South African Airways

PER-JNB-MRU return. A340-200 except for MRU-JNB (737-800). Good legrooms on all flights. Seats on the hard side for a 10 hour+ flight but appreciated the winged headrest on the Recaro seats. Food and drinks slightly above standard for economy. Crew professional throughout and very friendly on the JNB-MRU leg. Did not notice many drinks run but bottled water provided. Worst aspect of flights was the outdated IFE.

Perth-Johannesburg back to Perth. Room for improvement. There were no IFE screens. The service was hurried and for the large part inattentive. The food was okay and the only positive was the wine.

Johannesburg-Windhoek-Johannesburg on a brand new A330-200 from JNB. The choice of 2 hot meals for a 2 hr flight is remarkable. Food was good with a friendly cabin crew. Return in a B737-800 with the same quality in service. It was my first experience with SAA and I enjoyed it from start to finish.

JNB-BA return. The trip to BA was good. IFE was good with each seat having it's own. Spacious seats. Enjoyed the flight. The return flight was an older aircraft with no individual IFE. Communication from flight deck was very informative. Food was reasonable. Okay flight.

DXB-JNB and on to DUR. The Dubai-Johannesburg was on an Emirates code share flight so I will not review it here but the JNB-DUR was on a proper SAA flight and they have always delivered a high quality product they are attentive and extremely helpful even with the meal. We are Muslims but forgot to ask for a Muslim meal but their flight attendant brought us a vegetarian choice from Economy Class.

The seats are so tight that it is practically impossible to open your legs while seated and so close together with the seat in front of you that you can't stretch your leg. There were no individual TV's only one TV at the start of the aisle with the worst quality I have ever seen. The fight attendants were rude impersonal and didn't care if people called them or not. The food was bland; tasteless.

JNB-LUN and LLW-JNB in Economy. Overall a very mediocre experience. FA's on both legs were rushed and abrupt and service lacked any warmth or personal attention. There was no recognition of Star Alliance Gold Card holders; no priority boarding in either JNB or LLW no priority luggage tags and no lounge access in LLW. Flights were very expensive (admittedly you don't have much choice) and service did not meet expectations.

Where do I start? I fly business to South Africa and SAA is the worst. The flight crew was horrible and on every leg you had to beg them for service. From JFK-JNB I sat next to a SAA rep who noticed my lack of attention from the flight crew. It gets worse. I tried to return early back to the USA and no one over the phone will help you in South Africa. I was told to go to the airport which I did for 8 hrs. I was finally put on a flight from JNB back to JFK about 30 mins before flight after waiting and being extorted to pay almost 700 in fees. Who can you complain to in JNB? No one was willing to help. I got my boarding pass then noticed I was given a coach seat. My bags were pulled from the plane as I refused to fly coach on nearly a $10k ticket. They put me on a flight for the next day (my original flight).

My 2 year old son and I flew SAA in April 2011 they put us on a flight that had no TV screens in the back of the seats! Therefore a nightmare to keep a 2year old in a seat and entertained! TV's in the aisles is for the 80's not for the millennium! I'm not impressed at all and didn't feel that the food was kid appropriate either. Without having PTV screens I would rather have flown via DOHA than pay for a direct flight from London-CPT without TV for a 2year old! Staff were poor and uninterested food tasteless. The entire journey left a bad taste in my mouth. SAA has definitely deteriorated!

We flew to JHB Economy class overnight from LHR during Easter and had a superb experience. We liked the tasteful interior of the plane the multi-choice entertainment available on your own screen the air stewards' outfits and friendliness and the food much better than previous journeys to South Africa using KLM Air France or Emirates. The best part was we were upgraded to Business Class on our return journey -- what a wonderful experience that was for all of us lying flat down in bed overnight flying the length of Africa! I was probably the only one in Biz class taking pictures for keepsakes. Well done SAA and thank you!