Kiwi.com

Using this company was, by far, the worst experience of any travel arrangements I've ever made and that's saying something at 61 and being a seasoned traveller for most of my life. The first inkling that something wasn't quite right with this company was their requirement to pay extra for just about everything i. E. checked-in baggage, seat allocation, meals and so on. That may not seem unusual, but apart from the first short leg of the journey the other 3 stages were business class! They also stated that I could not check in online prior to any of the flights. I opted not to pay any extras except for baggage on the first leg which was an economy domestic flight and I know that often they do require a payment for checked-in luggage because the planes can be much smaller than for international flights. The real issues began, admittedly with a mistake on my part, when I realised that I had made the booking with the shortened version of my name - didn't check the auto-filled information. As soon as I realised I contacted Kiwi.com and asked for the booking to be changed with the 3 airlines involved. Kiwi.com informed me several times via different consultants that all the airline's policies would not allow this to happen and that I would have to book new flights. I had never heard anything so ridiculous in my life. Whilst these 'discussions' were being held via email I saw that one of their agents had re-booked the same flights in my full name and a link to make payment within 24 hours. So, not only had they received my original payment in full, they were indicating that I must now pay 24,000 Rand to resolve the situation AND no suggestion of a refund on the original 15,000 Rand paid. I couldn't believe my eyes! I spent the next week or so contacting the airlines directly and, as I suspected, it was no issue for them to change my name for a small fee - 300 Rand for the first and 750 Rand combined total for the other two. The first was easily achieved online and the others were achieved by going to my local airport. The airlines also emailed me the revised bookings. I was fortunate that I had plenty of time to get this all resolved before I travelled. The revised bookings showed that I was entitled to check-in baggage, meals AND to check-in online. Also, when I checked in online I could choose my seats for the business class stages at NO extra cost. Yes, I complained vigorously to Kiwi.com, but unsurprisingly have not received any further communication from them. I wonder just how much money they are making out of less experienced travellers. They are the most despicable company. End of rant.

Date of my flight: Oct 15,2023

This was my first time using Kiwi and it will be my last. I will NEVER EVER use them again.

I truly believe that this site is a scam, their practices are shady and they will do what they can to milk you out of your money.

My flight got changed due to a delay with one of the airlines so I received a notification from kiwi of the change and accepted my new itinerary (no charge for this one).

When it came to check in however, the desk person did not see my name.

I called kiwi and they insisted everything was booked so I went back to the counter but still got the same answer from the airline.

And the way the airline representatives looked at each other when I said the word KIWI. It was like they already knew I got screwed over.

So then kiwi said for me to reschedule, I would have to pay. Which cost me over $200 Canadian.

And then I was receiving emails stating that since the booking changed, my baggage allowance has changed so now I had to pay additional fees for all the different airlines.

However, when originally booking, I already selected that option to pay for additional baggage. So why the heck am I paying more?

And then, In 2 different countries, I had to transfer airports, both far from each other, to catch my other flight which again, additional cost but for transportation.

All these extra cost effected my budget for my vacation!

I got so paranoid with my flights that I started calling the airline directly to confirm with them over the phone if my reservation # was valid and my name was on the system. And I was constantly checking my reservation number on the airline website if it was still there. Because I couldn't afford spending extra hundreds of dollars again.

Yes, kiwi was cheap, but I have learned that cheap isn't always a good option.

I even felt that they scheduled flight times close to each other and having to transfer to different airports so that I could be late for boarding and then I would need to contact kiwi to reschedule and then pay extra again! But I rushed it!

Since this experience, I am never booking through a 3rd party and will book directly through the airline, regardless of cost. At least I know I will have better control of my flights and I know it got done.

With Kiwi it felt so disorganized and rushed and expensive.

I pray that one day, they will screw over a fierce lawyer and that lawyer will sue their a$$ and shut down this crooked company.

I have then read articles of kiwi being sued but what really needs to happen, is for them to be SHUT DOWN FOR GOOD and refund every penny they stole.

I am going to do some research on a class action because what they are doing isn't right.

Please save yourself from the headache and DO NOT use kiwi.com. I guarantee you will incur unexpected expenses.

This site is the biggest scam out there. We booked a flight through them with our final destination being Budapest. Our flight was from JFK to Stockholm then to Budapest. Sounds good right? WRONG! Upon arriving in Stockholm and searching for our gate to no avail, we ask someone and they inform us that our connection is actually at another airport in Stockholm which is THREE HOURS AWAY. We only have about 3 hours to make the flight so we race outside to a cab only to find out the cab ride would cost us about $300 to get there. We go back inside to review our options... we pretty much have none. We call the number for some help and they were absolutely no help at all, rude even! So that made an already stressful situation even more stressful.

The guy on the phone swore that those tickets were perfectly fine and was trying to imply that this was an oversight on our end. So my husband asks the guy "ok so two people who have never been to Europe book a flight that connects in Stockholm, get off of the plane and have to take and hour to get thru customs only to find out we have less than 3 hours to get to another airport that is just about 3 hours away to catch our flight there. How does a company do the math on that time frame and feel ok with selling that as a trip? Even if we didn't have to waste an hour in customs getting off the plane here we STILL wouldn't have made such a ridiculous time frame because we would STILL have a 3 hour trip to the airport and THEN check all of our stuff in AND go thru security. This is an impossible feat to overcome and I doubt even the quickest person that packs only a tiny backpack would have made this connection."

The guy on the phone was a complete jerk and offered only a $40 reimbursement when we already paid way more for the ticket and then also had already paid for our non refundable hotel accommodations in Budapest. $40 is like putting a bandaid on a gushing wound... we are out way more money than $40 because of what we already paid for and then what we will have yet to pay for to fix this problem because we are stuck in Stockholm. No greater feeling than being stuck in a foreign country.

I will find every possible way to rip any sort of credibility this company has apart. This place should be completely shut down because of what a scam it is. After reading all of the previous reviews I feel legal action should be taken so that no other people should have to go through this.

WORST BOOKING/ TRAVEL AGENCY EVER
WORST BOOKING/ TRAVEL AGENCY EVER!
I was trying to book a flight through kiwi.com. I was about to check out and pay for my flight when they doubled the price of the tickets. (which is rude but understandable since they are just a travel agency). The worst was yet to come... After I booked and payed (the doubled price) for my flight, an hour later they send me an email telling me that prices have changed and I need to pay an extra $242, which is double the amount that I have already payed, or that I can get a refund. Neither of these options worked for me, because half of my family was already booked onto this trip and we couldn't go separately; the second option of paying double the price for something I already booked and payed for was also unsensible. I called and asked them to either pay the difference which they are telling me to pay, or cancel the trip for the rest of my family. I was on the phone with them for more than 3 hours, (waiting for their "call-backs" which never happened.) I spoke to more than 6 different people, and no one could do anything about it. Their excuse was- the flight is in less than 7 days, so we cant refund you. I asked them to call the airlines and issue me a refund, to which they said they can not and will not call the airlines. I myself had to call the airlines and got the answer that if I had called a little earlier (I was 10 minutes late) I would have gotten a refund. The reason why I didnt call earlier? Because I was on the phone with Kiwi.com members, trying to get this situation fixed, but they wouldn't do a thing about it! Overall I wasted about 4 hours, lost my money and had to book a different trip (meaning I spent extra money). Their supervisor was rude. The last person I spoke to kept interrupting me, and raised his voice told me this is their final decision and they will not give me any type of refund. Awful experience, do not recommend to anyone! Save your time and money, book through a different travel agency!

Total scam, they are liars and have stolen the $1400 refund which was paid to them by JapanAir for my canceled flights during Covid.

Kiwi.Com has to absolutely be one of the worst third-party airline companies I have ever interacted with. I purchased three tickets with them the night before and then I realized that I would be coming back a day later than I scheduled it for. I also realized that I would be on a layover for 7 hours in a country and would need to have a visa. When I saw this, I contacted them that same night if I could cancel my flights and be issued a refund. They said that because they already contacted all of the airline companies, I would not be issued a full refund, only $10 in Kiwi Cash. The next morning, I contacted each of the airlines, only for them to tell me that a) they did not receive a confirmation from Kiwi.Com b) that I should be eligible for a refund, or c) to reach out to Kiwi.Com for a refund. I continuously called Kiwi.Com for a full refund and told them the responses from the other airlines but they told me unfortunately I am not eligible for a refund. Mind you, I have spent nearly $4,500 on these tickets and I am currently a graduate student who already spends nearly $30,000-$40,000 in tuition. $4,500 is money that I do not take lightly. I did end up canceling the tickets and they said that because I voluntarily did so, they could take my funds. I just do not understand, why it is necessary for you to take my money? I am not boarding this flight, I contacted you within 24 hours, and all of the airlines could care less or even want me to get a refund. You are just taking my money for no reason. This company is a complete SCAM. I do wish I could go back in time and read all the reviews from Kiwi.Com here and on Facebook before I made this painful decision. Now here I am, fighting to get back my $4,151 with $10 of Kiwi cash sitting on my account. If you guys think I am letting this go, rest assured I will contact everywhere from my bank to the Department of Transportation to anyone who has ears in order to get my money back. I will not stop until I get my money back as I have worked hard to earn it. To anyone reading this, for the love of God, please do not go through this pain and get tickets from Kiwi.Com. Even if you have to pay more from a more well-known company it is worth it. It pains me that I could get a refund if I am dissatisfied with a food company, but I could not do that with a "legitimate" airline company. To all of those who had their money taken by this company, I am truly sorry from the bottom of my heart and I pray that everything you lost is returned in a better form. To Kiwi.Com, you are a terrible company. I have never received such disingenuous customer service and I am very unfortunate that I have ever been associated with you. I will get my money by God's grace.

Reservation number: 330 188 067
The airline company I booked with went bankrupt. Even though I did not cancel, Kiwi is refusing a full refund with various excuses. I've experienced so much stress over the past few months because of Kiwi.com, and it's really hard on my heart.

1. The airline went bankrupt, and many passengers were unable to board the flight, so they requested cancellation and refund from Kiwi.com.
2. Kiwi.com kept in touch with me for a few weeks, made various excuses and refused to refund, and contacted me that the flight was canceled just a few days before the flight.
3. As a result, I had to pay a lot of money because I had to book a flight again suddenly, and my travel plans were disrupted. It was a trip with my parents, but the travel plans suddenly changed and they suffered a lot.
4. I explained the situation I had been through to Kiwi and asked for a full refund again, but they said they would give me a 'subsidized refund' that I had never heard of. I asked for a reason to explain why a full refund was not given, but I did not hear the reason.
5. I talked with Kiwi.com for a long time, but in the end, I realized that they were only wasting time trying not to give me a full refund, so I applied for mediation of overseas disputes through my credit card company.
6. In the first adjustment, Kiwi again refused to give a full refund. After reading the documents that Kiwi.com sent with the reason for rejection, I felt again that it was the worst company. Even documents that are public documents were sent with broken letters. I couldn't even figure out what the text was about.
7. The 'subsidized refund' that Kiwi.com gives is that it gives back to me as much as it gives a refund to the airline. However, I saw several reviews saying that Viva Air, which recently went bankrupt, gave a full refund.
8. So, I once again asked Kiwi.com to give me a full refund as Kiwi said since Viva Air gave me a full refund.
9. Then, suddenly, kiwi said needed a refund certificate. But Viva Air is bankrupt, so customers have no way to contact the airline. Kiwi.com is aiming for this. Kiwi.com said as if Viva Air did not give refunds, but it was actually Kiwi.com that did not refund.

I have briefly described my experience so far. What I learned from communicating with Kiwi for several months is that this company is the worst of all bad things. Perhaps you will suffer the same damage as me if you book through Kiwi. As you know, Kiwi cannot be consulted over the phone. When I call, the call does not connect.
And being a foreign company, many individuals are victimized by scams like this, knowing that customers cannot actively protest.
Recently, in our country's news, a site called Kiwi.com came out on the news that it is a company that damages and scams customers.
Everyone, please share my writing on social media or related sites. So I hope you don't experience such an unfair situation like me.

ITS A ROBBERY... NO BUY KIWI TICKETS NO BUY KIWI NO BUY KIWI... ITS A ROBBERY NO BUY KIWI NO BUY KIWI... ITS A ROBBERY

Prenoto volo madrid-bogota, mi defalcano 600 dal conto bancario e dopo tre ore mi scrivono che il biglietto è aumentato da 600 a 2600. A me la scelta: pagare la differenza o essere rimborsato. E pazienza se ho già prenotato altri voli in coincidenza + l'albergo. Affari miei! Scelgo il rimborso tramite paypal fruibile in 24h. Le 24h sono passate, il rimborso non è arrivato. Decido comunque fiducioso di effettuare una seconda prenotazione cambiando i giorni del volo. Stavolta mi vengono sottratti 650. Mi arriva un messaggio dopo due ore. La compagnia ha cambiato i prezzi: aggiungi 4000 (si, 4000) o cancella la prenotazione. Morale: 1250 in meno nel mio account, nessun biglietto ed una merdadi email automatica come unica indicazione sul da farsi.
SCAN-DA-LO-SI