WONDERFUL AND RELAXING
Written: Jan 17 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Good entertainment system, economy on upperdeck, good drinks
Cons: Average food, somewhat poor ground services
The Bottom Line: South African Airways is the best way to fly into Africa (Southern Africa) in world class style compareable to top European airlines as direct and as cheap as possible.
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| eddie_ho_sa's Full Review: South African Airways |
JNB to JFK on South African Airways, Economy Class
Check in at the airport that evening was disastrous as two SAA flights were bound for USA were only 30 minutes apart from each other. What eventually happened is that check-in desks were assigned so that both flights shared the same desks, causing the passengers of the later flight to check in first and the passengers of the earlier flight to check in later. This was re-organized but the wait was painful in the overcrowded lines. I was pre seated to the upper deck by the exit. South African Airways offers economy class on upper deck on 747-400 flights, which is excellent as it is quiet.
Once across customs, everything was a breeze. A brief security check where they checked your carry-on luggage and body searched you for weapons as part of the “fly to USA” security was done by friendly and well trained security officers. We were given a disc and had to return it after we boarded the plane for security reasons.
I was shown to my seat in the upper deck by the exit where leg space was unlimited. (However, normal seats offer 34” pitch). Every seat had their own personal TV screen with a remote control that serves as a telephone function and a gaming function too to play games. The seats are equipped with the state of the art Sony P@ssport system which allows you to seamlessly watch videos of your own choice, pause, rewind or replay them at your own disgretion. The other advantage of sitting in upperdeck is if you were at a window seat, there was a counter / table and a cupboard for you to place items in right by your seat before the window. It feels almost like first class without the wide seat and large incline.
On the seat there is a ‘bag’ with toothbrush, toothpaste, socks, and eye covers, as well as a small pillow, blanket and the menu for tonight’s meal.
The flight was delayed slightly due to some technical difficulties but we were on our way as soon as the informative safety video was finished. The plane took off very comfortably flying off into the middle of the night.
Right after take off drinks were served – there is a huge variety of drinks where I ordered tomato juice, coke and a bottle of mineral water all at the same time. The flight attendants were friendly and were willing to give, unlike other airlines.
The drink trolley came to collect the garbage and the P@SSPORT system were ‘turned on’ for our use. The Passport system is easy to use with its multifunctional remote control and runs on Windows technologies (I observed). However, grabbing hold of the remote control may be a difficult task due to the fact that it is “inside” your seat. One may have to “stand up” a bit to grab it. Otherwise you could just leave it handing outside like I did. There were a variety of up-to-date movies including spiderman, ice-age, etc.
After about 30 min the drink trolley came again for more drinks. The flight attendants are very good with coming around with the drink trolleys to give you more fluid for the flight. After that dinner was served where you had two choices between beef or chicken. The food was hot, but average, although the dessert was superb.
After dinner the flight attendants came with the drink trolleys again. They also had more drinks, peanuts and other snacks by the galley on a tray for you to take. Duty free shopping trolleys came around where items were sold in US dollars and were pretty expensive.
The lights were dimmed and the flight lasted without any disturbance and only minor turbulence.
We arrived in Ille de Sal for a stop as scheduled (even though we left late) and a security check was done on board. This stop was annoying as the aircraft became stuffy and one had to stay awake (in the middle of 2AM) while the security check was in process. This is again to supplement USA’s regulations. The flight took off, with more refreshments. Lights were turned off again shortly after takeoff.
Next morning flight attendants came around with hot, moistened ‘towels’. Refreshing juices were served to keep passengers drinking fluid throughout the flight. Breakfast was served with hot rolls, coffee or tea. Things started going fast as we prepared to descend in the morning.
A US Airport orientation video was shown and applications for customs were handed out. (They were handed out at dinner as well but I got new ones as I made mistakes). Flight attendants started collecting the accumulated garbage. (That is one complaint I have: Everything is wrapped in plastic bags which accumulates and can be a real pain as there are so much garbage on the floor or under your seat).
The flight arrived 30 minutes early, but the customs at USA side was slow, which made up for the time gained. The flight was fast, comfortable and friendly, and certainly rewarding for the amount of drinks you can get. Liquor is free of charge.
Overall, SAA’s flights are superb and I will be sure to return to South Africa on SAA again!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
eddie_ho_sa
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Reviews written: 4
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