South African Airlines - SAA > Reviews > Approach with extreme caution!

Author's product rating:   

Food Quality	Satisfactory
Customer Service	Nothing special
Punctuality	Satisfactory
Space	Terrible
Value for Money	Good

Advantages:	Competitive cheap international flights .  Good safety record .
Disadvantages:	Seats are hellish in economy .  Service is a russian roulette gamble from good to ghastly .

Recommend to potential buyers:

no

Full review

There are only two things I take into consideration when booking a trip – cost and safety. On both of these SAA scored excellent. There is no doubt that their safety record is very good. Every time I have flown the pilot has been top notch and coped with everything and anything. I double checked their prices against all other possibilities and at the time I was wanting to travel they were the cheapest on offer. I also checked if I could get cheaper booking direct from the airport, but the price was the same as what I was offered by the travel agency I dealt with.
So my gripes? Well, if you are travelling within South Africa – none. I never had them run out of food. In fact I found they fed me too much! On a trip where I had to change flights a few times I was served food on each flight. First breakfast, then a snack and then lunch! I rolled off the last flight about 5 kg fatter than when I started! The food was fair to good. I can’t remember breakfast. It was early and I was half asleep, but I do remember that the snack was a roast beef and salad roll. and it was fresh if a bit dry. There were snacks with every meal. Little packets of biscuits and nuts etc. Hostesses were friendly and helpful and things went smoothly.

International flights. The toilets were clean and everything worked. I say this as a plus as I have travelled on other airways flights where this was not the case.

My first trip overseas the staff were excellent. This was from Johannesburg to London. I get insomnia on planes and never sleep so you get to watch a lot of what’s going on. The hostesses kept an eye on everyone all through the night. They brought water and juice around every hour or so and they were there before you needed them. The food was good. A chicken portion done in a very nice Italian style sauce on rice with a little salad and pudding to end with. Plus a teeny packet of crackers and a wedge of cheese. The little TV each seat has is very nice. I did have a bit of a problem with my earphones not working, but a hostess brought me a new pair straight away.

The seats are total hell though. Economy class was being joked about around me as “cattle class” and as the trip wore on I soon understood why. There is NO room! I’m short, only 5 foot 3, and yet my knees were touching the seat in front of me. The poor man next to me was an athlete over 6 foot and he had to sit like a frog. They give you this little health and safety brochure showing leg exercises to stop deep vein thrombosis. Pictures of people wiggling their toes and flexing their knees. If I’d flexed or wiggled I’d have bounced the person in front of me out of his seat! There is no room and no escape. If you are a window seat everyone has to stand up to let you get out. If you are an aisle seat you get bumped by everyone passing down the narrow walk way AND you have to get up every time the window seat and middle person need to get out! As short as my legs are there was no room to put my feet underneath the seat in front of me without my kicking the feet of the guy in the seat in front of me. So basically you are stiff, sore, jostled and bumped at the end of a few hours. I have never been so uncomfortable as I have been on the international flights on SAA.

My second international flight with them was a very different scenario. This was from London returning to South Africa. The hostesses were indifferent and mostly non-existent! I gather there was “someone important” in Business class as I could see through the curtain that they had at least THREE times as many hostess crew in there as we had! When I was given dinner I found my little utensil packet had three knives instead of knife, fork and spoon. The plane was full and boisterous and hostesses were nowhere to be seen. It took ages before a hostess came past and I virtually had to yell at her to get her to stop and take notice. he went off and was gone for an annoyingly long time before returning with new utensils. I got no apology for the inconvenience or delay. I have no memory of the meal as I was just too angry by then to care what I was eating. I do know I got a small bottle of wine with the meal, but no recollection of the food.

Later on I opened up the sealed packet they give you that contains your sleeping blanket, pillow and eye cover. The blanket looked clean, but SMELT LIKE VOMIT! Once again I had to wait until a hostess finally appeared and once again there were no apologies. She brought me a new blanket and told me to “just stick the other one under the seat.” The revolting other blanket on the floor was a problem the whole night as the lack of space for feet meant it was constantly getting in the way. It was a ghastly night once again only this time there were no thoughtful cabin crew doing the rounds with trays of water and juice. I was trapped by a large snoring aisle passenger otherwise I would have gone looking for someone to complain to. Trapped and helpless I could only wait in hope someone would come by… no one did from about 1:00 am till 4:00 am!

Otherwise on all flights my luggage has arrived fine, but you are warned NEVER to put valuables or electric/electronic items in your luggage when dealing with South African Airports. Take anything you value in your hand luggage or you do stand a good chance of never seeing it again. This means you can end up with heavy hand luggage. By the end of my trip I felt like I was carrying a baby elephant around with me so do get hand luggage with wheels if you don’t want to end up walking like the Hunchback of Notre Dame!

So final opinion? SAA is fine for short flights, but I’d never recommend them for long flights unless you are willing to endure hell to get a cheap yet safe flight. Safe, but as comfortable as a cattle truck. I’d approach the SAA with caution.