Poor service at SAA check in counter

I travelled to Abuja Nigeria on the 7th May 2026. I had bought a one way ticket using Qatar Airways because I was not sure when I was going to finish my business there.

I did check in and my boarding pass which clearly stated my destination as Abuja was printed. The official then asked me my return ticket and I explained why I did not have one.

He told me to quickly go to SAA to purchase a return ticket otherwise I was not going to be allowed to board. He knew very well that SAA does not go to Abuja where I was going but he rushed me to that counter giving me only 15 minutes or the boarding gates would be closed before I came back.

I did as I was told then went back to show him and I was let in. While waiting to board I noticed that the return ticket I had just purchased was from Lagos. I thought it was a minor mistake until we landed at Abuja airport only to be told that there were no offices for SAA in Abuja. This meant that I had to book another flight to catch my return flight from Lagos. I got involved in a minor accident that made me immobile for a while so I called SAA Lagos to suspend the ticket until I was better. They told me that they were adding an extra 40 dollars on my new booking unless I got in touch with SAA Johannesburg to issue a new ticket. I sent dozens of emails to Johannesburg asking them to refund my ticket so I could buy a ticket from airlines that depart from Abuja but they never responded.

When I was due to travel back I asked them to issue a new ticket but all I got was a case number. I had to pay 140 dollars to get a new booking from Lagos.

The service was really poor and cruel considering that the gentleman knew that SAA does not go toy destination but he went ahead to refer me to SAA counter to buy a return ticket. The journey cost me 400 dollars extra.