South African Airways

Last time I travelled SAA all was fine except that an age restricted movie was shown (early show) which I could not protect my children (aged 3 and 5) from seeing as they were right in front of the screen and there were no personal tv sets. I was upset about this and complained to the cabin attendants but they said there was nothing they could do. I am due to fly with my children again in July this year on the A340-200 aircraft (no personal TVs) and I will be very upset if the same thing happens. Surely it must be illegal to show an age restricted movie to under-age minors that cannot stopped from seeing the screen when it is right in front of them? Especially when it is gun violence! I would like to support SAA but I feel strongly that there must be a policy on age restricted movies particularly for the early show.

LHR to CPT (via JNB) return. All was well on the outbound flight. Food good quality although in very small portions for business class. Flight attendants friendly and professional. Lie flat bed was comfortable but your feet seemed to be higher than your head. Return was delayed due to closure of Heathrow in the December snowstorm. SAA could not have done less to help their passengers. We were left to make our own arrangements for accommodation and meals for three days. The website gave incorrect information as did the helpline in Johannesburg. The staff at Cape Town were impolite and unhelpful. They tried to send me home to London via Frankfurt even though Frankfurt was also closed. Nearly six weeks later they have not replied to emails asking for assistance with making a claim on my personal insurance policy. This airline does nothing but the barest minimum to assist passengers when things go wrong. Their attitude is "we will put you on a flight eventually but in the meantime you are on your own".

Cape Town to Heathrow. A virtually non-existent entertainment package for a 12 hour flight - one smallish TV mounted at the very front of economy! Unacceptable on a long haul flight!

I recently flew to London on SAA the most horrendous and stressful experience. I arrived at Johannesburg airport 3.5 hours before take off and went straight to the check-in desk. The queue was already substantial - only one check in desk open for international passengers it took me two hours to check in. I complained to two senior personnel both times they were rude and unhelpful. When I arrived at passport control there was a similar problem. I eventually got to the plane 10 minutes before we were due to take off. We then had to wait as a passenger did not arrive and their luggage had to be removed I realise that was not SAA’s fault but more was to follow. The next delay was due to missing paper work when that eventually arrived we started to taxi to the runway only to stop. We were told there was a problem with one of the engines and had to be towed back to the docking bay to wait for repairs. Running 1.5 hours late we eventually left but the problems did not stop. Early the next morning I called a stewardess as the toilets were not flushing the captain announced some time later that everyone had to use the bathroom as they were going to be locked the mechanism wasn’t working properly. The return trip wasn’t much better the seats very extremely cramped I dropped my book and due to the seat in front being in a reclining position I couldn’t bend down and pick it up. My daughter’s seat wouldn’t recline at all so we had to take it in turns sitting there.

Johannesburg-Cape Town business class. Long wait to check in despite no one being served in the economy queue or international business curt check in staff no airport information provided. Lounge staff gossiped behind counter with no interest in serving customers over my one hour visit to the lounge. Not greeted when boarded the plane had to hang my own coat up. The first two rows of business had to listen to the air steward vent about a passenger further back at the top of his voice for the first 30 minutes of the flight. Economy style seats with no footrest or entertainment. Nowhere on the SAA website to write any feedback clearly they don't want any! Economy service don't waste the money on Business.

London to Cape Town Johannesburg to London. First leg so-so with a medium age plane that had an okay entertainment system and fair food - mediocre all around. The return leg was a nightmare. Terrible food rude inattentive service and a virtually non-existent entertainment package for a 12 hour flight - one smallish TV mounted at the very front of economy which played the same movie on this return leg as the incoming leg! 4-star airline? No way!

Johannesburg-Maputo return Economy. This is a short flight - just over 1 hour but was very happy with level of service offered which included snack (sandwich) and drinks (soft beer wine). Check in at Maputo on way back was quick - although colleagues who checked in later than me complained about the passport control process which was slow. I was in transit on way to Maputo and had to pick up boarding pass at the transfer desk. Luckily I have a Star Alliance Gold Card so was dealt with quickly - due to a new computer system queues were rather long. On both legs the aircraft (A319) was on time.

Business Class LHR-CPT during the snow crisis at Heathrow Airport our booking was for the 20th Dec the first SAA CPT flight out of Heathrow for 4 days. We boarded the A340-200 at 830pm. At 930pm an announcement from Captain advised that water pipes had become frozen and there was leak in the Cargo area - he assured that engineers would ensure the problem was fixed and we could depart that evening. After 6hrs the aircraft it wasn't looking good we would get away that night during those 6hrs cabin crew were extremely attentive served Dinner to passengers. At 3am Captain announced the fault could not be repaired but he had a choice of either cancelling the flight for a complete repair or could depart with no water for the bathrooms and no hot drinks - passengers would need to be co-operative by using bottles of water to empty into the bathroom so they can flush - passengers agreed and we left at 350am. Bathrooms were clean during the whole flight passengers and crew were brilliant in ensuring no health hazard occured. This crew were an absolute credit to SAA kept smiling for the full 12 hour flight. Well done a magnificent caring experience.

DUR-JNB-VFA and LIV-MQP-JNB. Nothing eventful DUR-JNB. JNB-VFA an issue with the luggage meant everyone had to exit the plane to identify their bags and then re-board the aircraft. This obviously led to a delay. LIV-MQP uneventful and on time. MQP-JNB flight was late arriving and when we finally boarded the airconditioning did work.

Have used South African Airways quite a lot from Heathrow to Cape Town. They have recently changed the planes to older aircraft. No personal TV in economy food dreadful some stewards very helpful but others surly. The one good point is that their economy class is better than British Airways.