Kiwi.com

For many years, now I have been using kayak.com to book many of my flights. I need to book a flight back to Europe for a family occasion. Flights during the month of August are very expensive and I was foolish in being lured into what seem to be a lower fare. Once I went to check out it directed me to keewee.com. I didn't think before I thought. I should have done my due diligence and read the reviews on them prior to purchasing.

The first red flag was after purchasing the fair to Europe, we had to pick seats. I have experienced that with lower cost carriers where you have to pay for seats so, that wasn't a huge thing. What was the huge thing was that two days later, I was reimbursed for one of the seats for the leg and one of the flights. They said there was no seat. I called them and they said that seat was no longer available despite my purchase. Then, I called the airline directly, and they said I was only waitlisted on the flight and it wasn't guaranteed. Given the fact that I had less than a week to book a viable ticket, this was not acceptable and causing on due stress. I calledkeewee.com telling them that I needed to be refunded, because nothing was set and I was put in a precarious position. They refused. I told them that they could comply and do what they needed to and also to please have the supervisor get back to me which they never did. I also informed them that I would be dealing with my bank directly and would seek legal counsel if need be. These companies are unscrupulous and they don't really care whose money they steal. These companies are unscrupulous and they don't really care who's money they steal. I ended up booking elsewhere for the sanity of having a flight. I think my perseverance with my bank, as well as having them go after Keewee ended up in my favor. But never again!

I faced a very bad experience yesterday with KIWI.COM.
My booking number with KIWI was *******.
Momondo recommended the Kiwi.com flight which had transits at Kiev, Ukraine.
No Visa requirements were mentioned in the tickets at the time I booked the tickets.
I along with my friend was refused to board the flight at Copenhagen airport on December 19,2018 by Ukranian International Airlines. We were told visa is required to board the flight even though the transit time for catching our flight to our destination Dubai was only 4 hours.
We learned through our friend in Ukraine that 2 weeks before (after we booked the tickets), there was a policy change by Ukraine due to war situation which KIWI.com didn't inform us in whatsoever manner. We called KIWI.com at 3 am in the morning at Copenhagen airport, where they told they told they can't help in any manner and they won't take any responsibility. I told them the policy change happened after we booked and KIWI.com should have at least informed the customer regarding this. They replied we can contact your embassy (at 2 am in the morning! WTF). So, future travellers, please keep in mind that all the stuff like KIWI.com' guarantee and stuff like that are just useless and it won't come to your help if you book tickets with KIWI.com
I was then directed to opt for KIWI refund in the form of credits instead of the cash as it cash form refund will take 30 days and I won't be able to reschedule the flight using that. I was also told KIWI credits will get credited within 1 hour and they will help me reschedule the flight from the Copenhagen airport then and there. Then only I was realized that I was cheated again, and I didn't get the KIWI credits also till now. So, I lost almost 1200 USD (10,000 SEK) for the two tickets.
It is a pity that a reputed website like MOMONTO recommends and lists such untrusty and fake websites like KIWI.com on their website.
I am writing this only to help future travellers to never trust KIWI.COM and book flights with them even if it is way cheaper than other airlines as you will lose all your hard-earned money.

*******553

Booked a flight from santorini to Amsterdam, with a stop in Rome. Not even 24h later the flight from Rome to Amsterdam got put up 3h in advance making me not able to make the connection. The only option Kiwi.com gave were paying extra to get onto other flights the same day. I didnt mind staying an extra day in Rome but i dont want to pay extra for tickets that have allready been paid for. I contacted the customer service trough an ticket as they request you to do since you cant call up until 7 days before your flight. A month later still NO RESPONSE. I was dumb enough to buy the customer service package, which is an absolute scam, before investigating how to find a way around them. For people who are looking for the same thing read further. You have an email with the confirmation of your booking numbers. Go to the airline website and fill in the stuff you need to fill in, in order to look at your flight (which in my case i couldnt make). A LOT OF AIRLINES GIVE YOU FREE RESCHEDUELING AFTER THEY CHANGE THE FLIGHT SCHEDUELE. So i did just as i said and i was able to change the flights myself FREE OF CHARGE as it should be.

I can't imagine having a refund with these guys since they dont respond at all.

I cant help with refunds nor am I customer service. But I might help you with this way around. If it is too difficult for you feel free to contact me trough email.
Pepijn. De. Boer. Pdb at gmail. Com (I will be helping in my spare time, im not getting paid or involved in this company whatsoever).

Never purchased any tickets from #kiwi.com! Which is associated with #bookingcom and #Expedia.
I bought a ticket for August 11th from Toronto to Vancouver. I had very important exam in Vancouver. In my ticket the flight time was 6:20 pm but when I got the pearson Airport no one was there. I found the flight time was 10:30 pm. I called #Kiwi.com, not only they were not sorry because of providing wrong information but also after 10 minutes which hold me on the line to check the condition, lied to me that was Airport fault which had changed the flight time, while when I got to the Airport for the second time, they told me that the flight y9 122 #lynxair was always 10:30 and nothing was changed!
They waste my precious time before exam, they made lots of stress for me and lied to me!
I reached Vancouver at 1am instead of 9pm and I couldn't sleep well.
Again on the way back my ticket for flight Y9 121 #Lynxair was 8am in my ticket but the correct time was 2pm!
They were not sorry ar all, they talked to me in a bad way and lied to me.
When I asked the #Lynxair crew at the airport they told me #kiwicom is always like this.
The operator which talk to me introduced himself as Francis.

I booked a flight through Kiwi that was cancelled because of COVID. Kiwi is unable to rebook, and the airline has no record of the reservation.

I will never use Kiwi ever again; I gave them an honest try but they have only disappointed me.

I booked a flight through them months in advance from Cleveland to Denver. One of the main reasons I chose them was because it was a nonstop flight and I hate layovers. However, my flight was changed and suddenly I had 9 hrs worth of layovers. Now, I understand that the airline is the one that changes flights and kiwi can't control that; however, I wasn't getting what I bought anymore. I specifically wanted a nonstop flight. Moreover, since I wasn't getting the agreed upon flight I wanted to cancel and find a different flight, but Kiwi would only refund $11 of the total cost. I understand it wasn't their fault but it is their responsibility and if I'm not getting what I bought then I should at least be able to get a refund.

That would bad enough but the customer service is atrocious. I've never wanted a company to go bankrupt before, but Kiwi sure is close. Since I couldn't get a refund or fix my flight I had to go with the terrible one they gave me. The day before my flight their site says they are processing my check in and my tickets will be ready before the end of the day. Periodically I check, and the same message. I go to sleep confident that at least in the morning they'll be ready. Nope. They weren't. I had to call and wait on hold to finally get them. It was an unnecessary hassle with poor customer support. Had I been able to book through an airline directly it would've been simple and easy to check in.

I can't stress enough that no one should ever use this company. They don't care about their customers, they don't care about helping, and to get the most basic of things you need to go out of your way.

I only hope this review deters even one person from using this terrible company.

I booked a flight with KIWI. Two weeks later I get a message that the flight had changed and I need to take action. I go online, ticket exchange is available if I travel there 24h later and return 12h later. I begrudgingly accepted this exchange and had to rebook hotels and change my whole itinerary, luckily the new flight still worked with my other flights.
Then two more weeks pass and guess what? I get another message, now my ticket is canceled and there is no alternative flights Kiwi can offer. You would think a refund is automatic at this point. But you would be wrong. You can apply for refund and the message says:

Refund amount: as much as possible, but refunds depend on the carrier's policies.
Estimated refund time: approximately 3 months, depends on the carrier(s)

Now you are furious and you think I'll just talk to the customer service, they will surely understand how ridiculous the situation is and correct it by issuing a full refund immediately. Well you are out of luck there because you can not call customer service unless your (canceled) flight is 14days or less away. Ok but you say there must be a way to contact the company. There is one other way, it's an online message desk where Kiwi replies as soon as they can. It's been two days and they haven't replied to a single message I sent.

So to review. Kiwi sold me a ticket, then they canceled my flight, they offered no alternative flights, I am not getting any service from them any more, and it is their choice not to provide the service I paid for. What happens with the money I paid to Kiwi? They think they are entitled to keep it?
Class action lawsuit anyone?

Do not use kiwi.com
They will cancel your flight and not refund you!
Just horrible customer service

I would not recommend this company to anyone. I had booked a return trip with four separate legs, and two of the four flights were canceled by the carrier. The carrier sent a text message informing me of these cancellations, but I received no email or correspondence from Kiwi. I phoned Kiwi to verify the cancellations, only to learn that they were aware of them but had failed to inform me, and that they would not issue any immediate refund due to the type of ticket purchased, despite the precariousness of the ongoing COVID-19 situation. This is also despite the fact that their force majeure policy states that refunds depend on the policy of the airline used, and Ryanair's website states that a full refund for the cancelled leg of the journey is available if requested instead of a rebooking. It seems I am meant to wait an unspecified period of time while their customer service team determines whether they can place me on another flight (that I can't now make use of in any case) and hope they send me an email about it, despite the fact they didn't bother to do so after being made aware of the original cancellation. The customer service agent, though polite and professional, gave no indication of a possible timeline in which to expect updates about these changes and insisted that they were intent on finding the "best solution" to my problem, despite it being patently obvious this is not the case, as I informed them the best solution was to refund me for the cancelled flights. I completely understand not being able to refund me for the two flights that have not been cancelled, but given that they have almost certainly received a refund on their end from the carrier for the two flight cancellations in question, or could request one, as per Ryanair policy, there is no apparent obstacle to their cancelling the entire booking and issuing the partial refund, especially given the current circumstances.

I rarely review booking agencies unless, like most people I assume, I'm really impressed by or very upset with their service. After reading the reviews on Kiwi.com, they were so overwhelmingly bad that I promised myself to write one if my trip went "okayish" even. I was sooo nervous but I picked them out of desperation since they seemed to be the only ones at the time I booked to offer the connections I needed and this at a significantly cheaper price when I had to leave ASAP.

Bottom line: My trip over 3 continents went very very well and I'm back home safe. Super stressful booking experience because of the bad reviews but made it through.

My takeaways:

1. Book with them if you do not expect to make any changes
2. Make sure you have your PNRs for every single leg as early as 24hrs prior to the flight
3. If PNR not displayed on your page, call them (try a few of their numbers and validate your booking through the keypad)
4. Do the online check-in as early as possible

My surprises:

I know all those pissed at them have a legitimate reason to be, but their platform is very impressive. A wealth of information and beautifully laid out… I don't know if these are the product of rebranding but it's probably the most comprehensive environment I have seen among the last 5 or 6 sites I have used.

Very good customer service (I called the UK) 3 out of the 4 times I called, and always spoke with someone in a matter of 3 min (precious when you pay full cell coms cost for international calls). They followed up by email when they realized they had given me the wrong piece of information over the phone.

Good luck to everyone and sorry for those who had a bad experience.

I had 3 flights under one booking with KIWI.com for May 2020. Obviously I wasn't going to be travelling anywhere anytime soon. About 4 weeks ago, I get an email from KIWI.com stating that one of my flights under my booking had been cancelled and I need to take immediate action as to what I was to do. The options were INSTANT REFUND, which they advertise to be the fastest way to get your money back and the funds would be transferred to KIWI.COM credits, the other option was to PAY AN ADDITIONAL FEE in order for their customer service agents to reach out to the airlines and ask for a possible refund. I thought that was such a joke, cause isn't that like their job? Why do customers have to pay extra for these people to do their jobs? So I thought that was stupid, so I opted to get the instant refund option. The refund option gave me $54, for the price of the flight (that was cancelled) which I thought made sense when I looked at the final total that I paid ($260), as it was the shortest flight out of the other two booked on the same reservation. So a few weeks pass, and I'm now getting worried because the dates are coming up. So I decided to reach out to KIWI.com to advise that I still needed to figure out what to do about the two remaining flights under my booking. It was then when they told me that I had already cancelled the entire booking and had agreed to a "$54" refund from my $260 original booking. I am beyond upset as I have communicated with them multiple times about this and how all they send me are these automatic responses. I keep asking them for a summary of my refund but THEY WILL NOT SEND It! Just goes to show what a scam this company is! I doubt I'll ever get my money back or a credit of some sort, but this company needs to pay for all the scams they have committed. After reviewing these reviews on here, I know I'm not the first to be scammed and definitely not the last! Shame on you KIWI.com!

On a two-way trip from New York to Berlin via Amsterdam, Kiwi.com managed to get me stranded twice on Amsterdam airport:
On the first flight they "forgot" to pay KLM for the flight ticket Kiwi.com should have purchased for me resulting in me having to buy another ticket for that flight 1 hour before departure (you will know how costly that was) and I'm still waiting for my refund.

On the way back, the first flight was delayed (Kiwi.com probably hasn't any fault in this) resulting in me missing the follow-on flight. However, they were not willing/ able/ capable? To book my on the only other flight to New York that day (despite the fact that I had informed Kiwi.com 4 hours prior to departure of that other flight about my delay). Now being stranded in Amsterdam without my luggage, Kiwi.com instead offered me a refund of my flight to New York (which was ca. 20% of the price of a new flight at that time) or a new flight the next day with a 1-night stay in Amsterdam ("All paid for by Kiwi.com).

Having arrived at the "airport" hotel, I realized it was 15 minutes taxi drive from the airport (of course I had to pay for the taxi) as well as a 40 minutes drive to Amsterdam city center with no other restaurants or activities close by. Then, Kiwi.com had promised to pay for breakfast, dinner and the hotel room - none of this was the case! I had to pay for all myself (reimbursement is filed but as they have so far not reimbursed me for my first flight 4 weeks ago, I am certain I will either not get any reimbursement or it will take weeks).

Last but not least: The original ticket price was just 5% cheaper than if I would have booked it directly with the airlines. I am 100% certain, I will never use Kiwi.com again and cannot recommend it to anyone - not even to save costs as in the end, you will pay more! And you will waste a lot of your precious lifetime waiting on airports and speaking to (10!) customer service agents that are all very friendly, but seem to have no flexibility or rights to make decisions. Also you have to call them as they "cannot" (or don't want to?) call you back. Of course it's not a toll-free number so you will also have additional costs here.

All in all: Using Kiwi.com saved me 5% vs. the alternatives on the ticket price, but so far I have paid at least 15% more due to the additional costs that Kiwi.com promised they would be paying, but didn't. For me this company sounds like scam and everyone who ever thinks of using it, think twice!

IF YOU SEE THIS REVIEW, TRUST ME, SPEND THE EXTRA FEW DOLLARS AND BOOK ANYWHERE ELSE BUT THROUGH KIWI.COM
ANYWHERE ELSE!

ABSOLUTE CROOKS! Do not do business with this company! They don't deliver what you pay for. You WILL be sorry!

I booked a flight and paid 1600 euros.
It was a flight with 2 stops on my way there and on my way back home.
Because of a delay from Amsterdam to Dubai, I couldn't catch my next flight. Kiwi.com asked me if I want a refund or an alternative flight, I choosed for the alternative flight and paid 400 euros extra. This is the first problem, it was a delay and I have the right for a new free flight.
Second problem was that I paid it and waited hours for the paid flight but just 1 hour before the flight I received an email and it said that kiwi.com couldn't book the flight. And I had to ask for a refund. I did it and I received 500 euros. I arrived at my destination
The third an worst problem after this was my way back home. I came to the airport and they told me I had no booked flight. I contacted kiwi.com and they just responded with the automated response without helping me. I was stuck at the airport and kiwi.com finally said that the flights are cancelled because I asked for a refund (?)( the refund was for the flight on my wau to here because of the delay?). But kiwi.com didn't told me once that my flight was cancelled, I had to ask it by myself. I asked for help several times but they didn't help me, they just said ask for a refund when you arrive at your destination…. Good technique because they give you the feeling like you can just spend you money and they will help you with the refund. Luckily I had some money and I booked new flights for 1200 euro.
Once arrived at home, I asked for a refund and kiwi.com said we already gave a refund…. We can't help you anymore. I am still busy, now 3 months and I still don't get any refund or help. I did everything I could do but I just got nothing. Kiwi.combsays that they gonne try to ask a refund by the airline. That's not the airlines fault, kiwi.com cancelled it and didn't let me know anything. I want my money just for the extra costs of the tickets and I don't get it from kiwi.com even it's their mistake. I didn't even ask for all the other costs like extra hotel, medicine because of the longer stay, taxi, food etc. Still I have to wait and there happens nothing.
So, my advice, PEOPLE WATCH OUT WITH KIWI THEY WILL SCAM YOU INVE THEY CAN.

Most fraudulent travel company ever, with a sophisticated scam artist approach. SCAM 1: While booking, they let you believe you are 100% covered by their "Guarantee" - nothing can ever happen, we got you covered, no problem ever, BUT you are never covered!:-). SCAM 2: A while after booking confirmation is done and settled (beware of SCAM 3: they never issue Booking Confirmations from the airlines, but only their own), they tell you "Some Major Changes Happened But It's Not Our Fault The Bad Airlines Did It".: They present some many hours delayed (in my case 17hr) flight connections, and you lose even a connecting flight ("Sorry But Not Our Fault") - It's so bad that you actually can not travel as initially booked. SCAM 4 is offered: Option 1: "Hey, We Found Beautiful New Routes and Flights for You, of Course Guaranteed no Problems this Time, for ADDITIONAL Cost of Only the Same Money That You Paid Initially. Please Pay Here SMILE". Option 2: "Get 1/5th of Your Initial Payment Back To Redeem In The Next Booking With Us - No Real Money Refund Of Course". Option 3: "Get a Refund from The Carriers With Our Quick Expedite Service Help for Only 20 EUR But That May Take 60 days And Maybe You Do Not Get The Refund At All". Option 3: Try To Get A Refund From The Bad Carriers Within 90 Days, But Hey: You Might NEVER See Any Money of It At All, And Maybe The Carriers Carry Charges for That Refund, So Better Do Not Do That Option". You get the picture of how shameless, crookedly and deceitful KIWI.com operates? They purposely temper your booking (because nothing is confirmed yet with the airlines) and try to hoax you to buy new offers from them, or at least keep your initial payment without giving any service back. I lost about 300 Euros to Kiwi.com. But I know of many many many others who fell for these KIWI crooks and bandits and lost thousands of Euros or Dollars.

This is for upper management how do you ask your customer for more money to put in a request to cancel a flight when the government has told everyone not to fly or
To leave there homes and you guys still charge extra money to do a canceliton tell
Me how that's okay? After all ready paying your company I spoke to one of your mangers look up my booking number 111 757 129 he should be re trained or not doing be in the position he's in very simple you can listen to are
Conversation he also made a few comments that he didn't hold his word to every time I tried geting a hold of him he sad he's not available that poor service expshily comeing from
One of your managers me personally I supervisor for a livening and he would have been fired. No question asked for him
Not doing his job right and for him not handling this issue the right way I won't my full refund on the flight I was supposed to take but didn't because they government shut everything down and now you guys think it's okay to keep all my
Money or to ask
Me for more money or I can't be helped or do have to deal with unprofessional management and when I call a Canadian number I expect a Canadian to pick up the phone not my call geting going India this service has been very poor and I we'll continue to talk with other air line not to have this company recommend.

Sent from my iPhone

Dear all,

To not use KIWI.com.

I made the mistake to use it beacouse skyscanner send me to their website and I decided to try it.

I made the reservation and put my ID details for allow them to make the check-in 2 months later for my flight.
A day (still more than one month before my flight) I check my reservation and I saw that they put a wrong nationallity.

In order to charge my nationality they charge may credit card for 10 Euros and they said this ammount was used to inform the 3 airlines about this charges.

I contacteted directly Ryanair, Volotea and EasyJet and as the check in was not done there was nothing to pay on their web site appart my name there was still nothing to charge.

I asked Kiwi to refund me because for sure I did not put I wrong nationaly and they said that as they cannot check if is their fault I had to pay and that's it.

The customer care is inexistant, people from the call center do not answer your questions and they do not care abour any issues.

I will not use any more this web site I can do their "job" myself.

I assume any positive review of this company is fakecheck other websites. NEVER buy a ticket on kiwi.com--they are completely fraudulent. When I made a booking through Kiwi.com, there was only one baggage purchase option available for 15 kg, which I purchased. There was NO other purchase option for a larger bag on the website or at any time after, which would be available if you bought from the airline. When I arrived at the airport, Easyjet charged me 90 Swiss Francs for my bag because it was 5kg beyond the limit (had I been informed of any issue in advance or that there was no way to pay the normal difference in fee, I would simply have brought a carry on bag, which easily would have fit 5kg).
The employee at Easyjet check in, Ehsan, and his manager, Suzanna, refused to wave or reduce the fee. But Ehsan directly admitted that Easyjet knew there was a problem with the Kiwi website and that many customers had complained, but "not enough" for Easyjet to bother to do anything about it. He admitted explicitly there was no other way to purchase the larger baggage option on the Kiwi website (you would have to know you need to download an Easyjet app, and then use the app, which is not an option ever disclosed). Eshan also said I could have bought two bags at 15kg, which is absurd, as there is no way to know that Easyjet would allow you to combine them for single bag, and also would have been more expensive than the larger bag option which was never made available.
This is the legal definition of fraudit means Easyjet is allowing or encouraging Kiwi to sell its tickets in a fraudulent manner so it can charge passengers exorbitant amounts at check in and Kiwi.com is defrauding countless customers. Kiwi.com's response was beyond fraudulent--it didn't even address the issue, its website, the information I was given, nothing. This company is a fraudulent enterprise.

If I could give Kiwi.com zero stars, I would. Our family's ordeal with Kiwi.com has been nothing short of a nightmare, and I feel compelled to share our story to caution others.

Imagine the excitement of planning a trip, only to have it crumble before your eyes. This was our reality when Kiwi.com incorrectly booked our family flight a whole month early, a mistake we discovered only at the airport. Picture the scene: two small children, aged 1.5 and 3.5, bewildered and restless, as their parents grapple with the shock and scramble to find a solution.

Kiwi.com's solution? A convoluted alternative that turned our direct journey into an arduous trek with an unnecessary layover and an overnight wait in a cold airport. Promises were made – hotel accommodations, food vouchers – yet none materialized. There we were, a family stranded, with our children sleeping in our arms, shivering in the cold, their comfort and safety compromised.

The additional financial burdens, from unexpected baggage fees (promised to be refunded but never were) to out-of-pocket expenses for meals never compensated for, added insult to injury. Despite our patience and multiple attempts to seek a fair resolution, Kiwi.com's response has been disappointingly inadequate, refusing to offer any form of substantial compensation for their litany of errors and unkept promises.

This experience has been emotionally and financially taxing, and the lack of accountability from Kiwi.com has only added to our distress. Our story is a stark reminder of the potential consequences of entrusting your travel plans to a company that may not deliver on its promises or take responsibility for its mistakes.

To those considering Kiwi.com for their travel needs, I urge you to think twice. No family should have to endure what we did, and no traveler should be left feeling abandoned and undervalued. Our quest for a simple, joyful family holiday turned into a lesson in frustration and disappointment, all courtesy of Kiwi.com.

Consider this not just a review, but a warning. Your travel plans, your comfort, and your finances deserve better protection than what we experienced. Choose wisely, and remember, the true cost of a trip is not just in the euros spent, but in the memories made or missed.