SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS review : 17 June 2008 : by Andy Thompson

Customer Rating : 5/5

LHR-JNB return. A great airline! Try and book the A340-600 when booking as it seems to have better IFE than the A340-300. A very good seat pitch, friendly and attentive crew and great meals. One of my favourite airlines and some reasonable fares can be found on their website.

SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS review : 17 June 2008 : by Mark Gray

Customer Rating : 4/5

FRA-CPT rtn Business Class was full both ways but this did not stop attentive crew from providing a top level of service. Flat beds are some of the best in the sky - still a little tricky if you're in a window seat hopping over the person next to you if they are horizontal taking a nap. Food and choice of wines good with proopt service with a smile. Selection of films and tv a little disappointing but AVOD worked brilliantly. Overall a very good experience and will fly SAA again.

SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS review : 13 June 2008 : by J Ross

Customer Rating : 4/5

I don't know which plane Mr Luxon got on his flight to JNB from LHR on SAA but it certainly doesn't sound like one of theirs! Did they substitute the usual Airbus with an external contractors plane or something? The legroom on the new A340's is outstanding in Economy and is by far the most comfortable economy seating I have experienced in a long time. The only issue I have is punctuality out of JNB but they seem to make up the time usually. Staff seem quite friendly on the whole and I would rate SAA on long haul business as their seats are very comfortable and food quality in my experience, generally very good.

SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS review : 3 June 2008 : by E Engelbrecht

Customer Rating : 2/5

JNB-LUN-JNB Economy class - The flight was delayed by 30 minutes because we were waiting for two passengers who were late. The food going to Lusaka was an average cheese roll and cold drink that had been shaken so much that it sprayed on opening. The flight crew on the way to Lusaka did not seem particularly happy to be onboard. The flight attendant (one only) on the way back was a lot better but the dinner consisted of a tiny tuna roll, a chocolate and chips. This is not exactly healthy or nutritious.

SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS review : 28 May 2008 : by S Luxon

Customer Rating : 2/5

LHR-JNB-CPT & CPT-LHR. Economy. Direct flight to Cape Town cancelled so we were all bundled onto the Jo'burg flight. The seat pitch was a joke for a 12 hr flight. Couldn't even see the overhead tvs - only 2 films shown during the 12hr flight. Seats hard and uncomfortable. JNB to Cape Town was better due to the aircraft being newer and we had so much more legroom - pity that was only a 2 hour flight. Slightly better aircraft on the way back as we had our own seat back tvs but the leg room wasn't great. Only good thing I can say is that the flights were on time (but we did arrive in CPT 2 hours later than we should have due to the diversion to JNB) and we did arrive 20 mins early on the way back.

SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS review : 28 April 2008 : by Patrick Davidson

Customer Rating : 5/5

JNB-IAD-JNB. Excellent service both directions, video on demand system very good though movie choices are a little limited and could be more extensive. Food was excellent, as were wines. Staff friendly and very efficient without being hurried. Flat bed seats are not as comfortable as they appear in flat mode but nevertheless a very good seat which allows 180 degree comfort flat-sleep with relative privacy and duvets and pillows. Still one of the best flat beds in the sky. 10/10 for the journey in both directions. Economy class on the US service has very good seat pitch but seats are terribly hard and unexpliably uncomfortable. The entertainment box in the footwell of every second seat remains an impediment to anyone with long legs. By contrast, I flew JNB-SAO PAULO-JNB Business Class last year. The old A340-200's have a really lousy IFE system. It should be upgraded to the same standard (video on demand) as the A340-300 and 600 series. The cabin service was friendly but the food was appalling. Hard to bleieve this was same airline as I flew on recently to the USA. Food was badly presented, overheated and the second meal appetiser was still frozen solid to the plate! Really bad and totally unacceptable. The only saving grace on this route in Business class was the excellent flat-bed seat which is now across the range of A340's. SAA needs to work on standardising their business class product on all routings/aircraft types.

SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS review : 28 April 2008 : by Jonathan Foster

Customer Rating : 3/5

LHR-JNB : service was very good for economy, spacious A340-300. IFE was acceptable if rather unadventurous. Crew great. The food was excellent, particularly breakfast which was a rolled omelette with spinach and lovely potatoes. The hardness of the seats is quite unbearable - there was no way I could get to sleep. CPT-LHR - again same comments but the food this time was atrocious - chicken on pasta (which smelt revolting) or fish stew - rank. Breakfast disgusting also. So different from the outbound flight (strange given the standard of food in South Africa). Both flights on time.

South African Airways review by Adrian Richmond

25 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

LHR-JNB the crew were very courteous the food OK and the leg room much better than on other recent flights in economy. My only complaint was the seats were very hard and after some 12 hours I was extremely uncomfortable.

South African Airways review by S Woolridge

25 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

LHR-JNB rtn. A340-300, found the seats rather hard and uncomfortable. IFE selection for adults and kids very poor on both sectors, the most interesting being the inflight map. It would be a good idea for airlines to carry on board headphones suitable for kids. Those supplied are too large for young passengers (from age 2+). The flight attendants were good, with meals being served and cleared away in good time. We were on board in JNB when an announcement was made that we were waiting for 23 passengers flying in from another regional airport. This delay lasted 1 hour 20 mins. It would have been useful for the cabin crew to offer light refreshments during the delay.

South African Airways review by Thomas Wilmesmeier

17 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Flew SAA this week domestically on a connection from overseas from JNB-CPT-JNB in business class. Both operated by a 737-800. Overall I rate this trip ok. Seats were better economy class seats with a warm sandwich and free booze, except for the return flight were they didn't serve alcohol due to the early flight time ( fine with me!). Service was professional but nothing warm. Overall an uneventful flight, but nothing special to rave about it.

South African Airways review by Marcelle Stubbs

14 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

JNB-LHR Economy. More leg room on the A340 than other airlines flying the same route, so no complaints about comfort. Cabin crew friendly and efficient, food passable.

South African Airways review by Jenny Hirschkorn

13 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

LHR-JNB-LHR. Watch out, there is a world of difference between the A340-200, on which we travelled out (dreary, uncomfortable, antiquated IFE) and the state-of-the-art 340-600 on which we came back. This had more legroom, up-to-date entertainment, and was altogether a more satisfactory experience. Had I known before I booked I could have elected to fly out at a different time on the newer aircraft. So check first.

South African Airways review by John Myers

28 February 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Recently I was recalled home to Australia, because my wife had taken desparately ill. I was booked on a Qantas flight but wanted to bring the flight booking forward by 4 days. Qantas advised me to contact SAA as Qantas limited seats were all taken. The SAA lady at was expecting me, and their booking clerk who found a seat on SAA - and with my son in law who was already booked on the flight, managed to reconfigure and get me a seat next to him. This in itself was for me, a tremendous relief. I was grateful for the trouble SAA staff went to, to get me on board. As I stood waiting for my son in law, the same SAA lady approached me and told me that under the circumstances I would probably be more comfortable in Business class - I am only sorry that I was not diligent enough to record the name of the lady who had helped me. I can commend not only SAA but the thoughtfulness of the staff who were caring and concerned for my comfort. I would like to express my gratitude to SAA and staff who helped me.

South African Airways review by O Perks

17 February 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Cape Town to Heathrow on 8 February 2008 and found staff most unhelpful. They had no tonic on board and this was after we had just left Cape Town. During the night I was only offered tap water although they had bottled water. For the breakfast there was no choice - take it or leave it.

South African Airways review by J Boyle

15 February 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

I recently flew Heathrow to Johannesburg and back again on SAA. I thoroughly enjoyed the flights and found the crew to be courteous and helpful.

South African Airways review by K Panahon

24 January 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

JNB-LHR economy. I took a mid-week flight, so the aircraft was only half-full. A340 aircraft is still new and it was a pleasure to fly in, compared to SAA's dreary 20-year-old 747s that used to fly this route. The food was nothing to write home about, but the service was very good. Staff helpful and attentive. IFE is good, but not great. Downward facing and taxiing cameras never seem to work on SAA's planes, so why even put them in the IFE.

South African Airways review by J Hough

15 January 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

JNB-LHR Economy Class. This is a good and bad review! Firstly, how fabulous - a seat at the exit doors on a long haul flight - great, with fab air stewardess who made the long journey a fun one. But the entire flight had their luggage delayed in JNB overnight due to broken baggage belts, so you can imagine what happened! We were only informed on arrival at LHR on the 8th Jan of the baggage belt situation and immediately my heart sank. Not happy with SAA for not attempting to at least put some of the luggage onboard and opting to leave it behind for a night, knowingly at risk to thieves. SAA and ACSA (Airports Company of South Africa) need to jack up, and find some trustworthy individuals to work there. I will hesitate greatly before flying to JNB in future.

South African Airways review by Reiner Kesternich

13 January 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

FRA-CPT-FRA in Economy. Perfect comfort for Economy-Class. Real large leg room, very entertaining IFE on private screens with over 15 movies to choose from (AVOD) plus games plus TV shows plus music. Service was excellent, too. You'll experience outstanding service. Always a bottle of water at your seat and a nice amenity kit with eye mask, socks, tooth brush etc. Food was good and special meal requests have been met. As the flight has been booked half only I had enough space even to lie flat on a middle group of four seats - not as good as full flat C class beds, but a bonus. A very nice Economy class experience at a very valuable price. Strongly recommend them against LH on every class for FRA-CPT route.

South African Airways review by J Patrie

10 January 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Business class Munich to Johannesburg. Very good quality for business class with wide, fully lie- flat seats. Sleeping was extremely comfortable in these seats especially with the full cotton duvets provided and a privacy screen. Several hot towel services were a nice touch and it was great that bottled water was in constant supply set up on the front table. Food was ok, nothing special and the service was similarly satisfactory. Amenity kit quite comprehensive and packed with such things as facial mist, ear plugs, socks, eye mask, moisturizer, tooth brush, comb and lint brush among other things. All in all, what makes the SAA business class a preferred choice is the seat and the duvets, which on a 10.5 hour red-eye is a priority.

South African Airways review by C Byrne

8 January 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

LHR to CPT economy. Great airline, staff were very helpful! Outward A340-600 half full. Seats very comfortable, meal excellent and IFE was great. CPT-LHR Business lie flat seats were great and extremely comfortable. 4 course meal very tasty! IFE again great, with lots of interactive games, movies, music channels and soaps! The Cosy Pack was a very elegant touch.

South African Airways review by Simon Dadd

5 January 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Lagos - Joburg - Cape Town and back in economy. A disgraceful check in experience at Lagos with only 4 desks open to check in an A340. A mess with rude unhelpful staff. The flight was delayed by 2 hours with no information given at all. The flight was good for economy, quite comfortable seats and not too bad legroom (I am over 6 feet tall). Good IFE and decent catering. Onward trip to Cape Town in a half empty A340. All baggage belts in Joburg check in broken but despite this our baggage made it there. Helpful with the pushchair which we were allowed to take to the tarmac and got back at the foot of the stairs in Cape Town. Return to Joburg in a 737 - rude flight attendants, very offhand. Onward flight to Lagos again pretty good for an Economy flight, good crew and IFE, though took a long time to disembark the flight.

South African Airways review by Brian Botha

4 January 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

JNB-DUR Boeing 737-800 mediocre service and horrible food. Flight attendants looked tired and were very snappy and offhand. I only flew SAA because they are the only local airline flying relatively new aircraft unlike the rest which fly very old MD80's and 737-200's.

South African Airways review by H Albertse

27 December 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

Johannesburg International to Washington Dulles Airport, return in Business Class. Check-in (JNB) was extremely fast, compared to Washington Dulles Airport where check-in is handled by slow SAS Scandinavian Airlines staff. The international business class lounge, which also serves as the Star Gold lounge, needs to be enlarged as it currently cannot cope with the amount of Voyager Elite FF's, as well as Star Gold members using the lounge. That being said, I had a great shower before my 18h45min flight to Washington. The shower room was clean and had clean towels sealed in plastic - one body towel and one which should be used as a shower mat. Feeling refreshed, I still had some time to have a drink or two and enjoy snacks, including fresh fruit. Both the out-and inbound flights were great with attentive staff. Despite SAA going through a lot of restructuring, including staff cuts, the crews never conveyed any negative attitude towards the passengers. The flatbeds were great, food very tasteful and inflight entertainment system with adequate choices. At Washington Dulles Airport, South African Airways make use of the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse (lounge). There is not adequate seating in this lounge, dismal toilet facilities and no showers facilities. In my opinion SAA should try to get an alternative lounge at IAD – ANA (Star Alliance) also has a lounge in Concourse B, where SAA operate from.

South African Airways review by K Fairbairn

16 December 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

Agree with earlier comments that business class lounge at LHR is poor. I had to ask 4 people about logging on to use the internet then gave up as it would not connect. On the outgoing flight the food was excellent, but on return due to 90 min delay in taking off we were too tired to enjoy a full meal and settled for the express menu. The lie-flat beds were very comfortable. The inflight entertainment was poor and offered little choice. We were mis-informed about the arrivals lounge at both JNB and LHR and consequently did not get to use either. Bearing in mind our poor opinion of the lounge at LHR we hoped for better things on their home ground at JNB. The lounge was extremely busy and noisy, choice of snacks was very poor, particularly as we were there 4 hours. There were several broken toilets and only one medium sized towel in the shower and no seat.

South African Airways review by Andy Jones

12 December 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

LHR-CPT, JNB-LHR in Business Class. Outward journey excellent with great food, wine and service. Sleeper seats on the A340 are very comfortable and managed to sleep for 7 hours. Staff at JNB airport were incredibly rude. Had a 40 minute check in for a domestic flight when they had somehow managed to double check-in my partner and someone else with the same surname blaming the travel agent for a booking error! When I announced that I was the travel agent, their attitude changed somewhat! Food on return flight from JNB was very poor, bearing in mind JNB is their main hub. Overall a reasonably good product let down by some food and ground staff

South African Airways review by P Miller

21 November 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

JNB-CPT return in economy. Had never flown SAA before but will certainly use them in future. On way out, on-time departure and arrival. Good commentary from captain who explained the weather problems and went out of his way to reassure us that he was doing all he could to minimise the extreme turbulence. Very friendly and smiley cabin crew. Good legroom for economy. Return leg didn't look promising with flights backed up at CPT, but we left 10 mins late and landed exactly on-time, despite poor weather again. Drinks flowed throughout the flight and my fellow row passengers told me that they only fly SAA as its service is far superior to its competitors - you don't hear that very often.

South African Airways review by Xandre Lombard

19 November 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

ZRH-JHB-CPT Economy A340-200.There were not many passengers so service was pretty quick. Flight Attendants smiling and offering water and oj. Slept well - inflight entertainment was good although it was not AVOD. Very good airline. Great SA Hospitality.

South African Airways review by C Holbert

3 November 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

LHR to CPT and return business. Good service on A340 , children's lounge at LHR and CPT a real bonus. Aircraft full, a large cabin. Food so so , nothing to write home about. Seat/ bed fully flat and comfortable, duvet and pillow a nice touch.

South African Airways review by M Cowell

1 November 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

LHR-CPT-LHR in Business. SAA Check in at LHR and return at CPT a breeze. LHR Business lounge is not wearing that well and was full. CPT is now exclusively A340-600's. The pros are that it is a remarkably quiet and comfortable aircraft to fly-in. The con's are that the 744's have the better Business seats and many more toilets and smaller cabins/more galleys, meaning more attentive service. Service/food outbound 8/10 but inbound 6/10; our particular allocated cabin attendant apparently being on some sort of go slow compared to her fellow crew members. I like flying SAA to Africa, but there is clearly some penny pinching going on which makes the service not as full on as it used to be.

South African Airways review by S Farooq

5 October 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

JHB-Nairobi return business class. A319's used and the business seat config of 3-2 feels cramped if you were in the middle or window seat. Full meal service on both routes and the food quality and quantity was very good. FA's attentive and gave very good service. One gripe is the quantity of onboard luggage allowed with people bringing even 3 pieces of hand luggage some of them quite large which meant after the overhead bins were full the rest of the bags had to be kept under the front seat etc. Overall I'd use them over KQ on the same route.

South African Airways review by Tim Rae

9 August 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

Economy Class PER-JHB having been waitlisted on a business class seat. I enjoy travelling on the A340-200 except that in economy there is no personal entertainment systems which are now standard on the A340-400. The flight leaves PER at midnight and gets to JHB at 6:00am with a total flight time of 12 hours. My flight would have been much better if not for the couple behind me who insisted on pushing my seat forward everytime they needed to go to the toilet. Really annoying when you are trying to sleep. FA are friendly and helpful on SAA but the quality of the food has gone down in recent times. The wine is fantastic. Connected from JHB to HRE on business class on a 737 flight. Excellent service.

South African Airways review by Roy Blewett

25 July 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

LHR-JNB-FIH-JNB-LHR. Upgraded to First for LHR-JNB-LHR sectors as part of a promotional deal. Very pleasant - best nights sleep I've had on an aeroplane, though given the normal price, it ought to have been. The first class seat is rather uncomfortable in the landing/working position - it seems to be optimised for sleeping and lounging. Luggage failed to get onto the connecting JNB-FIH sector - I am convinced this is because I wasn't processed correctly in the lounge at JNB: nothing was entered into the reservation system to verify I was "checked in" for the next sector, so baggage was offloaded. It subsequently arrived on next flight from JNB (two days later). Usual performance with too much hand luggage for the cabin: this must be one of the easiest things to get right. Better cabin crews on the intercontinental sectors: the cabin crew chief on the FIH-JNB was particularly grumpy and unhelpful. Food as always on SAA - good and wines excellent.