South African Airways

Customer Reviews

4 star Skytrax Rating
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Seat Comfort 12345
Staff Service 12345
Value for Money 12345
Customer rating from 437 reviews
6/10
4 star Skytrax Rating
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7/10

South African Airways customer review

(Qatar)

Business Class SAA code share with Emirates DXB-JNB-DUR return. All in all there were 7 Business Class passengers the service and the IFE on the 777-300ER was excellent the food was good the seating quite narrow. The service in JNB and DUR was nothing less than terrible.
Seat TypeBusiness Class
Value For Money 12345
no
9/10

South African Airways customer review

(South Africa)

CPT-JNB-FRA return. As I did a 36 hour turnaround I had the same crew both ways on the long haul sector. Friendly attentive service and good food selection. Cabin of A340-600 is beginning to show its age but space and lie-flat facility is fine. Good Lufthansa lounge in FRA and well-organised boarding with separate gate for Business Class. Boarding in JNB as usual poorly organised with Business Class pax scrumming along with everyone. Small SAA Business Class arrivals lounge at JNB has excellent showering facilities. For me at least SAA has raised its service levels and has been consistently good all year.
Seat TypeBusiness Class
Value For Money 12345
yes
10/10

South African Airways customer review

(United States)

First time on SAA and I was pleasantly surprised the seats in Economy Class provided generous legroom/width and recline. The entertainment system excellent although the screen could have been larger. I didn't have time to watch all the movies I had set out to see despite the long flight. Good food plenty of snacks in the back available all night and friendly flight attendants that explained the movie system. Landed about 30 mins early.
Seat TypeEconomy Class
Value For Money 12345
yes
7/10

South African Airways customer review

(United Kingdom)

LHR-LVI via JNB. Clean A340-300 good IFE food and crew. My only complaint was cramped cabin. JNB to LVI was on a clean A319 with more legroom than A340. Return from LLW to LHR via JNB and once again I was surprised. LLW to JNB was on a new 737-800 food was tasty and crew friendly.
Seat TypeBusiness Class
Value For Money 12345
yes
9/10

South African Airways customer review

(South Africa)

DUR-JHB-LHR return. FA's were proactive although some surly. Planes are old but well maintained and spacious. IFE is useless (no personal TV on some flights) but when you do get its fantastic. Out of 52 flights with SAA only 1 has been delayed.
Seat TypeEconomy Class
Value For Money 12345
yes
9/10

South African Airways customer review

(South Africa)

CPT-LHR return. Both flights on new A330. Excellent seat comfort and lie-flat. Cabin very quiet up front even on take-off. Food very good both ways and crew attentive and friendly without being invasive. The only thing I'd mark down was the fact that no menus were loaded in London. I've flown a lot on SAA in the last 3 months and have noticed a marked improvement in food quality and variety. Passenger embarkation at LHR was clearly communicated and orderly something that should be noted by JNB ground staff. A pity the Star Alliance lounge at LHR is so tatty and uninviting.
Seat TypeBusiness Class
Value For Money 12345
yes
7/10

South African Airways customer review

(United Kingdom)

LHR-JHB-LHR Business Class. Outward leg on A330 and back on A340. Both flights fairly uneventful. Cabin crew on outward leg were not especially welcoming but on return were the opposite. Found seat on A330 outward leg more comfortable in sleeping configuration than the A340 which seemed to be a bit hard. Did not bother with IFES although there appeared to be something wrong with it on the flight back to LHR. Meal service was fine both ways - quality of food was not bad. Both flights departed and arrived on time.
Seat TypeBusiness Class
Value For Money 12345
yes
6/10

South African Airways customer review

(Kenya)

Flew SAA in Business from CPT to JNB. As we were connecting on from JNB we wanted to get our purchases checked by customs so we could get tax back. We allowed 1 hr for this but it took all of 5 mins so we were at check in 3 hrs before our flight. Although there was an earlier flight with seats SA wanted to charge us an extra US$300 each for the change. So we stayed on our existing flight. Check in was smooth. The SA domestic lounge in CPT is large. Not much on offer for food other then toast and sandwiches. There is also a bar and self serve for soft drinks. Our plane was parked underneath the lounge and we saw it being boarded yet no announcement was made in the lounge. Off we went and were the last to board. The plane was a 737. 2-3 across in J. Comfortable seat. A hot breakfast was served with yoghurt cereal and croissants. Was a good and filling meal. Also offered was fresh orange juice and tea/coffee. SA does not offer a hot towel service. Overall service was good. Bags took a long time to get delivered. Priority tagging did not work.
Seat TypeBusiness Class
Value For Money 12345
yes
na

South African Airways customer review

(United States)

JFK-JNB round trip and during that trip flew round trip to Victoria Falls. I had reservations and seat assignments long in advance. I did not get my assigned seat on any flight I took. I tried to sign in online and could not do it. I called the SAA office and they said I could not do that since the reservations were made by a travel agent. I check in 3 hrs early at JNB and found that my seat had been given away again. All airbus seats are excruciating in economy on a long flight. Costs matched all other airlines.
Seat TypeEconomy Class
Value For Money 12345
no
4/10

South African Airways customer review

(New Zealand)

Perth to Johannesburg. First contact at check-in was not good as someone in SAA moved my pre-assigned seat for a friend of theirs thus splitting up my brother and I. The Airbus A340-200 was showing its age. The lavatories were in poor repair with missing door handles. The only entertainment was on a bulkhead video screen- with only 2 movies shown on an 11 hour sector- and limited audio choice as most of the channels did not work. Our arrival in Johannesburg was nearly 1 hour early so we had to wait on the tarmac while a ground crew was found. (In SAA's defence it was 4:30am so most staff had yet to arrive at the airport.) On the plus side the meals were generous and the cabin crew were polite. They did regular drinks walks during the long night.
Seat TypeEconomy Class
Value For Money 12345
no