Originally Posted by
Thomathy
Things have definitely not changed.
...
So, all in all, I suggest for anyone reading and considering separate ticketing — feel comfortable booking separate tickets, but with the usual common-sense cautions and appreciation of risk about misconnecting. Be aware you must always collect and re-check bags when travelling into SA, regardless of ticket. Be aware that anecdotally, Comair tend to be helpful if a connection is missed inbound, even on separate tickets; and that they tend to happily check bags through when leaving South Africa. For this reason - and because domestic tickets are usually available for a reasonable same-day price, I am always much more conservative about connection times when leaving South Africa, than when arriving.
I must say this has been my experience over several years. Comair do seem to be steps ahead of mainlne BA customer service.
On one occasion, I had a group flying LHR-JNB on VS connecting to PLZ on BA/Comair. VS was late arriving and washed their hands of connecting pax. Comair to the rescue! They reaccommodated transfer pax on several Comair flights. I was in the last group. They offered us their empty lounge. We were able to watch the Formula One race and, I'm afraid to say, we emptied their stock of beer. Since then, I've been more than happy to fly Comair.
Yes, the Int'l/Domestic transfer at JNB is a bit of a hassle, but miles better now than pre-World Cup.