flysaa.com drives me crazy
 

The latest irritation in using this frustrating web site is that it shows "sold out" for J in every flight between CPT and JNB. (My guess is that when they decided to scrap J class on most internal flights their programmers just did it for all.)

But should I be surprised when their route map shows Fort Lauderdale as their US gateway. They haven't flon there in at least 5 years (since they moved to Atlanta)! Arrrgghhh! :mad:

Hi Cheetah.

Another annoyance with the route map is that not only is it out of date (e.g., showing Fort Lauderdale and not showing DC, etc.) is that instead of letting you expand it to full screen, the default browswer window restricts the user from doing so. (hint - to get around this problem, simply press ctrl+n and a new window will open that's full-screen)

Also, don't even bother trying to purchase a ticket on that site if you're not a S. African citizen. Grrrrr.

Will

More often than not I find the flysaa.com site to be down (for maintenance?).

What irritates me most is that Flysaa.com is never able to match the cheapest fares I find on other online travel sites. For whatever reason I always get quoted the highes booking classes for the international itinerarys I look for. Also I've never been able to get the cheap (and they are really quite competitive) fares JNB-CPT etc. that are advertised on the home page. Usually there is quite a significant difference when I price these fares through the website.
So nowadays I just don't bother with them anymore.

Thanks for that great tip
 

This is jolly handy to know - I often find myself tugging ineffectually at the corners of a window only to find it won't re-size. Thanks, Will! :-:

Those are the only flights where I use the website. You have to book well in advance though to get the cheap rates.

The more I'm reading, the more irritated I'm becoming.

The dealy-do here in RSA has been the cheapie fares (e.g., JNB-CPT, etc.) are only gotten if you use a South African-issued credit card. Even if you're in the country itself and try and purchase, it won't go through unless you enter the site via your credit card-issuing country, and then, of course, the price skyrockets.

The GOOD news is that a friend of mine, who has a US-issued credit card, was able to purchase a ticket on flysaa last Friday night for a Sat.-Sun. trip to CPT for R 980 (THAT is a good deal). So this may have changed. I just dislike them on so many levels (from attempts to purchase to the service to baggage claim) that I avoid them at all and any costs, but they *may* actually be improving, esp. after the strike debacle.

Sorry to hear of so much frustration from people. But misery DOES love company, so I'm happy now!! :)

Cheetah, glad to be of service!

Will

My current attempts are for a flight 4.11. returning 6.11 CPT-JNB-CPT is that not far enough in advance? Also, can you confirm the need for an SA credit card to get those fares?

I'm a bit more guarded in my expectations, Will. I agree that R980 is a good deal and I am pleased that they make it available to all comers. In fact I have booked several of these myself lately and always at very short notice i.e. the day before travelling - so it's not true you need to book well in advance, capetonian. But are these cheap fares just to woo back customers after the strike debacle? Who knows what we will experience next week or mext month?

And I'm still baffled that they show only those fares (X class). If for whatever reason you wanted another class, including J, you can't do it on flysaa.com. But if you look on the KVS tool there are loads of seats in the other fare buckets. And at their offices I got Z class on the day of travel.

And then there was my sister's experience last week: whenever she got to the "choose your seats" part the whole thing bombed. When she called they told her to please not to use that as they were having problems.

flysaa.com is just not up to standard for an airline that is making a mission out of shafting the t/a's. All they have done is effectively charge passengers a surcharge to get any sensible way of booking. :td:

My take: SAA management is following badly misguided policies. It came back to bite them when they underestimated how hacked off their staff were before they went on strike and they are now underestimating how badly they can treat their customers before they hit back. Trouble is it takes longer for us to get the message across by voting with our feet than it did for staff.

From the posts above you should be fine. There are plenty of flights on those days showing the R342 each way fare (which magically grosses up to R980 after taxes). You may have to log onto the ZA site, though.

My experience is that when making a reservation through the SAA website with a non-SA credit card the side informs you that the ticket can not be iussued with the CC details provided. The reservation however is valid and I normally then go and pick-up the ticket at the airport. This is for C-class tickets at least (never experienced SAA on Y, but from what I have seen the difference is marginal in any case...)

On pricing; C fares normally show J or Z class and are cheaper when being booked through the website than when bought through an agent.

And finally, with their level of absense of service and customer-care at all levels I avoid SAA whenever possible.

Cheers,
JNBHEL

LOL I was buying a 1st class seat, and the "choose my seat" part was fine. What SUCKED was that when I noticed that Amex. didn't bill me for it 2 weeks later, I called, and they told me that I HAD to phone in as that feature "doesn't work for credit cards issues outside of SA." AAAAARRGGGGGG!!!!!! THIS after I received confirmation of the booking (I saved the HTML page for reference).

I use a travel agent in Hout Bay (Have for years...), and I now pay her the booking fee directly because she's so good. HOWEVER I am now on a mission to not fly SAA for any reason. Next trip to CPT in 2 weeks is on Nationwide. Nocomplaints from me!!!!!

And could you even believe the shabby treatment meted out to pax during the strike? All the while saying everything would be on time, and then, when they realized the magnitude of the strike, taking out FULL PAGE ADS asking pax to postpone their travels?! PEOPLE HAD PLACES TO GO! THESE ADS SHOULD HAVE SAID "LET US ACCOMODATE YOU ON OTHER CARRIERS" - but no. This is SAA.

And then, when the strike is over, a full 2-page ad *apologizing* for it. Puh-leeze! I had the misfortune of letting them s--- on me in paid 1st. I ended up paying $1k more to switch to Air France - best $1k I've ever spent.

(I'm really not a b----, but I really detest that airline)

I think I'll switch from coffee to tea. :)

Will

there are X class fares available for these days. About the credit card thingie - you have read the comments.

It used to be a 14 days minimum advance purchase which was mentioned on the website as well (I can't find anything about that anymore) so I guess they have changed it.

SAA's website doesn't seem to have been updated at all since "operation recovery"!? E.g., they're still promoting the cheap IAD-JNB flights (ending Aug 15) and the latest news is still "operation recovery". ???!!!!