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.
Excellent airline. Even with 1.5 hour flight, we got light meal on board
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
On time flight; otherwise not impressed by the check- in- purchased business class and the aircraft was downgraded; no refund given for the difference. Told I could access the lounge due to the above and was questioned by the lounge check- in person who was not friendly
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.
Very bad. Linda the hostess was very rude all the time
Very bad, Linda the hostess was very rude all the time
We had a good flight experience with this airline despite reading many negative comments
Planes are good. However the entertainement system is slow. The headphones are of low quality and I could hardly hear a movie The movies lack subtitiles
The plane was old and the luggage racks above us were visibly shaking during turbulence. Water was dripping on our heads during landing. Our flight was over 2 hours late departing but we were not updated or told what to expect as the screen at the gate continued to read “on time”
I have my baggage left either in Jeddah or Addis and undelivered to Abuja
The crew was not helping us in the airports ..Very bad experience..the washrooms are not meeting the expectations..need more good service... The hotel service was good but there is a very long wait time which wasted time to go through..
Our first flight was delayed and when we got off that plane, nobody was really helping to direct us to the next gate. It was very frustrating. One staff simply said hurry, which wasn’t helpful. We had to go a long way to get to the next gate. Another issue on the plane itself was the bathrooms were disgusting and filthy and it didn’t seem like anybody was checking on them were cleaning them and it was a long flight. There was urine on the floor and they stunk. Also, the screen in front of my seat did not work, and I tried different headphones and still had no sound. You would think somehow those things are reviewed occasionally for working order.
They only gave us 30 minutes to make an international connecting flight. We didn’t make the connection but they did do a good job rebooking us despite the chaos. Our bags didn’t make it back and their process for customer support is pretty bad when it comes to luggage.
The Boeing 737 MAX on this route, flown in the middle of the night, is an UTTER FAILURE for business travellers. The whole point of business travel is to arrive alert and recover from travel quickly, and this little aeroplane with its quarter recline uncomfortable business seats does nothing for that. It’s a small step up from economy in that you have decent legroom, but that’s it. Absolute margin at the cost of the traveller.
Good. Crew do seem to be less friendly- management are clearly limiting them or not empowering them as they used to.
Delays delays making us miss or next connection to IAD hence having to stay additional 24 hrs in Addis Ababa
