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
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.
Despite having numerous passengers held up by American Airlines delays. Qantas (an AA partner) closed boarding with 0 flexibility
My experience was great overall. Tanya was particularly friendly and helpful the entire trip. I was very pleased with her customer service skills. The plane was an older aircraft but the entire way was comfortable with barely any turbulence at all. Qantas should speed up its fleet renovation. Totally recommend using this airline.
Business seats not as comfortable or private as most competitors (e.g. Qantas was outstanding), and movie selection was much more limited than Qantas or United has been recently
Headphone jacks worked poorly, seat recline was broken. Planes were rundown.
American Airlines was their usual junk service — but at least it got us down to LA. I was more irritated that while they codeshare with Alaska Airlines in Seattle, they could not out our flight on one of these, opting for one of the small SkyWest operated American Eagle flights — and causing a 14 hour layover. Which I accepted due to a $2000 difference in airfare — that said it was irritating for a flight that usually would have cost around $100 extra, if that.
Much better than I expected for such a long flight.
Flight is overpriced. Quality of service is poor. Constant delays. This flight again was multiple times delayed. The relaxed and careless attitude of staff is appalling. People are busy and it does matter if we do things more efficiently than chilled out. Once the flight was ready to depart we had more delays due to the careless approach of boarding passengers. Food is highly processed with limited options and super unhealthy. Leg room is shockingly bad. Even the biz class is pretty bad. Coupled with the horrendous prices Qantas only benefits given Australia is their home market. Otherwise they are not competitive at all.
BA Airbus A380 BC upstairs had 2 3 2 layout. The seat was comfy but access for those in middle or window seats had to climb over others fest to get to ailse when seats in bed mode. The layout was not nearly as private as other layouts. The staff was amazing as well as the food. Most airline food is average but this was restaurant quality.
My bag didn’t make it but otherwise it was a great experience.
Two hours late - lack of communication on why or how long.
Movie options were quite limited in terms of the new releases The boarding in Goa was was too cumbersome with multiple security checks and passport checks. Seems like we are trying to create redundant processes with no valuable gains. A lot of waste in the system and it’s really frustrating for us customers.
The crew were fabulous. We travelled Doha to Miami and the crew in board we exceptional too.
Qatar was pretty OK for their services but Arangrant was awful at theirs and frankly lied to me. Qatar offers four business class fares and only three of them allow lounge access. This is a horrible policy when you pay so much for business class and shame on them for denying the simple use of their lounges for this confusion. When I requested my business class ticket with Arangrant I knew this and specifically told them I would only purchase the lowest class business seat that would still permit me lounge access on all legs of my trip. They lied to me and said I did and then I was refused this service on my return flights. I had no less than 4-8 schedule changes and got screwed by a late departure from DCA on my double connection to JNB. I lost nearly a full day on my outbound and then had little to no use of the lounges on my outbound flights. To then be denied access on my return flights made the 27 hour trip home pretty awful. Kayak should no longer work with Arangrant as they are dishonest and liars. Qatar should price all four of their business class fares to include lounge access and stop the insanity they have forced on people. My return trip home nearly ruined my entire trip to South Africa and I blame Arangrant for telling me lies and for Qatar for offering insane rules and regulations on such expensive business class fares. For the money I paid to Qatar, I did not receive the full services I was promised. I will probably never use Arangrant and their ignorant services ever again. I will question whether I ever fly on Qatar Airways again as well. When you pay so much and get such little in return, it leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Arangrant gives the whole industry a bad name and Qatar is not far behind them. I can honestly say that the wretched service and way I was treated by both have soured me on travel companies and airlines. It is bad enough that we have an idiot, felon, racist and bigoted president and administration to contend with while he has started an illegal war, I did not expect to get screwed over by Arangrant and Qatar as well. Shame on all of you.
Looks like a local flight. Food was horrible. No entertainment system.
Excellent service. The personal adaptation of menus and the individual timing of service of them is fantastic.
I felt that when I was rerouted it should have been to business class.
No difference between US airline and Qatar. Both cramp as many people. The airline seems to change planes without notice choice is seating when making reservations online doesn’t match the plane a passenger is on. Especially paying extra. Nothing special No different than US carriers.
As gold member there is no priority checkin. Meaning you either have to board with your zone or last with business class pax. As economy pax all the baggage bays are filled by the time you arrive
Fine. Don’t think I would fly with them again
Seats were not comfortable and touch free remote wasn’t working.
