The latest Flight Booking Hack – Kiwi.com in a Review (is it reliable?)

Kiwi com in a review

Have you ever heard of kiwi.com? Kiwi is a powerful search engine for flights.

After we published our 16 favorite winter destinations in Europe and 21 best places to visit in Europe in summer, we got so many questions about how we find our flight deals.

We realized this is still a huge topic. Therefore, we wrote up a big, detailed review of kiwi.com.

In fact, Kiwi, Hostelworld, Omio.com and HeyMondo Insurance are essential websites to for travelers. We use them always on our travels!

Important: In this genuine article we share the good, the bad and the ugly of Kiwi.com. Please read it carefuly so you get the pros and cons.

Before making your final booking, please check as well our comment section. Travelers share here their own, first-hand experience. Personally, we always use Skyscanner when looking for flights.

Check Skyscanner.com here

Did/ do you have a great or bad experience with Kiwi? We keep the comment section open for you.

We do not claim it’s the only website we use, yet it’s part of our process finding flights every single time. And yes, we book our flights with kiwi and other websites like Omio.com, Skyscanner and even direct with Emirates for instance, as well! In fact, we wrote more detailed articles:

We are pointing out the good, the bad, the ugly, why you can use it, and when to avoid Kiwi.

Our Kiwi Review covers:

  1. Research Process (the websites I use for flight searches)
  2. Features of kiwi.com
    1. Search Radius
    2. Fly Anywhere
    3. Multi-city Feature
    4. Combining different Airlines
    5. Date Range
    6. Price Alert
  3. The Booking Process – is Kiwi cheaper?
  4. Kiwi Guarantee
  5. Cons of Kiwi
  6. Our own Flights and Experiences
  7. How to get started
    1. Sign me up
    2. Get the app
    3. become familiar with the kiwi guarantee
  8. Kiwi Promo Code (5€ off your total price)
  9. FAQ
  10. Packing List for your Flight
  11. Summary

Other detailed travel guides you need:

How to book your accommodation like a boss? 15 booking tips for hostels, hotels and apartments.

We also wrote a big review about Hostelworld and review about Tiqets, a website to purchase tickets to sights worldwide like the Colosseum and Eiffel Tower.

Also check out Klook.com in review for fantastic experiences across the globe. Make travel easier – book transport tickets with Omio. Here’s a genuine review of Omio to help you out. We also wrote a big review about Qatar Airways. A review for Etihad Airline is also on the way.

Your new favorite search engine for flights

Alright, let’s get started. Kiwi is the flight hacking app we have all been waiting for! It comes with extra features that improve the research and booking process.

This website will change the whole way YOU and your travel buddies look for flights on the internet.

It is a huge time saver with smart features that actually work in favor of the traveler, not the airline!

Besides collecting the worlds 5 Star Hostels and for our research for the best hostels in the world, finding cheap flights is a regular task for me at Hostelgeeks.

There are a few techniques and websites you can use to achieve good flight deals. Kiwi is one of the sites we use to FIND cheap flights and connections.

Visit Skyscanner.com here

Ever since I found this website with the cute name, me and the team have been using and recommending it. There are several reasons why this is one of the best website and app to find flights. Whenever I am curious about flights, prices, connections, the first thing I do is open Kiwi.com to get an idea.

Download the Kiwi App

Details covered in this review

In this detailed article I will walk you through our research process for finding flights, followed by the actual booking itself. Is this Kiwi.com legit? Yes, but be careful….and I will tell you why, based on my personal experience.

I will share in detail how I found flights across Europe for only 9€ and crossed continents for a sweet price.

In a nutshell, the top features of Kiwi are the date range, the so-called radius search and the combination of airlines. But I am getting ahead of myself.

Finding cheap flights with Kiwi

1. The Research Process

Whenever I have to catch a flight, there are several websites I check out. Without even thinking about it, I open the following websites in my browser:

  1. flights.google.com
  2. Kiwi.com
  3. Skyscanner
  4. Qatarairways.com and Qatar – and other direct websites
  5. Omio.com
  6. Emirates Airline

New: Our full review of Qatar Airways – honest & in-depth.

This is always my starting point! Over the years, these platforms have proved to be great resources. I do not open and check them in any priority, it’s mostly random.

My first steps to find flights is checking connections. Is my destination actually reachable from my out flying airport? The second issue is the price range. I prefer to know if I am going to spend 20€ or something closer to 1.000€.

When comparing Kiwi.com and Skyscanner, keep in mind, that Kiwi.com is an OTA.

Good to know: OTA stands for Online Travel Agency.

As an OTA, Kiwi issues tickets, takes care of customer support and bookings are finalized on their own website. Due to US law, not the terms and conditions for Airlines apply.

Skyscanner and Omio.com on the other hand is a so-called meta-search. It is a price comparison, gathering data from many providers and redirects you to partners websites.

Here you can see the Pros and Cons of each one:

Google Flights Kiwi.com Skyscanner
+ Overview of airlines (international + local) – not all local airlines + Overview of airlines (international + local)
+ shows calendar with rates + Great to compare alternative destinations in the area + Great to compare prices
+ fast loading time – average loading time + good loading time
– No App + App + App
– Aims for return flights, one-way not supported 100% + Multicity Feature – some airline partners are not recommended to book
– no booking possible Kiwi Guarantee, but not reliable – no unique feature
– not easy to change currency and language + Search Radius  
– No booking service + Full Booking service – No booking service

I use them to get a general idea of rates and flights out there.

  • Is there a direct flight?
  • Which airlines fly to the destination?
  • What is the average price?

flights.google.com and kiwi, in particular, make a big difference.

Both share the different rates in a handy calendar. It’s helpful to put the rate in context.

Maybe the next day it’s cheaper? Bear in mind, cheapest flights are normally on weekdays and outside of school holidays.

Catching a cheap flight found with kiwi

BTW this photo shows me and my backpack from Lowe Alpine in Kuala Lumpur. I included it in the ultimate hostel packing list.

I use Google Flights for:

Google Flights covers the biggest range of airlines. BUT: They also do not cover all airlines in the world. I had to take a flight from Mexico to Spain, Google Flights did not show flights with Emirates.

Not sure if this was a one-time thing. But always keep this in mind. Always compare websites!

Type in your destination and let Google Flight do the magic.

I use Skyscanner for:

Skyscanner is fast loading and I love to check it out for comparing airline rates on specific dates.

Read: My full insider guide to how to use Skyscanner

It also comes with the multi city feature. They always add new features. One of my favorite one is their inspirational map.

It shows you cheap destinations in your area. You can filter by price and set the dates yourself. An interesting tool! Of course, since then they updated and implemented more and more cool features.

Skyscanner also shows now flights from Kiwi.com. So when you check Skyscanner, you might up ending using Kiwi.com anyways.

Check Skyscanner here

I use Kiwi for:

I use Kiwi for finding cheaper destinations and dates to fly. It is especially handy when I am looking for inspiration. Give me a good deal to a destination I’ve never been to and I’m in!

Obviously, I use all four websites to compare the rates.

Our final booking is made with….well, this really depends! We have used Kiwi.com in the past and had no issues. But when, we have received so many horrible comments, that in fact, we do no longer use them for the final booking step.

By now, we usually use the website of the Airline and check what Skyscanner recommends. Please note, Skyscanner also recommends Kiwi.

So far we never ever used any discount websites for booking flights.

However, after comparing prices, it is the kiwi guarantee that makes it so convenient. Remember, I still check the airline directly to compare the rates. More info on the booking process here.

I use Omio.com for (update)

Since 2019, we are also using Omio.com a lot. It is a super fantastic tool to find transport, especially over Europe. So so so handy and easy!

You can compare flights, trains and buses. Pretty much any type of public transport.

I especially love the simple overview of your chosen flight. For instance, I checked a flight from Paris, France to Bangkok, Thailand.

It states:

  1. Your flight has a layover in Helsinki Vantaa Airport (HEL)
  2. Your flight is an early morning arrival to Bangkok (BKK)
  3. This is an overnight journey
Find Flights, Train and Buses with Omio.com

It shows you the bullet points on important information right away. See the screenshot below.

Booking Process with Omio.com Finding Flights with Omio.com

Besides the fact that we used this engine a lot, her are the most popular routes for this meta flight search:

  1. Bangkok – Phuket City
  2. Bangkok – Chiang Mai
  3. Lima – Cusco
  4. Bogotá – Medellín
  5. Bogotá – Cartagena
  6. Krabi – Bangkok
  7. Mexico City – Cancún
  8. Bogotá – Cartagena
  9. London – Athens
  10. Medellín – Cartagena
  11. Istanbul – Antalya
  12. Paris – New York City
  13. Prague – London
  14. Los Angeles – Guadalajara
  15. Cusco – Lima
  16. Istanbul – Kayseri
  17. London – Barcelona
  18. Seoul – Tokyo
  19. London – Kiev
  20. Vienna – Palma de Mallorca

2. Features of Kiwi.com

Time to have a closer look. Here I share the features that make Kiwi such a great flight hack and time saver.

Cheap Flights with kiwi

2.1 Search Radius

My absolute favorite feature is the search radius. This takes researching flights to a whole new level.

What does that mean?

Instead of typing in a fixed destination, you draw a circle on the map.

The app searches for flights in this radius. It shows you all the different destinations and the cheapest air fare in a handy way. You can filter for cheapest flights and direct connections.

It also shows you the rates of all the other destinations around your circle. Maybe you missed a good opportunity here?

So, when do you need this feature?

This is useful when you are looking for flights to a country or area, rather than a specific city.

Let’s say you want to go to South East Asia, coming from Europe.

While Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok are the main hubs to find cheap rates, there are still many others to consider. Maybe something you did not have in mind in the first place?

Ho Chi Minh City for instance or Jakarta, Indonesia are not to be underestimated.

Let us have a look.

An example:

Imagine you would like to fly from New York City to Spain – with no specific city like Barcelona or Madrid.

Select “Spain” as a range and kiwi will display all the options. It shows even near areas nearby your selected range in case you want to change your mind.

The screenshots below show how it works.

Select range search in Kiwi for great flight deals

kiwi flight engine search: select an area

Update: Drawing a Circle in Kiwi

Kiwi updated their functionality. Unfortunately now it is not so easy any more to find the “radius search”.

We do not know why they removed this since this is an epic feature.

However, we found a way to use this feature of radius search still.

  1. Type in your destination
  2. Click on the same field next to your destination again
  3. the drop down will then show “XYZ Destination + 250km)
  4. Choose this one
  5. Now you have a circle above your desired destination
  6. Zoom in
  7. via drag and drop you can move the radius and make it even bigger and smaller

Solved! Luckily, the circle or radius feature is still there.

We made a quick video about Kiwis Radius search and how you can activate this again.

2.2 Fly Anywhere

For inspiration, Kiwi is my go-to website.

Just type in your departure airport and set the destination to “anywhere”. You can set the date to a fixed one or select a date range, for instance March and April.

In fact, “Anywhere” is the default destination.

Hit the search button and see what comes out. This helps us to get an idea of cheaper destinations out there.

It puts destinations on your map that you may not have considered beforehand.

Cheap flight deals with kiwi, go anywhere

2.3 Multi-city Feature

Another feature I always miss with the many flight search engines out there. Choose multiple cities and go around the world.

World-hopping if you will!

Kiwi combines different airlines and schedules which makes it so easy for a world traveler to travel from A to B to C and D.

Again, this is very, very important: they combined several airlines. You can book several airlines with 1 click!

You can select exact dates or even a date range. You can even spot the cheapest prices on the calendar while you are choosing the dates.

It is 100% flexible!

Find the best flight deals with kiwi multi search option

They even guarantee that you will get your connecting flight. If not, there is always the Kiwi Guarantee. Personally, I would not rely on this guarantee. There has been too many complaints about not honoured flights connections, luggage lost and more.

Please, please please, even if they guarantee the connections, use your head before booking. Do not choose any connection flights with tight connections ( We do recommend 3 hours between flights minimum). The kiwi guarantee might cover your lost flight, but it is much better to avoid tight connections.

Another option here is also comparing different destinations. Or even combining your fight with other transport.

As an example: you could land in Napoli. Rent a car, visit the famous Amalfi coast, impressive Pompeii… and drive to Rome. Then continue traveling from Rome.

You are not sure which destination you wanna fly? Maybe the price will help you to decide.

Now it is not necessary to have 4 different windows with the destinations you would like.

E.g.: You are not sure about going to London or Germany after Paris?

Just compare the prices between them. kiwi will let you know all the options. Simple as that.

Searching cheap flights with Kiwi

2.4 Combining Different Airlines

The Multicity Feature in particular requires booking with different airlines. Kiwi combines them for you.

They look for the cheapest flight combinations out there, no matter what.

They cover the major airlines around the world such as

The list is actually endless.

That being said, Kiwi does not include all the airlines in the world. The smaller ones in South East Asia and in Europe for instance are not included.

In our section of cons I give you more details.

2.5 Date Range

One of the golden rules to score cheap flights?

Be flexible with your dates.

Yet again, weekdays are cheaper than weekends and of course skip the holidays.

This is why this date range feature is a true gem. You can choose from

  • Specific date (e.g. 15th June)
  • date range (e.g. all May and June)
  • Anytime

“anytime” and “specific date” do not require any explanation, so let’s have a look at date range.

It is really that simple: you choose a date range, for instance all February. The App will then instantly filter by dates and give you the cheapest dates to take your flight.

Super simple!

Flexible dates search in Kiwi. Being flexible means cheaper flights

2.6 Cheap Price Alert

The cheap price alert is brilliant. Same as with Skyscanner I set my price alerts. How can you do that?

Setup an airport or radius as your departure point and select the area or radius you want to travel to. To activate the cheap-price alert, simply hit the button below the search fields.

Here you’ve got to include a maximum price. That’s it. Your Price Alert has been created and Kiwi will let you know when the price is right.

They will send you an email like this one.

Finding cheap flights with kiwi price alert

If you have the App installed on your smartphone, you will receive a pop-up message as well.

This feature is especially great when you have a fixed time window to travel.

Let’s say you have vacation from the 1st February until 14th February, but you still don’t know where to go.

Setup your starting point, your destination as “anywhere” and edit the time-range to 1st February to 14th February.

I also recommend signing up for their newsletter.

Talking about newsletter…in our 17 booking hacks for hostels I recommend signing up for hostel and airline newsletters.

You will be surprised what kind of offers will land in your inbox.

You can sign up for newsletters at booking portals like

  • Booking.com,
  • AirBnb

and airlines like

Why is it a good idea to sign up for newsletters?

You receive exclusive discounts and you are the first one being informed on new offers.

Example?

I recently got this newsletter below by RyanAir. Since I wanted to travel anyway, guess what I did?

BTW: Sign up for our newsletter, we always share exclusive hostel discounts, including discounts for Hostelworld.

Newsletter Ryanair

3. The Booking Process – is Kiwi OK to book?

Is this website is legit? Is Kiwi reliable and safe? We all want to score the cheapest flights out there.

As mentioned in the beginning, so many users claim Kiwi to be a scam, to be fraud, unreliable, you name it. There’s a lot of bad reviews about Kiwi. More in our cons section.

While we take these complaints serious and publish them here in the comments too (if language allows), we can only  share here our own experience. Again, we actually booked our flights with Kiwi too – NOT ONLY with kiwi, but we did use them. I am adding below our confirmation email of one of our first flights with kiwi from 2016 and 2021 even.

We are not just saying this. We actually used them in the past and still use them! But, be aware, it is one of many we use. It is not the only one!!! As I also pointed out, I would not rely on the kiwi guarantee.

The 1 Million Dollar Question: Is Kiwi.com a scam?

Answer: No, Kiwi is not a scam; that’s just too much to state. They do have a lot of happy customers. Even Skyscanner links you to Kiwi.

However, Kiwi.com is not a very reliable website with a perfect customer service. So, if there is a problem with your booking/ flight, it’s not good. If your flight has no issues, you will love Kiwi.

 

Thank you, almost there...Skyscanner sending me over to Kiwi.com
If Kiwi was a scam, would the world-famous Skyscanner work with them? The answer is no.

Back to the website; it is quite rare to be willing to pay more just because the app or website looks cool. Right?!

So, let’s talk about the elephant in the room:

  1. Is it cheaper?
  2. And is it trustworthy?
  3. is Kiwi ok and safe to book with?

As mentioned at the beginning, I compare different airlines and booking portals. Always. The websites I compare are:

The chances of finding cheaper flights with Kiwi are quite high. However, airlines websites could be even cheaper right?!

Always compare as there is no generic rule. Some hostels are cheaper on Hostelworld.com, others are cheaper on Booking.com. the same really goes for flights.

Almost every booking engine has their own agreement with the airlines.

Some of them can give you a better price, sometimes there are special offers. I don’t know the background, and it doesn’t matter to a traveler.

All I want: a cheaper flight!

On our flight from Sri Lanka to Munich I used kiwi.com. Before hitting the book-button, I compared the airline’s rate.

As it turns out, I saved a sweet 56€ – by using kiwi.com!

Again, I used them for several flights as I got the best deal with them. So far I have had no issue with missed flight connections or lost baggage. Let’s hope this continues.

But…what if something happens? Delayed or cancelled flights, for instance? This is where the Kiwi Guarantee kicks in.

4. Kiwi Guarantee

Here is our best tip: Do not rely on their guarantee and check the connection you are about to book! Only book flights you can guarantee yourself you will catch them. For instance, having only 1 hour for changing flights in Kuala Lumpur will be most likely impossible!

Use your own brain to see which connection flights are doable – and which one are not. We have seen connection flights with only 1 hour and 20 minutes for transition – in London! This is pretty much impossible, too. And even if it would be possible, the stress it not worth it.

When things go well, it’s fine, obviously. When things go not as planned, then it can get complicated. And this is exactly where all these bad reviews for Kiwi are coming from.

Kiwi is quite confident when it comes to its booking service. They promise you that you will catch your connection.

After all, this is how their algorithm runs.

And if something happens, they are there for you to help you out. During our research I came across some really bad reviews. Some of them were quite harsh. And yes, you guys leave bad reviews for Kiwi here as well. We publish them if your language allows. Therefore, if you want to share your first-hand experience, please do. This helps many more travelers.

So, what was this all about?

Is there a reason to be nervous about Kiwi?

There is always a risk when booking flights with separate companies. If you miss a connection, because of the first delayed flight, well, good luck.

You have to buy a new ticket and the one you missed only serves as a bad souvenir.

Kiwi guarantees that you will catch your next flight(s). They are that confident, they made a whole page about it, promoting it heavily.

They will help you…BUT: they says they need your help! You should make yourself familiar with their service. This way, and only this way, they can help you in case something goes wrong with your flight.

They says, the guarantee protects you from:

  • Flight delays
  • Flight cancellations
  • Schedule changes

If any of these events happen, Kiwi guarantees an alternative flight or to refund the price for the unused ticket. But, again, you have to follow their rules. Their guarantee needs your cooperation.

To quote from their website:

  • Inform Kiwi as soon as you are aware of any of the situations above (delay, cancellation, schedule changes)
  • Respond within 24 hours to all Kiwi offers
  • Don’t make any flight changes without their approval
  • If Kiwi agrees that you should buy a flight that’s not available online, they need to receive your email with proof of payment within 14 days

This is really important to remember.

Although these instructions are fairly easy, I understand it might be hard to remember in a situation of stress.

Missing a flight for instance. Nobody likes that. However, keep calm, Kiwi will help you out. Check out their full guarantee here.

That being said, we never had to claim anything in our flights. We never missed a flight we booked with Kiwi. So we never ever had to check if the guarantee will fully take care of you.

And here is thing: There is many many many complaints on the web about Kiwi not following through with their guarantee. While we have zero ways to confirm this, some stories by travelers seem legit, others sound more like it was their own “fault“. We allow readers to leave comments below.

Update: Travelgenio and travel2be are also travel agents you should not rely on. Read this reddit conversation between customers.

Finding sweet deals with kiwi

Update: Food on flights (vegetarian options etc)

This is where we share our personal bad experience with Kiwi.com

This section is important to everyone with special requests for their food. When I booked one of my flight to Germany, I forgot to mention that I am Vegetarian. To be honest, to me it’s normal in a way and I always find vegetarian options.

Well, not so on a plane. And again, it was my own fault for not mentioning this when booking the flight.

I did not notice it until 1 day before departure. I could not change anything at this point which was dissapointing.They told me, I could have said something until 3 days before departure. The problem is that Kiwi is the middle-man and changing for them something also takes time to be processed. Well, again, it was dissapointing.

On the flight, I was served some chicken and I had to give it back. Again, I simply forgot to add this to my booking – my fault. The stewardess brought me some fruits they still had, that was at least something.

Therefore, pay attention and leave a comment with your booking about any special requests like being vegetarian, glutenfree etc.

This helps to stay not hungry. Since I knew this was gonna happen, I ate beforehand at the Airport. Lucky enough, the stewardess helped out with the fruit and I buy always a sandwich or something similar for my flights. That helped….

5. Cons of Kiwi.com

As you have already noticed, Kiwi is a good website to do research, but not to book your final flight. I do not claim this is the best freaking website out there and pretend there are now CONS. Without them, this review would not be complete and certainly not honest.

Keep on reading:

5.1 Not all airlines are covered

Same as with the big Skyscanner, the small airlines around South East Asia are not included at the moment. This is not really surprising, considering you can buy some airline tickets in the supermarket!

No, I am not kidding.

I reserved our latest flight from Bali to Labuan Bajo and had to go to the supermarket to pay in cash.

Hey there, one coke and one flight to Labuan Bajo, please!

I am sure they will add more local airlines over time and as soon as it is technically possible.

However, I check flights.google.com to see if there are other local airlines around.

It is also worth it to know, I also could not find any Emirates flights from Mexico to Europe on Kiwi. I am not sure why this happens, but it is important to remember.

Keep an eye on other options out there to find flights and connections.

Note: flights.google.com does not include all local airlines neither.

5.2 Customer service

Update March 2020: There are many complaints abut using this website. When it comes to refunds, the website does not seem to be pro-active. This update is not based on our own experience, but on many comments and feedback we receive from Kiwi-users. Please refer to the comments section below to read more first-hand experiences.

Around the web you find many bad and horrible reviews of kiwi.com. While the majority are great, the bad ones are a tough read. People lost thousands of dollars due to Kiwi, and they had to rebook other flights.

I took the time to read through the reviews before actually using them the first time. And again before writing this article. I would not trust their customer service, anymore. Simply put, only book with Kiwi safe flights.

If you have a closer look, it seems like there were some errors made from various ends.

Either way, it seems to have changed. Yet again, you have to be familiar with the Kiwi guarantee. This way, kiwi has no excuse and they won’t need it, since they will stick to their promise as many reviews showed as well!

This is a good idea: In case something happens, it’s a good idea to stay calm and not start insulting the customer service agent. I mean, who really wants to help out when they are insulted?

5.3 Slow loading time

flights.google.com and Skyscanner always loaded faster than the Kiwi App.

In order to use Kiwi properly, you should be patient and not click around while the app is still pulling its data from the backend. Now, I make it sound like it’s really slow. It actually works ok, it’s just that most websites pull up faster.

First world problem…okay, okay, I know, guilty!!

Update: This improved already!

5.4 Missed Connections Flights Complain

Many of the online complaints about Kiwi seem to be about missed connection flights. To stay absolutely safe, make sure you only book flights with a proper amount of time to change planes.

When there’s immigration and a visa involved, and you only have 45 minutes to change the terminal, that is in no way enough.

Sure, there is always the Kiwi guarantee. But yet again, most people seem to complain about exactly that issue. If you plan to book with Kiwi.com, be smart about it and avoid such a situation.

Please do not ignore physics! You cannot change a flight in less than 5 minutes with luggage, immigration and having dinner in-between.

5.5  Booking Issue (our own experience and others)

In this section I want to share an unfortunate experience we had with Kiwi. We booked a flight from Bogotá, Colombia to Cancún, Mexico.

When finalizing the booking, we noticed the booking date changed to exactly 1 week / 7 days before we actually wanted the flight.

Now, we were confident we did not change the date at all. Such a weird experience. So we got in touch with the customer support.

First reaction: It was our fault, they cannot do anything except giving us a 20€ voucher for Kiwi. We insisted more and the next day, we were told they will check with the airline.

They contacted the airline directly. The airline permitted a change of dates for an extra fee of $74. We had to cover this cost and they could change our flight.

Okay, deal, done.

So, here we are. We finally experienced first-hand the customer service. The first agent in Spanish language did not help at all – and offered us a joke in form of $20 compensation of having a wrong flight. The English speaking customer service could help us out after we insisted.

Passport Numbers mixed up

Traveler Victoria left a comment, sharing her experience of her passport number totally mixed up. Here is what she wrote:

“I myself was cheated out of a few hundred dollars – not much by Kiwi dot com standards – when I purchased a ticket, to find the ticket had the wrong passport number on it. A mishmash of my actual passport number. Meaning, my ticket was invalid and I would have been refused travel.”

Our point of view: Obviously we cannot know what happened, we were not involved. However, no one really mixes up the own passport number entirely. Sure, having two numbers the wrong way…yes, that is possible. But, let’s face it, writing the whole passport number wrong and mishmashed, this sounds very unlikely.

Again, we do not have any more information than this comment. But, it sounds like a technical bug on Kiwi.com. This is only guess-work, really.

To have this review complete, we think it is important to share this too.

6. Our First Flights with Kiwi – 1st hand great experience

So, when did I start using kiwi.com? Back in 2016.

I used Kiwi for several flights. So here is my experience to give you a better understanding from my 1st hand experience.

BUT, I did not use them for all our flights I took during the last 4-5 years.

I always check the mentioned four websites and more. I used them for instance to travel from Barcelona to Fuerteventura on the Canary Islands.

I scored a 9€ flight thanks to kiwi.com.

Another big win was the flight for 15€ from London to Barcelona.

The latest flight I booked was from South East Asia to Europe. This is where the search radius played an important part.

All I wanted: A good flight from Sri Lanka to Europe. We arrived in Germany and we will take it from there.

I only paid 255.50€ per person. And it was not a low cost airline.

We had meals on board and luggage was sent directly to the destination. There you have it, I used Kiwi for several flights. I have not had any issues so far with luggage, delays or cancelled flights. Fingers crossed! We now had an issue of wrong dates. Read more under cons.

Therefore: Yes, it is okay to book with Kiwi! As long as you book a flight with no issues and you do not want to change flight details .

It is reliable, fair, trustworthy, fast, easy to use and again, the Kiwi guarantee is a big plus!

As a proof that I booked with Kiwi, I uploaded here our booking confirmation. It is in Spanish, you will understand the most important parts nevertheless.

Booking Email with kiwi Booking Confirmation email by Kiwi - Hostelgeeks

7. How to get started?

After using this website now for a while, there are some basic recommendations I want to share. Before I wrap it up, here is our recommendation on setting things up.

1. Sign up – NOW!

It is definitely a good idea to sign up with Kiwi. It is free! Make sure you sign up with your “good email”.

(Meaning, your real email, not the spammy one. C’mon, everybody does that!)

After all, you may receive your flight confirmation here one day.

Signing up also gives you the opportunity to set up the cheap price alert.

This is how the price alert looks like:

Finding cheap flights with kiwi price alert

2. Get the App

Download the app to your smartphone. Both Android and iOs are available. Sign in with your account.

If you already created a price alert, you will receive this alert on your phone in the form of a pop-up message. I know, I mentioned this earlier. I just think, it’s a killer-feature, don’t miss it.

Download the Kiwi App

Here are three screenshots I took from the app.

3. Set Price Alert to your currency ($, €, £ …)

After signing up, this is something I would do instantly. Check your bucket list, talk to your travel buddies.

Where would you like to go next?

Read: 16 favorite winter destinations in Europe.

That is actually the article that made us write this huge review here.

Read: 21 best places to visit in Europe in Summer

Even though you don’t have any fixed plan yet, maybe not even any vacation days, I would set up price alerts to your dream destinations.

You will receive automatic notifications once the price drops or is in your preferred price range.

You can also setup the “inspiration mode”.

This means setting the destination to “anywhere”, the date to “anytime” and choose the maximum price you want to pay.

You will then receive emails with all destinations that are cheaper than your chosen price.

Set up a price alert to find cheap flights alert

4. Become familiar with the Kiwi Guarantee

We already walked you through the Kiwi Guarantee.

And yet again, I mention it. And I cannot believe how many people actually skip this step.

Although I have never had to use it as the flights ran smoothly, it is recommended important to be familiar with the service. In case something goes wrong, it is the only way to find a solution without paying more and starting to hate Kiwi.

Personally, however, I would not rely on this guarantee.

The Kiwi Guarantee

8. New Kiwi Promo Code (*expired)

Update: Unfortunately the discount code below already expired. This promo code for kiwi was valid for purchases between 24th August – 2nd September 2020.

20€ discount for Kiwi (only for our readers)

The coupon code is

LASTMINUTEFLY

The code is valid for tickets over 200€.

How to apply?

  1. Visit Kiwi.com
  2. choose your date and destination
  3. apply the discount

That’s it! =)

Condition: The voucher is valid for every booking over 200€ in total price. Please take this into account.

Expired Promo Code

Update: Unfortunately the discount code below already expired. This promo code for kiwi was valid for purchases made before 7th January 2019:

5€ discount for Kiwi (only for our readers)

The coupon code is

WINTERGEEKS

EXPIRED – it was valid from 07.12.2018 until 07.01.2019

Where to apply the discount at Kiwi?

This is not as obvious. First you have to type in your name, and the insurance you pick. Then you click “Next”, choose your “Extras” like sports luggage and then “Next” again.

Below the Overview, the Invoice Details and BEFORE the payment details you will find a small boxes.

The box says “Redeem Promo Code”.

Here you are. just open this box and you can redeem your kiwi promo code.

Redeem Promo Code at Kiwi.com

9. FAQ

Is Kiwi OK to book with?

You have an extended explanation in our booking process. We also spoke about the cons of Kiwi.

Can I trust Kiwi blindly?

I would never ever recommend you to trust anyone online blindly. Do not do that! Use your own sense and actually read on what you are about to book. Do not just assume that it covers luggage, for instance.

Is Kiwi.com a scam?

No, Kiwi is not a scam. Famous Skyscanner even links to them. It is a legit website. However, getting a refund from Kiwi.com is not easy.

A few times it happened to us that users send us over a photo of their credit card, because they wanted to buy our ebook, before it was even launched. Seriously, we are touched for the trust you have in us, but come on: don’t do this, it’s dangerous. Of course we would not do anything, but there is a photo of your credit card in someones email. Not a good idea.

Back to Kiwi, make sure you read through the terms and conditions and make yourself familiar with what you are booking. You cannot book something and then claim you didn’t know about a cancellation fee and so on.

10. Packing for your flight (the hand luggage)

There are a few gadgets that makes flying always easier and more comfortable.

I recommend a travel pillow to sleep better, an eye mask and finally noise cancelling headphones.

Before checking in your luggage, make sure you have all the things you need in your hand luggage. I recommend

Many airlines offer complimentary headphones (that means free!).

But, truth be told, they are not comfortable at all and I ALWAYS end up using my own ones.

That’s less trash for the airline and more comfortable for me.

Good to know: Always check the policies for hand luggage. This is a topic always changing.

Especially when choosing budget airlines like Ryanair, Wizzair or Hong Kong Express, make sure you read carefully! If you bring too much luggage, you will need to pay an extra luggage fee.

Plus: I actually have noise cancelling headphones.

I can’t hear the noise of the plane itself and even if I don’t put music on (or the movie), it’s more comfy to sleep!

Find my full packing list here.

(Here you find my NO-GO packing list)

Buying on Amazon?

You can receive your orders faster when you sign up for the PRIME membership. With this link, you can test the PRIME membership for 30 days for free.

The prime membership also unlocks cool movie deals, see below.

Movies to watch

I like to bring my on movies to watch on a plane. With Amazon you can download the movies and enjoy them on the fly. You can sign up for their PRIME for FREE with this link here.

You can test it for 30 days for free, and then decide if you want to continue.

Watch: 33 BEST Wanderlust and Travel Movies

Find all Travel Movies here

UPDATE August 2018:

Back in August 2018, I checked flights for getting to Chiang Mai, Thailand.

There was a super sweet deal with Qatar from Barcelona. However, I checked the airline website, where I also found the great price (with kiwi a bit cheaper).

When I read through the details, it stated: You can only bring a small hand-luggage, nothing else.

This is why I mentioned in this article that it’s important to compare more websites.

Kiwi would have been my choice for the booking since it’s cheaper. Yet, the airline itself was not convincing me, although it is the fantastic Qatar. In this case, it was a special offer, missing a few services like luggage and such.

Do not jump on every flight offer you find in the internet, read before you take out your credit card!

11. Summary Kiwi com review

kiwi.com is the ultimate flight hacking tool. Yes, we do love it and use it.

For the first time ever, I got the feeling that this app was seriously built for the traveler instead of for selling flights in a smart, aesthetically pleasing way. It is THE flight hack we have all been waiting for.

A time saver, a fun way to explore new destinations and a safe way to get your confirmed ticket to your inbox. I also recommend to read our guide on Skyscanner and how to use it. Combine Skyscanner with Kiwi.com and you will have a good time hunting flights deals.

What now?

 

pint it for later

Cheap Flights anywhere in the world

Last important details:

I was not paid to write and share this article! As always, Hostelgeeks aims to help our community to find smarter ways to book, stay at better hostels and travel safely.

This is a full review and insight into our flight research process! After using kiwi.com, we teamed up with them. Please use this link for your flight bookings.

Hostelgeeks will receive a small commission on these bookings at NO EXTRA COST for you. As every experienced traveler knows, these kind of websites change very frequently.

We are no longer partners of Kiwi.com

We try to keep this article up to date. I wrote this article to the best of our knowledge. If you have any input, please leave us a comment below.

Once you have your cheap flight, complete your trip with a budget-friendly stylish accommodation, a stunning 5 Star hostel. You can check all 5 Star Hostels here.

Over to you: any questions?

I would love to have this article as useful as possible. Therefore, please leave your comments, doubts, questions below.

Every single question helps me to write more details and I see what I must have missed in this review.

Therefore, do not be shy.

Update: Please please please read the article before leaving a comment!

Update: Official Statement by Kiwi

We at Hostelgeeks received positive but also negative comments about this service. Since we care deeply about our readers and community, we reached out to Kiwi team, to get an official statement on that negative feedback some unsatisfied customers left here.

Statement by Kiwi

Hey guys! Thanks for the review. We want to bring the best service to our customers by offering affordable travel to everyone.  We are sorry for anyone´s bad experience and will do our best to resolve any issue with our Customer Support team. Please contact support.en@kiwi.com.

Statement by Hostelgeeks

We only showcase great tools that help you to plan your trip better and in the best case, even let’s you save quite a lot of money. Kiwi com does exactly this and it is a service we and all our team uses on a regular basis. This review states our honest opinion and helps you to find better flight deals, and it is a step-by-step guide.

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