#237852 by Decker
09 Sep 2005, 18:59
Mrs D and I had business down in Cape Town and as VS aren't flying direct and Amex had some particularly good offers we bit the bullet and opted to fly South African Airlines 1st class direct to Cape Town.

The limousine was 5 minutes early - always a good thing, and as the driver waited he loaded the car with our bags. The car was a Mercedes saloon so a slight step up from VS. The driver was impeccably polite and soon had us at Heathrow Terminal 1 for out first surprise - no kerbside check in. We were dropped off outside the main terminal with an offer to help with baggage but no meet and greet.

We made our way to a relatively empty checkin and were seen very quickly by a slightly morose check in person. He commented on our preassigned seats and issued a pass to the Cyclad Lounge - the First Class lounge. We made our way to the Lounge and were surprised to see an entrance labelled Business/First. Walking in all became apparent, left for First (of course ;) and Right for Business. The lady checking us in having established that this was our first visit gave us the brief guided tour - menus, fridge, computers, showers, toilets, beds, seating area and smoking area. On entry it looked surprisingly like a BMI lounge even down to the peanut packets. However the menu and attentive service soon put paid to that theory. The menu was pretty much light bites but none the less welcome.

30 minutes before the flight was due to leave a lounge announcement was made and we made our way to the EMPTY gate a few hundred yards away. Everyone else was already boarded so no scrum! On board and proffered our stubs and immediately personally escorted to our seats and handed over to a member of on board crew.The immediate impression was one of space, no walls just very large seats. As we settled into our seats we were offered drinks and sleep suits and amenity kits.

The amenity kits come in a 'Delsey' labelled rubberised feel pouch and contain a brush, a lint remover, a smint packet, toothbrush and toothpaste, mouth wash, moisturiser, facial mist, lip balm, tissues, ear plugs, eye mask and flight socks (with rubberised SAA tread).

[img]http://www.v-flyer.com/photos/1421.jpg[/img]

The sleep suit is proferred in a size judged by the expert eye of one of the FAs on board who got it remarkably right! They're more colourful than the VS ones and feature a bold SAA logo on the back. The label inside explains that these have been hand made...

[img]http://www.v-flyer.com/photos/1422.jpg[/img]

The cabin looked light and spacious and the lack of partitions enhanced this feeling of space. The decor was a little overblown with masses of walnut like finishes but it was well laid out. The equipment could do with a styling overhaul as it falls between modern and retro. The seats had a number of preset positions and the electric operation for the ottoman was welcome. The foldout table was huge but the fold out screen was only about 7'.

[img]http://www.v-flyer.com/photos/1423.jpg[/img]

Apologies for the blur - I didn't want to use flash.

The IFE is V-Portish but with a more dated interface and more limited show selection.

Canap_s - very tasty - were served upon sitting down both hot and cold along with choice of drink.

Safety demonstrations were given, interestingly using one of those big screens at the front of the cabin. Again a cartoon show featuring a character looking disconcertingly like Jeffrey Archer.

Soon after take off more drinks were served and dinner orders taken. The menu was as follows :-

Dinner
Smoked Salmon - accompanied by bocconcini and caponata vegetables
Goats Cheese complemented by a pineapple and chilli salsa grilled vegetables and water cress
Seasonal Salad offered with the choice of a yoghurt and shallot dressing or red wine vinaigrette

Fillet of Beef accompanied by a mushroom Madeira sauce, dauphinoise potatoes, carrots and broccoli
Seared Red Snapper with a citrus jus, parsley parisienne potatoes, carrots and asparagus spears
Herb Crust chicken served with a roasted tomato sauce basmati rice grilled baby fennel and courgettes
Mushroom and Roquefort Agnolotii Pasta in a provencale tomato sauce, topped with pesto verde, sun-blush tomatoes green courgettes and yellow patty pans

Cheese Board Cooleney, Waxed Cheddar, Stilton, Hereford Hop and Bougon Goat Cheese

Dessert
Vanilla and Maple Walnut Ice Cream with a rich chocolate sauce or a fresh mango fruit coulis complemented by flaked almonds and an orange wafer spiral
Banana Toffee Explosion.

The food when it came was better than average. Presentation of the salad was a little pre-prepared and the snapper was a bit strong in taste but it was nice to eat with metal forks and spoons (knives still plastic) and to be waited on so attentively. No sooner were you finished with something than it would be replaced and always with a smile and 'Mr Decker'.

Interestingly Mrs D did hear one regular flyer complaining that the food was getting worse! So the grass is not always greener!

The cheese selection was excellent as was the port that came with it. Throughout the accompanying wines were excellent and the replacement water bottles kept appearing as though by magic.

SAA offer 'your own personal butler' and this definitely proved to be the case in so far as to having your needs anticipated. The make up of the bed is trickier than with VS but it is accomplished quickly and skilfully by a tag team of crew. Mrs D opted for an early night so I
sat up and made some notes. The Cabin Services Director noticed this so we got into a very interesting chat about respective airline's strengths and weaknesses. He was justifiably proud of SAA and the role of the crew. It was interesting to talk to someone else at such a level in another airline and to hear how they saw things.

Eventually I opted to sleep and settled down with QC2s clamped on. The bed was very comfortable - yes - more so than the suite! And try as I might I still can't perfect a sleeping pattern that doesn't press the cups into my head or cause an annoying feedback. The cabin was a bit warm for me so my sleep was a bit restless (chatting to the CSD the next day he explained that it was maintained at 23 degrees. Well I keep my car at 22 and Mrs D and I frequently set the bedroom to 18 so no wonder I thought it was warm). I awoke 3 hours before landing, rehydrated then fell straight back to sleep - so soundly that the CSD and Mrs D both had to shake me to bring me back!

I was offered a fresh juice then my bed was unmade for breakfast, which was a choice of any of

Full Breakfast
Selected Fruit Juices
Sliced Fresh Fruit
Natural or fruit flavoured Youghurt
Cereal
Boiled Eggs cooked to order
Chive and parsley omelette
Grilled Back Bacon
Lincolnshire Beef Sausage
Tomato Concass_
Saut_ed Herbed Button Mushrooms
A selection of cold meats and cheese
Bread Basket Assortment

and very good it was too! Even better the coffee was individual French presses with unlimited replenishments!

Over the course of the flight I learned many interesting things from the CSD including the fact that it is SAA policy not to OpUp Plats to 1st unless they are overbooked in business. OpUping Plats from Coach to Business is fairly standard. Given the quality of the business product that is almost like Y->J on VS so quite a good deal! This came about because I'd checked loads before travelling and whilst they'd changed in Business they hadn't in First. Seems SAA don't want to devalue the 1st product.

Soon we were approaching Table Mountain sticking out through a very low cloud base. The crew eagerly pointed this and other landmarks to any interested PAX. A smooth landing and taxi to a good stand (national carrier so very close to immigration!). A PA was made for passengers to remain in place and then one of the 1st crew asked all 1st passengers to follow her to the door through business whilst other crew ensured that deplaning priorities were followed!

Consequently we were some of the first off the plane and therefore reasonably placed to get to immigration - sadly behind a Malaysian 747 that beat us to it. This led to a 20 minute wait at immigration but the '2 clear pages' for Visa proved to be a joke - he just put the stamp where he could find room.

Mrs D collected the bags whilst I contacted lost luggage to explain that my Dryzabone was still in the Cyclad Lounge at LHR [:I] (teach me not to hang things up) - it will apparently be here at the hotel with me tomorrow. Made our way out to meet our driver and debriefed each other. Heresy as it may be, the service was outstanding - better for a first class product than Virgin's. Perhaps this isn't really a surprise, if you eat out at Gordon Ramsey's at 200 a head you want the waiter to call you 'Sir'. In a sense VS are happy with 1 Michelin star and pitch their service accordingly. This is not to knock VS Service simply to say that if I'm paying first class prices for a service I'd prefer the SAA style to the VS style. The service was direct, non intrusive and friendly. Being addressed by name certainly makes a difference and the more comfortable beds do make for a more comfortable nights sleep.

All in all a brilliant flight experience marred only by some ground side things.

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