This airline has now finally turned the corner and reminiscent of the old day service. Would definitely recommend flying with SAA.
Great experience all-round. From re-checking baggage directly before leaving the arrivals hall (coming from international), to fast and friendly boarding, to complimentary drinks and snacks on board. This was a very pleasant experience - even my luggage was delivered on the belt very quickly and it was a wonderful end to a 28 hour transit.
I had a very good experience from boarding to arrivals.
Boarded almost 48 hrs later after a scheduling change on my initial flight that was not communicated either by kayak of SAA.
I had booked a ticket for a 6:40 am departure in July 2025, but it appears there was a change to 8;00 am, which meant I missed my connecting flight which departed 10 m minutes before I landed. I had seen this problem only the previous day and try to resolve it with South African air, but they are very uncooperative on the phone. All they could say was all flights were fully booked and I ended up buying paying $2,000+ to secure a ticket for my family to ensure we got out of South Africa by Monday, which am currently pursuing with the airline.
South African Airways on the outside, a very old shabby Qatar Airways plane on the inside
The food options were beef or veg, No alternatives for Hindus, that don't eat beef...
Flight was on time Seats ( business class) are terrible- you keep on slipping down as it doesn’t lie flat Food service is like economy class. Meals ( still wrapped in plastic) are just dropped in front of you
Flight was cancelled with no notification until I reached the check-in desk at the airport. I also got downgraded and they lost my luggage.
First row in business class is terrible - no storage space with video screen folded down between seats. Entertainment system didn't show flight info...
Overall, a good experience on this leg of the trip
The arrival was pretty bad. Long waits for the bus to deplaning the airplane.
Apart of Sky miles delta. And they go everywhere in Brazil
There was a mechanical issue with the plane that they had to work on before we could take off. That's fine, by all means, PLEASE make sure the mechanics are functioning properly. What was a problem was the fact that we sat on the tarmac for 4.5 hours without moving, without letting us off the plane, and without climate control and air running through the plane. There was no explanation as to what was going on; they just kept promising that it would be "15 minutes, then we are on our way." At one point, they even switched the entire crew out and told everyone we just needed to wait for new employees to show up. Then, as the 4 hours were not moving, an hour before the full refund, they made a big show about "the flight starting and the doors are locked, so you have to sit down." We didn't move for another 40 minutes; they were just trying to skirt around legalities that entitled us to restitution. When the flight finally was underway, the plane was gigantic but cramped in design, my entertainment screen kept freezing and glitching, and subtitles didn't work, and the crew was passive-aggressive. Terrible flight.
Poor, the airline was not able to help me move flights.
The way the Pilot made all announcements, specially the way he congratulated the entire crew as the best team ever, making a comment that due to them they were able to shorter the delay to the destination. Amazing flight .
Just to drop my already labeled bag it took 50 minutes inline. Completely disappointed with Latam operation at GRU
I’m entitled to a refund per LATAM due to the mid flight itinerary change and being stuck in São Paulo for 24 hours and needing to get a hotel. The airline was dismissive and of no help.
I couldn't travel, now I can't get a refund and to change the date I have to pay an absurd fine.
Boarding was confusing with a delayed flight because there was no English translation
The following is a review for a flight from Johannesburg to Washington, DC with a connection at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and refueling landing at Rome, Italy. The flight was provided by Ethiopian Airlines. There were two of us: me and my wife on this flight. Everything was on time. Enough legroom between the seats, I was able to stretch my legs and sleep for at least some time during the 14 hour second flight (19 hours in total for both flights). Very decent meals that included two lunches and one breakfast on the flight from Addis Ababa to Washington and one lunch on the flight from Johannesburg to Addis Ababa. The lunch choices were beef, chicken and fish, I think the vegetarian option was available as well, accompanied with beans. The breakfast was a choice between egg and pancake, accompanied with a fruit salad. The egg breakfast was awesome, it came with a scrambled egg and a sausage. However, my wife mentioned unusual taste of the pancake breakfast meal, by all means those were not pancakes. What wasn't good: Externally initiated commercials on the infosystem screens, you couldn't turn the screen off. These commercials were accompanied by loud and annoying music, transmitted through the entire cabin. Obviously, there was no escape from this music as well. Additional moment: on the flight from Addis Ababa to Washington, DC, we landed at Rome for refueling. This was totally fine and it was in the flight itinerary. But, the flight attendant asked me to straighten the seat while we were at the steady position during the refueling. I can't rationalize this order except that some people just like to be a boss of some kind. Keeping the light lit in the economy cabin while keeping it dimmed in the first class also didn't improve my and my wife's feelings. Overall, the services were very good and the flight, despite its longevity, went on very smoothly.
I have my baggage left either in Jeddah or Addis and undelivered to Abuja
Lost suite case and pillow that’s used by senior and they didn’t leave it at the airport
I had a comfortable seat that makes my trip wonderful. I appreciate the Ethiopia crew, they were very helpful
No Asian Vegetarian food was available on this sector but only fish and chicken and pasta were offered.
Food was really not appealing. There was a blocked sink in the toilet. Toilet is cramped and the wall between the 2 toilets are not secured properly.
Plane was late with no information or announcement … had to walk up n downstairs.., had not communicated this … and ppl had suitcase to carry .
My entertainment screen wasn't working and they couldn't fix it.
It is just ok, the sits are very uncomfortable, the temperature too low and there weren’t blankets. The food is mediocre and there are no screens to watch movies.
I've never been served three bread courses in a single meal before. Was really impressed by the novelty of that.
For my first experience flying, I was blown away with the service, the flights and staff
We boarded late; there was a problem with passengers that I believe TAAG could have handled much better. The Crew Handled it Excellentely but TAAG was not able to resolve the issues instantly and led to a 2 hour delay
The scheduled departure was delayed 9 1/2 hours and then delayed another 45 minutes due to baggage or something. Apparently the return flight is delayed 10 hours also, which means I miss my Lufthansa flight out of Luanda. Perhaps this is a scheduling change for which people were not notified until the last minute.
I did not receive any confirmation email of this booking and only on receiving it 24 hrs closer to the flight - I tried to cancel it as I has already booked another flight
Short lay-overs and total flight times. Everything else could have been better.
