Kenya Airways

✅ Trip Verified | Nairobi to London Heathrow. Awful, simply awful. Substantial delays on both the outbound and return legs. Really poor customer service in response. Customer service was poor in general, on board and at the airport when requesting an update to the flight. I would not recommend Kenya Airways to anybody, not even my worst enemy!

✅ Trip Verified | Johannesburg to Kigali via Nairobi 5-6 Feb 2020; on Boeing 787-8 and Embraer 190. Almost on time; first flight fell 25 Minutes late. I had made a low, but successful bid for 2nd leg to be upgraded as it also gave access to Kenya’s Lounge in Nairobi which is good and spacious. Ticket cheap, bought from an online travel company. Kenya Airways have reduced luggage allowance for regional flights, with Silver level in their Flying Blue FFP I eventually managed to get a 2nd, huge suitcase, added to be check-in (first one included in ticket). Check-in, transfers, and communication went fine. Onboard, great service, lots of drinks as there seem to be a Happy Hour going on at afternoon/evening flights. Whenever passengers ordered juice, beer or wine they were instantly handed double up without discussion. I love that attitude. It gives a feeling of luxury. I have experienced this before with KQ (on their Dubai route). Food was good, two options with the possibility to add up more as long stock lasted. FAs were fine. Call bells answered. Duty free sales onboard worked well. The Dreamliner is great but space provided in economy is humiliatingly small. I was lucky to have 3 seats to myself to survive lack of leg and breathing space. Pride lounge in Nairobi is a breeze and I slept well till next morning to catch last leg as being upgraded. Last leg morning flight NBO-KGL was uneventful. Of 9 business class seats (1 x 2 configuration). No complaints apart from a joke of “breakfast” consisting of a tired, reheated croissant. No cheese, only jam to supply. Champagne and coffee/tea given on request.

✅ Trip Verified | Bangkok to Johannesburg via Nairobi on 5th February 2020. Both flights on newer B787-8 aircrafts. Check-in and luggage handling went smoothly, but had to fight a bit with ground staff to get all my BPs issued on spot. Booking handling online works well. Their AF-KLM lounge offered in Bangkok is poor (like Thai Airways lounges) but their Pride lounge in Nairobi is good and spacious. Hardware on Kenya Airways is good and they are good on ground to tackle even complicated issues. The FAs are also good, plenty, observant. They are mainly Kenyans which does not help Chinese nor Thai passengers much. The very weak point of Kenya Airways is the food. Business class does not provide food any better than their Economy class and is plain, without vision, looking shabby. Competing airlines like Ethiopian, Turkish, South African, and Egypt serves much better and inspiring food in their economy class. Steel cutlery and table preparation nice. But that’s it. Dinner from BKK was a cold shabby dish with chopped salad and 3 ridiculous small pieces of sliced meatballs. Breakfast offered was inedible continental or fried rice. Very poor offerings. No meat, no cocktails, no cheeses, no ice cream, no smoothies, chocolates, no fruits (watermelon does not count). Extremely poor catering, a disgrace for the airline. Beverages are shamefully very sparse, only 2 juices (apple or orange) are offered. Wines are only passable. Beers are cheap, waterish industrial stuff: 2 brands, Tusker and Heineken – not providing any alternatives to each other. No souvenir, no pyjamas, no luxury feelings at all. No lobster, no seafood, no caviar, no mutton, goat, pork, no beef, no chicken (maybe inside the breakfast sausage). FA staff admitted that economy class had the same catering as business though of course presented simpler. 1st flight on time, 2nd departed 1 hour late. Miles given quickly to Flying Blue. I will go again when the price is right. Lower expectation to food to zero and eat well at home or in lounge. Then it can be fairly good value for money when prices are promoted.

Not Verified | Johannesburg to Bangkok via Nairobi. As a fairly regular flier, this was one of the most disappointing flights I’ve ever been on. The Boeing 787 is a great plane, but from check-in to baggage collection and everything in between I was underwhelmed. The aircraft interior is tatty and dirty with frayed seat covers and ripped seat-back pockets that your phone falls through the holes. The cabin service only started 45 minutes after take-off, no water or drinks and they first serve their very mediocre meals before you get a small plastic cup of water which we got 1 hour into the flight. Then the dirty trays only get cleared around an hour after meals are served so you can’t stow the tray table and sleep until they’ve cleared the cabin. On both the flight to Bangkok and the return sector I tried in vain to call a cabin attendant using the call button, but they literally walk past you with the blue light glaring and carry on doing whatever they’re busy with. I needed assistance on one occasion as the passenger next to me spilled their whole drink over me and I needed a towel to dry my leg and shoes, but after 20 minutes I eventually switched off the light and gave up and slept with a wet leg. On another occasion I needed the attendant to take my dirty food tray (nearly a full hour after the meal had been served) so that I could stow my fold down tray to get up to go to the bathroom but he refused to take it and said I must wait until they clear the whole cabin. I chose Kenya Airways because it was the quickest trip with shortest connection and I assumed there would be similar service to AF / KLM with them being shareholders, but if I ever fly to Bangkok again from Johannesburg I will certainly pay the extra money and take the longer layover in Dubai or Singapore and fly Emirates or Singapore Airlines, I will not fly Kenya Airways long-haul again unless it’s specifically to go to Nairobi or elsewhere in East Africa.

Not Verified | Just returned after spending nearly 10 hours at OR Tambo airport. Flight was cancelled due to a faulty spring on a flap. While I recognise theses things happen I was appalled by the way the staff treated customers. Little or no information was given. KQ staff were almost completely absent except when tracked. Sent from pillar to post trying to find luggage, no lunch vouchers provided, then informed you had to re-book yourselves on flights so complete mayhem trying to get to the KQ reservation desk back in the departures, non airside counter. Was informed no compensation except for new booking would be provide and if needed a hotel. I have family in Pretoria so headed back to them, incurring extra costs such as taxi fares but no compensation for these and all the other costs incurred let alone any compensation for wasting my and my 2 kids whole day, losing a days work, missing appointments etc. Am absolutely amazed at how badly KQ staff in Johannesburg are trained. This is not the first time. Last year when they lost my luggage for 3 days, KQ staff at ORTambo failed to inform me I was due 100 usd compensation. I only found out when I arrived in Nairobi and asked at the help desk in the arrival hall.

Not Verified | Cape Town to Mumbai via Nairobi. I have taken loads of flights in the last few years all across the world and this is by far the worst experience I have ever had. Our flight was delayed for over 10 hours because there was no crew availability. Because of that our connecting flight was missed, and we were rescheduled to a flight, which made us reach Mumbai 25 hours late. When we reached the airport, the system was not working, and we were given hand written boarding passes. The process delayed the flight by more than 4 more hours. The airline staff were clueless as they apparently said that the head office in Nairobi was not picking their calls. I don’t know what is up with Kenya Airways. It’s better to cancel the trip than to travel with them.

✅ Trip Verified | Nairobi to Mahe. They cancelled our flight to Mahe without notice. We tried to check in evening before our departure date but their system indicated incorrect personal details. We called customer service but they could not explain to us but instead said that we should check in at airport. On arrival at airport our flight original time 1915 was cancelled so we couldn’t catch our connecting flights. We went to their office at Entebbe and found a staff who was very unprofessional and unwilling to help. When we indicated that we are gold members and frequent flyers and we wish to file a complaint and asked for her name, then she was willing to assist us. We missed our connecting flights, paid hotel we did not sleep in. Sleepless night. All they had to do is to inform us that our flight was cancelled and they didn’t.

✅ Trip Verified | Johannesburg to Mumbai via Nairobi. Staff lack professionalism and can be quite brash and rude. Cabin was too hot even after take off and I requested if they could turn up the air but the cabin attendant didn't seem to understand my request. Far too much single use packaging - throwaway boxes, plastic cutlery when they could just as easily use stainless steel cutlery. No special meals on 2/4 of my flights and staff insisted this was not booked even when I was presented with my meal on 2 of other legs. Had to wait at least 30 minutes both times in Nairobi in the plane after landing in the heat as ground staff got the disembarkation ready but no apology or explanation from cabin staff for keeping people standing in the hot crowded airplane. Staff lack warmth and are robotic and the attention to service when compared with other airlines on similar routes is noticeably absent.

Not Verified | Cape Town to Zanzibar via Nairobi. Worst experience of my life. We booked online directly from Kenya Airways on the 2nd Nov and the money was deducted on the 8th November. The day we booked we noticed a flight was cancelled and we phoned them to make sure seeing as we didn't receive an e-ticket. The woman said it's no problem we will receive our ticket the moment the flight is sorted we just need our booking reference. On the 15th Dec we were suppose to fly at 2300. With check-in they couldn't find our ticket and was sent to ticket sales. Ticket sales confirmed that we had paid and that we have a booking but no tickets were issued. When Kenya was finally reached they said they never received our payment. 2.5 hours later we missed our flight. Next day we start phoning them at 7am. When they finally answered they started this thing where they will tell you to please hold but end the line. After the fourth call we got through and the woman said we can fly at 14:30. At 10am we were at the airport at ticket sales. Once again no e-ticket and no response. By 12:30 we get the news. We have to pay for new tickets at a larger price than our previous tickets and they will refund our original price .. the absolute audacity. We lost our vacation and accommodation and these people wanted to charge us extra? Customer service is enough to make even the most calm and professional person lose it completely. We received a proof of refund and on the proof it shows that they received our money on the 6th November.

✅ Trip Verified | Johannesburg to Dubai via Nairobi. First and last time travelling on Kenya airway. Firstly the flight took forever to take off and i had a connecting flight in Nairobi, which eventually had me running like a mad dog and almost missed my connecting flight. This Kenya Airways first time experience did not stop here, after landing and to this very moment my luggage is missing, try having a holiday and you have no luggage, and no one is helping at Kenya airways. Never again.