Kiwi.com - what lies under the peel. Why pay thousands of crowns more than you have to?
Have you purchased air tickets from kiwi.com? Did you know that with this company, in the event of a delayed flight, cancelled flight, or other problem subject to Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, your wallet will be lighter to the tune of thousands of crowns? It doesn't have to be...
The website kiwi.com has been based for some time on a strategic marketing platform dedicated to raising awareness about a revolution in flight ticket sales and connections. The option to buy tickets from different carriers, to see everything on an easy-to-use map, and the option to find the cheapest possible connections across multiple destinations, it all sounds great...
What doesn't sound so great is the fact that the entire principle is based on individual reservations – that is, itineraries.Or that because of this, passengers lose the option to collect eligible compensation for missing connecting flights under European law (in cases where the trip consists of two separate flights)… Or that because of this principle, passengers are greatly limited in the event of a delayed flight and a missed connection in terms of looking for an alternative connection and finding accommodations (the conditions of the kiwi guarantee are, shall we say, unclear on this) … That alone is cause for alarm. Unfortunately, there’s still quite a bit of this kind of awareness left to be raised. That's why we end up explaining to our customers on a very frequent basis that because they had the misfortune to purchase their tickets via this company, and under these conditions, they are not entitled to any compensation, as they do not meet the requirements for compensation from the perspective of European regulations.
The real “doozy” to passengers is the partnership between kiwi.com and the company AirHelp Limited (a company that works in the field of compensation for delayed flights, just like our company). There’s nothing wrong with partnership in and of itself, of course. What's odd, however, is the fact that if you use the services of AirHelp directly, they’ll actually charge you 25% of the amount collected, the current standard on the market. And yet if you entrust your claim to kiwi.com, which will either handle your claim or simply transfer it to AirHelp, you will be charged 35% of the amount collected...
Let’s take a look at a simple table to see what that looks like in terms of money...
How can you pay less for the same service? It's easy. If you inform kiwi.com within 30 days of your flight that you do not wish for them to represent you in the matter, you can then hire any company on the market, the overwhelming majority of which will offer better conditions than if you leave it all to the ticket seller.
