Flying with Avianca oh my god

kerry says on Feb 14, 2005, 07:57:

also they changed the flying times and had to phone me to tell me. When we boarded the plane in London, we asked can you give us our push chair in Madrid for our stop over they said well that is a bit complex, then they said okay. We did get it but that presented a problem for them

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Sam Salmon says on Feb 14, 2005, 09:30:

They Suck Definitely Avianca has it's supporters here but I'm not one of them as per the subject line.
Sloppy, rude, overbearing, ignorant, chronically late and mendacious come to mind and I'm in a good mood this AM!




' a la orden!'

' a la orden!'

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Miguel says on Feb 14, 2005, 09:39:

Senor Sam...You Are Today's Winner! Of the "Word of the Day" Contest...(mendacious) And that's no lie!

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santiBOG says on Feb 14, 2005, 10:16:

Salmon You forgot to mention disrespectful.

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juanalejo says on Feb 14, 2005, 10:24:

Just out of curiosity Which airline did you fly between London and Madrid? I am just wondering which airline do they codeshare between these two cities?

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brad216 says on Feb 14, 2005, 10:37:

Avianca In the past I have defended Avianca because of the many flights I have had with them and never a problem. All of that has now changed as of 2 days ago. I'm leaving Sat to head down to Cali and they call me this past Sat and tell me there's a flight change and that they no longer will have direct flights from Miami to Cali. I now have a stop over in Barranq. and do not arrive to Cali until 10pm instead of 7:30pm (basically wasting a whole night). The problem is that on my way home to Philly, because of the stop in Baranq., I will now miss my connecting flight home. When they called me to tell me of the change I informed them of this problem and they said it's not their concern. I asked for my $$ back since they changed the terms I agreed to and they said they would credit me back...but only after taking out a fee for cancellation. To change my flight with American would cost $400 because of the late notice so I informed Avianca that I will be sending them the bill and I expect them to pay. They laughed when I told them and said you can try but don't bother and then they said it's not a good thing to make them angry because they can cause problems with my baggage. I was not happy about being threatened and have written a letter to my Senator, Avianca, and the Miami International Airport to report this employee and their actions. ****All I can say now is that you get what you pay for***** I never believed all of the posts regarding this airline but now I understand what everyone talks about with this disgraceful airline.

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Hunter says on Feb 14, 2005, 11:01:

Kerry I thought Avianca had stopped flying from London?

I read in another post that they were planning on starting again, I presume that they have from your post, or did you fly another airline between London and Madrid.

Hunter

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Jimmyto says on Feb 14, 2005, 11:27:

Service Sucks One time I flew with Avianca from Miami to Medellin, stopping in Cartagena for 2 days to visit the city. I initially flew in from Toronto Canada, when I got the their counter in Miami their overbooked, shipped my luggage to Cartagena, they had me pay an extra $50 US to take te next flight the next day. I ended up spending less than a day in Cartagena before I finally got to Medellin.

I believe the service with ACES was much better!

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tulip_ana says on Feb 14, 2005, 12:12:

Avianca is H O R R I B L E. the worst is we don't have a lot of options. that is why i always prefer supporting other companies when i fly inside colombia... outside... well... if you dont have US visa and if you go to europe you have to use lufthansa, air france or iberia, oh!! and air madrid! it sux because through US flight are a lot cheaper but only getting US visa to be 'en transito' is not something im going to do. entonces viva iberia. btw if someone knows how to find cheaper tickets holland or europe - colombia i will be glad to know about it.

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juanalejo says on Feb 14, 2005, 15:34:

Iberia I am not an Avianca fan, but to say that Iberia is better is really going far fetched. Iberia is the worst airline around, not only does there service s...k as much as Avianca´s but they do not know how to smile ever, at least in Avianca they usually smile until something goes wrong.

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miamimike says on Feb 14, 2005, 16:19:

Brad-Call your credit Card company !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Get the jump on these guys-simply call your credit card company and ask them to either cancel your charge and/or contest the charge as they, Avianca, changed the deal-not you. And yes--they will retaliate with your either delaying or losing your luggage.Last time I used 'em 4 yrs. ago--on my return flight to Miami from Bogota--I called a day ahead to make sure everything was on as planned--They said "Yes". The day of my flight-I arrived 4 HOURS before my flight. After clearing immigration and security--I went to the deaprting concourse 2 hrs. ahead of time. No one there: finally the people started showing up-I was 1st in line and asked the Lady at the kiosk about the flighht-response--"its 2 hrs. late" We have to await a connecting flight from Argentina. 2 hours later I go back to the lady--now she says--"we do not have a seat for you" wait until tomorrow! I argued with her and informed her "I will be on that flight"--Finally they found one last seat(she claimed) to get rid of me amd my complaints I think. They left 10 other colombian passengers behind-NO CONSIDERATION WHATSOEVER! Once I was on the flight-I counted like 53 vacant seats!!!! When we arrived to Miami-my luggage was not on the plane-it arrived 2 DAYS later. This lost luggage was in retaliation. Worst damn Airline I have ever dealt with.Terrible customer service. I would not fly my DOG on this airline!!!!

"Wait a minute. What did you just say? You're predicting $4-a-gallon gas? That's interesting. I hadn't heard that." -- Feb. 28, 2008 --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C.

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Flyinrob13 says on Feb 14, 2005, 18:49:

Yup So I show up to the airport in Bogota, and am told that the flight is full. I have already paid for the ticket. I am then charged to fly the same route the next day. It was their fault, and I still ended up having to pay cause I changed my reservations. I figured that I could fix that problem, and a problem I had going from Santa Marta to Bogota, once I got back to Miami...at least thats what they told me in Bogota and Santa Marta. Wrong. The employees I talked to were nice, but they were unorganized. I am happy that people post these types of problems, cause it might keep other people from flying on that airline. I am starting a job in Bogota this July, and I will be flying on American or Delta down there. Thats a good idea to contest the charges. I will try that next. Currently I am in the process of hacking this out with a lady in Miami. Yay.

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ElLoco says on Feb 14, 2005, 19:34:

Better Business Bureau I hate Avianca's guts even if I have some friends working for this company. They think they have the same power that they have in Colombia, but I've had some bad news for them twice already, and one with Lanchile (although they seem a OK airline). Use the local BBB, fill out the complaint (on line), and wait for the answer, they sold you the ticket in your state therefore they need to deal with the local laws and regulations (that is your turn to say TOO BAD). Then if you are not satisfy with their answer or NO ANSWER (this is the best for you), you go to your local court (small business claims), then serve them and usually their lawyer or representative does not show either, the judge get furious and rule on your favor since you follow the right steps and they didn't, end of the story.

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moodm says on Feb 14, 2005, 19:45:

avianca I gave up 3 years ago on Avianca...bad service bad attitudes and
too many flights.American is the best especially for US to Cali flights.

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tbone says on Feb 14, 2005, 22:51:

i like avianca i've always had good experiences with avianca. several times they were espcially accomodating to me. i have nothing but good things to say about avianca and look forward to flying with them again.

therealtommyboy

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kerry says on Feb 15, 2005, 08:52:

Sorry got my facts wrong I flew to Santa Marta with Avianca. I flew from London to Bogota by Iberia. All the comments I made were actually about Iberias, so Iberias Is not much better.

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Miamigo says on Feb 15, 2005, 12:04:

Whiners! I have had no serious problems with Avianca either. I've had the same kind of problems with American. It's an airline, period. I fly Avianca because it's cheaper than American and there is not enough of a difference in service to warrant paying the difference in price.

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Antonio_4 says on Feb 15, 2005, 13:32:

tulip_ana I've been asking around here in Holland. Cheapest they could find for me is 805 euros (*&%#*&$...)
Which in this case is Amsterdam-Madrid on KLM and Madrid-Bogota on Avianca.

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Lionheart says on Feb 15, 2005, 14:43:

Please clarify, Kerry "I flew to Santa Marta with Avianca. I flew from London to Bogota by Iberia. All the comments I made were actually about Iberias, so Iberias Is not much better."

If all your complaints are about Iberia, why do you keep bashing Avianca? I don't see any negative issues about Avianca in either thread. Did you pick Avianca as topic this time because others where complaining in an older thread?

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kamilo says on Feb 15, 2005, 17:28:

thats why i always flight choose Lanchile, the best airline in LA.

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Michaeldelectus says on Feb 16, 2005, 03:22:

Aerorepublica is worse! I flew on aero republica in January - they were never ever on time (5 hour delay in Bogota!) and the plane crashed and caught fire in cali on the way back from cartagena. We all made it out safely, but the attendents did not help and the escape slides failed.

we are planning to sue them -
Michael

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Byron Farrow says on Feb 16, 2005, 05:12:

Aerorepublica crash In Cali last month? Can you give me a date so I can find the NTSB report.

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Michaeldelectus says on Feb 16, 2005, 07:58:

follow up..... accident was on 8th January 2005 flight number 7463

the right undercarriage sheared off first which was still on the runaway along with part of the right wing and then the left undercarriage sheared, which was on the grass at the end of the runway - plane then hit a wall rose up slammed down and then caught fire -

a retired pilot friend from Bogota suggested that the plane may have landed from the wrong direction with a tailwind for some reason, making the landing process more difficult, no emergency was reported on the plane

the black Boxes were apparently sent to the NTSB for analysis - as the airline is supposedly 80% owned by American Airlines.

if you find a report please do let me know

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lpdiver says on Feb 16, 2005, 10:19:

And Why Pray tell do you think you have the right to sue them.

Tony

"cook some rice!"

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Michaeldelectus says on Feb 17, 2005, 02:15:

right to sue Tony,

we don't know - and won't know until the official NTSB report
appears. if the airline is at fault then we may have a case. until then its wait and see....

Michael

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BlondeJamesBond says on Feb 17, 2005, 03:31:

Blame for Gain! *We all made it out safely*


Instead of suing I would be saying my prayers and thanking the Lord above for allowing me to survive a plane crash.

But, I guess when there is a sliver of cash to be made, then that sort of thing can be put on the back burner.

*but the attendents did not help* - Well excuse them for forgetting their p's and q's having themselves also just survived the crash!

*and the escape slides failed* - maybe, just maybe, they were damaged in the crash - just a thought.

It gets on my goat when people are always looking to apportion blame for every concievable accident.

Whatever happened to the old fashioned notion of 'taking it like a man', especially when no ill consequence was suffered.

Surely it will be compensation enough to one day be able to tell the dramatic story of how you survived an adrenaline pumping event such as a air crash.

IMHO

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Michaeldelectus says on Feb 18, 2005, 03:31:

no fighting for everyones saftey james,

No, it is not about financial gain - it is, if the airline is found to be at fault through sloppy procedure, poor maintenance etc then they should be made to account for it now and in the future. This is for the safety for everyone who flies - in fact the survivors have formed a campaign group for greater air safety.

Frankly the lord above was not flying the plane a pilot was - and perhaps it is them i should thank along with the cali bomberos who put the fire out.

it was an awful event and certainly not something you want to tell people about at dinner parties - the screams of the panicking children - i will never forget. you call that "compensation enough?"

michael

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michaelz says on Feb 18, 2005, 03:54:

michaeldelectus Thanks for the info about the airline accident in Cali. My girlfriend was suposed to fly from Cali to Bogota on January 8th to meet me. I waited for her at the Botota airport for 5 hours before I found out that the Cali airport was closed because of the accident. The airline made it sound like the accident was nothing much, but it appears that it was pretty serious. You are really lucky, man.

Is blondejamesbond the same person as bondjames (the one with the vedetta with Calipro) but using another name? In not, he should ignore the rest of this post. If so, he should remain silent until his period is over and he can stop bitching so much.

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lpdiver says on Feb 18, 2005, 04:42:

The FAA Will be your advocate and fight a collective battle for you. Are you going to donate any proceeds from your lawsuit to them to "further the cause"?

"cook some rice!"

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Michaeldelectus says on Feb 18, 2005, 05:59:

further comments thank michaelz - yes when you look out the window and see fire - you know its serious !

and LPdiver - if there is a case - then yes some of the proceeds will go to our foundation to campaign for air safety.

and i have no idea who james is

michael

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