Airlines
Avianca Holdings S.A.Headquarters
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Complaints
This profile includes complaints for Avianca Holdings S.A.'s headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see
Customer Complaints Summary
- 358 total complaints in the last 3 years.
- 114 complaints closed in the last 12 months.
If you've experienced an issue
Submit a ComplaintThe complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.
Initial Complaint
Date:12/21/2024
Type:Service or Repair IssuesStatus:UnansweredMore info
Complaint statuses
- Resolved:
- The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
- Unresolved:
- The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
- Answered:
- The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
- Unanswered:
- The business failed to respond to the dispute.
- Unpursuable:
- BBB is unable to locate the business.
I flew with AVianca from *** to *** ON Friday, Dec 13th. The initial flight from ****** to ******** was delayed for over 3h and they forced me to check in my carry on. As consequence of the delay,1- I missed the connection to IAD 2- personal belongings were stolen from my carry on 3- suitcase was delayed Furthermore, the suitcase was damaged.I have attempted to reaching out to AVIANCA seeking assistance with no avail. The last one was via phone where they directed me to a WhatsApp chat, putting me on a loop without giving any resolution or opportunity to discuss the issue with an agent.I would like reimbursement for 1- expenditures during the time w/o clothes. 2- broken luggage 3- stolen belongingsInitial Complaint
Date:12/17/2024
Type:Product IssuesStatus:UnansweredMore info
Complaint statuses
- Resolved:
- The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
- Unresolved:
- The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
- Answered:
- The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
- Unanswered:
- The business failed to respond to the dispute.
- Unpursuable:
- BBB is unable to locate the business.
We had many issues with this airline from the start of our trip to ******** 12/6/24. Our main concern was with our return flight. Prior to our connecting flight from ****** to ***** 12/14/24, we were notified at the gate that we were randomly selected for additional security screening. This was roughly 1 hour before our scheduled flight, so we respectfully complied. We were told to meet with another avianca associate at a different gate but she was not there. Multiple people from other flights were also standing at this gate waiting for this associate. We asked multiple avianca associates to page the person we were supposed to meet, as 30 minutes had gone by and we were afraid of losing our flight. We return to the initial associate at the gate and notified her that no one was meeting us for this additional security screening and we were concerned we would miss our flight. She then stated "we did not load your checked bags into this flight, so there is no way you're getting on this plane." We were then booked for a flight 6 hours later than the one we were scheduled to be on. We waited an additional 45 minutes for this person to conduct the security screening, which involved her collecting the passports of everyone waiting for the screening and walking us to the front of the airport with no explanations given as to what was happening. After an additional hour she returned our passports and left again with no further explanation. When she returned she had us follow her to another line and left us there with no explanation. We as well as the other passengers were confused as to what was going on. We then went through the process of going through immigration and security again to await our flight that was rescheduled for 5 am. We both ultimately ended up sleeping on the floor of the airport, as no accommodations had been offered for this later flight. We had even paid additional money for our tickets and selected different seating, which ultimately was money lost.Initial Complaint
Date:12/12/2024
Type:Service or Repair IssuesStatus:UnansweredMore info
Complaint statuses
- Resolved:
- The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
- Unresolved:
- The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
- Answered:
- The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
- Unanswered:
- The business failed to respond to the dispute.
- Unpursuable:
- BBB is unable to locate the business.
On November 22nd 2024, my husband and I missed our connection in ******. It was flight AV 87 leaving at 9:41pm for ************. We arrived in ****** from *** via flight AV 211 which departed ******** at 2:15pm. I should mention that the only reason we were on this flight, which had a very short connection window, was because our initial flight which had been supposed to depart the previous evening had been delayed. Anyway, we landed in ****** on time on the 22nd but proceeded to sit on the plane for about 45 minutes due to there being no open gate. This caused us to miss our connection. About 20 other people also missed this connection for similar reasons, and yet Avianca made no attempt to make any kind of accommodations for us. They refused to send another bus to take us to the connecting plane, even though there were 20 of us there. They refused to communicate with the gate that we were running to to let them know we were on our way. They put us on a flight for the following afternoon, rather than giving us a voucher to book a sooner flight that left at 7am the next morning. Leaving the following afternoon would have caused us to miss important events that we crucially needed to make. Because of this, we had to spend money out of our own pocket to buy new tickets.This is unacceptable. Avianca has made it extremely clear that they don't care about their customers. When they denied my original request, they claimed that the delay was outside of their control, but there were so many other factors (as I've listed above) that they COULD control which would have enabled us to make our connection. My husband and I were trying to start our lives together, and they treated us terribly with no attempt to rectify the situation.Avianca has flatly refused, twice, to offer us any kind of compensation. It is disgusting. And I am not stopping fighting. I am telling everyone I know not to use them. I have checked many sources and I am legally entitled to compensation.Initial Complaint
Date:12/11/2024
Type:Service or Repair IssuesStatus:UnansweredMore info
Complaint statuses
- Resolved:
- The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
- Unresolved:
- The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
- Answered:
- The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
- Unanswered:
- The business failed to respond to the dispute.
- Unpursuable:
- BBB is unable to locate the business.
I flew with this airline approx. 3 weeks ago. They charged my whole party $15/pp for in person check in, even though it was unavailable to do on our own. I did contact the airline and they confirmed they shouldn't charge when online is not available.. Then did nothing and won't fix it. My party was also bumped from my connecting flight, after they told us via email they overbooked and were looking for volunteers not to board. I was not a volunteer, was there during correct boarding time, and refused to board by the airline. They did not offer any compensation for this, and provided hotel vouchers to a booked out hotel. So we incurred the issues with the changed flight by the airline's mistakes, the personal expenses of hotel/food when their vouchers did not work, and I have been contacting them since with pure ignorance as the result.Initial Complaint
Date:12/09/2024
Type:Product IssuesStatus:UnansweredMore info
Complaint statuses
- Resolved:
- The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
- Unresolved:
- The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
- Answered:
- The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
- Unanswered:
- The business failed to respond to the dispute.
- Unpursuable:
- BBB is unable to locate the business.
It's an issue involving several businesses all tied together. A travel agency called etraveli group allowed someone to use my stolen debit card information to book a flight through *********** with avianca airlines from *************** to *********** then back to ****** a few days later. This just happened today. There's no one to call at avianca to actually report the incident to. *********** said I'd have to take it up with the travel agency. I contacted the ************* and they said "we'll start an investigation". Meanwhile, my bank account is over $200 in the negative after the $353.89(usd) was charged to my account for the flight. The person who used my debit card also had my email account and used it as the email associated with their accounts with ***********, etraveli group and avianca. They didn't change the password on my email so I was able to use the "sign in with ****** option" to sign in to the avianca website, *********** and etraveli group. all the persons info is available to me because of it and I've given them the information. I have the name their using to board, the phone number, booking number, plane number, terminal ID, the boarding and departure times and ticket numbers of the person but no one will do anything to help me. the office I called for etraveli group is based in ********. No one has helped me and they're just letting this identity thief board the plane and do what they want with my money. I'm going to upload a screenshot of some of the info I obtained by signing in to one of the booking sitesInitial Complaint
Date:12/09/2024
Type:Product IssuesStatus:UnansweredMore info
Complaint statuses
- Resolved:
- The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
- Unresolved:
- The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
- Answered:
- The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
- Unanswered:
- The business failed to respond to the dispute.
- Unpursuable:
- BBB is unable to locate the business.
Just before COVID Avianca cancelled my flight, then a few month later instead of a full refund they decided to provide a UATP Card and for me to access the full card balance I need a plane ticket which they did not provide, 4 years later it is about to expire and after multiple attempts to contact I have NOT been able to get my money, it just not fair, they are basically stealing money from ***** Offices here just a phone number and NO actionInitial Complaint
Date:12/05/2024
Type:Product IssuesStatus:UnansweredMore info
Complaint statuses
- Resolved:
- The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
- Unresolved:
- The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
- Answered:
- The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
- Unanswered:
- The business failed to respond to the dispute.
- Unpursuable:
- BBB is unable to locate the business.
On 08/18/24 I bought 2 airline tickets on *********, to travel from *** to EZE ************ with a stopover in ****** at 11:55pm on 09/26/24 for me and my wife. We arrived at *** 3 hours early and surprise, we were not on the passenger list, Avianca had changed our flight to leave at 3:15 that same day 09/26/24. That change made us miss our connecting flight, the Personnel Supervisor said that it was not them who changed the departure time and the only thing he could do was sell us other flights to ******** on 09/27/24 at 7:25 am for $1250 and there they could help us since there is no Gol Airlines office in ** and we would not lose our return itinerary. I called Cheapoair and Avianca all night and they put me on hold for more than 1 hour each call. We woke up at *** waiting for departure. We arrived in ****** at 12:15pm the ********** was closed from 8:00pm to 6:00am meanwhile we found out and found out at the Avianca central office that they had changed our schedule, we went to the Aeronautica Civil de Colombia and they forced the customer service supervisor ***************** **** to solve the problem. She got us a flight for 09/28/24 at 6:37am and we finally arrived at EZE at 3:10pm. We had to wait another night at the **************. I want respect, I want a full refund of $1250, I want compensation equivalent to two nights of hotel that they did not give me $500, I want them to cover the expenses at the airport $150 I want the the full amount of the original purchase $1596+36 feetCustomer Answer
Date: 12/05/2024
Correction: the name of the customer service supervisor is ******* ***** ****
original purchase price is $798.70 x 2= $1597.40 plus $36.12 fee. .
Initial Complaint
Date:11/30/2024
Type:Product IssuesStatus:UnansweredMore info
Complaint statuses
- Resolved:
- The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
- Unresolved:
- The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
- Answered:
- The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
- Unanswered:
- The business failed to respond to the dispute.
- Unpursuable:
- BBB is unable to locate the business.
On October 13th, 2024, my pregnant wife and I took Avianca Flight 260 from **************, ****** to ******, ********. We paid for an economy+ seat for extra leg room because I am tall and she is pregnant. The seats were horribly cramped which led us to be in pain and discomfort the entire flight. We were shocked that the over 6 hour flight did not offer any food or entertainment. In flight entertainment was not functioning properly and the only food and drink that was offered had to be bought off of a menu. The menu only had one item we wanted and they said they didn't have it. We were starving so we settled for a sandwich we didn't want only to find that they did not accept my credit card. After landing we were starving and in pain from the soreness of the tight seats, we found our baggage had been mishandled and broken. We had to hobble our luggage with a missing wheel to their help center where they did not offer any resolution to the broken luggage because their policy only covers two broken wheels or more. I find this policy to be absurd and would like to reimbursed from Avianca for the broken luggage and the terrible experience they offered on this flight. I've tried contacting the company numerous time through their complaint module on their website and their support channel on ******** but they are unresponsive.Initial Complaint
Date:11/29/2024
Type:Product IssuesStatus:UnansweredMore info
Complaint statuses
- Resolved:
- The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
- Unresolved:
- The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
- Answered:
- The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
- Unanswered:
- The business failed to respond to the dispute.
- Unpursuable:
- BBB is unable to locate the business.
Purchase tickets to ***** but the restrictions to the island require a vaccine So I canceled my flight with 12 hours of purchase that airline Company has denied a refund ****** or a flight creditInitial Complaint
Date:11/23/2024
Type:Sales and Advertising IssuesStatus:UnansweredMore info
Complaint statuses
- Resolved:
- The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
- Unresolved:
- The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
- Answered:
- The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
- Unanswered:
- The business failed to respond to the dispute.
- Unpursuable:
- BBB is unable to locate the business.
The company is using the platform to sell tickets at a higher price in the following manner. I was buying a ticket, but the app and desk website didn't respond with payment 3 times. If you try one more time the price is higher and then take the payment
Avianca Holdings S.A. is NOT a BBB Accredited Business.
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