Avianca — Local services in New York

If i could give less then 1 star i would. Hands down worse flying experience of my life. Ill start by saying i missed my flight time. 100% my fault! However what followed after that leads me to a 1 star review. 1st i am fluent in spanish so a language barrier cannot be an excuse... Immediately after realizing we missed our flight we called Avianca to see what we could do to get the next flight and let me TELL EVERYONE their customer service seems genuine until you start to get passed around being put on hold for hours at a time. We eventually got ahold of someone who was able to get us the next flight and allegedly booked us for that flight which was in 3 hours but they never emailed us our tickets or confirmed in the system so we cant board and wasted more time. So we call again which again lead us to another hour in waiting on hold because apparently nobody is capable of doing multiple steps in the process. While waiting i started to get worried so i went on their website to just buy 2 tickets outright and their website is so slow and bug infected i kept getting redirect and non of my information would save so that wasnt possible either. After about 6 hours of trying to get a hold of someone useful and missing the next flight we managed to get customer service that booked us a flight which was 12 hours later. Basically slept on the floor in terminal 4 for 12 hours in which the tickets we got printed out didnt work to scan in so again we spent another hour at checkin explaining what happened before checking in our bags. Then again the tickets wouldn't scan trying to board the flight in JFK another 45 minutes explaining just barely getting on the plane and of course flying directly to Bogota to the next connecting flight the tickets wouldnt scan and again spending unnecessary time explaining our way at every checkpoint possible. During our vacation in colombia we decided to refund our "refundable" tickets but of course their customer service was terrible over the phone so we found an Avianca kiosk in one of the malls and again spent an hour explaining the situation only for the ticket agent to explain she cant do this over her computer it needs to be done on our computer??? So of course we spend another half day during our vacation trying to get our tickets refunded which we only got a confirmation of refund but it didnt say how much and they would let us know in the 30 days as of now its been a week and no refund!!! In all seriousness id rather hitch hike with no shoes, money, food or water to get to my destination then take a chance flying with them....

This is an unprofessional and corrupt airline. Every step in the process in dealing with Avianca was disappointing. Their non-functioning website was a red flag from the start. But there was no other alternative airline to get from the New York City area to Periera, Colombia. I called customer service and spent hours dealing with different agents attempting to purchase the flights by phone before they could complete the transaction. On the last leg of the return flight, a miserable agent at the check-in counter claimed that I had an oversized carry-on bag and would have to pay $200 and check the bag or I would have to leave without it. He would not address how it could be considered oversized when: it fit in the apparatus right next to the counter that passengers use to test their luggage size, I had flown from NYC to Bogota and Bogota to Pereira with the same piece of standard carry-on luggage on the previous Avianca flights without incurring a fee, and numerous passengers were allowed to board with the same size luggage (and slightly larger) without being charged. Since I had space left in the checked bag for which I paid extra, I asked if I could rearrange items from the alleged oversize carry-on and put them and/or put the carry-on itself into the checked bag. The smug agent seemed to delight in telling me that the checked bag was already on the conveyor and could not be returned to me. The passengers around me who witnessed this all agreed that I was being targeted because I was white and carrying an American passport. I paid the $200 because I could not leave my luggage behind. I explained all of this to Avianca customer service upon my return and they refused to issue a refund. Please See the attached photos confirming the size of my bag and the other larger bags that others were allowed...

Avianca is the WORST airline I have been on. I gave them 2 tries... as If one hadn't been enough. I purchased 2 tickets for my aunts to visit NY. After travelling for 5 hours to get to the airport from our city, I did the check in online for them, everything was fine but at the counter, 1 aunt was denied boarding out of nowhere. My other aunt was able to fly. The day she was supposed to return we go to the airport to find out that her return ticket had been canceled as well. NOBODY at Avianca had a good solution. They just flat out canceled her return ticket, and I had to right then and there buy her another ticket so she can go back home and work the next day. I spent $2000 total on 2 tickets and they returned $60 back to me after ALL THAT.

The 2nd time i tried, was last resort. I had no other option as they had the only flight to my destination the next day. Horrible horrible service, they are honestly a*holes and don't care about their customers. 6-7 hour long flight, they won't even give you water for free after paying +$800 per ticket. No water, no snacks, no wifi, no screen, nothing. Seats are VERY uncomfortable. I truly 100% believe Avianca is the worst airline and I've been on Spirit. that is saying something. Compared to avianca, Spirit feels like luxury. Do yourself a favor, use a different airline. I can't even fathom how this airline stays in business.. probably from scamming their...