We are kind of in the same situation, getting out of Mexico back to Europe. I have contacted Virgin Atlantic who have stated that the refund has been paid to Kiwi but then Kiwi has denied that they have been paid and have asked me to prove that Virgin have refunded the cost of the flight. My son booked trip to Bangkok from Manchester left yesterday afternoon his flight was delayed one and a half hours hence missing his connection in Budapest. Upon asking them about this, their response was: I understand your concern regarding the credit used to purchase the tickets. I am in my 60s and have traveled extensively most of my life, where in the world is this acceptable. Here, we dive into the merits of using Kiwi flights and other transit for each of these situations. When I booked one of my flight to Germany, I forgot to mention that I am Vegetarian. I am reporting this to KAYAK, CITI and US Department of Transportation now. Less than 24 hours after booking, my flights were changed. Start by entering the airports you'd consider departing from and the date(s) you'd consider leaving. Kiwi.com Review (Find Cheap Flights in 2023) - The Broke Backpacker It hurts to say, but especially these days it seems like many rules do not apply anymore. If they cannot provide me with the service I paid for, that is a failure to meet the conditions of the agreement- and not to mention a poor business model & unreliable company. The only time you will find a good review is if that person left a review immediately after booking a flight. For my most recent flights back to America, Kiwi said that I could only bring a 10kg carry on and no checked bags. For the first time ever, I got the feeling that this app was seriously built for the traveler instead of for selling flights in a smart, aesthetically pleasing way. Super important and useful for all readers out there! I recently booked a ticket from stockholm to cologne on a eurowings flight. Travelers share here their own, first-hand experience. Kiwi.com allows you to book a flight from your home airport to the last point, i.e. But, truth be told, they are not comfortable at all and I ALWAYS end up using my own ones. Choose Your Desired Flight Service. They did not provided human chat with support. Your comment and hopefully my reply too helps all travelers. kiwi.com is consumer antagonistic to the barest legal edge of fraudulence and I sincerely hope you reconsider your partnership with them. I had a very negative experience with Kiwi, but from reading other peoples reviews it seems I got off lightly. I am in love with it. Still, Now Im supposed to fly out on Friday night?! I booked a flight with them on 7th September 2021 from Vienna to Alicante via Palma Majorca, and paid them 144.55. If Spirit cancels your flight and you miss your United flight, United has no obligation to rebook you on a later flight. Or, Kiwi can point out an option to fly a. to an intermediate airport and connect to another airline from there, saving on the overall trip. Please take this into account. It is really a pity. Please contactsupport.en@kiwi.com. I wrote a review on Trustpilot and received a call from a Kiwi representative, acknowledging how the I understand button could be deceptive. We find, however, that you had enough time to reach the . Before checking in your luggage, make sure you have all the things you need in your hand luggage. Protections arent reliable without paying extra, Say your Kiwi itinerary books you on a Spirit Airlines flight to connect to a. . Either way, I had a good experience. Do you have any other option to get back? I received an automated reply from Kiwi saying that they no longer use that email address and to contact them through the web site. That helped. Let's circle back to that European Nomad itinerary in the example above that costs $813 with one carry-on bag. After a couple of days they kindly asked me to erase the review. Kiwi.com is a scam and you need to separate yourself from this airline ticketing website. This a frud company. Ryanair operated the SXF-to-DUB leg while Aer Lingus Regional operated DUB to NQY. Since its hard to pass up cheap flights, here's a look at how Kiwi works and when its most useful to book transportation through its site and warnings you should be aware of. First review that I really had the need to write in my life so far. As every experienced traveler knows, these kind of websites change very frequently. It legitimately does find good transport options that you might not consider on your own (or want to take the time to sort through manually), and booking is a breeze with one-stop shopping instead of having to make separate purchases. They may include ground transportation options in results, too. Again, I never had this case and this price is obviously a NO-GO! For my third flight of the journey, the Delta website says that only a 10kg bag is allowed (which I presume is how Kiwi determined the baggage requirements). Im contemplating booking from Kiwi, I have read a ton of negative reviews out there on TripAdvisor, Im not sure. I used Kiwi for several flights. Back in August 2018, I checked flights for getting to Chiang Mai, Thailand. Combine Skyscanner with Kiwi.com and you will have a good time hunting flights deals. Also learned this the hard way unfortunately. This is useful when you are looking for flights to a country or area, rather than a specific city. There is a contact and phone number. While we have zero ways to confirm this, some stories by travelers seem legit, others sound more like it was their own fault. When I accepted it, however, it became clear that Kiwi.com had never thought about how I should get this voucher issued, even though several support staff had promised me it. Not a single one of our readers had an issue, so I really want to keep it that way! The answer: Yes, this is perfectly normal! Back to the website; it is quite rare to be willing to pay more just because the app or website looks cool. Is there a reason to be nervous about Kiwi? Not to mention their documents and emails are not user friendly. DONT RISK USING BOOKING.COM. Hi hostelgeeks, I really do not understand those bad reviews about Kiwi. They consider everything from far riskier endeavors we don't really endorse such as hidden city ticketing or throw-away ticketing to a cool feature they refer to as "Nomad" travel. What email does Kiwi use to book flights? : r/travel - Reddit They canceled my bags for one leg of the trip and only refunded me 15% of the amount I payed, as opposed to 50%. And even if it would be possible, the stress it not worth it. I will never book with them again ! I asked them to pass the call to their superior and they made me wait for 10 minutes with the same person Mike with the same argument. Absolute scammers! Hope you are keeping well these crazy days. They then sent me a message to check-in at the airport. NEVER NEVER EVER book with kiwi!! A mistake was made on my booking information and my flight is tomorrow. Anyone who books on there because they found your review here, and then get inevitably scammed, will blame you for it. What a disaster! For questions and feedback, don't hesitate to . They were asking me to go to a transit airport(which requires visa) without knowing if I can get a connecting flight or not. You have an extended explanation in our booking process. Kiwi has some serious operational problems. We are sorry for anyones bad experience and will do our best to resolve any issue with our Customer Support team. I did not wanted refund. Big scam!!! Most worrisome to me were a few details buried in the legal fine print, which you should read in full if you're contemplating tacking on this purchase. As an example, you need a one-fits-all padlock. This includes a one-star customer review rating on the Better Business Bureau website and 1.5 stars from over 60,000 reviews on TrustPilot, an online review platform. Based on your comment, it seems you did not even scan through. In United's eyes, you simply missed your flight. So to review. The airline assured me (THREE different phone calls ) that it would go directly to my credit card because the card they were reimbursing has my name ! Thanks for your feedback, Yrene. At the end I was so frustrated and tired that I decided to take the long stop and guess what? You can set the date to a fixed one or select a date range, for instance March and April. For anyone else reading this and looking for guidance on how to take steps toward getting your refund back, I wrote a whole post with resources on what to do.https://travelbranyik.com/what-to-do-about-the-kiwi-com-refund-you-didnt-get-during-covid-19/, Thanks for your comment and your own review now! The day that I got my ticket I wanted to cancel it and get a refund but they didnt promise a total refund and also wanted me to pay a fee? Very appreciated! You can find our contact numbers on the last page of the e-ticket.. As I mention in my review, I read many bad reviews. This is not as obvious. Remember, I still check the airline directly to compare the rates. You'll have to decide for yourself if the price (which varies by flight) is worth it for you or if you want to risk dealing with any issues on your own. Butwhat if something happens? Just wanted to share this. You can receive your orders faster when you sign up for the PRIME membership. I would not trust their customer service, anymore. I really appreciate your feedback and I am glad Alaska Airline solved the issue! Now I dont have a flight ticket and I have to travel today. People lost thousands of dollars due to Kiwi, and they had to rebook other flights. Contacted Kiwi customer service right away. However, this does not influence our evaluations. Now got an e-mail saying I can get some refund back. The websites I compare are: The chances of finding cheaper flights with Kiwi are quite high. I do not open and check them in any priority, its mostly random. Thanks for the review. I had a minor bad experience and got it solved. The only people who have been able to get refunds have either had their credit card company step in or the aviation authority step in. All because I booked with Kiwi. But, again, you have to follow their rules. I especially love the simple overview of your chosen flight. I couldnt check in online, not allowed, the luggage policies on their website are wrong. Unfortunately, many travelers use them without reading this article first. Then they make your booking number inactive so that you are not able to reach them by phone any longer. What It Was Like Booking a Flight on Kiwi.com - TravelUpdate Kiwi.com never purchased my tickets home. They'll search hundreds of air and ground transit carriers to find flight combinations that result in the lowest price. They do not have a valid customer support phone number in the United States (If you call the listed number it says that it only prioritizes contact about travel in progress, and when I entered my booking number it just hung up the call) Ever since I found this website with the cute name, me and the team have been using and recommending it. I wish I could give it 0 stars. Since I am entitled to the money, I did not want to give up and sent a few messages to the support and pointed out Art 5 & 8 and explained in detail why I am entitled to the refund. Awesome, Dani! Another feature I always miss with the many flight search engines out there. 4) We filed a refund request immediately after realizing that they left us in the middle of nowhere and guess what 100 days after filing the refund request and numerous long conversations with them on the phone and emails every week we were again NOWHERE! Bad experience! Therefore, if you want to share your first-hand experience, please do. But for sure I will never use this service again. Sign in with your account. Here's what stood out to me (emphasis is mine): I'm great at searching for last-minute alternatives and have a stash of miles that I can use for last-minute rebooking emergencies if that's what it comes down to. So at the end I decided to keep it. During this time the airline sites are offering free re-bookings but this is not passed on. Their customer service is horrible, they do not want to help since she booked with the official website a flight also with Vueling. Well you are out of luck there because you can not call customer service unless your (canceled) flight is 14days or less away. Kiwi is a scam because they sell flights that transit in countries that dont allow transiting. When I read through the details, it stated: You can only bring a small hand-luggage, nothing else. I believe this is deliberate behavior on their part to deceive and confuse their clients from which they shamefully profit. I was able to check a bag with no issue. Kiwi.com told me to take the fight anyway so I was stranded in a third city in another country. Kiwi is an online travel agency, based in the Czech Republic, specializing in combining flights and other forms of transportation into a single booking to get you where you need to go for a low. BTW this photo shows me and my backpack from Lowe Alpine in Kuala Lumpur. Traveler Victoria left a comment, sharing her experience of her passport number totally mixed up. I sent them screen shots from my account page, had them speak to a bank representative and even had the bank issue a confirmation letter that the charge was not reversed. The reason is that there were never changes happening so no new tickets ever existed! This was very helpful for everybody! Instead I got points for a small amount of $ to use to rebook with kiwi again ! Again, we actually booked our flights with Kiwi too NOT ONLY with kiwi, but we did use them. The English speaking customer service could help us out after we insisted. If they sent it, which they swear they did, then maybe they sent it the middle of night. Thanks for your comment and feedback, this is always useful for all travelers and readers. But they keep on closing my enquiry and saying its with the airline even though I called the airline and they said the issue is with them and a lot of people I know who booked directly from the airline got refunded Is Kiwi.com Legit? (Beware Before Booking) - Ecomsay I specifically asked them (after trying to contact them over w weeks) to send me the e-tickets of the so called flights but they only send me the old ones! I then had to purchase another ticket, obviously not using Kiwi, for an incredible amount of money and then I had to convince the military to let me out of the airport and find a hotel during lockdown. 1) They didnt inform us on flight cancellation short term we were contacted directly by the airline. I detest Kiwi. Pretty much any type of public transport. As a digital nomad for nearly five years, JT proves through experience that credit card rewards can drastically reduce the cost of travel. 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I paid for baggage on all flights through Kiwi.com and arranged for handicapped husband to get wheelchairs assistance. in one PDF of the same root Chennai to Bahrain in one ticket and Bahrain to Dubai in another ticket with different reservation No. WARNING: Do NOT use Kiwi to make reservations in German ICE high-speed trains. Same as with Skyscanner I set my price alerts. DONT BOOK TICKETS WITH KIWI WORST EXPERIENCE EVER WITH A COMPANY Only book flights you can guarantee yourself you will catch them. This is where we share our personal bad experience with Kiwi.com. Kiwi com does exactly this and it is a service we and all our team uses on a regular basis. There are too many people on internet forums who cant get refunds from Kiwi long after the airlines have refunded the money to Kiwi. you are no longer welcome at this site. There are a few gadgets that makes flying always easier and more comfortable. I have been using them for years, but certainly not exclusively! You can compare flights, trains and buses. Meaning, my ticket was invalid and I would have been refused travel.. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but based on my experience, Kiwi.com is an absolute scam. The Kiwi travel agency can also be useful if you need to get across the world in a hurry. Three months. They emailed me that one of my flights in the itinerary is canceled. Here is a list of our partners and here's how we make money. I purchased airline tickets via kiwi.com to fly on 5/9/23. They claim if you buy the kiwi guarantee that you will be protected but it does nothing to help. Yet again, you have to be familiar with the Kiwi guarantee. I wish I could, but it is certainly not my job to follow up with Kiwis guarantee. Cheers, Matt. Day before the flight, received an email from Kiwi saying that it was impossible to do the check in online. When theres immigration and a visa involved, and you only have 45 minutes to change the terminal, that is in no way enough. I once had this case with crutches and it was great to deal with the airline directly. The Multicity Feature in particular requires booking with different airlines. They messed up with my name and now saying, that it was my mistake More than that, they demand additional payment to fix THEIR OWN mistake! If you miss a connection, because of the first delayed flight, well, good luck. Therefore, please leave your comments, doubts, questions below. In order to use Kiwi properly, you should be patient and not click around while the app is still pulling its data from the backend. I was scheduled to fly with Air Europe on April 11, 2020. Ryanair actually changed their policy about hand luggage and carry-on. This company is a scam no other word for it. I will share in detail how I found flights across Europe for only 9 and crossed continents for a sweet price. Obviously, I use all four websites to compare the rates. The stewardess brought me some fruits they still had, that was at least something. Notice that Kiwi doesn't just add bag fees to an existing itinerary instead, Kiwi changes the recommended route to the cheapest option that includes a bag. My complaints were ignored of course. Is Kiwi reliable and safe? They repeatedly put me on hold and otherwise give me the run-around, before telling me its with the group that investigates these things (who you cant speak with), and that theyll call me back soon. I used American Airlines AAdvantage miles to fly to Tahiti, but I couldn't find award availability for the flight back home. Can not agree more with you. It's easier for record-keeping, too, since you can see your entire itinerary in one place. Check here before booking an award fare. If you do any searching of these forums (which I didn't) before booking, you will see that booking Ryanair flights through a third party (like Kiwi .com) is not a good idea. While you'd need to collect and recheck any baggage between the two flights, this flight option could be worth it for saving a few hundred dollars. 5 of my friend and myself all had to book completely new flights and used the airlines website and not kiwi because kiwi.com considers a change to a completely different day a minor change if its under 24 hours. Worse than waiting for the justification, is waiting for the refund (that I obviously have the right to receive): Ive explained the issue in point number 4; in multiple interactions in Kiwi chat; via email with Kiwi claims team and THEY NEVER KNOW whats the issue (tremendous LACK OF COORDINATION), systematically asking me for e.g. Believe me, it is worth the extra money. and same happens again and again. Kiwi.com is a company run by the most heartless thieves on the planet. This section is important to everyone with special requests for their food. For example, the Chase Sapphire Reserve and Chase Sapphire Preferred Card earn 3 and 2 points per dollar, respectively, on all travel purchases. Kiwi helps you hack your travel itinerary for convenience and savings, but it may not be the smoothest ride. The kiwi guarantee might cover your lost flight, but it is much better to avoid tight connections. When I got home I wrote to KIWI.COM again asking them to at least pay for my expenses. Kiwi.com is by far the most nightmarish experience Ive ever had with a 3rd party travel site. When you filter Google Flights search results for flights departing within 24 hours and sorted by duration, the platform yields flights that require an overnight layover. How to Contact Kiwi com Customer Service/Support. There are literally thousands of complaints from people. We do not claim its the only website we use, yet its part of our process finding flights every single time. They have a service hotline. Happy I was able to put some of our users in a direct contact here and their refund/booking issue has been resolved. Even after 12 hours of purchasing the ticket it is still without the airline PNR number. However the E-Ticket says PNR To be issued. Unless you're booking last minute, you're likely to face schedule changes or even cancellations while airlines attempt to fine-tune operations. Reddit, Inc. 2023. No response on facebook or email or website/helpdesk, just automated robot answers. We arrived in Germany and we will take it from there. I am surprised you didnt know about the check-in 3 days before. The 1 Million Dollar Question: Is Kiwi.com a scam? Thanks a lot for this information, this is very interesting! If your flight has no issues, you will love Kiwi. Kiwi.com is a scam, please don't use it : r/travel - Reddit Kiwi .com and Ryanair - Air Travel Message Board - Tripadvisor I keep getting replies changing the dates of when I submitted the refund application and keep pushing the dates back to when the 30 days is due. According to a. search, the cheapest one-week trip would cost $1,177 round trip on American Airlines. Is this Kiwi.com legit? Here are our picks for the. You can not do ANYTHING directly with the flight company, everything has to come through them. But he has no option, of being STRANDED in a foreign country. These are rude scammers using tricks ! If you take someones money for a service, you either provide that service or give the money back. So here is my experience to give you a better understanding from my 1st hand experience. I bought insured tickets and they decided to cancel all my flights because of a problem with one of the connecting flights. Matt. Please be informed that the credit card used to purchase these tickets with airlines is our own. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. Hopefully all these Online Travel Agents, go bust, I only lost 380 but for some its a lot more. He is still there after 17 hours !! Kiwi does not offer the possibility to reserve a seat in the train. Kiwi scammed me also. Some people in the US have complained to the aviation authority which seems to get results. Have a nice day. I put this comment on the kiwi Facebook page. Even in the refund terms and conditions it doesnt say that refund amount is only 2%. I chose the first option , when I called BA it was then I learned that Kiwi.com had not booked it under my name or credit card and so they refused to refund me. So based on this I can only advice everybody to not use kiwi.com ever. When should I use Kiwi for a flight booking? You did not even read this guide before you used that website. Kiwi.com are totally deplorable. While Kiwi isn't the best online travel agency for every trip, it can be a tool to find bookings for unique and specific situations. When contacted airline directly, I was told that "reservation was released as they didn't receive payment from kiwi.com". Just compare the prices between them. I ended up booking with kiwi, skyscanner sent me over and I didnt give it much thought. Search Flights, Hotels & Rental Cars | KAYAK You can use Kiwi to save hundreds of dollars on flights and other transit, get where you need to go fast or book complex multi-city itineraries. They contacted the airline directly. A couple of weeks back we booked our first retour flights with kiwi.com for direct flights from Brussels to Narvik for a holiday in the Lofoten (Norway). We use them always on our travels! In that case, this guarantee may have limited value. Only after contacting Kiwi.com several times did the support concede that both airlines have paid back in full and that the difference of 105 euros is due to the service fee that Kiwi.com adds to the tickets. But, on my most recent trip I discovered that Kiwi tells false info about baggage requirements for airlines and then charges the customer outlandish prices for checked bags. My refund request has been pending since Nov 2020. That's because Kiwi makes money by charging a surcharge to book flights, trains and buses all in one itinerary. If you have any issue, please write me a comment here and I get you in touch with our contact at Kiwi! You can test it for 30 days for free, and then decide if you want to continue. What a joke, how can they expect me to use their horrible service ever again.