fastjet

I'm really dissapointed with fastjet. For our honeymoon, my husband and I booked a short trip from Johannesburg to Zanzibar, from 18-23 of November. We're both very busy so we cannot take more days off or travel on other days. We booked this months in advance. Then, last week I got the e-mail from fastjet announcing that our return ticket has been changed from the 23 to the 20 November. At this point, I was already very much disappointed (because we only had a 2-day honeymoon and if I wanted to go away for just the weekend I would have stayed in SA) but Fastjet said it was the only option and by now, other tickets were already much more expensive so we couldn't afford anything else. This weekend I got another e-mail, saying the flight had been changed again. We would now depart on the 27 November, 1 week later! And there was not even a return ticket. This was just impossible for us, so we were forced to cancel the trip. Unfortunately, because of such a late notice from fastjet, we cannot cancel the hotel reservations in Zanzibar anymore. Customer service declined my request for a refund of the money which, honestly, is not even close to compensating the disappointment of not having the honeymoon we so much looked forward to.

My wife and I booked round trip with fastjet from Johannesburg to Zanzibar because they were the only direct service, so we could avoid immigration/customs and switching flights in Dar es Salaam (airport hell). A month later, fastjet informed us they were cancelling the segment from Dar to Zanzibar and would have us change to Precision Air (a misnomer if ever there was one!) in Dar. For the return trip, they were going to shoehorn us into a Cessna Caravan (what a downgrade from an A319!). Instead, I paid for a one-way ticket with Precision Air to avoid this. The connection in Dar on the outbound trip was pandemonium, and the boarding in Dar for the return flight to Joburg was a comedy of errors and hugely unprofessional behaviour, as the boarding agents engaged in a heated argument in front of all the passengers. Despite the fact I had paid extra for premium seats at the front, we were stuck at the back and I had to insist that we be moved to the seats I had paid for. When we left the plane after arrival in Joburg, the cabin staff were nowhere in sight, to thank us for flying with them. In short, hell will freeze over before we go near fastjet again!

✅ Verified Review | Victoria Falls to Johannesburg. The flight was really calm and well organized. Actually it was faster than originally planned. Well, what do you need from low fare flight? Get to final destination as soon as possible, feel comfortable and safe and pleasant cabin crew. In my case, all listed met my expectations and I was really satisfied with all. Thank you fastjet, you were valuable part of my lifetime trip!

✅ Verified Review | I booked a ticket online and made the mistake of selecting Dar es Salaam instead of Zanzibar. I was told it's fine and that I can get off in Zanzibar and then sort the return flight of 26 June out at the Fastjet Officeses. Subsequently I spent a half a day of my holiday at the office. My flight wrongly booked leaves Dar Es Salaam on Sunday just after 8:00. That would mean that we would have to book another flight through to Dar Es Salaam and pay for an additional nights accommodation. Worse is that we lose another night of our holiday. Fastjet has another flight on Sunday with seats available but advised us that they can not accommodate us by allowing us to pay in the additional Zanzibar to Dar Es Salaam fair and to move us to this flight without charging us more than what a complete new full price ticket for the whole trip is.

✅ Verified Review | Mbeya to Dar es Salaam with fastjet. Arriving on Mbeya airport, already checked in and about 15 minutes before actually take off the flight is cancelled. Being the only flight coming in and flying out from Mbeya, the cancellation must be known much earlier, Anyway, Fastjet thank you for the service and missing the connection flight to Holland without refunding the damage.

✅ Verified Review | Nairobi to Dar es Salaam with fastjet. The Cabin Crew were the only good thing on this flight. I work in hospitality and the customer service we received was appalling. The only reason we knew that there was a flight time change was because I read every email twice even if they are reminders. Otherwise, the email with the flight change of time was sent as a Flight Reminder with no actual indication that there is a change of timing. When I called the sales office at 4am (when customer service is meant to open) to query if this was correct and not a typing mistake, she said yes, when I asked if there was any way to change the flight, as our party needed to be in Nairobi by 11.00 pm latest, she said no very rudely, then I asked if she could assist us with another airline and while speaking to her, she cut the phone. When calling back to speak to her again, we were on hold for 9 minutes before giving up. When trying to discuss this issue at Dar Es Salam airport, the attended stared at their computer not even acknowledging the fact I was talking to them, with no response after explaining what happened. When checking in, our attended didn’t look up once. I asked a few questions with no acknowledgement. After asking the same question four time, my friend told me to give up as it is clear no one was interested to help. Even though the flight was not full, we were seated on the very last row, where the seats were so small, I couldn't fit in them. Luckily our Cabin Crew were very nice and let me move, and spoke to another passenger about swapping. We had planned a surprise birthday party for one of my friends when dropping her home, as she just turned 25, however as we didn't get back to our homes until 1.30am, everyone had to leave, and the entire surprise was ruined. Luckily again, the cabin crew were nice and made a announcement on the overhead. Honestly the entire experience with this airline apart from the cabin crew is a serious disappointment.

fastjet is a low cost airline, so if you are used to this type of airline, nothing will surprise you. We flew from Kilimanjaro to Dar es Salaam and paid for 1 piece of baggage which wasn't expensive. The plane was new and comfortable compared to other airlines on this route. The check-in was smooth, boarding quite fast as well. Flight left on time and arrived a bit ahead of schedule. Nothing really to complain about.

We flew fastjet from Johannesburg to Mt Kilimanjaro Airport as my family and I had a 4 day game park safari booked. Bags were to be sent straight to Mt Kilimanjaro as there was a transit in Dar Es Salaam. When asking staff at Dar Es Salaam where the bags were just to make sure checked in bags were still with us, they advised us that they had no idea where the bags were - staff were clueless. Then they assured us that it would reach Mt Kilimanjaro based on where we asked for it to be sent, instead of actually tracking the bag. Upon reaching Mt Kilimanjaro, we waited for our bags(which held all our safari supplies and clothing for 4 days). Nothing came and a claim had to be lodged to find our bags. The lost baggage counter staff called someone from fastjet and found out that the bags were still in Johannesburg. I cannot understand why fast jet Staff could not tell us this information when we asked them in Dar Es Salaam. Took 3 days to find our bags, and by then we had just blown $700US on supplies and clothing for 4 days. We requested the airline to send the bags to Arusha airport as that is where our safari agent could have picked up our bags, but they were rude and refused to assist us with the small issue despite them being the ones who missplaced our bags and did not complete their full service that we paid for( transporting bags and passengers) on time. Will never fly with them again.

fastjet from Windhoek to Dar Es Salaam. Plane was alright and comfortable for this price. Cabin crew was friendly. You pay for your drinks and beverages on board. But they lost my luggage, and are not willing to pay any of my costs as they say they don't take any checked in baggage through another airline. Be aware of this, because I couldn't find this in their terms and conditions! I found it also really hard to get in touch with them.

Johannesburg to Dar es Salaam on fastjet. Flight was ahead of schedule on arrival, ground staff were quick. The food and beverages have to be bought onboard. You get what you pay for, its a no frills low cost airline. So far so good.