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.
Apparently, Asky airline baggage policy is slightly different from the Ethiopian airline policy and for this reason, I encounter an issue with them and I had to refer them to the Ethiopian airline policy whom I booked my flight with before they allowed me to bored the flight.
The stewardesses not being irritated by customers, but understanding that everyones comfort and requests should be handled with respect and understanding, not showing their obvious annoyance. I observed 2 people being treated rudely. I would never my staff to treat anyone so disrespectfully.
All around pleasant experience. Flight crew were efficient and polite. And the flight was on time.
I was not allowed to board my flight due to a booking error with Kayak which customer service has not responded to me about yet. I had to book another flight at the airport.
The flight attendants were great, the food was also very good. The entertainment in the plane could be improved by including screens to watch shows/ movies.
Boarding confusion, just asked for a cup of water and the crew answers was shocking
Retard cuisant et criard. Inadmissible. Corruption et pratique non recommandable du personnel chargé de faire le Check des billets avant de passer au comptoir d’enregistrement. La dame qui me recevait voulait à tout prix me coller pour se faire d’argent. L’avion devrait faire escale à Douala donc on ne descend pas au sol. Pourquoi me demander où exiger que je devrais avoir un visa sur le Cameroun. C’est inadmissible. J’allais au Tchad et elle sait bien que je n’avais pas non plus besoin de visa compte tenu des accords de réciprocité entre état. J’avais mon visa et pourtant elle insistait. Ce qui était marrant ces collègues étaient complices. J’ai dû hausser le ton et l’insulter proprement. Mon adrénaline a monté. Trop de corrompus et moins de gens intègres dans vos rangs que ce soit à Cotonou et surtout à Accra. A Cotonou à l’agence principale, il vous faut un audit pour le personnel chargé de ventes des billets. Merci de transmettre à Asky
They take your hang luggage and it never arrives to your destination. They don’t follow seating arrangements
You need screens on every seat so passengers can watch movies, documentaries, music or something else to avoid to get bored.
My Ethiopian flight was cancelled without Kayak informing me. I found out through my sister who picked the same flight via Expedia. When i informed Kayak, they failed to put me on another flight…stating they are waiting to hear back from Ethiopia airlines. After receiving no response for 2 weeks, I asked Kayak for a refund. And again, no response. Thus, I had to call my credit card company to dispute the transaction. Thank you chase for being understanding. However, I DO NOT recommend flying with Ethiopian airlines or booking through Kayak. Terrible customer service especially when it entails refunding people their money.
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.
The food was terrible and the seating was uncomfortable, but the airline did a great thing letting us board in Abbis Ababa on our connecting flight after our original flight was very delayed.
My experience was great. The flight attendants were very helpful and nice, and the food was very good.
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 .
I still cannot find my luggage. I need my luggage.
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.
Same but worse than international. The inter African flights are worse.
I've never been served three bread courses in a single meal before. Was really impressed by the novelty of that.
Overall good experience but for long distances there really needs to be more room.
Sadly, flights were delayed both ways with no reasons given other than " operational".
Awful, we had a delay of 3 hrs, impacting in my transfer flight to Cape town, and Kenya airways didnt do anything. They sent me twice to transfer services in Nairobi, not been available to sleep (from 1 am to 5 am); without any update.
Flying portion was fine. Below average comfort. We had 2 canceled flights and got stuck in 2 cities which took us 3 days to get home. Kenya hasn’t done anything or even reached out to us after complaining.
Excellent crew. Three problems need to be taken care of: 1. Lack of wi-fi during the flight. This prevents busy traveller's from working while onboard. 2. Why there were two very-slow security check points was more punishment that necessary. Went through thorough security at transit area, the an even slower one at Gare 19!!!! Why passports needed to be checked st least 5 times by 5 different people makes no sense. Additionally, passengers were crammed like sardines in a boarding area with no charging ports that work!! This was a boarding nightmare. 3. During my flight (seat 27C) the headset socket did not work. Watched one movie, but very difficult because of that. Had to keep my fingers on the socket for it to work!
Staff and service on board is always exemplary. Food however could be better.
The cabin is due for a refresh - the seats are very thin and not very comfortable. The AVOD system also did not work on one of the seats and the touch screen were very glitchy. The overall cleanliness of the aircraft could be improved
The flight attendants on this flight were incredible! One even gave me her own dinner when my special meal order wasn’t transferred due to a flight delay! She insisted and I was so grateful. That is going above and beyond! The issue I had with the flight was with Lufthansa support. I missed my connection due to a flight delay and they wouldn’t rebook online, only in person. This took a lot of time and visits to the airport waiting for a Lufthansa agent to arrive 5 hours later than posted and almost paying full-fare price for the new flights and refusal to add my special meal orders. It made for a challenging journey home and I didn’t feel valued as a customer.
They should improve their time management and how to reschedule flights in order to avoid long stopovers
The boarding process was smooth and the seat quite comfortable. The snack served was tasty. There could have been better entertainment options available. The crew was quite courteous and friendly.
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.
