Avianca Reviews 1,801

I purchased a London–Bogotá return with Avianca (£1,500), and later attempted to rebook my travel well over a year in advance.
I was informed that Avianca’s systems simply “do not allow” bookings that far ahead — meaning I cannot use the service I paid for.
Instead of offering a reasonable solution (future rebooking, voucher, refund), Avianca insisted I should forfeit the entire fare, with only taxes refunded.
My formal complaint was closed with a templated response that ignored every substantive point.
This is not acceptable behaviour from an airline.
I am now escalating formally via external dispute routes.
I would advise travellers to be extremely cautious when booking with Avianca.

At the Charles Gaulle étoile airport…. The luggage was lost someone stole it, it’s been three days, nobody give me an explanation about what’s happened. It’s terrible. À l'aéroport Charles de Gaulle, en transitant vers Paris, la valise de mon fils a été volée et personne ne me donne d'informations. Il n'y a aucun numéro de téléphone pour les contacter, c'est terrible ce qui est arrivé à mon fils.

Awful experience very bad airline, poor service. I don’t recommend it to anyone

Just a terrible experience booking. Avianca is quite possibly the worst airline ever. Hidden fees, constant issues processing payments

I am a tourist and staying in Cali., i go for 5 days to Cartagena what can i take with me ? I Almost can not take anything , not allowed do i have to walk in Cartagena 5 days with te same clothes an underware ??

Some of rudest, most incompetent baggage drop staff I’ve ever encountered.

Leave their desk for no reason, are just rude to you, argue over the tiniest detail (tried to say we needed an onward flight rather than boat as proof of exiting the country).

Turn up at least 3 hours before your flight or you’ll miss it due to their complete and utter incompetence and lack of any care for the job they are meant to do

Worst worst worst experience flying ever!! And I've had bery Bad experiences with lowcost airlines before! This is Beyond. It was emotional abuse! I would sue them if possible! I was supposed to fly to Bogotá for a connection flight. First, the plane was supposed to take off in Bogotá. We took off in Cali, "because of weather conditions" we were then took again to Bogotá, with a new flight rescheduled. We have to pass Custom in Bogotá which was impossible due the amount of people, so I lost that flight, went to the counter to get a new one only to find out the flight has been closed with no explanation. I tried to book another flight again and there were hundred of people waiting for the same, hundreds! I've been there already more than half a day! a person was going to faint, and they didn't do anything until a woman shouted at them that please did something! They don't care about any client, they treat you like calf as if you werent paying, and it's not exactly cheap either. They are rude and condescendant in a way I've never seen before, even with people from public services from a third world country! I finally was reassigned to another flight and it took over an hour (yes, after all that nightmare) to finally take off. I arrived to my destiny four hours later passed midnight! And I had been at the crappy Bogotá airport the whole day! when I was supposed to arrive in the morning. They play with your mind, with your time, they don't care about anything! Most nasty and immoral airline I've ever travelled with!!

If I could write 0 stars for this airline I would. I have never received worse service than I did travelling from Peru to Canada. I will never fly with this airline again - the staff were blatantly rude and would not help you if you spoke English. I’m honestly disgusted with my experience boycott them like the plague.

Absolute worst airline. Interacted with various staff and all were either incredibly rude or incompetent/unwilling to help. Gave wrong information and kept sending me from one side to another - they overbooked the flight and ended up having to buy a new ticket

every time I fly with Avianca, I have a bad experience. There’s always something. A surprise fee, a broken user experience, the machine not working at the airport, the staff telling me misleading information, the staff touching my stuff without asking, the staff being rude, dismissive, and disrespectful, the exorbitant charges. Everything is nickel and dime. I’d rather just pay a higher price for a better airline then deal with all the bullshit. so tired of this.
Today’s terrible experience was jfk November 20. Flight number AV 211. From the moment we check checked in, every thing was one bad experience after another

i couldnt travel with my cat due to incorrect info from Avianca Airlines, and subsequently I had to leave it behind on the airport with a friend.

I never got a refund for this, they just refer to the agency i booked with and dont want to take responsability for the cat and what they are doing!

Bad customer service, cruel and indifferent treatment of customers. The worst airline experience ever, never travel with these guys EVER!!!

My mom yesterday flew from Chicago to Santiago de Chile with Avianca. Two 6-hour flights and they didn’t even give her a cup of water. She bought a coffee in the second one, but it was a very long journey and I’m outraged they don’t offer food and it was not clear when we purchased the ticket, which was not economy, but the plus fare.

This is a horrible airline, I can say anything positive about the airline. The stuff is rude and arrogant, they make you pay for literally everything! Use of the bathroom is still free, who knows how long. This airline is a disgrace to aviation and being a national airline, for Colombia. Try to avoid it by any cost. It is a nightmare

Terrible Airline.
Adopted low-cost model charging US$105 for carry-on luggage, effectively removing any choice from the customer. This is anti-consumer policy.
Furthermore, they have cramped the seat rows together for maximum profit so passengers knees push against the seat in front.
Never ever flying with Avianca again.

Apart from delays and a complete flight cancellation, my trusted samsonite suit case arrived with a broken lock. I tried 3 times lodging my complaint but only ever got a standard reply: "locks, zippers etc etc are excluded from liability in our general terms and conditions and we use 3rd party operators for which we don't assume responsibility." As if I had any influence on how my luggage is being handled.
They are a member of the Montreal Convention but totally ignore ones rights.
I cancelled my remaining flights with them, hoping that their refund will ever reach me.

No contact by Avianca despite assurance to get back on my complaint.

On September 27, 2025, I had a booked flight Cusco‑Bogotá‑Madrid. After waiting more than an hour at Cusco airport, we were informed that the flight would not take place, supposedly due to delays of another aircraft in La Paz, Bolivia. However, in Cusco, the weather conditions were normal and other flights were operating regularly.
For approximately 17 hours, we were denied any rebooking or the organization of an alternative flight, no food, drink, accommodation, or transportation was offered, and we were literally sent out onto the street, told to return to the airport the next day. As a result, we missed two additional return flights home and arrived after more than two days of travel. Some other passengers were even made to wait up to three days for subsequent flights, while being denied rebooking to earlier flights or to other cities in their countries.
Despite requesting assistance, the Avianca staff responsible at Cusco refused to help and simply directed us to submit a claim.
This experience reflects a serious lack of passenger care and failure to uphold the rights that Avianca recognizes in its own passenger rights policy and under European regulations. I hope my comment serves to warn other passengers - just avoid them!

Warning: Do Not Fly Avianca from Honduras

I can't speak for other countries, but please — do not fly with Avianca out of Honduras. The airport staff is completely incompetent. There’s no customer service by phone, and no one at the airport is authorized to make decisions. You’re forced to call a call center that doesn’t answer during early morning hours.

To make matters worse, the staff seems totally uninterested in solving problems — almost as if they showed up drunk or high. Maybe it’s because it’s the middle of the night, but their attitude is not just unprofessional, it’s rude and arrogant.

Avianca in Honduras is a complete disaster. They don’t even have proper offices, none of their phone numbers work, and they never respond to emails. Absolutely terrible experience.

1 star is way too high a rating. In all seriousness, this airline deserves to be brought up on criminal charges for malicious and intentional fraud, deception, using possibly illegal and certainly unethical methods to not deliver what is offered. Without even going into details of ticket I lost for my gf due to their deceptive tactics, I will outline what is now happening to me enroute.

I am stuck in Bogota, where I have witnessed and am experiencing their pre-arranged fraudulent and corrupt behaviour, together with the Columbian Govt, to deceive and delay customers, for the sole purpose of $.

I bought a ticket from SDQ - SJO, changing planes (not changing airline) in BOG. We landed on time, the connection was to be 1hr later. When LEAVING SDQ, they were already saying I would not be able to connect to 2nd flight due to being late! But we weren’t. I was met getting off plane with a new boarding pass for 9hrs later. I pressed, finally got to a supervisor after every place I went tried to refuse me. I watched him pull up the flight’s landing time, after many stories, always changing, about why I was being held up. He spoke in Spanish (after i claimed to not understand) to his colleague a lot, both discussing their hatred of customers, and some of the details around how they go about their fraudulent activities. There is a bogus security setup when you get off the plane, designed to hold up passengers that have that quick connection. They fritter around, stop, etc when told. Then, even if there is still time to make the gate, they very smugly tell you your bag will be on the flight 9hrs later… rather pleased with themselves.

The game… sell tickets they have zero intention of honoring, so as to hold you up in the airport, spending $. They give you a voucher for not enough to buy anything with for food, as their legal “out”. They do not apologise, and to your face just flat refuse to even care, then just walk away. They know they will not be held accountable. Its all a big scam, supported by the Colombian Govt and their airport security.

This is a terrible website. The payment process is designed to fail on the first attempt, forcing you to rebook at a higher price. I consider this a deceptive practice and the worst service I have ever experienced for an intercontinental flight