SAA Flight Delay, Missed Cruise & Unfair Claim Rejection Case Reference Number: ***

We are lodging a complaint against South African Airways (SAA) regarding a flight delay from OR Tambo to King Shaka on 22 December, which exceeded three hours. Six passengers travelling together (under separate booking references) missed our MSC cruise embarkation as a direct result of this delay.

The delay resulted in unavoidable financial losses, including forced accommodation costs of R18,682 and transport costs of R1,500. Since then, we have been taken from pillar to post, receiving inconsistent and contradictory information from different SAA consultants.

Our claim was declined on the basis that we did not contact SAA after missing the cruise. This is incorrect. We did contact SAA on the same day, and at no point where we advised that additional contact or specific procedures were required. Rejecting our claim based on information that was never disclosed is procedurally unfair and contrary to basic consumer-rights principles.

We are requesting a refund for all reasonable costs incurred while waiting for our return flight on 27 December, which arose solely due to SAA’s flight delay and the subsequent mishandling of this matter.

We request a fair reassessment of our claim and written confirmation of the flight delay.