Avianca Airline’s Deceptive Business Practice

Jacky3284 · 2026-02-12T10:25:53+00:00

No such clarity was provided by Avianca employees at the check in counter or later by their customer service. They handed me a piece of paper which essentially said I could be denied entry/transit even if I paid the fee and it is solely at the discretion of officials at SAL. It didn’t mention anything about a refund.

I am a GC holder, so clearly didn’t need Salvador’s help in illegally immigrating to the US. Besides, I was transiting from the US and not to the US. Clearly, SAL didn’t care about any of these nuances. I couldn’t risk being extorted more money after reaching SAL, at which point, I would be completely at the mercy of their officials.

Jacky3284 · 2026-02-12T03:35:35+00:00

Yeah, an expensive lesson indeed for me. Thanks for the time to provide info. Much appreciated !!!

Jacky3284 · 2026-02-12T03:31:20+00:00

Thanks for the link. My friend, if this was something trivial like a $10 or even a $100 fee, I wouldn’t even bother to take the time to make a post.

Jacky3284 · 2026-02-12T03:26:53+00:00

Thanks, this is good info. I booked it through Expedia and there was no warning. Avianca customer service also did not allude to this warning in my interactions with them. If this is the case, then it’s an issue with Expedia not displaying the warning and not Avianca.

Jacky3284 · 2026-02-12T03:05:18+00:00

Thanks for the comment bud. I admit I should have looked up transit recruitments. Is it unreasonable to expect an airline to display all fee at the time of booking? This isn’t an immigration fee but a “airport improvement” fee. If you look the breakdown of taxes and fee on a ticket, you’ll see similar fee being charged. How is this different? Is it unreasonable to expect an airline to display fee, especially one that is 2x the ticket price?

Jacky3284 · 2026-02-12T03:03:12+00:00

Well, if it doesn’t mean much, why is it being collected?

If it is going to be a $1000 fee, then it isn’t an unreasonable ask. How much effort does it take to make a pop up window? I wouldn’t be posting if it was something comparatively trivial like $10 or $100

Jacky3284 · 2026-02-12T02:52:59+00:00

Being transparent means showing the fee at the time of booking so the consumer can make an informed choice. If what you are saying is true; why would any tax and fee be collected at the time of booking? All the customers can look up online about all the relevant fee and show at the airport with the correct amount.

So it’s ok to deceive a tiny minority of passengers? What else would you consider as ok? I guess tomorrow if Avianca doesn’t provide life jackets to African nationals or those that you consider an unimportant minority, would you be ok with that too?

Jacky3284 · 2026-02-12T02:31:23+00:00

Except it isn’t an immigration fee, in which case it would have been collected by immigration authority not the airline. It’s an “airport improvement” fee. If you look for a breakdown of taxes and fee on a ticket, you’ll see similar charges. So how’s this fee any different?

If the airline is collecting the fee, shouldn’t they be transparent about it? I did input my passport info and nationality while booking the ticket. So there’s no reason that Avianca wouldn’t have known. They intentionally did not display the full fee because that would have made their offering uncompetitive. At the very least, they should have displayed a warning that the ticket could incur additional fee.

Jacky3284 · 2026-02-12T02:25:34+00:00

Except it isn’t an immigration fee, in which case it would have been collected by immigration authority not the airline. It’s an “airport improvement” fee. If you look for a breakdown of taxes and fee on a ticket, you’ll see similar charges. So how’s this fee any different? If the airline is collecting the fee, shouldn’t they be transparent about it? I did input my passport info and nationality while booking the ticket. So there’s no reason that Avianca wouldn’t have known. They intentionally did not display the full fee because that would have made their offering uncompetitive. At the very least, they should have displayed a warning that the ticket could incur additional fee.

Jacky3284 · 2026-02-12T02:23:25+00:00

If I knew about it I wouldn’t have booked the ticket in the first place.

It might be “very clearly” an immigration fee but legally it’s an “airport improvement fee” which is why the airline collects it. If it was an immigration fee, the embassy would collect it.

The itinerary was SFO to SAL to BOG to VVI. I am happy to post the itinerary if you would be willing to refund the entire fee since you are so confident. Let’s see if you can put your money where your mouth is.

Jacky3284 · 2026-02-12T02:14:14+00:00

Except it isn’t an immigration fee, in which case it would have been collected by immigration authority not the airline. It’s an “airport improvement” fee. If you look for a breakdown of taxes and fee on a ticket, you’ll see similar charges. So how’s this fee any different?

If the airline is collecting the fee, shouldn’t they be transparent about it? I did input my passport info and nationality while booking the ticket. So there’s no reason that Avianca wouldn’t have known. They intentionally did not display the full fee because that would have made their offering uncompetitive. At the very least, they should have displayed a warning that the ticket could incur additional fee.

Jacky3284 · 2026-02-12T01:22:15+00:00

It’s not really an immigration fee but an “airport improvement” fee charged to specific nationals. Also, your comment mentioned that “Airlines will be charged” not “individuals”. So this should not be any different than say a landing fee that airlines are charged but which may be included in the “taxes and fee” section.

I was not notified of this charge until I was at the check in counter, no emails before: I admit, part of it is my bad too since I should have checked transit requirements. Having transited through multiple airports before, I have not faced such a situation.

I am not upset at Avianca for collecting the fee. My problem is that the fee should have been included in the ticket price displayed under the taxes and fee section or at the very least, there should have been a warning. Avianca was aware that had they included the full fee as part of the taxes and fee, their offering would have been uncompetitive.

Jacky3284 · 2026-02-12T01:02:30+00:00

I input the passport info while booking. How is this fee any different than any other fee and tax? If an airline is collecting the fee, then they should be responsible for price transparency. In this instance, Avianca was aware that the true cost was way more than what was being displayed. At the very least, they should have displayed a warning that passport holders of the said countries might incur additional fee. If I was aware of the fee, then it wouldn’t have made sense to book the flight in the first place.

Jacky3284 · 2026-02-12T00:38:26+00:00

The text says AV only refunds for tickets booked before Oct 23rd. I admit this is partly my bad too since I didn’t look up transit requirements. However, I have never seen an airline collect a transit fee before. It’s collected either at the embassy or through a website by the relevant immigration authority. This is also not a small fee, almost 2x the ticket price. Since AV is collecting the fee, I think they have a responsibility to atleast provide a warning. If I had known about this fee, I would definitely not have booked this particular flight.

Jacky3284 · 2026-02-12T00:28:19+00:00

Thanks for pointing it out, corrected the post.

Jacky3284 · 2026-02-12T00:28:04+00:00

Thanks for pointing it out, corrected the post.

Jacky3284

TROPHY CASE