mediocre business class catering on domestic routes
#1
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Join Date: May 2009
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mediocre business class catering on domestic routes
I've flown SA a few dozen times over the last few years and have usually been reasonably satisfied, but was shocked how mediocre the catering was on a recent JNB-CPT flight in business class:
After about 45min into the flight I was presented with the following "lunch":
- a tiny, soggy bread roll
- a cheap, processed slice of ham and cheddar
- a few tasteless pieces of fruit
Most airlines would be ashamed to serve that in economy class, let alone business class.
But oh well, I figured I could at least enjoy a glass of champagne or wine. Wrong.
Apparently SA has introduced a (new?) policy whereby it only serves alcoholic beverages on afternoon and evening flights. Or to be more precise: on flights with a scheduled departure time after 11a.m.
I could sort of see the point of not serving hard liquor in the early morning, but refusing to serve a glass of wine with "lunch" at 12p.m. ?!?
Without exaggerating, this was the most mediocre business class catering I've experienced during my last few hundred flights.
After about 45min into the flight I was presented with the following "lunch":
- a tiny, soggy bread roll
- a cheap, processed slice of ham and cheddar
- a few tasteless pieces of fruit
Most airlines would be ashamed to serve that in economy class, let alone business class.
But oh well, I figured I could at least enjoy a glass of champagne or wine. Wrong.
Apparently SA has introduced a (new?) policy whereby it only serves alcoholic beverages on afternoon and evening flights. Or to be more precise: on flights with a scheduled departure time after 11a.m.
I could sort of see the point of not serving hard liquor in the early morning, but refusing to serve a glass of wine with "lunch" at 12p.m. ?!?
Without exaggerating, this was the most mediocre business class catering I've experienced during my last few hundred flights.
#3
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Join Date: May 2009
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It's only 3-4 years ago that I received a hot dinner on DUR-JNB (which is ~10min longer).
I didn't even necessarily expect a hot meal, but something that would at least be comparable to a wrapped sandwich you'd find in many airport news stands.
And the lack of a proper drinks service on a ~2h flight is just inexcusable IMHO.
#5
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Interesting. I recently flew JNB-CPT and CPT-JNB in the afternoon and was pleasantly surprised by the hot meals on both flights though beef served on JNB-CPT (the first photo) was a little tough.
#6
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Food and drinks have generally been reasonably good on dinner flights - it's just the late morning / lunch flights where catering has been absolutely mediocre IME.
#7
Senior Moderator, Moderator: Community Buzz and Ambassador: Miles & More (Lufthansa, Austrian, Swiss, and other partners)
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JNB-CPT 13:55 departure
CPT-JNB 16:45 departure
#8
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: BGI (ex-YYC, YYZ)
Programs: AC*G-E100K (once again)
Posts: 1,701
I've flown SA a few dozen times over the last few years and have usually been reasonably satisfied, but was shocked how mediocre the catering was on a recent JNB-CPT flight in business class:
After about 45min into the flight I was presented with the following "lunch":
- a tiny, soggy bread roll
- a cheap, processed slice of ham and cheddar
- a few tasteless pieces of fruit
Most airlines would be ashamed to serve that in economy class, let alone business class.
But oh well, I figured I could at least enjoy a glass of champagne or wine. Wrong.
Apparently SA has introduced a (new?) policy whereby it only serves alcoholic beverages on afternoon and evening flights. Or to be more precise: on flights with a scheduled departure time after 11a.m.
I could sort of see the point of not serving hard liquor in the early morning, but refusing to serve a glass of wine with "lunch" at 12p.m. ?!?
Without exaggerating, this was the most mediocre business class catering I've experienced during my last few hundred flights.
After about 45min into the flight I was presented with the following "lunch":
- a tiny, soggy bread roll
- a cheap, processed slice of ham and cheddar
- a few tasteless pieces of fruit
Most airlines would be ashamed to serve that in economy class, let alone business class.
But oh well, I figured I could at least enjoy a glass of champagne or wine. Wrong.
Apparently SA has introduced a (new?) policy whereby it only serves alcoholic beverages on afternoon and evening flights. Or to be more precise: on flights with a scheduled departure time after 11a.m.
I could sort of see the point of not serving hard liquor in the early morning, but refusing to serve a glass of wine with "lunch" at 12p.m. ?!?
Without exaggerating, this was the most mediocre business class catering I've experienced during my last few hundred flights.
#9
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Join Date: May 2009
Location: FRA / YEG
Programs: AC Super Elite, Radisson Platinum, Accor Platinum
Posts: 11,874
Hm, I would have to strongly disagree with that.
You get a small salad, a choice between two proper hot main courses and a dessert on 2h long flights in AC business class. Along with a full bar service any time of the day.
I don't see how a tiny, soggy role with a slice of processed ham and cheese along with a limited selection of non-alcoholic drinks is better than that.
(On afternoon/evening flights, SA is slightly better than AC IMO, but SA's late morning / lunch offering is just pathetic IMO).
You get a small salad, a choice between two proper hot main courses and a dessert on 2h long flights in AC business class. Along with a full bar service any time of the day.
I don't see how a tiny, soggy role with a slice of processed ham and cheese along with a limited selection of non-alcoholic drinks is better than that.
(On afternoon/evening flights, SA is slightly better than AC IMO, but SA's late morning / lunch offering is just pathetic IMO).