South African Airways

I had an involuntary downgrade from Business to economy class, and promised a refund after my flight and was basically told 'please contact customer service after your flight to process your refund'- I did not raise any issues here as I tried to understand that they may have overbooked etc, as long as I got my refund. When I contacted them, I was… Read more

intially tossed around and told to apply for a refund via the booking agency I booked the flight through. I did that and next thing they say is they cannot issue a refund because "the booking class you purchased corresponds to our full Economy Class fare, and as such, no refund is applicable for the ticket". How is business class fare equals to economy, you can simpy check on line and and see it is different- I checked it for the very flight I flew. I have been offered vouchers which I do not want. This company 1. Provides false information and false assurances or compensation 2. Very difficult to get a hold of I feel taken advantage of and very upset considering how hard I work to pay for the services I pay for. If you value your money, would like to be treated with an ounce of dignity, please avoid at all costs

The Worst Airline Service in history. I missed a local flight due to weather conditions, and then they wanted to charge me an extra $8,000 for my family and me to get home. Bought a cheaper flight with Qantas. Trying to get a refund which went nowhere then I tried to get a letter from them that I could send to the travel insurance company. This… Read more

has been ongoing for over a week with several phone calls back to South Africa. The most incompetent people I ever dealt with. Never flying with them ever again.

They double charged me on my flights and when I contacted them they said it’s the bank!! The bank indicated SAA are withholding funds…..who the hell withhold $7320 of funds after you have been paid!!! First amount went off straight away when I purchased and then next day 3 x 2440 amounts…..They still act ignorant saying it’s not them….when the… Read more

total price says $7320 then that is all that needs to be taken. Stop confusing the banks by taking different amounts as they will treat it as suspicious.

DO NOT fly SAA – Worst airline! Delayed for 6hrs, to only have staff giggling and ignoring passengers at the check in counter, board plane then had to disembark..with the flight being cancelled! Told to return at 3pm next day. Delayed and boarding at 6pm to only be told it’s now 11pm!! Total joke do not fly with SAA there’s a reason they stopped flights years ago!! Show details

FLYSAA from Perth to Jhb Booking – Haven’t flown yet. Only booked. Flights to resume soon from Perth to Jhb. I've ALWAYS had an issue with something along the way booking with FlySAA, especially using miles to do something. Anyways, it’s direct, so I thought I’d give it a go again after a few years and booked for the family. Booked, paid. Then, used the manage booking to select… Read more

seats: In Rand (as most people reading this will probably be in SA) R440 x 4 people x 2 ways equals around R3500 extra. From previous experience, I’ve learnt to print EVERYTHING as evidence, so wanted to print my seats booked. Again login-manage booking and my booking says ‘No seats preselected’ on either flights. I’ve since emailed all 3 emails on FlySAA website (there’s a customer service, web help and Voyager email). A week later no reply. Tried to phone. Hung up after 10 mins of not answering. Then I found a number in Australia and phoned that one. Spoke to what sounded like a competent person. Explained everything. Nope, she couldn’t see my seat selection. I’ve sent her my bank statement as proof and it took 2 weeks to get this sorted of daily phone calls to them. There’s no urgency. There's no communication except when I phoned them. No understanding of the implications of family sitting together and picking seats in a particular section, which is paid for, so there shouldn't be a discussion about other seats at all. FLY SINGAPORE if you fly from Perth. It’s a layover, but at least you know it’s a competent bunch.

Worst company ever – Brought full refundable tickets from them , requested refund as to ticket directions. Then all changed, got ghosted for months, then started getting rude childish responses . Please avoid this airline, run by cowboys who have made this company go broke,AVOID AVOID AVOID Show details

Officially the worst Airline – From start to finish the worst experience ive ever had flying or even on the ground. Rude, dismissive, arrogant, dirty planes, very poor quality of service. And the benign way th they handled a serious complaint from me, tells me why South African Airlines is the worst airline I have ever flown. I flew Business Class Show details

quite starnge airline! – We made a booking on line to Fly within Africa ( did not have a choice as more reputable airline does not fly our route). Tried to amend the fligth schedule on line but it seemed that their website has problems. Try to send email- got response to try on line- does not work. Try to phone 12 times SAA office in Australia- had to give up after… Read more

waiting 20-40 minutes each time. Have now concern about flight with SAA as heard similar comments from other past travellers

If you want to be ‘bumped’ fly SAA! – Just a word of warning if you are planning to use this airline to fly from Perth to Johannesburg... We booked in March and paid extra for exit row seating. We were unable to check in online as the process was blocked. I rang to find out what was going on and was told the plane was heavily overbooked but we should be ok as we had paid extra for… Read more

seats. Not so! Despite being amongst the first to try to check in at the airport, we were bumped because we were only booked as far as Johannesburg.

We were offered a flight via Qatar which we declined as it meant more than double the flight time and we deliberately booked to go the shortest way possible. We received accommodation in Perth and were assured the flight 24 hours later would be a certainty for us. That remains to be seen! It is a most inconvenient and frustrating start to a well planned and by no means cheap holiday and we are disgusted at how SAA overbooking became our problem. Avoid them if possible and save yourself considerable frustration.

No sympathy – I had booked to fly with SAA in June. I had booked a return flight to Port Elizabeth from Perth. A few days prior to my departure I got a call that my Grandma in Botswana had passed away. I flew out to Botswana in stead from Perth, still using SAA and did not catch my leg to P.E. A few days later I continued my trip to P.E, flying out of Botswana… Read more

on SAA and another airline to P.E. When I was scheduled to depart P.E a week later - my return flights to Perth had been cancelled. When I called, they said it was because I did not catch my first flight to P.E. I advised them of the passing of my gran. They did not care.I had to rebook my flight, paying over R9000. When I chased them up a few days ago asking for a refund on re-booking, they said no, even tough I sent them a copy of my grandmothers death certificate to them. I told them that the last thing on my mind was calling them to advise I wouldnt be catching my P.E leg when I flew out. Again they did not care. I flew business class too. Spending extra money on flights and no sympathy with a family death. Unacceptable. No wonder they are going bankrupt

Xmas day special $1 950 Perth to Cape Town to 30 September 2017 not honoured – I received an email Xmas day special $1 950 Perth to Cape Town to 30 September 2017.Called SAA to book 3 tickets a few days before 30 September was told they only have more expensive seats left.,and that I should call a travel agent. The reason why we so desperately want to go as my daughter wants to visit her grand mother and uncle that has… Read more

cancer. For the record the travel agent on the 30 September had seats at this price.When I complained about it received mix messages on 2 different occasions when I called Perth SAA Office.

One employee said the tickets should have been available to 30 September 2017.Another told me when I called that if the travel agent has tickets SAA would have the same and that the only difference to the costs should be the taxes because of the exchange rate.Wrote to SAA customer service which did not bother to reply but prides themselves on customer service. After not hearing from Customer service admin in Perth said they will ask them to reply urgently. Received a response sorry for the late reply a reply that was never forthcoming. Told me to call Johannesburg where the fare was R41 000 approximately $4 100 each. SAA customer service is totally and utterly appalling.

Unprofessional conduct & Deliberate deception – SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS & AIRLINK Senior Management are in the Business of Unprofessional conduct & Deliberate deception whom provides Inaccurate online Web flight details; Deceptive flight changes Without notifying already booked passengers; Distorts False aircraft details on their booking Website & Misleads clients & passengers with False… Read more

advice/expectations…..

SAA & AIRLINK gives the airline industry an Untruthful image & brings their own Airline into Disrepute…..

Recent Obvious Cost Cutting (Without prior Notification to already Booked passengers) = has already Resulted in Passengers changing their Loyalties to another airline such as Qatar, Singapore & Emirates….

Recommend Avoid SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS & AIRLINK - as this Airline are only interested in Quantity/Turnover where Clients are Only treated as another Number & have absolutely No interest in Quality nor your Repeat business…..

If you want to save yourself from much Heartache – for your future Travels recommend you find an Airline whom actually treat you as a Person; are Quality driven in terms of customer service; and genuinely Care about their Clients return as a Repeat Customer…..

SAA & AIRLINK is nowhere near the HIGH STANDARD of other more COMPETITIVE airlines.

Good service overall – I flew South African from Perth to J'Burg and then internally onto Capetown and return. Overall I found the seat comfort and service to be generally good, particularly on the longer leg from Perth to Jo'burg (less so on the return). The service from the SA airport staff in Jo'burg was less than friendly and I suspect the young lady there was just… Read more

having a bad day as she was particularly moody and not that interested in assisting me. It was a 5 minute item, but so no big deal but its the smaller things like this that you remember and which can negatively affect your experience. Overall South African airlines were ok and I would fly with them again.

No care – Flew Perth -JHB.Staff was not concerned about passenger (client) comfort. I have asked a few times for extra water , was told yes and it never arrived.Yes I was economy but it is not free!No ear phones either.Between JHB and CPTwas placed next to a morbidly obese person. Was asked to CLIMBED over him. Expected to help him with B/fast etc.The staff was extremely worried about his comfort will I was ignored.Horrible Horrible Horrible

Great flight, great service – Had a flight late last year, I really did enjoy the flight and service, I hope their standards continue to improve and compete with other airlines. Service was good, food, I would recommend to others if have a chance for an alternative airline to choose from. Hope others have as a good experience as I have! Service, aircraft, food

Can live without it – South African Airlines Flight SA 185 GY 12AUG11 from JKIA for JHB. On final checking by SAA agents, acting as ground crew at gate 10 before entering the departure area, I encountered problems. Incidentally, I am an Australian citizen. I was asked my final destination. I answered “Australia”; I was asked whether I had a Yellow Fever… Read more

inoculation; I answered “Yes” .

I was asked for evidence of the above inoculation, which was buried in my hand luggage. I asked one of the staff what the outcome would be if I could not produce it. The response, was “You will not be able to board this aircraft”

I responded with words to the following effect. “That’s outrageous & I can assure you that I would not be denied entry to Australia, as an Australian citizen if I fail to provide the item to an Australian official at the Australian port of entry.”

Your agent advised me that I was being impolite by using the word “outrageous” on them & that I should refer to SAA management.

I replied & advised that they should get their facts correct before invoking such dramatic steps & that the imposition of this penalty was clearly ridiculous..

Your agent replied that I was abusing them using such language!

I informed that what actually happens at an Australia port of entry, by explaining that if one does not possess such certificate of inoculation, one simply goes aside to a desk after clearing immigration & completes a form. The form is then given back to the passenger & if one has any symptoms within x days of arrival, one provides it to a Doctor, assuming one goes for medical treatment.

They advised me that they were following instruction given by SAA & I advised them that SAA management had got it wrong, with the statement with words to effect ‘its clearly ridiculous policy to prevent a traveller from boarding a plane who does not have this item in hand”. I did find evidence of the inoculation & presented it to the agent for their perusal.

I furthermore added that they should not prevent me from giving feedback to them & that their statement that I was being abusive was clearly incorrect. Moreover that they should be grateful for the information provided to each of SAA’s two agents manning that desk.

The SAA agents handling the foregoing issue resented that I had rocked the boat & I felt threatened that they would prevent me from boarding that flight for providing negative feedback to them.

I am obviously critical that South African Airlines ground agents at JKIA appeared to have the power to remove a travelling passenger, that does not have such item to hand, the impact of which is not inconsequential. I am also upset of the rebuttal of my genuine attempts to impart on them that they they were misinformed as to measures taken at the Australian port of entry on Australian residents, who are not holders of this certificate. The agents were clearly in a position of power to take dramatic steps of an ordinary exchange of information that they didn’t like.

I contacted SAA with the foregoing account to ask for their comments & to be advised what measures & steps they will take to stop the dramatic practice explained above. They have failed to respond thus far. In the meantime travellers, beware of the practice apparently applied on the ground at JKIA!

ground agents at JKIA

Bad – NOTE: Before reading, please note that this review has also been pasted in the Qantas Airline review as our original booking was made thru Qantas and South African Airways is the partner airline that we flew with... My wife and I flew on South African Airways (which is a partner company of Qantas) from Perth to Johannesburg and then return six… Read more

weeks later. I would like to particularly discuss the return flight, details are:

Flight – Qantas Airways (QF) – 304 (Airbus A342)

Date – Monday 10th January 2011.

Flight Time: 21:55

Anyway, time to discuss the flight…

The aircraft was late by one hour departing Johannesburg due to the upgrading of the computer booking system, the issue was in relation to an older computer system and a newer computer ticket booking system not transferring information to the newer system. As a result, there were five people over booked on this flight and this was a little frustrating to most people on board.

Once the five over booked customers were identified, the problem then had to be explained to them and then we had to wait for their baggage to be removed from the airplane as baggage is not allowed to fly without a passenger.

The Pilot apologized for the inconvenience to passengers and at the first announcement admitted that he had no idea as to what was going on… He later explained the issues between the computers and suggested that we send an email to the CEO of South African Airways.

We finally managed to get off the ground and the plane was not comfortable as you would expect in Economy. The aircraft was a Airbus A342 and it was one of the planes that did not have the individual screens in the headrest of the seat in front to allow for personal viewing / listening of videos, music etc.

This plane had the older monitors where they were either stationary on the wall at the front of the section we were sitting in, or; they had the screens that would lower from the ceiling. I think there were approximately nine screens in our compartment. The screen on the wall in the center of our section did not work and the viewing quality of some of the films shown on the monitors was poor to say the least as some of the images suffered interference a little like watching a video that had been re-recorded many, many times. It just wasn’t what a person traveling thousands of kilometers would expect.

I have been asked if I would fly with South African Airways again…

This is a difficult question to answer as I am not certain if others have had similar experiences, however; I would certainly think twice about our experience prior to handing over the $$$. The staff were friendly. The one and a bit hour delay in leaving Johannesburg for Perth and issues with poor quality television monitors, audio systems etc...