Kenya Airways

Not Verified | I had booked a return flight from Copenhagen to Mombasa and back. Unfortunately I missed my connecting flight going to Mombasa. I booked another flight to Mombasa and I immediately contacted Kenya Airways customer support to find a solution for my return flight. I wrote and called them for a week before I heard back from Kenya Airways. Fortunately the reply was (in writing) that my return ticket was confirmed. When I went to Mombasa airport to fly back they could not find my ticket. I showed them the email with the confirmation and the Kenya Airways lady in Mombasa agreed that it said my ticket was confirmed. Head office refused to let me onboard unless I purchased a new ticket. I did so to come home to my family and I was advised to contact customer service when I got back to get my money back. Then followed several months where I have been writing with Kenya Airways Customer Support. All sort of excuses came up claiming I had the wrong visa, to me being a student and other lies. Finally they concluded that in reality I had not purchased a new ticket, instead I had paid a penalty fee for missing my original flight. I then provided Kenya Airways with a copy of my receipt from Mombasa airport that clearly states that I had to my a new ticket. Since then Kenya Airways have ignored my emails. I am really shocked how Kenya Airways has tried to avoid taking responsibility and done so by lying, bullying and inventing stories to make me drop my claim. I followed every procedure the moment I missed my plane and I truly trusted and believed Kenya Airways when they wrote me that my ticket was confirmed. The lesson learned is apparently that you cannot trust Kenya Airways.

✅ Trip Verified | I have been flying with Kenya Airways for the past 6 years, experienced a delay once which was okay but I had the worst experience in May where both trips were a disappointment. First, on the 14th May my Departure was delayed from 6am to 4pm. No apologies nothing, they kept on rescheduling the flight without proper communication. We late boarded Emirates to Nairobi. Again it took us hours to board from Nairobi to Mombasa. I was supposed to arrive at Mombasa 11am on the 14th Sunday but we arrived 2am on the 15th Monday.Worst scenario was on 28th May, my flight was scheduled at 8:45pm to Nairobi then connecting flight at 11.45pm.I arrived on time waited on the queue reaching the counter am told my flight was rescheduled to 7pm! On the screen I could see clearly my flight displayed at 8:45pm.Seriously ! Without even sending a notification, remember while booking phone number and email address is always part of the reservation details. The staff showed no remorse and asked me to check with reservation team. I walked politely to KQ office. I was so shocked when the reservation agent told me that my ticket is not valid ,that it's just a paper - so from changing the time to my ticket being void. This was the worst respond ever! Kenya airways staff lie a lot. He even told me that they tried to send a notification of which he wasn't sure. After insisting for a whole one hour, a supervisor later checked me in and I boarded the 8:45pm flight they booked me a hotel in Nairobi and I had to board my flight at 5pm.I missed my reporting day at work .It was my last time boarding Kenya airways Such a shame.

✅ Trip Verified | At a time when many airlines are improving their product, Kenya Airways appears to be going in the opposite direction. Getting onto the aircraft in Nairobi was chaotic with no priority given to business passengers – for the airline ‘Sky Priority’ means nothing. From the boarding gate we then went on a long bus journey around the airport before returning to part of the terminal to climb up stairs to get onto the aircraft. Although the cabin crew were very pleasant and offered a pre-flight drink (champagne, water or apple juice) no more drinks were served until after the meal arrived. This was a total disappointment with my beef option consisting of two small pieces of beef, some sauce and a mini samosa. It was complemented with a glass of wine in a thimble-sized glass which was only refilled when we asked the crew. One of the mysteries of the flight was why the lavatory at the front of the aircraft permanently had an engaged light on. When we asked we were told that the captain had said that it was ‘reserved for the crew and passengers could not use it’. Another mystery was a man who spent the entire flight sat on the crew jumpseat in the middle of the business section. I asked him what he was doing and he explained that the crew ‘could not find me anywhere to sit’. Given that airlines flying into the UK have a legal obligation to provide advance passenger information 24-hours before arrival it would be interesting to know how this requirement was met. Although the aircraft was clean and the flight was smooth, Kenya Airways’ 787 are let down by their old-style side-by-side seating which was worn and, in some cases, not functioning properly. The fact that the flight was full suggests that the airline has no problem selling tickets and therefore little incentive to improve its product.

✅ Trip Verified | This is a bad airline. I travelled with Kenya airways on the 20th of May 2023 and now is the 26 May 2023 and l haven't received my bag. I was told the bags were left in Kenya. I have made several phone calls to Zimbabwe and also here l have visited their office in Dubai they are not giving mey bag. This is my last time to travel with Kenya airways.

✅ Trip Verified | Missed outward leg of a return flight, due to issue with KA website. Accepted loss here, though honestly feel website more than 50% responsible. Problem was return leg automatically cancelled. Engaged from two weeks before flight with what is inexplicably called 'customer support' and still had to pay again at the last minute to get a flight back to Nairobi. Total loss considerably more than the original return flight total. Sent at least 8 messages to customer support. Initial replies reassuring and seemed to offer resolution, but nothing happened. Reassurances turned out to be misleading and the information I needed was never offered. Customer service agents, while courteous and polite, seem to assume that customers will have an understanding of the rules and practices of the dystopian KA universe. No useful information is provided. It also appears that agents do not have the authority to actually resolve anything. Therefore, they do not really engage with an issue, but dole out meaningless bland reassurances. To get a flight, it required a very long and expensive phone call with an agent who had to constantly refer to a supervisor. Thankfully there are alternatives to KA, both externally and internally.

✅ Trip Verified | Very good flight, excellent crew on board, as was the food and drink. My only gripe is the business class seats could do with an update, but they are comfortable none the less.

✅ Trip Verified | Kigali - Nairobi - Entebbe return 26-27 March 2023. Aircraft were narrowbodies. The first flight was on a B737, while the three remaining flights were on E190’s. All four (short-haul) flights were on time. This was a Mileage Run to retain my Flying Blue gold status as it otherwise was going to expire by end of the month. I was at first travel attempt denied boarding and my ticket was suspended by a junior staff in Kigali. They said, upon liaising with Immigration I Airport, that my reason to travel was not valid. I tried to change purpose, but the damage was done, which forced me to postpone the entire trip. However, later I had the ticket reissued by KQ town office in Kigali, who were professional and committed to help without any payments as it was not a No Show case. They even took over the booking from my travel agent which was effective and great relief avoiding potential additional costs. I even got a much better (and more expensive) itinerary avoiding night-flights though extending my transit lounge stays. While the junior KQ staff in airport should be sacked for denying me boarding, the KQ staff at town office should be praised and rewarded for constructive and expedite provision of resolutions and quick ticket reissue by ignoring and avoiding the OTA. The rescheduled trip went fine in all aspects. Lounge access accommodated prior to all 4 flights, and the lounges are all of good and solid quality. Slept fine in Pride Lounge in Nairobi where I spent an eve and a night. Effective boardings/deboardings by either bus, on foot, or by jetbridge. Onboard, welcome champagne available on all four flights. I had prebooked seat 1A which was given me throughout. I preordered my favorite seafood meals which were delivered and tasty. The sole exception was a morning flight, where they could not manage my seafood, despite it appeared in their flight manuscript; not a big issue, but they apologised. KQ always manage special meals effectively; this is really a perk that not even legacy carriers like Qatar Airways or KLM allows for. The crews on all flights were fine, professional, caring, and in good mood. The food is getting better on these regional flights, and I had my tasty hot mini-meals served throughout. Hot towels provided. Nut mix were provided as snacks provided to assist on drinks, which were served several times. The challenge of my trip was the seemingly unusual turn-around in EBB to which airport staff were confused as I instantly returned to my origin without going landside. They allowed me not to buy a transit visa, and escorted me to transfer security and thereafter negotiated excessive spending time in lounge for me – I was granted full access for 7 hours though the airline agreement was only 3 hours. Onboard, no IFE and no WiFi which is fine for short flights. No luggage/baggage issues. Flying Blue status respected and some SkyPriority entitlements were given. E.g. priority boarding. Recommended. Will fly them again. Would have given 10/10 but have to deduct a bit for denied boarding initially by the junior, incompetent staff member in Kigali airport.

✅ Trip Verified | This review is regarding Kenya Airways customer service and has nothing to do with the details of a specific flight. Our return to Chicago was cancelled when the KA pilots went on strike. My family of four was left to arrange alternate flight arrangements by ourselves and our travel agent who was back in Chicago. We absolutely received no help from anyone at KA. Finally got economy class tickets with Turkish Air which we took from Nairobi to Istanbul and home to Chicago. Had to pay for those tickets and was told to wait for a refund of the return with KA for our cancelled business class tickets. As it turned out, we had to wait a while for our refund which finally arrived on Feb 27. The refund was issued for almost $1200 each ($4800 for the four of us). While this may sound fair, please consider that we paid a total of $14,647 for our four business class round trip tickets to Nairobi and back. Additionally, we had to pay for our return via Turkish Air at a total of $6356. So the refund represented less than 1/3rd of the cost of the original round trip tickets. We were hoping for some consideration of the cost we incurred with Turkish Air, which ultimately was caused by KA. Following a recommendation from the CEO of KA I was contacted by one of his subordinates. While, I do believe that this individual may have had some impact upon the processing of the refund, I disagreed with him on numerous occasions when he and his staff tried to explain the refund policy to me following disruptions in service. The following is a direct quote from his email to regarding these situations: “In the event of disruptions such as the strike, the airline makes arrangements to carry you at the earliest opportunity on one of our scheduled services or reroute you to the destination shown on the ticket by our own services or those of another carrier at no additional cost to you. Should the alternative flights not be suitable or we are unable to rebook you to an alternate flight, you are entitled to a refund of the value of the unused portion of your tickets.” I contended to him that neither myself nor any member of my family was approached by anyone from KA to reroute us OR that anybody at the KA desk was willing to assist us make alternate flight arrangements. I was particularly incensed when I read the words in red, stating “…at no additional cost to you.” I feel lied to and disrespected by Kenya Airways in their addressing our significant and inconvenient disruption of service. I have found examples of other travelers on our flight similarly affected by the strike who had desk clerks reroute them with no additional out of pocket expenditure. The positive feelings I had about Kenya Airways prior to leaving Africa have been replaced by a lack of trust, a vow to never fly KA again, and to pursue informing all travelers I can to be aware and leery of KA’s management of refunds and its ultimate care and respect for passengers.

✅ Trip Verified | On the Nairobi to Addis Ababa leg of my inbound flight from Dubai to Addis Ababa on March 16, 2023, our flight KQ402 was supposed to depart at 17.00 but finally after a very long and painful waiting we boarded the plane at 23.00pm! Imagine arriving from Dubai at 7.00am and waiting all day long and all night and add to this no cooperative staff and zero services! To add insult to injury, again they did it on the return flight! Apparently, delayed flights are a norm in this airline. Our flight KQ310 on 26 march was delayed by almost 2 hours. Similar things happened to me on my previous flights on this Airline, I wouldn’t even rate them with a single star, but there is no option with zero star!

✅ Trip Verified | Schedule for 18.40 , delayed still waiting at the boarding gates time now 22.03. I asked them to arrange taxi from Mombasa Airport to Mombasa town. They refused. Worst airline. Even flew from Heathrow on 20th upgraded the seat with €100.00. When boarding the plane they given the seats two passengers at the same. I had to seat in ordering seats. Stay away from Kenya Airways