Kiwi.com stranded me at the gate 15 minutes before boarding — DO NOT EVER BOOK WITH KIWI.COM

Kiwi.com stranded me at the gate 15 minutes before boarding — DO NOT EVER BOOK WITH KIWI.COM

This is my first ever Reddit post, which should tell you how bad this experience was. I have apparently reached the “create a Reddit account and warn strangers” stage of grief.

I booked a flight through [Kiwi.com](http://kiwi.com/). I showed up to the airport. I got through security. I had my boarding pass. I made it all the way to the gate. I was mentally already on the plane, choosing between pretending to sleep or watching a movie I would never finish.

Then, about 15 minutes before boarding, I was told my ticket/reservation was basically not valid and I could not get on the flight.

Fifteen minutes.

That is not “oops, your hotel room isn’t ready.” That is “you’re standing at the gate, boarding pass in hand, bags packed, mentally already on the plane, and someone tells you your ticket has apparently been decorative this whole time.

After going back and forth, [Kiwi.com](http://kiwi.com/) admitted that something went wrong on their end. Great. Love that for them. Unfortunately, their response speed since then has been somewhere between “continental drift” and “message in a bottle.”

Meanwhile, I was the one stranded at the airport after paying for a flight and doing everything a normal human being is supposed to do: book ticket, check in, pass security, arrive at gate, question every life decision that led me to using [Kiwi.com](http://kiwi.com/).

This was not a tiny inconvenience. I lost time, money, and an unreasonable amount of faith in third-party booking sites. [Kiwi.com](http://kiwi.com/) managed to turn a simple flight into a full escape-room experience, except the twist is there is no escape and customer service is just vibes.

So here is my public service announcement:

DO NOT EVER BOOK WITH [KIWI.COM](http://kiwi.com/).

Saving a few dollars is not worth discovering, 15 minutes before boarding, that your “confirmed” reservation has the structural integrity of wet cardboard.