Santa Barbara Airlines

Customer Reviews

No Skytrax Rating
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Seat Comfort 12345
Staff Service 12345
Value for Money 12345
Customer rating from 25 reviews
5/10
No Skytrax Rating
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Santa Barbara Airlines customer review

(United States)

Your "savings" by going cheap with Santa Barbara may cost you more in the long run! Miami-Caracas-Quito was smooth. The return trip was unreal. My friends and I went back and forth between anger and laughter because the it seemed like a bad comedy routine. Our 7 AM flight was cancelled and there were no SBA employees to tell us. We sought information for a long time until we finally saw an employee. My group noted that it seemed to take at least 4 employees staring at a computer screen for at least 30mins per customer! They took my passport number no less than 5 or 6 times! Standing in line time after time each time 1hr or more accomplishing nothing. Long story short we arrived in Miami 16 hrs later than we were supposed to. But consider some people in Quito had been waiting for their flight to Madrid for 3 days! This group of passengers got angry and began yelling at the ticket agents it was loud and ugly. The worst thing in all this was the fact that a ticket agent sold 3 tickets for the cancelled flight to 3 Chinese men who didn't know the flight had been cancelled. Total deception. The best way to summarize my impression of SBA is that they were like a company open for business on its first day with no rehearsal or training at all.
Seat TypeBusiness Class
Value For Money 12345
no
8/10

Santa Barbara Airlines customer review

(United States)

MIA-CCS Business Class. The affordable Business Class fare was too good to pass up. Check-in smooth. There is a separate business line but no sign so walk past the economy line and you'll see it. I was provided access to an executive lounge. Boarding standard a dedicated line for business passengers would have been nice as I arrived at that gate after the announcement to board business class. On board: plane was an older 757 but in serviceable condition. Business class seats were wide good recline. No inflight entertainment but I've been on plenty of domestic flights without entertainment. Meal service exceeded expectation with four courses: canape appetizer main course and desert. Food was good. Good red wines. Cabin service was efficient. Overall I was satisfied with the product.
Seat TypeBusiness Class
Value For Money 12345
yes
2/10

Santa Barbara Airlines customer review

(United States)

One of the worst if not the worst I ever flew. When I arrived at Caracas I was informed that the plane has a 35 hours delay. I got a new boarding pass with a seat in one of the last rows. When the time of flight came closer and a plane came to the gate we had to build a line but not without loud protest from many travellers SBA was willing to start boarding. Finally we left with a 45 hours delay and arrived in the middle of the night in Quito. The luggage took one hour and finally my suitcase didn't arrive. They told me that it would ). I was ordered to the customer service desk which caused the flight to be delayed longer. This was the last leg of 4 flights and I was charged for my carry on.
Value For Money 12345
no
7/10

Santa Barbara Airlines customer review

(United States)

My wife and I flew SBA Round trip from Miami to Quito with a stop in Caracas last week. I had read a number of bad reviews before the flight. I am familiar with South American aviation and always expect canceled or delayed flights with any South American airline. I don't care which one they all have this problem! Our flight out of Quito was 2-3 hours delayed and we were told by the ground crew that we would have to stay overnight in Caracas and would be provided accommodation. All very nice and professional . In Caracas we found a different SBA flight than the one scheduled leaving immediately for Miami and went to the departure gate. The staff was great and very kind! The gate agent even put us in Business Class. Our baggage was delayed but sent to Miami on the next flight and the ground crews were very helpful in advising us of this and seeing that we got our bags. On all legs of our trip the flight attendants were very efficient pleasant and nice to us. I will fly this airline again planes are a little old but the price is right and the personnel more than make up for this.
Seat TypeEconomy Class
Value For Money 12345
yes
na

Santa Barbara Airlines customer review

(United States)

CCS-UIO I was warned – and I should have listened. Because of what I had been told and also what I had read on this site I had originally booked an indirect route but changed my reservation at the last moment in order to supposedly save 3 hours travelling time whilst keeping my fingers crossed. The 18h00 departure was already put at 22h00 on check-in at 16h00. Then it was put back hourly until we finally left at 01h45. The service was operated by a 22 yr old B757. I was one of the first to board in Business Class and in doing so I noted four cabin crew attendants sprawled out in four of the Business Class seats asleep. Fortunately my seat was clear but when others boarded to find their seats occupied they were told to find alternative seats by the one cabin crew attendant who still appeared to be awake. The cabin crew remained in the seats for the entire flight and were still asleep on arrival. On the ground the inside of the aircraft was extremely hot even at 01h45 due to the failure of the air-conditioning system. Conversely in the cruise the temperature was sub-zero to the extent that people were putting on jackets coats etc. The inside furnishings of the aircraft were what you would expect of an aircraft of this age operating with a down at heel airline. Inflight catering appeared to be good though for those who wanted to eat at that time of the morning. Arrival at Quito was at 03h30 when the airport terminal was effectively closed and we had to wait for another 45 mins before any Immigration officials appeared. Whilst waiting to board the aircraft in Caracas I managed to have a brief word with the flight crew. I was told that the problem with reliability is down to Exchange Control in Venezuela which means that any US$ expenditure has to be requested through a Government agency and this is not immediate. Maintenance of the aircraft is done in Miami and billed in US$ currency. So unserviceable aircraft re not able to be turned around quickly and inevitably I suspect that serviceable” aircraft are operated right down to the minimum margins. Perhaps therefore not entirely the airline’s fault but there are some serious issues associated with this airline – to be avoided at all costs.
Seat TypeBusiness Class
Value For Money 12345
no
2/10

Santa Barbara Airlines customer review

(United States)

Miami to Caracas was fine. However Caracas to Quito was a different story. A normal 2 hour layover turned into a 7.5 hour layover kept changing gates with no reason and when they did speak it was in spanish only. Return trip flight from Quito to Caracas was delayed 2 plus hours then Caracas to Miami was delayed another 2 hours. When in Miami for baggage claim no baggage. Well 2 days later my luggage just arrived. I would not fly this airline again.
Seat TypeEconomy Class
Value For Money 12345
no
8/10

Santa Barbara Airlines customer review

(United States)

Miami to Quito. Pleasant ticket agents good cabin staff clean aircraft and decent meals. The only issue was the baggage contractor in Caracas. We had to change planes in Caracas and baggage handlers thought it was fun to throw the bags on the ground make every attempt to crush baggage - and the same when the baggage was put on the next plane.
Seat TypeEconomy Class
Value For Money 12345
yes
3/10

Santa Barbara Airlines customer review

(Greece)

I flew with their national subsidiary Aserca Airlines from CCS-PZO-CCS. The morning flight was on time with an old DC-9-31 plane. The service was plain; they offered only beverages or water. The return flight was in the afternoon and they had 2 hours delay. The aggravating thing was that; when we were boarding on the plane at 8:30 p.m. the airport screens of the departures appearing the flight departed at 6:30 p.m. They are a joke.
Seat TypeEconomy Class
Value For Money 12345
no
7/10

Santa Barbara Airlines customer review

(Spain)

Tenerife-CCS-MIA in business. TFN-CCS in an old ex AC Boeing 767 old business class seats but good service during the flight (Champagne good wines good food). Very nice staff even the captain came during the flight and asks every business passenger if everything is OK.Transfer in CCS a little complicated they are not used to it. CCS-MIA older B757 but good cabin 2x2 seat configuration. Good service also champagne and good wines.
Seat TypeBusiness Class
Value For Money 12345
yes
na

Santa Barbara Airlines customer review

(Denmark)

Big mistake to fly with SBA on a trip from Madrid to Caracas we were one day late and told several stories as to why the flight was late leaving Madrid. There was no help to be had from the ground staff and neither from the main office in Caracas. During the flight there was no service for a great deal of the time because the flight attendants were asleep 2 rows behind me in business class - we were 3 passenger in that section and 3 sleeping crew. The food was really poor. Luggage for business class was the last to come off the airplane hence extra time getting through customs.
Seat TypeBusiness Class
Value For Money 12345
no
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