kiwi travel telephone number

How to Use Kiwi.com to Save on Flights

Jessica Spiegel

August 6, 2023

Kiwi.com claims to “hack the system” so travelers can get much cheaper flights than other flight search engines will show. And while there’s some truth to that claim, there are also a few asterisks next to it that need to be carefully considered before booking.

What is Kiwi.com?

Kiwi.com is a flight booking site and mobile app ( iOS , Android ) that was founded in 2011 by two Czech entrepreneurs, Oliver Dlouhý and Jozef Képesi. The company has grown exponentially since then, being named Central Europe’s fastest-growing tech company by Deloitte in 2017 and the best Czech startup by Forbes in both 2017 and 2018.

How is Kiwi.com different from other search sites? 

Kiwi.com is designed to focus, first and foremost, on finding the cheapest ticket—regardless of logistical considerations.

One of the primary ways Kiwi.com does this is by putting together somewhat unusual itineraries with the kind of routing other OTAs don’t offer. Here are a few examples. 

Combining carriers

This may take the form of buying two separate tickets instead of one ticket with a built-in layover, combining airlines on one itinerary, or booking flights without regard to codeshares . Since Kiwi.com is selling you two separate tickets and neither airline is really aware of the other ticket, though, you would need to collect any checked bags between flights and re-check them for the next leg. And, if the first flight is delayed, the airline for the second flight has no obligation to find you a ticket on another flight for free.

Obfuscating the purchaser’s location

This could also take the form of buying tickets from another location. Airlines and OTAs look at your location when you book—that’s why, for example, you automatically see content in English and prices in the US dollar. When Kiwi purchases a ticket on your behalf though, it may have the purchase originate in another country, like India, where the price might be cheaper. This is all fine until you need to get a refund and find out the airline wants to pay you back in rupees. 

Alternate airports

Kiwi.com looks at fares from alternate airports, too, even if you didn’t. In some cases, Kiwi.com’s cheapest itineraries may involve taking a bus or a train to another city to catch a flight from another airport.

Throwaway ticketing or skiplagging

Another one of Kiwi.com’s potential money-saving methods is only using a portion of a ticketed itinerary, such as booking a cheaper round-trip ticket instead of a one-way flight and then just not using the return ticket. This comes with its own set of ramifications (it’s against most airline terms and conditions, for one thing) that travelers should be aware of before they book.

The “ hidden city ” trick is another they promote as a way to save money. Let’s say you really want to go to Paris. Sometimes, the cost of a flight to Paris may be higher than the cost of a flight to Berlin that includes a layover in Paris. On the latter itinerary, Paris is the so-called “hidden city,” and Kiwi.com’s money-saving suggestion is to simply not board the second flight from Paris to Berlin.

The biggest concern with this practice is that it’s airline policy to cancel all future tickets on an itinerary if a passenger doesn’t show up for a flight. So, if you’re looking for a cheaper one-way ticket, the “hidden city” trick can work—but if you’re planning to return to the departure point, your return ticket (from Berlin) would be canceled if you stopped in Paris. And this, too, is against airline terms and conditions.

Savvy travelers with more time than money may be able to jump through all the logistical hoops with ease and save money in the process, as long as they know about all the possible issues that could arise.

Pros and Cons of Kiwi.com

Pros of kiwi.com.

• There’s no fee to use Kiwi.com to search for or book flights.
• Kiwi.com’s unique search methods can find cheaper flights than you’d find elsewhere.
• It’s easy to search flexible travel dates in several ways, from “anytime” to a span of a few days for both departure and return dates.
• Searching for flights to and from multiple locations is also easy. You can search points of interest, cities, regions, countries, continents, or even use the “Anywhere” option if you just want to find the cheapest ticket.

Cons of Kiwi.com

• With the sort of travel hack Kiwi.com likes to use, you have to operate as if you’re taking a series of individual trips. So, if you’re checking a bag, you may need to go through baggage claim at the transfer airport and re-check your bag on the next leg of the journey.
• When you check a bag and you have to collect luggage and re-check it at the transfer point, you’ll pay any checked baggage fees twice.
• If anything goes wrong on an itinerary like this—one flight gets delayed or canceled, for instance—it can get really complicated to fix.
• Technically, most airline terms and conditions stipulate that you must use all portions of a ticketed itinerary, so Kiwi.com’s hack of just not using one of the tickets violates those terms and conditions. In most cases, if used sparingly, this trick won’t incur the airlines’ wrath. If you use it frequently, however, you can be penalized by an airline.
• If you’re using Kiwi.com’s “hidden city” trick, you can’t check any luggage—because your bags will continue to the final destination even if you don’t.

How to Use Kiwi with Going

Going alerts you when fares drop from their normal price. You tell us which airports you fly from, and we let you know where there's a great deal from that airport. You can then book that deal directly with the airline, or if the price is cheaper on an OTA like Kiwi.com, you can book it there instead.

Kiwi Flights

The search fields are right at the top of the Kiwi.com website. Your departure airport may be auto-filled based on your location—Portland, in this case. If that’s the case, there may also be a prompt below the “From” box to add other nearby departure airports to increase search results—in this case, we’re prompted to add Seattle and Eugene.

The default departure and return dates are set to “Anytime,” and the destination field is a rotating set of suggestions to demonstrate the sorts of things you can enter in that field. You don’t have to use a specific airport code or even a city—Kiwi.com lets you enter a point of interest (Eiffel Tower or Machu Picchu), an entire country (France), or even a continent (Europe).

Once you enter a destination, no matter how broad, you can enter more destinations to create a multi-city itinerary, if you like. There are additional search criteria options above the “From” box, including how many passengers are traveling, how much luggage you’ll have (including carry-on bags), and what type of ticket you’re looking for (round-trip, one-way, multi-city, or “Nomad”).

That “Nomad” search option is one of Kiwi.com’s unique features. By choosing “Nomad,” a date range for your departure, and an overall trip length, you’ll then get prompted to add a list of destinations (plus about how long you’d like to stay in each one).

From there, Kiwi.com will sort the order of destinations to find the best route.

Kiwi.com offers a lot of customization in the travel dates section. To narrow down “Anytime,” click in either date field and you’ll see a calendar with ticket prices on each date to give you an idea of when it’s cheaper or more expensive to fly.

You can select an entire month by clicking on the month name at the top of the calendar in both the “Departure” and “Return” fields. 

You also have the option of selecting date ranges for both the departure and return flights by clicking and dragging across dates on the calendar for each one.

When you have the dates you want, click the “Set Dates” button and then the “Explore” button. There’s a lot going on with the next screen.

Potential destinations are displayed with images, Pinterest-style, along with the duration of the stay and cost of the trip. The default setting is to sort the destinations by popularity—click the “Popularity” prompt on the upper right section of the results page to select “Cheapest” if that’s your priority.

There are more filters available on this page, too, on the upper left corner of the results. You can sort by what you’re looking for in a destination (such as Romance, Family Fun, Beach, and Adventure), how many stops you’re willing to make (including whether you’re okay with an itinerary having an overnight stopover), what types of transportation to include (this is where the options for bus and train might be selected), an overall price cap, and what days of the week you want to depart and return on.

Once you choose a destination from the results page, you’ll get to start looking at the available flights. Kiwi.com sorts the flights in different ways. The default screen you’ll see is the “Best” flights. The other sorted lists are “Cheapest” and “Fastest,” which you can select by clicking on each name.

If you’re not quite ready to book but you want to keep an eye on an itinerary, click the “Create price alert” button at the upper left side of the list of flights and you’ll get this pop-up window. Enter your email and the price change you want to know about and you’ll get a message when the ticket goes up or down by the amount you specify.

But let’s say you’re just looking for a good deal and the destination isn’t the important part. Way back at the beginning, before you enter a destination on the main search page, there’s an “Anywhere” prompt that appears if you just click into the “To” field but don’t type anything.

The results page here offers places that are, quite literally, all over the map, so those “Things to do” filters may come in particularly handy.

Another way Kiwi.com allows for destination customization is with the map that appears in the upper right corner of that Pinterest-style display. Zoom in on the map, right-click on your departure area, and you’ll see a circle which you can make smaller or wider depending on how far you’re willing to use ground transportation to reach a departure airport.

Next, move the map around and left-click on your arrival area to get another circle, which you can also change the size of to cover however broad of an area where you’re willing to land. The search fields at the top of the page auto-update with the information derived from those circles, so you need to click the “Search” button again to get the results.

As mentioned earlier, there may be some risk in booking the kind of itinerary Kiwi.com creates. Kiwi.com has thought of this, however, so they offer an option to purchase the Kiwi.com Guarantee after you book your trip.

The guarantee covers “changes or cancellations caused by the carrier,” such as flights being canceled or delayed, or flight times getting changed by more than 24 hours. The remedies offered will depend on when the change occurs relative to your flight times, but they include things like a new itinerary or a full refund (in the form of Kiwi.com credit). The process for claiming any of the remedies must be followed exactly or you risk not getting anything.

There are also “ service packages ” that Kiwi.com offers as add-ons to every booking. Each service package (Basic Services, Plus Services, and Premium Services) grants travelers access to customer service above and beyond what’s available to customers who don’t add on a service package. 

There are also varying fees for “each additional service,” from €0–30 depending on the package you buy, and every package allows you to make changes to your trip up to 48 hours before it begins.

While Kiwi.com can, in some cases, send refunds to the original payment method, the most common refund is in the form of Kiwi.com Credit . This kind of credit does have an expiration date, however, so check your Kiwi.com account page to see what those dates are.

Kiwi.com Flights Reviews

Kiwi.com has a rating of only 2.1 stars (out of five) on Trustpilot , with more than 61,000 reviews logged. Many reviewers say they were never informed about flight cancellations while others say customer service wasn’t helpful (or non-existent) when they ran into problems during a trip.

The number of reviews of Kiwi.com on the Better Business Bureau is significantly smaller, though you can also read through the nearly 600 complaints the BBB received in the past three years.

Kiwi Customer Service

There’s an article in the help section of Kiwi.com that details how to contact the company , but there are no phone numbers listed. In order to get Kiwi.com’s customer service phone numbers, you must already have booked a trip—the phone numbers are listed on your e-ticket.

Other contact methods for customer service, such as sending messages on the website or via the app, are available 24/7.

Kiwi.com can find some good deals using its unique system of putting together flight itineraries, but if the last few years have taught us nothing else, we've learned that even the most straightforward trip can get complicated by unexpected circumstances, and when that happens, Kiwi can be a bit of a problem to deal with. However, if price is the most important factor to you and you're willing to take on a small bit of risk, you can sometimes save quite a lot by booking with Kiwi.

Kiwi alternatives for finding cheap flights

• Travelocity

Freelance Writer

Published August 6, 2023

Last updated December 21, 2023

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Kiwi.com   Reviews

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Reviews 3.7.

104,930 total

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Great Experience

Super easy to get hold of kiwi.com support agents. Everytime I had to call them up, they were professional and helpful in providing advice and assistance. When twice my flight was cancelled, it was easier to get hold of kiwi.com compared to the actual airline's call centre.

Date of experience : April 21, 2024

User friendly website

User friendly website, good prices and easy to use. I had an issue with a missed check in and a lovely lady helped me on the phone, we got disconnected and she called me back. I unfortunately did not get her name, but she is an absolute credit to this company,

Date of experience : April 18, 2024

Help and Patients is what is Needed :)

The young lady I dealt with was very helpful and patient, it took a long while to get my information but she helped me and we finally got what I needed :)

Date of experience : April 20, 2024

The phone help was fine

The phone help was fine, but no e-ticket was given on what was said was the e-ticket..only the booking, which will not work in Africa...which is the reason I called. The lady was very accommodating. Also, the invoice did not have the last four digits or information that I could remember what credit card for payment I used, but again the lady helping was very helpful and found out the information for me.

Date of experience : April 17, 2024

Reply from Kiwi.com

Dear Customer, Thank you greatly for making the effort to leave feedback regarding your booking with Kiwi.com. Regarding your reservation, right now it is already in our backlog and one of our agents will conduct a thorough investigation on it and will contact you shortly. Our first priority is to bring suitable solutions for our customers. Thank you for your patience and understanding while we work on your case. Yours sincerely, Customer Satisfaction Team

Kiwi is legit and has worked for me multiple times now.…

I've used Kiwi about 4 times now and I have had no issues. I find the electronic tickets a bit hard to find on my phone when I am approaching security etc. Which is a bit unnerving but it's just me because the tickets are there. I really like the low prices and the reminders when the price drops before I purchase. Once the tickets are purchased I don't like pestering to upgrade insurance, bags and so on but I realize that is how they make money so it's understandable.

Date of experience : April 15, 2024

Dear Aulden Reid, Thank you for sharing your positive review of your recent trip with Kiwi.com. We're thrilled to hear that you've had no issues with your bookings and enjoyed our low prices and price drop reminders. We understand your concerns about finding electronic tickets on your phone but rest assured, they are always there. We appreciate your understanding regarding our optional upgrades and insurance offers. We're here if you need any further assistance. Best regards, Customer Satisfaction Team

Asian airlines have been wonderful in…

Asian airlines have been wonderful in every direction for the my recent travel experience with me. I do go visit my family very often but I have had very safe and fair ticket price. Thank you

Date of experience : March 13, 2024

Kiwi is great

Trip and airline tickets scehdule was great. But train and bus tickets didn't come on me in time. I had to call customer support for this occassion. Beside this everything was wonderful. Congrats.

Date of experience : April 09, 2024

Extremely helpful staff member!

While it took a while to find the customer support number, the person I spoke to was extremely helpful and friendly and really made my day! She quickly helped me change the incorrect email address I signed up with and manage to put me through to my booking with ease. Thank you so much!

Dear Lamine, Thank you for your positive review! We're thrilled to hear that our customer support team was able to assist you with changing your email address and connecting you to your booking. We apologize for any inconvenience in finding our customer support number, and we appreciate your patience. If you have any further questions or need assistance, please don't hesitate to reach out. Thank you for choosing Kiwi.com! Best regards, Customer Satisfaction Team

Great company

Great company! Phone lines always available with professional people! Huge thank you to Shybam for help on phone line. Can’t wait for next booking with you!

Date of experience : April 19, 2024

No support when flight got rescheduled

I booked a trip with several stops, but the airline changed the schedule for the first flight, which made me miss all the others. Received an email from kiwi about this two days before departure, and they gave me rebooking options which required me to pay about twice the original ticket price in additional fees, and make long detours with super tight and risky layovers. Having no choice but to cancel, I only got about a quarter of the original price in refund - 6 months afterwards! I had to pay about 800 USD for new tickets. The only reason they get 2 stars and not 1 is that the customer relations people seem really nice although they couldn't help at all.

Date of experience : November 28, 2023

I cancelled some tickets via the…

I cancelled some tickets via the airlines and still successfully got refund from the Kiwi, although not that smoothly. Note that Kiwi does not insist official proofs (those with titles or seals), rather, any proofs such as chat logs with the airlines suffice. Although Kiwi will refund you even the initial refund from the airline have not arrived Kiwi’s account yet.

Date of experience : April 11, 2024

Dear Kylos, Thank you for your positive review and for sharing your experience with Kiwi.com. We appreciate your feedback and are glad to hear that you were able to successfully receive a refund, despite some hiccups along the way. We understand that the refund process may not have been as smooth as expected, but we're glad it worked out for you. Your satisfaction is important to us, and we'll continue working to improve our services. Thank you for choosing Kiwi.com. Best regards, Customer Satisfaction Team

Left without alternative flight or compensation halfway across the world, Kiwi.com-guarantee Worthless.

Booking 492477810 - travel from BLL to DGT. Airplane arrives 21 Minutes late in Dubai. The travel plan is put together with only 1 hour and 50 minutes from landing to takeoff of next airplane. With the delay, it became impossible to check-in in time for next flight. Luckily we had purchased the add-on Kiwi.com-guarantee, so in case circumstances like this one were to occur where reaching the next flight is impossible, we would be covered. However Kiwi.com refuses to honor their guarantee, and we were left in Dubai, half-way to our destination without out help or compensation, dispite purchasing the Kiwi.com guarantee, rendering it worthless, and Kiwi.com proves they cannot be trusted. Will never book here again.

Date of experience : March 01, 2024

Dear Customer, We appreciate your review and feedback regarding your recent experience with us. Rest assured that your feedback is of utmost importance to us, and we are committed to thoroughly investigating the concerns you have raised. Our dedicated team is already working on a detailed analysis, and we will reach out to you promptly with the results of our investigation. Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. We will take the necessary steps to address any issues and improve our services. Sincerely, Customer Satisfaction Team

When my flight was changed by Ryanair

When my flight was changed by Ryanair, they incorrectly advised me and told me there was nothing I could do when in fact they should’ve got in touch with Ryanair or I could’ve got in touch with Ryanair and stayed on the original flight. I was booked on instead of 15 hours later

My excellent experience with Kiwi

The information flow was continuous and very helpful' at every step of my pre-trip and during the trip I could trust KIWI to inform me what is the next step. The app works well, it is very user friendly and easy to operate and navigate. All and all I had a very good experience with KIWI

Dear Yuval, We're thrilled to hear that our continuous information flow was helpful throughout your trip! We're glad you found our app user-friendly and easy to navigate. Thank you for sharing your positive experience with Kiwi.com! Customer Satisfaction Team

Sometimes a Good Deal, however...

Kiwi can be a good way to find cheap airfare. There are some hidden fees, such as charges for baggage which is included by the airline and upgrade costs which are higher than what you would pay if you upgraded directly through the airline. Still, their service can be the best deal in some circumstances, but you must be sure to compare their prices after all upgrades and fees against the cost of booking directly with the airline or airlines you plan to fly with. In my case they were still cheapest, but in the future I would try to avoid using anything which has a service charge as this is most likely cheaper when done through the airline directly. Their site is a great tool for comparing flights from different airlines.

Dear Christopher Ragon, Thank you for sharing your positive review and for highlighting the benefits of using Kiwi.com as a tool for comparing flights from different airlines. We appreciate your input and understand your concerns about hidden fees. We always strive to provide the best deals possible, but we encourage comparing our prices with direct bookings to ensure the best value. If you have any further questions or need assistance in the future, please don't hesitate to reach out. Best regards, Customer Satisfaction Team

Never use you again.

You told me I had to change my connecting flights because you thought we would not make it in time and you made us pay for the new flight time plus pay for overnight accommodation whe in reality we had plenty of time to catch the original connecting flight, you also offered no reembursment for the cancelled flight. No way would I ever use your services again.

This place is really the worst

This place is really the worst. Although I have traveled to dozens of overseas destinations for decades and made reservations through many travel agencies, they have behaved so carelessly toward their customers, and even though the airline said they would refund, a company called Kiwi.com is threatening consumers by saying they will only refund a portion of the refund. I sincerely hope that no one suffers the same damage as me. This place deceives consumers by notifying them that they will only give partial refunds at their own discretion and threatening to take legal action!! Please do not use it!! If you use this place, you will definitely be left with nothing but discomfort and stress like me. Please never use it!!!

Date of experience : March 24, 2024

Don’t use! Unhelpful staff. Couldn’t get me back home due to flight cancellations

Wouldn’t recommend as you couldn’t even accommodate me and my family a return within a reasonable return. 30+ hours to get back home due to a flight cancellation is ridiculous especially with a 3yr old! Flight from Mumbai to London is less the 15+ or less! And on top your asking me to pay £2500+. Will not be using your services again. First and last time. Agents weren’t helpful at all either.

My experience with KIWI has been great

My experience with KIWI has been great! I traveled to Europe, USA, and Mexico planning our trip with KIWI. It cared about our connections, about our check in, and confort for a great price. I recommend KIWI.

Outstanding customer support

Prices were great but customer service was exceptional when the airline drastically changed their schedule. Kiwi.com couldn't resolve the issue but they didn't stop trying!

Date of experience : April 16, 2024

Dear vi, Thank you for your positive review! We're glad to hear you had a great experience with our prices and exceptional customer service. While we couldn't resolve the schedule change issue, we never stopped trying to assist you. Your feedback is important to us, and we appreciate your support. Customer Satisfaction Team

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What is the Kiwi.com Guarantee?

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What is Kiwi.com and why is it important?

The kiwi is a unique and curious bird: it cannot fly, and has loose, hairlike feathers, strong legs and no tail.

Kiwi berries are edible fruits the size of a large grape, similar to fuzzy kiwifruit in taste and internal appearance but with a thin, smooth green skin.

Kiwi International Air Lines was an American airline that operated from September 21, 1992, for almost seven years. It was headquartered in Newark, and in its brief history, the airline flew eight million passengers without incident.

What is Kiwi.com?

Kiwi.com, though, is neither a flightless bird, nor a fruit, nor a defunct airline, but an Internet site. In its own words, when asked “Is Kiwi.com a legit website?” they follow it up with:

“We often see questions on various platforms online asking, ‘is Kiwi.com safe for booking flights with?’ The answer is yes, Kiwi is 100% safe and legit. We’re a reputable travel company with one objective, to use our innovative technology to help you find affordable flight options to get you from A to B.”

Kiwi.com, previously known as skypicker.com, is a Czech online travel agency founded in 2012. Kiwi.com provides a fare aggregator, metasearch engine and booking for airline tickets and ground transportation. Its ticket search features Kiwi.com’s “virtual interlining” concept – itineraries combined from over 750 carriers, including many that do not cooperate in online bookings.

Many of us are aware of investment scams that abound on social media – scammers promising guaranteed returns on investment. Consumers lost billions of dollars to them last year. Some start with a WhatsApp message apologizing for bothering you.

Kiwi.com has a great site, and its results prove to be very enticing to millions of clients. In fact, it goes further than any site or travel agency by stating that it will handle everything with the airline, including preparing your boarding passes. This is a tedious yet vital procedure these days. Curiously, though, it doesn’t give the airlines your details – neither your phone number nor your address. All communications are done solely between Kiwi and the airline. And that raises a lot of questions.

Kiwi.com is without any doubt a legit online travel agency. However, booking a flight through it increases the risks of issues as compared to booking directly with the airline, since Kiwi works as a middleman between the traveler and the airline. Although problems can occur even with direct booking with the airline, the chances are much lower compared to booking a flight through Kiwi.com.

Why Kiwi.com causes problems

Here’s why:

Kiwi.com basically acts as an intermediary between you and the airlines. As a middleman, Kiwi collects your payment, and it – not the airline – is responsible for your booking, since your contract is not directly with the airline; it is with Kiwi.

In the event that something goes wrong between you and the airline, you will have to contact Kiwi.com, and then it will reach out to the airline you are booked with, and Kiwi will then get back to you. But how fast Kiwi.com’s customer support will help you resolve your issue depends on the level of customer service you choose at the time of booking.

Kiwi.com basically offers three types of services:

• Basic Service : Under this service, neither immediate response will be given to your phone calls, nor can you contact Kiwi.com through email.
• Plus Service : With this service, you can contact Kiwi.com through email, and your phone calls will be given medium priority.
• Premium Service : Under premium service, your phone calls will be given high priority, and you can contact Kiwi.com through email.

Kiwi.com basically provides three types of tickets, and each one has its own refund and booking changes rules:

• Saver Ticket : You can neither make changes nor can you get a refund if you cancel your trip.
• Standard Ticket : You can make changes but can’t get a refund if you cancel your trip.
• Flexi Ticket : You can make changes and also will get a 90% refund if you cancel your trip.

Kiwi.com definitely saves you money over direct bookings with the airline, and it works out just fine, as long as everything goes smoothly. But when you’re booked through Kiwi and something goes wrong or any unexpected circumstances happen, Kiwi can make things more complicated to resolve. You’ll most likely be stuck in a lot of back-and-forth between the airline and Kiwi.com before your issue is resolved.

It all seems to be what one would expect from an Internet booking site, an aggregator, as it’s called in the industry. But appearances can be deceiving.

It was last week that I received a message from a family of five who were due to fly back on Wizz Air from Rome after a wonderful holiday traipsing through Italy.

Kiwi had informed them that Wizz Air had canceled its flight, and the woman representing the family asked me to confirm whether this was true. Kiwi told her she could get a €10 refund or credit for a future flight, which she rejected outright. We all know that one of the biggest risks of low-cost carriers is they can cancel a flight with little advance notice.

Surprisingly, I told her Wizz Air was indeed flying that day, and there was no reason to believe the flight would be canceled. I told her to bring her family to the airport directly to Wizz Air, and that in the worst-case scenario there would be an El Al flight that evening if she had to buy five new tickets.

When she got to the Wizz site, the attendant was most accommodating and confirmed what I had advised her, that the flight was operating as scheduled and was in fact not canceled.

Nonplussed, she asked him to dig deeper, and upon inspection, he notified her that Kiwi had canceled all five tickets and refunded the money. The Wizz Air ground attendant’s reaction was quite serene, and he was not at all surprised that it had occurred.

Together, they contacted Kiwi, which at first reiterated that she had canceled the flights, but upon further review owned up to its mistake. Even more bizarre, the phone number, email, and physical address that Kiwi provided to Wizz Air were all fake. Not erroneous, but outright nonexistent. Wizz Air tried to accommodate her, even offering them seats on the next day’s flights or a partial refund, but the client realized that throwing good money after bad money was absurd and purchased five new one-way El Al tickets.

My client was quite savvy, and, with some assistance from my office, received all the documentation necessary to get a full refund. She knows that as Kiwi.com has no physical representation in Israel, she cannot sue it for restitution in small claims court, but followed assiduously every obstacle they threw at her to get a full refund of what she had paid to Kiwi. Not, of course, the difference for the new ticket, nor, of course, the compensation due for the delay in flying back to Tel Aviv, nor for any mental anguish, but still she learned a valuable lesson.

SOME AIRLINES have taken Kiwi’s cavalier attitude into consideration and gone to the courts.

On 14 January 2021, Southwest Airlines sued Kiwi.com, alleging that its scraping of fare information from Southwest’s website was a breach of contract and that Kiwi.com’s use of Southwest’s logo in its search results constituted trademark infringement.

In response, Kiwi.com removed Southwest’s logo from its search results, but continued to sell Southwest tickets despite Southwest sending Kiwi.com a series of cease-and-desist demands.

In December 2021, a Texas court ruled in favor of Southwest, permanently banning Kiwi.com from scraping and harvesting information from Southwest’s website, republishing the airline’s schedules, and selling Southwest tickets without permission.

On SiteJabber, Kiwi.com has a rating of 1.08 stars from 1,882 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally dissatisfied with their purchases. Reviewers complaining about Kiwi.com most frequently mention customer service, credit card, and full refund problems. Kiwi.com ranks 258th among plane ticket sites. Mirana gives an almost identical report from last June.

From another site reviewing Kiwi.com:

“I don’t generally [leave], in fact have never left, bad reviews, but just as a warning:

“I think Kiwi is safe and legit, so roll the dice if you want, but the only thing they did well was leave a lot of time between flights, cuz you’re going to need it to sort things out on your own and deal with delays.

“Paid for checked bag, second airline didn’t honor. Baggage requirements for two airlines were totally different. We only had info for the first flight; that was problematic. Couldn’t check bags all the way through. Also, wasn’t well informed of changes to flights.”

The Better Business Bureau in the United States has a litany of complaints about Kiwi.com just in the last month.

Tiffany’s review was nearly identical to what my client encountered. She asserted the company is a complete scam. She, too, bought her flights through its website. She, too, got a notification through its app that the flight had been canceled. She, too, was told her only options were to spend hundreds more dollars, over twice what she had paid, or she could seek a refund.

But that was not true. I could see that according to her airline, the flight was not canceled. In fact, I could still purchase tickets to that flight online!

After hours of arguing and talking between Kiwi.com and the airline, it came to be understood that the airline had not canceled the flight but had canceled the booking made through Kiwi.com. Kiwi.com refused to allow me to speak to a manager, and it refused to give me a way to submit a complaint. I ended up having to get a refund through my bank and had to repurchase tickets directly from the airline, and for a higher price.

If it happens once, we’ll call it a mistake. A second occurrence, we call it a coincidence. A third incident, and it is obvious that this is a pattern repeated over and over again. See this site to read claim after claim of fraudulent behavior: Kiwi.com, Inc. | Reviews | Better Business Bureau® Profile (bbb.org)

My client was fortunate; her instinct that something was rotten was immediately raised, and she had the wherewithal to reach out to someone inside the industry. She will prevail in getting compensated for what she paid it. Hopefully, her story and others’ will get the authorities in other countries to act against it. Lawsuits against airlines or Internet sites are not rare and in themselves are not indicative of illegal activities.

Kiwi.com is a different kettle of fish, and something doesn’t smell right. Airline scams are easier to detect. Never give money until you see a confirmation number. Anything else could just be a reservation, and that is not a confirmed ticket. Book directly from the airline’s website or a trusted travel agency. You may not get the lowest fare, but you will be getting a legitimate ticket. Read reviews; service matters; and if you have to pay more for that, then make the decision to do so. If you’re worried about a ticket, talk directly to the airline’s customer service department.

Check official resources: The Better Business Bureau in the United States is a great place to start. The agency lists real companies; if you can’t find the one you’re working with, walk away.

Online reviews and ratings: Read online reviews and ratings on sites like TripAdvisor, Yelp, or Google. Keep in mind that extremely positive and negative reviews could be bogus. Watch for a balance of reviews and consistent themes.

Bottom line, if it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck.

The writer is the CEO of Ziontours, Jerusalem, and a director at Diesenhaus. For questions and comments email him at [email protected] •

Kiwi Travel

Review Highlights

“ The airlines had all the info and I can't imagine a travel day going any smoother. ” in 2 reviews

Location & Hours

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3020 E College Ave

Appleton, WI 54915

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About the business.

We are a small Traveling agency in Appleton, WI. We book trip all over the word to accommodate the needs of our clients. We are South Pacific experts. …

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• 2 star rating Could’ve been better
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Overall rating

Kiwi Helpline Number- 0620-527-9173 @support team for Flight booking and id related problem service (24X7) very nice...

Cheaters. A flight was cancelled and they did not want to refund! They asked us to add $700 for an alternative flight or book a new one without refund.

They are terrible. I am having to do a financial dispute with my credit card company as they will not refund money from a flight the airline canceled. They are not New Zealand base they are a Eastern Europe company that uses the Kiwi glamour. I would use their system to find flights and connections for complex international travel but never book through them.

Please DO NOT DO NOT BOOK WITH THEM!!!! They wANTED ME TO PAY $400 extra so I could get 90% of my refund back!!!!! They can cancel if they wanted too but they don't want too!!!! I'm well beyond upset! They will steal your money! Do not I am warning you all too do any business with these people!

Poor service. Skip the stress. They have low prices for a reason. It's stressful dealing with them

DO NOT USE this company to book flights! Horrible customer service, rude and not helpful. My flight got grounded on my way home from Florida. They were horrible to deal with, not helpful and just added stress or an already stressful situation. AVOID!

Horrible do not take any tiket your journey costing duble. Customer service has excuses for all your requests.

Fraud company. Took my money , dint book flight

First time booking with them. They told me they could not "Cancel" my ticket even though it was still being processed ( Their website even stated they would be able to cancel/change before it was confirmed). When I called them, they told me they could change. I told them to cancel the tickets- she puts me on hold to do so. Next thing, she comes back and tells me she can't cancel it but that I could change it once it is confirmed. I see that it gets confirmed and then see they can change it BUT WILL STILL CHARGE ME FOR A WHOLE NEW FLIGHT. WORST TRAVEL COMPANY.

I would give Kiwi 0 stars if I could. My flight was cancelled due to weather. Frontier Airlines refunded my money to Kiwi but Kiwi is blowing me off. I have emailed their "Customer Service" 3 times and not response. I just called their "Customer Service" line and it hung up on me after I input my booking number! They are a scam. BEWARE!

44 other reviews that are not currently recommended

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Even if there is something you have always wanted to experience and can't find it here at Kiwi Travel, please let us know - we promise we'll do our best to find it for you and get you there.

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How do I contact kiwi by phone?

Kiwi.com is an online travel agency that provides flight and travel services to customers worldwide. While Kiwi.com primarily operates through its website and app, they do offer customer support through phone calls. If you find yourself in a situation where you need to contact Kiwi.com by phone, here is how you can do it:

How can I contact Kiwi.com by phone?

The most convenient way to contact Kiwi.com by phone is by dialing their dedicated customer support number. However, it is important to note that their phone support is primarily available for customers with ongoing bookings or urgent issues.

**The phone number to contact Kiwi.com is [+1-844-961-0252].** This number is available 24/7, and you can reach out to them for assistance regarding any pressing matters related to your booking or other travel concerns.

It is crucial to keep in mind that Kiwi.com’s phone support might have limited availability, especially during peak travel seasons or high call volumes. If you are unable to reach them via phone, don’t worry – Kiwi.com also provides various other customer support channels, including live chat and email, to address your queries efficiently.

1. Can I contact Kiwi.com by phone for general inquiries?

Kiwi.com’s phone support is primarily for customers with existing bookings or urgent matters. For general inquiries, it is recommended to visit their website or explore their comprehensive FAQ section.

2. Is Kiwi.com’s phone support available 24/7?

Yes, Kiwi.com’s phone support is available around the clock, seven days a week.

3. Are there any charges for calling Kiwi.com?

While calling Kiwi.com does not incur any direct charges, it is important to consider the calling rates from your phone provider, especially if you are making an international call.

4. Can I change my booking over the phone?

Yes, you can request changes to your booking over the phone. However, it is advisable to check Kiwi.com’s website or app for available self-service options, as they may offer more convenience and flexibility.

5. How long does it take to get a response when calling Kiwi.com?

Response times may vary depending on call volumes and the complexity of your query. However, Kiwi.com aims to provide timely assistance and resolve customer issues as efficiently as possible.

6. What if I can’t get through to Kiwi.com’s phone support?

In case you are unable to connect with Kiwi.com’s phone support, you can explore alternative support channels such as live chat or email, available on their website and app.

7. Can I request a refund over the phone?

Yes, you can request a refund by contacting Kiwi.com’s phone support. They will guide you through the refund process and assist you with any related concerns.

8. Does Kiwi.com offer phone support in languages other than English?

Yes, Kiwi.com provides support in multiple languages. The availability of specific language support may vary, so it is recommended to check their website or app for more information.

9. Can I make a new booking over the phone?

While making new bookings directly over the phone might not be possible, Kiwi.com’s phone support can assist you in finding the best options and guiding you through the booking process on their website or app.

10. Can I contact Kiwi.com by phone for baggage-related queries?

Yes, you can contact Kiwi.com’s phone support for any queries related to baggage. They will provide you with the necessary information and assist you with your concerns.

11. Can I call Kiwi.com for flight delays or cancellations?

Yes, if you are experiencing a flight delay or cancellation, you can call Kiwi.com’s phone support for assistance. They will provide guidance and help you find suitable alternatives.

12. Is Kiwi.com’s phone support available in all countries?

Yes, Kiwi.com’s phone support is available to customers worldwide. However, it is recommended to check their website for any country-specific support numbers or alternative contact options.

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About Rachel Bannarasee

Rachael grew up in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai until she was seven when her parents moved to the US. Her father was in the Oil Industry while her mother ran a successful restaurant. Now living in her father's birthplace Texas, she loves to develop authentic, delicious recipes from her culture but mix them with other culinary influences. When she isn't cooking or writing about it, she enjoys exploring the United States, one state at a time. She lives with her boyfriend Steve and their two German Shepherds, Gus and Wilber.

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Contact kiwi experience, auckland head office.

83 Beach Rd, Auckland Central, Auckland 1010, New Zealand

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• What happens if my activity is cancelled?
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