Frills on SAA

Old Jan 31, 23, 9:32 am
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Frills on SAA

Does *G (Lufthansa) give me any frills travelling on SAA domestic SAVER fares ?

Thinking specifically security lines, priority boarding, seat selection and checked bags.

Cheers, Ian
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Old Jan 31, 23, 9:35 am
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Originally Posted by IAN-UK View Post
Does *G (Lufthansa) give me any frills travelling on SAA domestic SAVER fares ?

Thinking specifically security lines, priority boarding, seat selection and checked bags.

Cheers, Ian
Yes to security (fast track at domestic departures on the far right) and priority boarding, no to seat selection and no idea about checked bags as I don't.
hth
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Old Jan 31, 23, 9:56 am
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Originally Posted by Stewie Mac View Post
Yes to security (fast track at domestic departures on the far right) and priority boarding, no to seat selection and no idea about checked bags as I don't.
hth

Thanks for the blisteringly fast reply

I'm hoping my bag doesn't need to be checked, but after an unhappy experience when a TK check-in agent insisted on weighing my carry-on and decided an 8kg limit couldn't be violated - I get nervous on "new" carriers.
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Old Feb 1, 23, 5:15 am
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It happened to pop up as a new thread

It’s not like I’m regularly in the SAA forum (and nor is anyone else!).

Just seen your other note about arriving into CPT - my comment above about fast track was referring to ORT, I don’t recall any fast track at CPT domestic, sorry. And SAA in my experience are very relaxed about hand luggage, never had my wheelie checked or checked in by them, i think generally they are good about treating *G well.
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Old Feb 2, 23, 2:39 pm
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SAA are very generous with *G benefits. You will be entitled to the additional checked bag.
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Old Feb 3, 23, 8:11 am
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Originally Posted by Stewie Mac View Post
SAA in my experience are very relaxed about hand luggage, never had my wheelie checked or checked in by them, i think generally they are good about treating *G well.
Originally Posted by B747-437B View Post
SAA are very generous with *G benefits. You will be entitled to the additional checked bag.
Thanks - that kinda vindicates my decision not to save a few rand with a low(ish) cost carrier.

A cruel friend suggests I should be more worried about being SAA being around in a few weeks' time
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Old Feb 3, 23, 12:23 pm
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Originally Posted by B747-437B View Post
SAA are very generous with *G benefits
Just ask Bain & Co, Dudu Myeni, etc.


Originally Posted by IAN-UK View Post
A cruel friend suggests I should be more worried about being SAA being around in a few weeks' time
+1
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Old Feb 4, 23, 3:44 am
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Originally Posted by IAN-UK View Post
A cruel friend suggests I should be more worried about being SAA being around in a few weeks' time
Sadly we know that SAA has implicitly received the guarantee of unlimited funding from DPE, even though it is publicly denied. It ain't going anywhere.
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Old Mar 5, 23, 1:34 pm
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Are there any frills in business class still? Choice of meals (or just one option like on Airlink)? repeated top-ups of wine? business class lounge access in JNB or CPT? SAA is more expensive than Airlink, but the latter only offers one meal choice on domestic flights it seems.
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Old Mar 5, 23, 10:23 pm
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Originally Posted by SkyTeam777 View Post
Are there any frills in business class still? Choice of meals (or just one option like on Airlink)? repeated top-ups of wine? business class lounge access in JNB or CPT? SAA is more expensive than Airlink, but the latter only offers one meal choice on domestic flights it seems.
I flew SAA in December 2022 in both business class and economy between JNB-CPT. In both classes I was served a meal.

In fact, in economy, if you fly during dinner time, you will still get hot meal with choice of wines or beers. For dinner, there were 2 choices.

SAA CPT-JNB meal during dinner time (2 hour flight)

SAA CPT-JNB meal during dinner time (2 hour flight)

SAA CPT-JNB meal during dinner time (2 hour flight)
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Old Mar 6, 23, 5:33 am
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Wow, thanks. Super helpful, I was worried the airline's changes may have affected the domestic service. Biz class is fairly priced on my date of travel, and as long as the lounges are still decent, I think I'll spring for it. Are there lounge showers in the domestic area? Im arriving on Kenya Airways so won't be able to use the arrivals lounge, if that is even open!
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Old Mar 8, 23, 11:27 am
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Originally Posted by SkyTeam777 View Post
Wow, thanks. Super helpful, I was worried the airline's changes may have affected the domestic service. Biz class is fairly priced on my date of travel, and as long as the lounges are still decent, I think I'll spring for it. Are there lounge showers in the domestic area? Im arriving on Kenya Airways so won't be able to use the arrivals lounge, if that is even open!
no arrivals lounge for any airline, and as of December the showers in the SAA domestic lounge were still closed….
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Old Mar 12, 23, 1:04 pm
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Given a choice of SAA and Airlink, which one is better, route is JNB-WDH in business.
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Old Mar 13, 23, 4:35 am
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Originally Posted by LHSEN View Post
Given a choice of SAA and Airlink, which one is better, route is JNB-WDH in business.
In terms of frills, probably the same. I prefer the SAA J cabin.

But I’d buy Airlink any day of the week if I had a choice, as I know they’ll exist next week. That’s the main risk you’re managing with SAA.
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Old Mar 13, 23, 8:59 am
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Interesting thoughts. I just bought Airlink biz class tickets, but then just read online they won't let you into the SLOW lounge until 90 minutes before departure? That's realistically only 50-60 mins of lounge time. I will have a four hour connection from Kenya Airways and was hoping to use the lounge for coffee and work. I don't think 2-3 hours of lounge time before a flight (and on an intl-domestic connection) is unreasonable. Anyone have experience with SLOW lounges and being denied entry earlier than 90 mins before departure. I guess I have Priority Pass to fall back on, but was hoping to be productive rather than lounge hopping before a JNB-CPT flight.
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