Our Kenya Airways Experience: What Was Supposed to Be a Quick Layover Turned Into a 26-Hour Ordeal
We were invited to a wedding in Tanzania and booked Kenya Airways to get us there. Here's how the trip actually went -- start to finish, so you know exactly what to expect if you're considering this airline.
The Outbound Flight: JFK to Kenya
We can't complain about this leg. Our flight out of JFK departed on time, and we were served three meals in flight, each one flavorful and nicely presented. If the whole trip had gone like this, we'd have nothing but good things to say.
The Layover That Wasn't
Our layover in Kenya was scheduled for an hour and a half. Instead, we weren't told about a delay until we landed -- and ended up waiting six hours in the airport before our connecting flight to Tanzania finally departed. That flight itself was only about an hour and a half to two hours long, which made the six-hour wait sting even more.
By the time we cleared customs in Tanzania, it was 9 PM. Our original arrival time had been 2 PM. We'd lost an entire day at the resort, and arrived too late for dinner since all the dining areas had already closed. When we asked the resort about a refund for the lost time, they declined -- our room, after all, had been ready and waiting at the scheduled hour.
The Return Trip Begins: Chaos at the Tanzania Airport
While still in Tanzania, we were told our return flight would be delayed by an hour. When we got to the airport, the agent at the desk told us our flight didn't exist on our printed tickets. I asked for a manager; she said there wasn't one. We waited over an hour for our tickets to be sorted out.
We weren't the only ones. Another traveler nearby said the same agent had printed her the wrong flight times, and after growing frustrated, she started recording the interaction -- which is what finally got a manager involved. I used the opportunity to flag that I'd been waiting over an hour myself. After another 30 minutes, we finally had our tickets.
Missing Our Connection
Once we boarded, I asked a flight attendant if she could let our connecting flight know we were on our way, since we only had 10 minutes to make it. She said that wasn't something they did. We landed and ran for the gate -- only to find the glass doors locked, with attendants staring at us for a full five minutes before letting us in. We missed the connection.
The 26-Hour Layover
What should have been a 90-minute layover in Kenya turned into 26 hours, entirely because of the missed connection. That meant missed work and extra childcare costs on our end. Kenya Airways did cover a visa and a hotel, but the process getting there was rough:
* We waited over three hours for a shuttle to the hotel.
* We were told we'd be fed on arrival -- we weren't, and had to wait until the following morning.
* Hotel staff had almost no information about our flight status, and there was no clear point of contact for updates.
* The hotel was booked as five-star. It didn't feel that way -- musty smell in the room, dim lighting, and at breakfast we were seated in a separate, designated area rather than the main dining room with other guests.
The one bright spot: I'd carried our luggage on board with us. Many other travelers on our flight weren't as lucky and were left without their bags.
Back to the Airport
Getting back into the airport for our rescheduled flight felt like its own ordeal. Crowds outside rivaled a packed train station, armed guards with batons stood at the entrance, and we went through more than five separate security checks -- some of which felt more like formality than actual security. Boarding was delayed again, by about another hour and a half.
The Final Flight Home
Our 11 PM departure from Kenya ended up leaving at 2 AM. For a 14-hour flight, we were given a single meal -- a stark contrast to the three-meal service we'd gotten on the JFK departure at the start of the trip.
The Bottom Line
Throughout this trip, communication from Kenya Airways was inconsistent at best and absent at worst. Delays weren't disclosed until we were already stuck dealing with them, and basic customer service -- food, information, a working point of contact -- often just wasn't there. Based on this experience, we wouldn't recommend Kenya Airways for international travel. read more