eforelyse

Anyone fly SA Internationally? How is the cabin, seating area and comfort level compared to other airlines? I'm flying economy, but don't want to choose an airline based just on price.

SAWorldVoyager

SAA is very good

Their economy compares very good (read 'much better than') when compared to any of the American carriers.

I havent flown economy on that route, but I know each seat has AVOD and the space is fair.

Flight is long, but at least its non stop direct

charlotteimmigration

flew business premier class LHR-JNB-NBO last week.
Crew were really surly on all flights.
Good food and drink, seats comfortable but do not expect warm customer service.
More importantly ground staff at JNB are arrogant, flippant, and REALLY unhelpful.
Lazy comes to mind....
also seems a bit unbalanced as not many "previously advantaged" people employed on the ground at JNB.

Maineiac

My wife and I flew SAA last May from JFK to JNB and on to Cape Town. We were in economy in seats 56AC. The configuration in economy is 2-4-2. We took off on time at 11:15. About an hour into the flight they brought out a round of drinks. Beer and wine were free. The wine is served in small bottles and was pretty good. Next, the food was served along with more drinks. I had a lamb dish that wasn't bad. A final drink round was served after dinner. The entertainment system was good with a decent movie selection and individual seat back screens. I read and watched Invictus and Avatar. After lunch the flight attendants pretty much disappeared. They did bring around water and juice a couple times and a meager wrapped sandwich was served a little after mid flight. You could go back to the galley if you wanted snacks, or more beer or wine. A full breakfast was served prior to landing. The flight took around 15 hours and I thought was quite decent for economy. Immigration and baggagage claim were hassle free. I got some cash from an ATM and proceeded to the domestic side for the flight to Cape Town which was very good. The domestic check in is somewhat confusing but we managed it. During our time there we also took a JNB - Richards Bay side trip when we did our game lodge visit.

The return trip from JNB to JFK and stops for an hour in Dakar, Senegal. It's pretty much a night flight. On the Dakar leg we were serenaded most of the way by three screaming toddlers and one newborn. Not a Kodak moment for sure! They had pretty much worn themselves out on the final leg. Both flights were on time. We would take SAA again.

johan rebel

Or worse. I recently watched two pax being turned away from a flight, the gate agent told them it was fully booked. Now I was standing behind said agent, and looking at his screen as he was off-loading no-show passengers. There were plenty of seats available. In spite of this, the pax were told to go to a ticket desk and rebook for the next day.

I wrote to them, and got the following reply:

"The only reason why they would not transfer passengers, or load passengers at a late stage was that the paper work to load, balance and trim the aircraft would have to be recalculated and reprinted in such an event. causing further delays.

It is, however, incredulous that the SAA agents don't just advise the passengers of the truth. Proper communication has always been one of our highest priorities and it is disconcerting to note that it is not being done."

Yeah, right! The agent was able to off-load three no-shows, without having to redo the paperwork, yet could not give the seats to two other passengers?

I agree with the "incredulous" part, though.

Johan

agstene

Welcome to Flyertalk, eforelyse !

From your post I assume you are travelling alone? Anyhow, I've taken adequate long haul flights on SAA (and similar) to say that they are pretty decent (if not better) than most US and European Carriers, barring perhaps the Gulf Carriers.

Important to note is that the return flight (JFK-JNB) is direct, but not non-stop. A refuelling stop happens in Dakar, Senegal where pax are not allowed to leave the aircraft. If this is an issue, then maybe consider DL's direct and non-stop ATL-JNB-ATL route with their 77L's. I have never flown them, so I cannot speak for their Hard or Soft Y product.

Being unsure whether you have status with any airline (or 1W, ST or *A), my advice would be to go for SAA. Their hard product is fine and a good night's rest is on the cards when the right sleeping pill is taken.

Tired_Traveller

I had a positive experience last winter flying IAD-JNB economy on SAA. It was my first time flying SAA & transiting through JNB so I was a bit anxious. (Normally fly BA & AC). The flight itself was unremarkable. Flight attendants were attentive - much better than AC for sure. Connection to HRE was unremarkable as well. I found the regional route staff peppier (short work schedule?). The food was good. I'll be making the same trip this fall & will likely fly that route again.

gcuk

Living in England, I choose to fly South African Airways above other carriers on the London-Johannesburg route. I have no issue with their cabin crew, seats, AVOD or food and rate them as good and probably better than most other airlines I fly with. A smile and friendly greeting goes a long way in Africa and it is always returned. Two weeks ago arriving from London I had cleared immigration, collected my checked bags and was through customs within 25 minutes of landing at Johannesburg. I can think of a few airports around the world where you can only dream of that!

FlyPI

I fly with SAA on the JFK / IAD - JNB route 3 or 4 times a year and have always had excellent service. Most trips have been in their Premium Business Class with the lie-flat seats. Generally can get 7-8 hours of sleep curled up under the nice duvet that they have in business class.

I did have to fly Economy on one of the flights and, for 15 hours, it really was not bad. SAA has more legroom in economy than other carriers and I enjoyed the complimentary South African wines and was surprised that they offer a small amenity kit.

I have also flown other carriers to South Africa, as well, and by far SAA offers the best service.

flySAA

Hello eforelyse,

It looks like your fellow travelers have done a good job summarizing what you can expect on SAA, so we hope your main concerns have been answered.

If not, feel free to email us with specific questions ([email protected]) and we'll be happy to provide you with a timely response.

We hope to have the pleasure of welcoming you on board soon.

Regards,
SAA - North America

tfly212

I am planning my honeymoon for July/August this year. I am hoping to either buy coach tickets from JFK to JNB and upgrade or just use miles for the whole thing. I managed to find and reserve economy seats JFK-JNB and business class JNB-JFK on SAA (via United) using miles and have three days to book it. I have checked Delta out of Atlanta and SPG Flights but the mileage totals on both are insane. The PremEx rep said its likely I would find buisness class seats on the outbound as it gets closer, but I don't like to gamble with 15 hours in coach if I can avoid it. I have two questions:

1. Does anyone know when SAA releases buisness class tickets for award travel?

2. Is there any advantage to using the carrier's actual frequent flier program versus a partner airline's program for upgrade availability? In other words, do I have a better chance if I opened a Voyager account and moved enough miles in to cover the ticket as opposed to using a star alliance partner (in this case, UAL)?

Thanks in advance.

LongingForORD

I would love to know this also, I have 3 business award tickets booked thru UA (SFO-JNB, July 2012) and have all legs and all people confirmed in business or first, except for 1 leg on SAA for 1 person from MUC-JNB.

I have been calling UA weekly to see if the space has opened and so far nothing.

I just put a dummy booking in flysaa.com and the only seats showing booked are the 2 seats we have reserved, meaning that not 1 other C seat is booked for this flight.

Any ideas on when they will open up 1 more award seat??

In the meantime, I will continue to call UA weekly to see if space becomes available.

Thanks,

jarino

SAA releases more award seats from time to time until a certain secret quota of maximum award seats in the cabin is reached. The easiest way to check is the SAA voyager website, ANA or CO.

According to my observation, SAA does not release more award seats closer to departure when the secret quota is already reached, no matter how empty the cabin is.

SAA seems to have the same award and upgrade availability for their own program and other *A programs. The required miles and the rules for an upgrade may differ a lot, though. Often it is better to book the flight entirely with miles instead of upgrading.

tfly212

Thanks for the information...looks like my best bet is to book what I have reserved now and just check often on the outbound seats. Worst case, at least it sounds like SAA economy is pretty decent. Hopefully with *Alliance Gold status I can get good seats.

jclay1212

I agree with the secret quota theory. My experience has been to book 330 days in advance. I am booked on JFK to JNB next summer and prior to booking I noticed that there were 2 business class seats every single day so far as you could book 330 days in advance. I've never seen anything become available closer to the date of travel but I hope that it all works out for you.