Is Kiwi.com Legit and Safe to Book Flights With?

If you’ve been searching for the cheapest flights to Europe, South America, Asia, or any other destination, you’ve likely come across Kiwi.com.  But, is Kiwi.com legit and safe to use?

Is Kiwi.com legit?

You might have seen this website pop up on Google, or maybe it appeared on a budget flight finding site while you were comparing prices.

Kiwi.com is a popular third-party booking site that thousands of budget travelers and backpackers use globally to find the best travel deals online.

Read on to learn more about booking with Kiwi.com, if they’re reliable and safe to use, and what you have to watch out for. 

What Is Kiwi.com? 

Kiwi.com is a third-party flight booking app and OTA (online travel agent) that sells cheap flights to many destinations. They’ve been around for 10 years now, and at the time of writing this article, they were offering some awesome 10th anniversary travel deals!

When you book a flight on Kiwi.com, you aren’t booking directly with the airline. While that sometimes allows you to take advantage of cheaper fares that the airline doesn’t offer directly, there are some downsides as well.  

Kiwi can offer these cheap flights because it scans price fares not from the major airlines but also from lesser-known budget airlines. Booking layover flights with Kiwi.com often comes out much cheaper than booking with an airline directly. 

That’s because Kiwi often combines tickets from two separate airlines, taking advantage of cheap fares you otherwise wouldn’t know about. For example, if you’re booking a flight from NYC to Rome, Kiwi.com might book two separate flights – one on a large carrier like Air France, and another on a cheap airline, like Ryanair. 

While Kiwi.com might sell those two tickets as one, two separate airlines operate the flights. That means you have to do a self-check-in at the layover airport. You’ll need to pick up your bags after getting off your first flight, go through immigration (when applicable), check-in with the second airline, and then go through security again. 

Sure, it’s a hassle, but it allows you to save a lot of money!

Kiwi also helps you save money by allowing you to enter multiple origins and destination airports while booking your flight. For example, if you want to go to either Paris, Madrid, or Rome, but want to choose the cheapest destination, you can enter all three airports in the search tool.

Is Kiwi.com Trustworthy To Use?

Is Kiwi.com safe? Yes! 

You may wonder whether it’s a good idea to book a flight with Kiwi in the first place. Let’s examine two separate situations: booking a ticket with a single airline via Kiwi.com and booking a combined ticket (with two different airlines). 

I’ll talk about the former scenario in a bit. First, let’s examine the latter scenario, which is a lot riskier. 

Let’s go back to our above example, in which you booked a flight from New York City to Rome on a combined ticket. Your first leg takes you to Madrid via Air Europa. Once you get to the airport in Madrid, you will need to check in to Ryanair. 

When you have a stopover, the airline ensures that you get to your final destination. If the airline delays or cancels the first leg, it may put you on another flight, with a stopover in another city, so you can get to your destination in time. Or, it might offer you compensation. 

Even if you don’t get compensation, the airline will at least rebook the second leg of your journey. 

However, when you book with two separate airlines, things get trickier. If Air Europa cancels or delays your flight, you’re going to be in a bit of trouble, because your Ryanair flight will still be leaving on time.

However, Kiwi offers something called the Kiwi Guarantee, which you can add to your booking to cover these situations. This guarantee protects against carrier changes. If you add it to your ticket, Kiwi will help with:

• Rebooking
• Accommodation
• Airport transfers

Is Kiwi.com Reliable?

Is Kiwi.com reliable? In general, Kiwi.com is pretty reliable!

Once you get your ticket, you won’t have any problems – as long as the flight goes along as planned. Kiwi sells authentic tickets, and airlines honor them. 

Like all OTA booking sites, you can run into issues here and there. For example, if you need to change your flight last minute, OTA sites typically offer less flexibility than the airlines themselves. That’s the price you pay for the cheap fares. In addition, many OTA booking sites offer poor customer service. 

Nevertheless, Kiwi stands out from other online travel agents both in terms of flexibility and in terms of customer service. 

There are three fare rates on Kiwi: 

• Saver
• Standard
• Flexi

The Saver tickets are the cheapest, but they don’t allow for changes or cancellations. If you want to change your flight, you’ll have to pay for a whole new flight. A Standard ticket allows you to rebook your flight once for free, only paying the applicable fare difference. 

A Flexi ticket allows you to get a 90% refund when you cancel up to 48 hours before your flight (or four hours if you booked it less than a week in advance). 

Changing a flight on Kiwi is easy and you can do it online. 

Unlike many other online travel agencies, Kiwi also offers phone support (from two weeks before your trip until two days after). 

One thing worth noting is that some travelers have reported that airlines don’t always honor the baggage policies of Kiwi. If you’re traveling with heavy luggage, booking on Kiwi can turn out more expensive than booking directly with the airline. 

Does Kiwi.com Have A Mobile App?

Kiwi.com has a handy mobile app so you can check flight prices, car rentals, and hotels on the move – plus check your current booking details.

You can download this on either Apple or Google’s app store.

Is Kiwi.com Safe to Book Flights?

Is Kiwi.com Safe to Book Flights? Yes, Kiwi is safe to book flights. The same applies to hotels and car rentals. 

However, keep in mind that the chances of things going wrong increase when you book with an OTA instead of directly with the airline. 

When you get to the airport, there will be no Kiwi representative there to help you out. If something’s amiss, you’re going to have to call them. When you book with the airline, airline representatives at the airport will be around to assist you. 

Furthermore, if you’re booking a combined ticket, there’s another thing worth considering: the entry requirements of the country you’re stopping over in. Since you’re technically booking two separate tickets, the airline won’t let you board the first leg unless you have all documents the layover country requires, such as vaccination certificates. 

I recommend using Kiwi’s powerful search engine to research flight prices before your trip. However, don’t immediately buy from Kiwi directly. Instead, see which airlines Kiwi is booking you with and go to their websites to see if they’re offering similar prices. 

If they are, buy from the airlines instead of Kiwi. If you need to change or cancel your flight, you will typically have an easier time doing so, providing you’re not booking with a budget airline like Ryanair. 

Final Thoughts – Is Kiwi.com Legit?

So, is Kiwi.com legit? 

The good news is that Kiwi.com is one of the better online travel agents out there. However, it’s not perfect, and things are still less likely to go wrong if you book with the airline directly.

If you do book with Kiwi, get the Kiwi Guarantee for maximum protection.