Work-Shy

I am hoping the collective experience and wisdom of the regulars on this board may be able to help me please. In 2 weeks I will be flying AUH-JNB with Etihad (in business) and then JNB-MUB with Air Botswana (in economy). The Eithad flight arrives at 0440 and the Air Botswana flight departs at 1010. Is there an arrivals lounge at JNB I can use on the strength of my business class ticket? If not, can I pay for similar facility?

I am planning on clearing immigration/customs and collecting my luggage before checking in for the Air Botswana flight (check-in presumably will not open "landside" until 0600(ish) for their JNB-GBE departure at 0700?) but that still leaves a lot of hanging around with potentially no lounge access (hence the preferred use of an arrivals lounge to kill an hour or two and shower)!

Once "airside" again, can I use the Ongololo Lounge (Etihad's JNB lounge), again, on the strength of my business class ticket/Etihad silver card? If not, can I pay for lounge access anywhere?

Lastly, does anyone know if I will encounter any problems using the Ongololo Lounge on my return JNB-AUH flight (in economy but I hold Etihad status and should, theoretically, be allowed lounge access)?

Thanks in advance for any advice and assistance.

Regards,

Work-Shy

gallagher

Which are the best domestic lounges to use in JNB and CPT as a *A flying SA economy?

Regards

Cheetah_SA

I'm rather confused by the question.

I assume you mean a *A Gold. But given that SA is the only *A carrier flying domestically why would you think there is any other *Gold lounge in the domestic terminals apart from those of SA?

Perhaps you were thinking you could access lounges in the international terminals? If so, you can't - domestic and international are completely separated.

gallagher

sorry - yes meant *A Gold
I was under the impression that there was more than 1 *A lounge in the domestic area of the terminal

thijsseh

Nope, only one (in JNB as well as in CPT).
The JNB lounge is going to be refurbished soon. And they'll use a 'temporary facility). When last they did that (with the J lounge in the International terminal) it was not a pretty picture....

The CPT domestic lounge is quite OK. Food a bit mediocre, but I'm not a lounge-addict so its fine with me. For me a lounge is a more pleasant place to wait until its time to board, not a destination....

Guvner067

I'm flying MUC>JNB>DUR on SAA in J and I have a 3 hour layover in JNB

The JNB>DUR flight states it's operated by COMAIR?

I assume it's a codeshare or something?

What lounge (if any) will I have access to at JNB?

thijsseh

COMAIR is the franchise holder of British Airways, I assume you have a BA flight number? If so, and you are in J (or have the required OW status), you can use the domestic BA lounge. After clearing security in the domestic terminal, take the elevator (on the right hand side) up to the level where the airline lounges are.

Guvner067

No it's an SA flight number. SA543.

johan rebel

SA543 is an SA flight, operated by SA, not Comair.

Johan

Guvner067

Yes, my mistake. The return flight is the one I'm thinking of.
British Airways - BA 6206
Fare type: Business
Operated by:Comair Ltd
Aircraft: Boeing 737-400

So, do I use the SLOW lounge in Durban??

Cheetah_SA

Yep, SLOW it is.

Guvner067

thanks Cheetah_SA

sfvoyage

I'll be flying on AF CDG-JNB, connecting to SA JNB-CPT. Both flights are booked in Z, and I'm star gold, but no status on skyteam.

At JNB, I'll have a 2-hr layover. I will have access to SA's domestic lounge at JNB, right? How's the lounge? I'm looking to take a shower (will there be enough time? I assume clearing customs doesn't take too long at JNB) and have some - hopefully vegetarian - food. The info on SA's website is limited, although it states that shower is available in the domestic lounge.

Also, for the return SA CPT-JNB, then AF JNB-CDG, I'll have access to SA's domestic lounge in CPT and AF's lounge at JNB, right?

thijsseh

Immigration in JNB can take some time, depending on the time of day. Customs is no issue, people seldom seem to get challenged in the green channel. 2 hours will be enough, but how much time there will be left for a lounge visit is hard to predict. Yes, you use the domestic SAA lounge. However, this is about to be refurbished, so I don't know what the status will be at the time you fly. There will be a 'temporary facility', I would be surprised if it has showers. Food in the lounge is not that great either, think sandwiches, muffins etc. The current lounge has indeed got showers, ask for towels at the reception. Apparently they ask you to leave your BP as a 'deposit' until you return the used towels (I have not used those showers for quite some time, so I don't know for sure).
On the way back, you indeed use the CPT domestic lounge, which is quite nice. Again, don't expect too much food-wise.

khkchan

SAA JNB domestic lounge is being refurbished at the moment and SAA has a temp lounge at gate D6. *G is allowed to entry but they refuse to let me to bring in a guest due to space limitation.
No shower at the temp lounge.