SAA worst flight ever

<p>I am a South African citizen living in South Korea, as teachers in South Korea we only receive 18 vacation days a year a flight to South Africa can take anything from 16 to 35 hours. So with that in mind a lot of planning go into a vacation. My fiancé is from America we met in Korea and this vacation was the big one where he would not only ask my parents for my hand in marriage (he is very old school), but it would also be the first time for him to go to Cape Town and experience the beauty South Africa has to offer.</p> <p>Being a South African I am well aware of the bad reputation of South African Airlines (SAA), I have heard the stories of delayed and cancelled flight, bad customer service, missing and delayed luggage. So with a lot of hesitation my fiancé and I booked our tickets on SAA, the only reason for this was because of a 1h 22min layover in Hong Kong. We made sure we took all the possible insurance because intuition just told me something is going to happen. Looking back on the cost of all the insurance included we could’ve just booked a flight on a more reliable airline.</p> <p>It all started on the 10th of February a night before out flight, I received an email from CheapOair saying that our flight from Seoul to Hong Kong has been delayed with three hours which resulted in us having a further delay in Hong Kong of a 23h50min. This is 22h 28h longer than what we booked out tickets for (the only reason we booked these tickets in the first place). I immediately phoned SAA but I was informed that their CUSTOMER SERVICE working hours are only from Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm (so if you have a problem over weekends it’s your own problem). It’s important to keep in mind that they are an international company that flies all over the world with no customer service over weekends. They don’t even have a skeleton staff. Luckily for us we have a very persuasive Korean friend that got us on an earlier flight that would leave us with only an hour to transit. On arrival at Incheon International Airport I asked that airline to make sure that my luggage are clearly marked they said it was (it didn’t even say priority). I also asked the airline if they could inform SAA ground staff in Hong Kong to assist us when we landed and they just said that they are not associated with SAA so they can’t (or won’t it’s debatable) help us. I talked to CheapOair because I booked the tickets through them and they just said I have to phone the SAA ground staff myself in Hong Kong. Needless to say we ran through Hong Kong airport and made the flight. On the South African Airlines flight 287 we had extremely rude flight attendance whom are clearly not trained on dealing with people from different cultures. The whole one side of the plains (ours included) inflight entertainment didn’t work. In the beginning the flight attendants pretended to care by saying they reset it and it will be on in 15min. 13 Hours later it still didn’t work.</p> <p>So after such a stressful time transferring one would think thing could only look up. We arrived at O.R Tambo on the 12th of Feb and as predicted my luggage are not with us. We had to report the missing luggage but there where no one at the SAA counters (because it’s a weekend and they don’t work over weekends) so Air Mauritius had to assist SAA passengers. We flew to Cape Town the next day and I was assured that my luggage will be delivered the next day Monday the 13th of Feb. Being stupid enough to believe them I didn’t inquire about any form of incentive like a toothbrush. Monday I phoned them three times to inquire about my luggage and every time I got told it’s in transit. Never once did anyone tell me that baggage department working hours are from 8am till 4pm. My final call to baggage department to inquire about interim expenses was past 4pm on Monday (36hours without my luggage) I got told that authorization is only granted when your luggage are missing which mine wasn’t because it’s at the airport in Cape Town this bit of information did not help me a since I still didn’t have my luggage it is also not what their brochure said “You may purchase interim items to carry you over when authorised to do so” nowhere does it mention that your luggage had to be missing to receive authorization it further states that “we will leave no stone unturned to trace your baggage and deliver it to you in the shortest time possible”. I also have proof that that was a lie since my luggage where only checked in on flight SA363 at 18:15 on the 13th of Feb to Cape Town (two hours after they told me my bags are already in Cape Town). This meant that they knew that I wouldn’t receive it that day but they still **** to me.</p> <p>Tuesday 14 Feb I woke up with still no luggage eventually 50hour later I phoned the baggage department again and they just past me on to other people, eventually after I got really angry they said oh they did try to call me (I sat next to my friend when they phoned her the phone literally rang once and before she could answer they ended the call) I asked why they didn’t phone again and they said they didn’t know. Eventually OVER 50HOURS later I received my luggage.</p> <p> </p> <p>Till today after countless emails I still haven’t heard anything back from SAA not an apology not even any acknowledgment of the problem I have. I have never felt as helpless as a customer. It was not how I expected to start my vacation. It was extremely stressful, exhausting and uncomfortable. CheapOair said that it is not their fault since they only sell tickets I however feel that if you put your name on something then you are somewhat responsible because I am not only a SAA customer with a problem but also an CheapOair customer, neither of which I hope I will ever need to use again.</p> <p> </p> <p> </p>