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My wife and I plan to go to Mexico in September of 2022. So for most of the year, we implemented some of our tactics to get cheap flights which have worked very well. At least for the most part. When I first booked all of the flights through Skyscanner we ran into only one issue. That issue was Kiwi.com. It’s not like it was a slight hiccup either. In fact, it was a big enough hiccup that I found myself typing “Is Kiwi.com legit?” in the search bar.
What Issues Did We Run Into With Kiwi.com?
The problems with Kiwi.com started almost immediately. Since our trip had us jumping all over North America I booked several flights at the same time. Every ticket was confirmed within an hour with all information sent to our inbox. All except for the tickets bought through Kiwi.com. Roughly about half an hour after the last confirmation we received an email from Kiwi.com.
“There’s a delay with your booking.”
I didn’t think much about it. I opened the email and read through it.
Awesome. Okay. Completely understandable and a 24-hour processing time isn’t the worst thing in the world. Admittedly it’s a little nerve-wracking with the volatility of flight prices, but they are already paid for so we should be safe. At least that was what I thought.
Less than 24 hours later another email arrives.
Well shit. Oh well, shit happens.
Sketchy Refund “Mixup”
Of course I wanted my money back. It was a really weird situation all around. Therefore I clicked the “Select refund method” button which brought me to a page giving two options. It was either take credit on Kiwi.com or have it sent to the original payment method. Seeing as the whole situation was kind of sketchy I obviously picked “have it sent to the original payment method” and clicked request refund. That’s when it got even sketchier.
Instead of being refunded to my card as I had selected, I was instead refunded in credits. When I saw that… Man, what came out of my mouth could’ve made a sailor blush. I rushed over to support to try and contact them about it, but of course it could be hours or days before they got back to me.
So when I checked Skyscanner and saw the flights were still the same price, give or take three euros, and they were through Kiwi.com I jumped on it. After all the tickets price for two people was just that good. Not to mention flight prices are so volatile that they can change daily or even hourly.
Therefore I used the credit. It was the same price for the same flights and with how sketchy things had been so far I wasn’t going to risk waiting days for the half-assed support to tell me that they can’t do anything.
The Second Booking Through Kiwi.com
After jumping to rebook the flight I waited. It was around six hours before I got the email once again stating that there would be a delay of up to 24 hours. Oh, look; A pattern!
When support finally got back to me either before or after receiving the second email I was shocked. They gave the spiel about how they couldn’t do anything and how I was refunded in credit. I had already rebooked the flight so all there was that I could do was wait.
Shortly after that 24 hours were up I received another email. “Your trip price has increased.” Oh really?! How convenient that all of the sudden my flight has gone from 771 Euros to 116. A 400 euro increase when the increase on Skyscanner is only 50-100 euro per person. Even on Kiwi.com. I refused to pay the difference.
As I said, that whole situation was sketchy. Contacting support was a five-day shitshow where they told me not only could they do nothing about the price increase, but they could only refund in credits, not to my account. Even though there was a price decrease during the time I was dealing with support that wasn’t reflected in my booking.
Somewhere after the second delay email, I found myself looking up “Is Kiwi.com legit?” Really all that I typed was “Is kiwi.c” and google suggestions gave “is Kiwi.com legit” and “is Kiwi.com a scam”
What a good omen. Needless to say, the reviews weren’t good. Ranging from situations similar to mine down to people booking flights and getting confirmation just to show up to that airport and find out that they have never heard of them.
Final Thoughts About Kiwi.com
If you are booking a flight then avoid Kiwi.com. I am fairly certain that Kiwi.com is a scam. Not only from my own experience but also due to the fact that a good amount of online reviews I found said similar or worse experiences. The customer service is absolute trash. They are never able to actually help or only giving excuses or run you around in circles until you give up.
So no. Kiwi.com is not legit. It’s mismanaged at best and a scam at worst. Don’t book through them as it is better to wait weeks for a good price through a different site than to book cheaply through them. After all there are a lot of different ways to save money while travelling including some great books that will help you do so!
Do you have any positive or negative experiences with kiwi.com? Let us know down below!
