Getting around South Africa with South African Airways (SAA)

In this trip report installment, we are focusing on two flights we took within South Africa. These flights were to get us to and from our Safari in Sabi Sands. The first flight was from Johannesburg to Hoedspruit. The second one took us from Nelspruit to Cape Town. The first flight was on a propeller Bombardier Dash 8-Q400, while the second flight was operated by an A319.

This is part of a broader trip report and you can find the other installments below:

Chicago to Paris onward to Johannesburg, South Africa in Air France Business Class.
South African Airways on inner country flights
4 days on safari in the Sabi Sands Game Reserve
A review of the Westin in Cape Town
Exploring Cape Town
Emirates First class from Cape Town to Dubai and onward to New York – Part One
Emirates First Class Fun – Part Two

We only stayed one night in Johannesburg before we took off for the Safari. With the hotel literally next to the terminal, we checked in and dropped our bags off about 90 minutes before our flight; just to be on the safe side. Bag drop and security were incredibly fast and we were through within 10 minutes.

Since we had some time to kill, we found a Priority Pass lounge close to our gate. We have access to that lounge network thanks to our Chase Sapphire Reserve card. Thanks to some free Wi-Fi, we caught up on the news and enjoyed some snacks before it was time to board.

Boarding at a remote stand

The plane was at a remote stand and all passengers were gathered in a waiting area. We were then bused to the plane and one bus was enough for all passengers. Everyone on our flight looked like they were on their way to a Safari. We were treated to a propeller plane for this short flight. Within minutes everyone was up the stairs and ready to go. To our surprise, we actually took off 15 minutes before schedule. A completely new feeling coming from crowded US airports.

The Bombardier Dash 8-Q400 was set up in a 2-2 configuration and our seats were on the right side of the plane. The seats were a bit old, but still had some good padding and above average legroom. This made for a comfortable flight with a flight time of right around an hour. The cabin crew provided water bottles before take-off. During the flight they came through to check if anyone needed anything else. I thought it was a nice touch to have water right away, as it was hot on the plane until we got airborne.

The best part about this flight were the views. We went over the South African country side and what seemed like the Grand Canyon with spectacular views which kept us occupied the whole flight.

Landing at a military airstrip

Hoedspruit airport is technically a military airstrip that has some commercial air traffic. It certainly feels like you are landing in the middle of the bush. There is no real terminal to speak off. You just walk right out to the curb where the luggage was brought out. There were about 20 different Safari operated cars picking up passengers to bring them to their specific lodges. We also had a driver waiting that would take us the 90min drive to our lodge. Right when we headed out of the airport area we spotted our first giraffe and had to take the obligatory picture of our first wildlife encounter.

Hello Mr or Mrs Giraffe! Happy as one can be!

Sad goodbye and on our way to Cape Town

Nelspruit airport was the closest airport with direct flight service to Cape Town. It was again about a 90min drive to get there. After dropping our bags off we had some time to kill, as security would only open once you were ready to board your flight. To our surprise, there was actually a priority pass lounge. While there was not much to the lounge but it had some couch seating, cold water and some much-needed AC. The terminal was otherwise open air and hot and humid.

Boarding again was via stairs directly at the plane. The cool thing was, that we walked right from the terminal to the plane (~100m). This plane felt more modern and was definitely fairly new. The seats and legroom were the same as on our previous flight. Water bottles again were provided to all passengers before take-off. The flight time was about two hours, but we slept most of the way on this one. Those 5am wake up calls on Safari had taken a little toll on us. For the rest of our time in Cape Town, we didn’t have a set agenda and we were looking forward to that.

How did I book these flights?

I did the original search through Google Flights, which I find easy to use and a powerful search engine. We then booked these flights through the South African Airways (SAA) website. While miles options were available, they were not as attractive and we paid cash for these flights instead.

Cash Cost of flights:

The four one-way tickets cost us about $500 for economy seats. We credited these flights to United, as they are both part of the Star Alliance to earn some miles.

Summary:

While I had heard mixed messages, both these flights were surprisingly pleasant and not very crowded. The legroom was above average. With both flights less than two hours, we spent most of the time looking out the window and seeing the incredible countryside. SAA was a comfortable way to get to where we needed to be and wouldn’t hesitate to fly them again.

Anyone else has experience with them?