Many of the passengers lived!

Anonymous wrote:First class is fine, but people being able to take livestock into coach with them kind of bothered me especially on long flights.

Really? What sort of livestock? Could you take a goat or a small pig? That would probably interfere with my enjoyment, but would make for a memorable experience.

First class is fine, but people being able to take livestock into coach with them kind of bothered me especially on long flights.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here: I have flown SAA to JNB when he was an infant and I didn't like the service. Very rude cabin crew. Unless I have a choice, I won't fly SAA. Same way I feel about Turkish Airlines. Rude and racist.

Never flown on Ethiopian but I have heard some great things. Willing to try them especially with the rates being so good. Will definitely come back and provide a review.

On SAA - racist cabin crew against whites? I know there have been some suits saying they denied white pilots, but I'd be surprised to hear that attitude was rampant with cabin crew.

LOL. Really? Flight attendants are the worst.

Ethiopian is great. I fly it regularly. The stop in Dublin on the return is just to re-fuel. You don't get off, though there is the inconvenience of having to put your seats up, etc for landing/take-off. Flying with a child I might myself consider going with the direct on SAA even for an extra $500, but as an airline I wouldn't hesitate with Ethiopian.

Anonymous wrote:OP here: I have flown SAA to JNB when he was an infant and I didn't like the service. Very rude cabin crew. Unless I have a choice, I won't fly SAA. Same way I feel about Turkish Airlines. Rude and racist.

Never flown on Ethiopian but I have heard some great things. Willing to try them especially with the rates being so good. Will definitely come back and provide a review.

On SAA - racist cabin crew against whites? I know there have been some suits saying they denied white pilots, but I'd be surprised to hear that attitude was rampant with cabin crew.

OP here: I have flown SAA to JNB when he was an infant and I didn't like the service. Very rude cabin crew. Unless I have a choice, I won't fly SAA. Same way I feel about Turkish Airlines. Rude and racist.

Never flown on Ethiopian but I have heard some great things. Willing to try them especially with the rates being so good. Will definitely come back and provide a review.

Like Ethiopian- always take it IAD-Addis- Nairobi thrice a year. Better than my Kenya Airways!

Anonymous wrote:Too bad you can't fly SAA, I love it

Beware new child entry requirements for S.A.

Can you elaborate?

I would not be super excited about JNB ADD DUB IAD with a four year old. There is a non-negligible chance of something going wrong...

I work for an international airline and many of my colleagues rate the airline quite highly. Service is good but delays and cancellations are certainly more common than with sAA or BA.

When I lived in Africa, SAA, Royal Air Maroc and Ethiopian had the best reputations on the continent. Expats flew Ethiopian all the time. Some of the connections through Addis were very late at night, which wasn't as convenient.

What I have heard is that planes reflect the highest regulations on any leg they touch. So for example, your ADD-JNB flight might be on an older or less "upgraded" aircraft, because the plane stays within Africa, which has looser regulations than, for example, the US or Europe. I have no idea if this is true. (Though I've flown SAA, both in and out of NY and also within Africa exclusively, and the NY flights were on shinier, newer planes.)

Too bad you can't fly SAA, I love it

Beware new child entry requirements for S.A.

I did a short flight from Nairobi to Addis. Nice big plane, friendly staff, no issues

4.5 year old and I are flying from IAD to JNB in early Sept. So far this airline has the best rates. I am talking at least $250 each in savings ($500 total). The connections are IAD-ADD-JNB and return is IAD-ADD-DUB-IAD.

What has been your experience with this carrier?