I receive a service for what I pay, so it is fair.
A few years ago long flights 6 hours or so used to have video screens and they offered ear phones. The food cart used to come and drinks. Now absolutely nothing. Avianca is as bad as Spirit Airlines. Avianca will now be my last choice when booking my next flight.
Business class seats did not lie flat. There was only powdered milk for your coffee....in Business Class!! Food was good.
The seats were very uncomfortable. I would have upgrade or got different flight if I knew. I usually sleep in the plane but I couldn’t sleep at all. Very uncomfortable. Also no food or drink everything was to purchase, and that’s u usual for international flight.
Boarding was somewhat confusing in that the wrong messages were being displayed at the gate. It was somewhat annoying that I got off one flight and straight onto another (from the same gate), but in between they re-checked my hand luggage and made me get rid of my water (which they charge for on the plane). I was sitting in their 'Plus' seating, but the leg room was still too small to be able to sit square. The food options on the flights are pretty cheap quality (but not price). They got me from 'A' to 'B' on-time and for a relatively good price, but the experience itself was below average.
Lounge for business was closed. Boarding was rush and stand by. Seat for business is just the middle seat blocked and some more leg room.
Flew with our two children. Paid $380 to check two bags (one was overweight). They then left the bags behind on Sunday, December 21st, with all our family’s clothes and family Christmas presents. When we arrived at our destination they told us the bags had not arrived, and they thought (but didn’t know) they were still in Boston, but that there’d be a flight the next day and the bags would arrive the next day. The next day we found out there was no flight, now we’re hoping we get our bags before we fly back out. Meanwhile, trying to get any engagement or accurate information is a waste of time. The folks at the call center are just gatekeepers, who can’t connect with any departments that actually do things to solve a problem. Getting information is made deliberately difficult. My biggest regret is that I’ve had a number of awful experiences with Avianca traveling between the US and Colombia, and still let myself get suckered into buying these tickets because the schedule was great. Never again.
We were not aware carry-on bags cost extra until we arrived at the airport so, we were charged $240.00 for two small carry- on bags! There was a substantial fee for drinks and snacks. No wifi, or other entertainment was available. Waiting areas were crowded and uncomfortable.
So so, you feel like you have to pay for everything each time
I paid over $200 for seat selection for these flights and I was still stuck on long international flights in seats that do not recline and do not have the head support cushion. At this point basically all airlines have those for all seats, and this really took me by surprise and made me not ever want to travel on Avianca. The Kayak agent who called me for the seat selection (Donovan) was courteous, but it seems the system for this doesn't work. I was offered seat selection, for the $200+, but without being able to see what I was selecting, with no guarantee where I'd be...and then I still ended up in terrible seats. On my way to, and especially after, a very intense business trip, the seat situation really soured my experience.
