Avianca rip off! Do not use them! You´ve been warned!
 

We bought a single ticket to Colombia from Avianca website as we would be travelling by bike after that.
Arriving in Madrid at the boarding gate we were told we could not get on the plane as europeans arriving by plane in Colombia had to have an exit plane ticket too, by law! (This is complete lies there is no such law in Colombia!)
They would not bulge and we were forced, in order to get on the plane, to buy 2 exit tickets to Ecuador. We were told they were fully cancellable and refundable.
Guess what? once in Bogota we were told they are not. Now we are short of 500 euros. We filled a complaint at Avianca office. Basically we have been lied twice. We will pursue the matter further, there is no way they will get away with that!

But for everyone else, you have been warned, do not fly with them. Beside their planes are falling in pieces! Literally! Not nice landing when pieces of the plane are coming off!


Bertrand if you read this you can put you experience of Avainca for Ecuador !

Oh no that is crap !!

Sorry to hear that. I hope you get your money back.

Did your bikes get over ok ?

no we had to pay by cahs because we were at the boarding gate!
I was fuming but had no alternative they would not let us on the plane !
Not sure it is legal!

Ted the bikes were fine, no problem at all there. All went very smoothly with that. Check the pages on shipping the bikes. I sent my report to Grant (As I had IT problem doing it myself!) and I think he posted it there. All details of shipping agent on it!

Cheers,

I am sorry to hear that!

The same is for many countrys when you fly from Europe!
I organized only a ticket what was just existing on paper, had no problems at all!
Did the shippment papers of your bikes not help you?
Those rescued me in 2003 allready for buying an other flight on my way to Costa Rica!

Good luck for the future, Appie!

Sorry about the hassle, Maria.

Molly, I'm not so sure whether it is only up to the Colombian Immigration Office to decide who may enter the country or not. If you buy a ticket to South Africa in Europe you are forced to either buy a return or a forward ticket to some other country.

I bought a cheap charter flight down to Cape Town and additionally an expensive IATA ticket for the return flight. The latter was fully refundable, but the travel agent only refunded it AFTER I had left S.A. for Oz.

Hope this helps.
Hans

I have had the same experience as Albert. My motorcycle shipping documents showing me as the consignee convinced the airline that I had transport out of the country + credit cards, etc. It is usually the airline that sets the policy because if you are refused entry to a country they are responsible for transporting you back.

sorted
 

conclusion to the story: We finally found someone competent and professional in Medellin. We managed to get the tickets cancelled and had a refund. Total cost of cancelation about GBP50 (40 Euro /ticket). Just glad we had most of our money back!

But for everyone make sure to be careful if you buy one way ticket! Could turn into big headache!

Cheers,