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.
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.
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.
My biggest complaint is the comfort. I am not tall and there was no legroom. It was very uncomfortable. During my transfer in Sao Paola, the flight was slightly delayed so boarding was confusing because there were no instructions in English.
Bought a ticket that included a bag and they still charged me to check it in, latam is the worst airline.
I never got this flight. You sent me to Chile!!! And from Chile I got the other flight to São Paulo... I've arrived 7h latter than I was supposed to arrive because of Delta delays.
Lost ,y connection due to a mechanical delay, huge line to get new connection and vouchers
The crew were fabulous. We travelled Doha to Miami and the crew in board we exceptional too.
Really good food and service. Qatar Airways is again and again provided an exceptional experience.
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.
The rows of seats in economy class are seriously close to one another making eating and resting just about impossible - there is hardly any legroom. Anyone larger than average size would have an incredibly uncomfortable flight. I had to basically share my seat with the lady passenger next to me as she was too big to fit into her allotted seat.
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
Terrible. The website insisted that I wasn't logging in correctly to confirm my flight. It also wouldn't let me register as a member. I was unable to get a boarding pass until 4 hours before the flight so I couldn't get through security and had to wait. It was unlike anything I've experienced in decades.
There was no phone charger, uncomfortable seats, unprofessional flight attendants, didn’t like food. Could not reserve seat in advance
In spite of placing requests for vegetarian food, I didn’t get it because they ran out of stock. According to crew, only fixed number of vegetarian orders will be carried. Typically, they should have checked and served those who had specifically requested. I was one of those to get the food last.
You're like a poor man's Emirates Airlines. The Asian vegetarian food was awful. The entertainment selection was very limited and not contemporary at all. The seats were cramped. There was no plug for charging my phone (I refuse to plug into a USB port - A security risk). The plane itself was aged.
Bus from gate to plane waited more than 30 minutes in a freezing temperatures of a/c. Plane temperature was very cold .
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 had a memorable experience. I dont have any comments at this time regarding waht could be better.
Traveling with Ethiopian is always a good experience. I also enjoy the stay at skylight hotel in Addis
No Asian Vegetarian food was available on this sector but only fish and chicken and pasta were offered.
Very bad experience flight was over 5 hours delayed 😑 not a chance to be put on another flight we had to stay at the hotel we lost 2 days on our vacation. Never again I will fligh with Ethiopian airlines.
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.
