Avianca Reviews

When I booked my ticket and completed the check-in process, there were no indications or warnings about the need for a yellow fever vaccine card to re-enter Colombia. Even the official Colombian travel website states that there are no vaccination requirements for entry. I had encountered no issues when entering Brazil through immigration, and no one informed me of the necessity for a yellow fever card to leave the country.

On the day of my scheduled return, I arrived at the airport at 4 am, well ahead of my 7:25 am departure on flight AVianca AV260. To my shock, the Avianca agent called out certain names from a list, and I was among those asked to come forward. The agent then informed me that I could not travel unless I had a document proving Colombian residency or a yellow fever vaccine card. Despite explaining that I was visiting Colombia as a tourist from the United States and holding a valid tourist visa, I was told that this was inadequate and that I needed a residency card.

I was perplexed by this requirement, especially considering the lack of prior communication and its inconsistency with Colombian travel regulations. The agent proposed alternative routes, including one through the United States, which I reluctantly booked, only to be informed later that this option was invalid due to multiple stops within Colombia. This led to additional financial loss and mental distress.

Notably, my work responsibilities are based in Medellin, Colombia, and I needed to return promptly to resume work. However, my flight departed without me, and Avianca agents did not offer any alternative solutions or assistance. This lack of care and knowledge by the airline's staff was deeply disappointing. In my desperation to return to Colombia, I ended up spending $1000 of my own money to book a night flight to Lima, Peru, and then on to Medellin. This arduous journey involved multiple flights and left me physically and emotionally drained, with next to no rest.

To add insult to injury, upon arriving in Colombia, immigration did not ask for any yellow fever vaccination or documentation. This revelation highlighted the inconsistencies in Avianca's information and the inadequate assistance I received. In light of this frustrating experience, I formally request a full refund and compensation for the financial losses, time wasted, emotional distress, and inconvenience caused. The lack of proper communication, knowledge, and care by Avianca's agents towards international passengers, particularly U.S. citizens, is unacceptable.

I urge Avianca Airlines to address these concerns promptly and to ensure better communication, transparency, and support for passengers. If no action is taken to rectify this situation, I am prepared to take legal action to seek reparation for my financial losses and emotional distress. It is disheartening to know that similar incidents have occurred with Avianca Airlines, and I am considering initiating a class-action lawsuit to address these recurring issues. This ordeal has left me greatly disillusioned and disappointed with Avianca Airlines, an experience that I felt compelled to share. I implore the company to rectify this matter and prevent further instances of mistreatment and misinformation towards its passengers.

The second flight was delayed by an hour after we were waiting already 20 minutes in the boarding line we returned to the gate, with no explanation given, after the hour they advised us to move immediately to the new gate and we walk in a rush to make us wait another 30 minutes. The outbound flight was the worse of all, my daughter was feeling ill cause of bad digestion and I asked for a wheelchair at check-in so she didn't have to walk in Bogota airport, they couldn't fulfill my request, no apology at all, they asked me to wait around 15 minutes for someone to come up with the wheelchair and believe me for them 15 minutes is more like half an hour waiting, in my personal experience (for the record we did not have a bad experience during our vacation at the city, on the contrary, everyone was very polite), my daughter had to walk or we were going to lose our flight home.

Last but not least they called my name on the loudspeaker and at the counter they told me I was selected for the aleatory security verification, I was set aside with another group of people and they did not let me talk to my family after that and they took my passport. Remember my daughter was ill which I explained to a lady, I was traveling with my husband and my other kid. They did not care and were very rude, I was carrying their documents at the time and I they also took it from me when I told them in a very rude way too. I had to make signs to my family through a glass from the distance to hardly explain what happened, they were confused and my daughter was scared. I could tell from her face, it was a very unpleasant moment. They treat me in a very very unprofessional way with no consideration at all.

Worse airline experience in my entire life, and for the record we travel around 2 to 3 times a year as a family, at least 1 more as a couple. Had to pay for our luggage too, the carry-on was not free either so we decided to check two suitcases which were cheaper at the end. Oh, a few more things...after seat number 10 the seats don't have an incorporated pillow and won't recline, and their entertainment selection is very very poor...for kids, there are only 6 options. In-flight Internet is not available. I could write a book of bad stuff but nothing compares to what they did to us taking us apart in such a rude way!

Many of us had to help out each other. If our flight had not been delayed, more than half of us would have missed it. I get it that they’re trying out new technology, but representatives are still needed. It was the first time that any of us were using a kiosk.

This people are rude!!! Extremely unprofessional, no one agrees on what is going on with my case, every agent tells me a different story, they have hung up on me multiple times, and no help at all!! Now I have $800 lost!! Avianca I need you to call me and refund me my full money since I requested a change of date!!! Not a refund!!! Your people has no sense of customer service!! Below you will find the names of all the people that have been rude to me! My case #: **.

William **- supervisor of Avianca in Managua, Nicaragua airport. Laughed in our face when we told him we needed to fly back home that day because we had already turned in our hotel room, car rental, and were stranded in Managua with 2 small children. He simply laughed and said "You're not flying today, call the call center" and moved us out of the line. Heyvy ** - a supervisor that over the phone told me clearly that I needed to understand that they were not going to help me, and that if I wanted to fly back home I simply need to buy another ticket. Rude, disrespectful, unprofessional!! Yelled at me and then hung up.

Juan ** - over the phone told me there was nothing left to do, that I lost my money and couldn't transfer me to a supervisor because they will just tell me the same thing, then proceeded to hanging up on me! Jennifer **- gave me the runaround, made me fill out a form of complaint telling me they will prioritize it, but when I called later on to make them aware the form had been submitted, a new agent told me they couldn't do nothing with that form that he "Apologizes" for the bad information given to me by Jennifer. My experience with Avianca has been nasty!!! I will never fly with them again!! Neither will none of my family members! I hope Nicaragua bans them from flying to there for their fraud and such terrible customer service!!