About Kiwi.com
Kiwi.com is a Czech online travel agency that sells flight, train, and bus tickets, and is best known for combining carriers that do not cooperate into one itinerary, a technique it calls virtual interlining. Founded in 2012 in Brno as Skypicker and renamed Kiwi.com in 2016, it is operated by Kiwi.com s.r.o. (Czech registration number 29352886) and has been majority-owned by investor General Atlantic since 2019. You pay with Visa, Mastercard, American Express, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, or bank transfer, in euros or a range of other currencies. The low prices come from self-transfer connections: each leg is a separate ticket, so no airline is responsible if a delay makes you miss the next leg. Kiwi.com sells its own paid protections, the Kiwi.com Guarantee and Connection Protection, which cover rebooking or a refund when a leg is disrupted, with compensation often paid as Kiwi.com Credit. Tickets and check-in run through the Kiwi.com app and email. Kiwi.com fits price-driven travelers who understand that model; for simple direct routes, booking with the airline is usually the safer choice.
What are alternatives for Kiwi.com
Pros of using Kiwi.com
- Finds cheap self-transfer combinations that airlines and standard booking sites do not show
- Combines flights, trains, and buses in one itinerary, with prices in a wide range of currencies
- Accepts Visa, Mastercard, American Express, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and bank transfer
- Operating since 2012 with more than 189,000 Trustpilot reviews
- Optional paid cover (Kiwi.com Guarantee, Connection Protection) for disrupted connections
Cons of using Kiwi.com
- Self-transfer legs are separate tickets: airlines owe you nothing if you miss a connection
- Disruption handling runs through Kiwi.com, and refunds are often issued as Kiwi.com Credit instead of cash
- 24% of its Trustpilot reviews are 1-star, mostly about disruptions and refunds
- Kiwi.com books with masked contact details, which complicates dealing with the airline directly
- Checked baggage on multi-carrier trips must be collected and re-checked between legs
