This is a pretty bad experience for a 20-year-old
I was studying in New York and as a student, life is pretty hard. I studied and worked part-time and had saved up money to travel to Chennai to surprise my mom during my thanksgiving break. I saved up money and the cheapest flight I could find was Kuwait which was around $700. I’ve flown to and fro before, but I was always an Emirates girl and after this experience, I will continue to fly only Emirates.
So back to my horror story. I boarded the flight and the journey to Kuwait was comfortable. The food and seats were good, it was beyond my expectation as the tickets were cheap. But here comes the real experience- I land in Kuwait and the airport is packed. My layover was supposed to be for 1.5 hours and at the check-in counter, they had mentioned there was a flight delay. The flight delay went from 1.5 hours to 36 hours!! No accommodations were provided to the people who were stranded, the staff were ruthless and mean. I saw the police coming and taking away people when anyone went and enquired about the flight timings. They never gave us proper information on when the next flight would be. They made us run from one gate to another. People were waiting on the floor. And somehow, after 36 hours, I managed to book another flight out of Kuwait, and I reached Chennai.
The story just gets worse. I land in Chennai, collect my suitcase, and head home to see my locks were open.
Do note, this isn’t my first time traveling and I know the rules and regulations to follow while checking in luggage.
To my surprise, they had opened my suitcase, stolen items worth $400 (₹28, 000 approx) And as a student, we’re paid minimum wages.
My speakers were stolen, I had a phone charger and earphones which were stolen. I also bought these Armani shades that I loved which cost around 300$ which was stolen. When I realized this, I called the airlines but couldn’t reach them so I left them an email about the complaint but they didn’t bother to respond properly.
I was returning to New York after my thanksgiving break which was after a week after arriving in Chennai and I spoke to a person who works for Kuwait airlines and he told me to give a complaint and their team would get back to me. And I had no proper response or compensation from them.
My suggestion is to never take this airline, even if it’s budget-friendly. Their customer service is just the worst. If I could give a negative rating, that would definitely be my choice. Out of all, the flight experiences I’ve had, this was the worst and it remains a scar always!