TridentGold flew South African Airways Business, on a A340-300E (29/02/2012 17:53)

Travelling with my daughter on this LHR - JNB flight, I was disappointed, when checking in on line, to find our pre allocated seats had been unallocated and we were haphazardly allocated two seats at the very back of the cabin just in front of the economy class basanets, despite my being an LH Senator (Star Gold) holder.

I mention this because the effort made by the check-in and ground handling team to resolve this was remarkable. Several people completed a jig-saw involving several passenger moves to secure us 4H and K which they presented to us at the gate at final boarding call. Truly outstanding service!

Future travellers note, the business cabin on an Airbus 340-300 has 4 rows (1-4) ahead of the galley and two rows (15 and 16) behind and separated from economy class by a minimum screen.

Once checked -in, T1 was surprisingly quiet and fast track security took only 5 minutes to negotiate. SAA send their passengers to the Star Alliance Lounge which is unremarkable with a mediocre selection of snacks and drinks, no views and very basic seating. We migrated to the BMI Lounge which is bright, great views and a supurb selection of food and drinks plus great working space.

Boarding was very well organised and trouble free and we were soon settled in with Moet champagne, a good amenity bag and excellent range of newspapers and magazines. Departure was spot on time and with a short taxi we were in the air within 20 minutes. The crew were really helpful and seemed determined to do a great job.

Drinks were served within 30 minutes but the meal was not rushed. There were no menus or wine lists available on this flight, but the wine quality was outstanding for business class and scored well in John Platters SA Wine Guide. The food was beautifully presented, more like 1st Class than Business, and tasty too. It was good to see some really healthy options available.

The touch screen entertainment system was operating minutes into the flight and had a reasonable choice of TV, movies and music. The moving map had good information but was fragmented by exercise cartoon every three frames. The earphones were basic and did not seem to be noise cancellation type.
The seats can be adjusted into just about any configuration, and from my perspective, as a tall person were completely acceptable. The fully flat bed was long enough for my frame and wide enough to sleep on the side. A mattress and duvet were provided and worked well.

A full breakfast service was provided 90 minutes out of JNB, once again a great choice with healthy options. The flight touched down 10 miutes early and we landed on the runway close to the terminal buildings avoiding the usual 15 - 20 minute taxi in to the stand. Three other flights had arrived just ahead of us, so immigration was very busy with initially a very long queue. However, with all desks staffed and some intelligent diversion of "foreigners" into the near empty residents line (why can't some larger well known countries do this), we were through in 20 minutes.

Baggage was already waiting and we were checking in for our connecting flight 45 minutes after touching down. In summary, despite the initial hassle with seat allocations, this was a very good flight experience and exceeded expectations. A special thanks to the ground crew at LHR and our cabin crew who did a great job.

TridentGold

HappytobeSilver flew South African Airways Business, on a A340-600 (19/10/2011 10:09)

Recently flew on South African from Johannesberg to Cape Town having connected on AF from Paris.

We arrived at terminal A in JNB and our onward flight left from terminal B. The transfer route was a long walk and not too clearly signposted.

SAA has a premium check-in area for business passengers and we were quickly checked in (take note that luggage is weighed before you approach the check-in desk) and made our way to the lounge.

The lounge was comfortable and had a good selection of food and beverages. Showers were available. Flights are called but only once, so beware and don't wait for the 'final call' announcement as there isn't any.

Boarding was by bus to the aircraft steps.

Once onboard we were quickly settled into our 'longhaul type seat' (an A340 was operating this domestic flight). The cabin was very spacious and light and we were welcomed onboard by the cabin crew who were without exception smiling and friendly..

An excellent lunch was offered which was accompanied by some fine South African wines.

On account of strong headwinds our flight took around 2 hours 10 minutes and we arrived slightly late into a sunny Cape Town on a spring afternoon. We were quickly disembarked and our luggage was waiting on the carousel for us as soon as we had arrived there.

All in all an excellent flight with very good onboard hospitality.

SamWardill flew South African Airways Business, on a A340-600 (01/02/2011 08:36)

Check In: I tried to check in online for our flight SA235 from London Heathrow to Johannesburg (connecting on to Harare). I was travelling with my wife and 16 month old daughter. The online check in worked quite well but, when I saw that the seat selection was not better than the seat I had already been allocated, I decided not to bother entering three sets of passport details and gave up. After a frustrating car journey (no fault of SAA) we arrived at the airport 15 minutes before check-in closed and there was no queue for economy or business check-ins. The check-in lady was pleasant and responded well to my sweet talking (and cuteness of my baby daughter) by not charging us for our excess baggage. However my wife did notice that others were being charged for as little as 3kg overweight. The allowance of 10kg (and no hand baggage) for infants is frankly ridiculous so I would have kicked up a fuss had they tried to charge me.

Lounge: SAA uses the Star Alliance lounge at T1. This lounge has most things most business travellers could wish for. The staff tried to farm us off to the children’s room but we were not having any of it as we needed to feed the baby and there were no high chairs in the baby room (there were no high chairs in the lounge either but at least there were some facilities). The flight was running 30 minutes late but we were glad of this as it gave us chance to feed the baby.

Boarding: The gate was a long walk from the lounge but we were prepared for this having done the same flight the previous year. We arrived at the gate when boarding had started as the flight had been called in the lounge (this was an exception because of the delay, as the lounge usually has no flight calls). The boarding queue was rapid as they had a business class lane. However the ramp was very slow as there was only one for both classes. On boarding the aircraft the steward tried to accost us because of our large number of hand bags but was placated when we told him we were sitting up the front. We did have trouble getting our bags along the very narrow business class aisles.

Departure: Our departure was delayed by about an hour. The flight crew did keep us reasonably well informed but we did not listen closely as we were too busy entertaining baby. We also knew that we had a long connection in Jo’burg so had time to waste.

Seat: We were seated in 2A & C on this A340-600 which was configured 2-2-2. There did not seem to be many seats that stood out as being much better than others. Though 2C (and it’s equivalent on the other side) would not have been very pleasant given their proximity to the toilet entrance and people bumping into you on exit from the toilet. Obviously the centre row is good for access to the aisle and the window seat is good for privacy if you are travelling with a companion (or baby). We had hoped to get a spare seat for the baby but it was not to be on this full flight. The seat itself was one of the least comfortable flat bed seats I had experienced. It had cushions in lots of funny places so was more lie bumpy than lie flat. As previously mentioned, the aisles were very narrow so not good for carrying baby up and down during the night without disturbing other passengers.

IFE: The IFE had a reasonable (but not exactly excellent) selection of on demand entertainment. The TV screen was a good size. The headphones were very basic so I was glad to have invested in a new pair of Audio Technica noise reducing cans before the trip.

Food: The food was quite good. We started with smoked salmon and crab cake starter with a salad and choice of dressings. I then had a fillet steak and my wife had halibut. Both main courses were well served and reasonably good quality. After the main course the menu offered cheese and desert. In reality, when I asked for both, I was told that it was really an either / or option (perhaps the menu should reflect this). In the end I had both as my wife barely touched the desert. The wine selection was good though not topped up during the meal. The selection of non-alcoholic drinks was not great. They did not even have any other varieties of thee excellent South African Ceres juices other than orange. There were no snacks put out for passenger to pick at during the night. This was not an issue for me (as I am a big meal eater rather than a snacker) but did not please my wife. Breakfast was a comprehensive affair with cereals, yoghurts, bread and pastries and a very nice full cooked option. The only let down for breakfast was the poor (instant) coffee. It never ceases to amaze me that airlines think people who travel in business class would find instant coffee acceptable.

Crew: The crew were efficient and pleasant but not exactly welcoming towards our baby child. I realise that the sight of a baby in business probably does not fill crew or other passengers with delight. However, the best way to keep everybody happy is to keep the baby happy. Whilst the parents shoulder most of the responsibility for this, the crew can help. We had some excellent baby friendly crew on the same flight the previous year when travelling in economy.

Arrival & Transfer: On arrival we had a long walk to the boarding gates and a security check before going to the lounge. This is much better for our international connection than for domestic connections in SA (where you have to clear immigration, collect bags and recheck). The lounge was bright and airy with some very welcome showers. The four hour delay until the departure of our onward connection to Harare passed very quickly (partly taken by the late arrival of our long haul flight). Our short haul flight was empty in business (being a Saturday morning) and passed quickly (catching up on the sleep we had missed overnight comforting the baby). On arrival in Harare our luggage arrived with some minor delay and with a lock broken. However I think that the cause of the broken lock was mechanical rather than human as nothing appeared to be missing.

Summary: All together this was a reasonable (if not excellent) long haul business class flying experience. Since BA stopped flying direct some years ago, and Air Zim is the only direct option, this (or the BA / ComAir) indirect option is probably the best way to get to Harare. We were lucky to get a business class Star Alliance redemption which seems good value at only 150% of base miles. Given a free choice I would probably choose BA because the seat is much better but, apart from that, there is little between them.

TridentGold flew South African Airways Business, on a A340-300E (23/03/2010 16:07)

Having had a sleepless night on a Lufthansa ski slope seat on the outbound leg from FRA - JNB my return JNB - MUC on South African was a very enjoyable sleepy business!

The seat in all positions was comfortable and the overall cabin ambience excellent.

Service was attentive and the food well presented although fairly bland. The flight ran on schedule and even with a tight connection in MUC my bags made it.

Very impressive.

canoepunkie flew South African Airways Economy, on a A340-600 (14/01/2009 10:46)

On the way out I had seat 74C which was pretty comfortable. Flying back I made a mess of my booking and ended up with the last seat - a middle one. With a large german businessman on the aisle and a large inexperienced male traveller in the adjoining centre.

Actually I was pretty comfortable and managed about 6 hours sleep: the middle seats have two separate armrests (hurrah!) and the businessman knew the protocol and kept to his own space.

Pretty good flight - I was expecting much worse.

nickhart flew South African Airways Business, on a A340-400E (14/10/2008 08:16)

Flew London Johannesburg on 10/10, one my best flights ever on SAA, good all round, plus very good head Purser, and better than average SAA food. Very comfortable flat bed seat.