trip Verified | Sofia to Madrid. We had a very good flight- check in was quick, the flight attendants were very courteous and the flight took off and landed on schedule. Plane was clean and well maintained except the livery paint job was a little worn. I would not hesitate to fly them again.

Not Verified | Frankfurt to Tel Aviv via Sofia . I booked my tickets through Opodo in Business Class and then when I did the Check-In it became clear that there was no Business Class on the aircraft. So, I had to fly Economy and additionally I had to pay for my extra luggage (2 bags are included in the Business Tarif). I received a very small refund for the wrong booking class from Opodo, and I was told, Bulgaria Air is directly responsible for refunding me my money for the extra bag. I am trying to get a hold of them for 4 months now. No reply so far. Worst customer service ever!