V-Flyer

I needed to take a business trip to Jo'Burg and Cape Town and because of last minute logistics I was unable to do my 'book ages in advance and get a Z' and demand is such on the route that an S->G is well nigh impossible. Price shopping showed Travelocity with an F with SAA cheaper than a J with VS so SAA it was.

I opted to return from JNB because the Cyclad lounge is SAA's flagship lounge and I wished to compare it to the Club House.

I arrived at JNB from CPT on a J fare with SAA. Not really worth the money - very limited recline, poor food and entertainment on a screen at the front. A short walk to the international terminal revealed a nice 'First Class' kerbside checkin with a welcoming lounge feel. My bag was weighed and tagged (incidentally this is how E-Ticketing should be - hand over a passport, confirm the flight and that's it). and I was walked into an internal lounge to complete passport checks etc. Another door opened into Fast Track and in no time at all I was checked through and into another passport control. From here it was left and up the escalators to the Cyclad lounge.

I checked my bags in and then wondered off for some gifts and duty free. Returning to the lounge I decided to have a shower before exploring further. The attendant in the shower area indicated that all showers were free so I could take my pick. I chose the nearest and was pleasantly surprised by the size of the room. The toiletries were Aloe Vera Crabtree and Evelyn. The towel bale wan't as good as the CH and I prefer the CH toiletries. I'm also not a fan of shower gels - I infinitely prefer soap. I buzzed the intercom to request some but there was no response. Popping my head out the door elicited the response that there was no soap just gel. The shower facilities were a power shower with adjustable side shower heads. Three out of four worked. The room was clean and tidy.

Shower over with I walked into the main lounge area. A small selection of magazines were available to the left and a seated food area with bar to the right. The main lounge opened up into several seating areas with a reading room to the left and a smoking room to the right. I settled into an armchair opposite the reading room and broke out my laptop. WiFi was there but not cheap so I opted for minimum time possible. Still at least the signal was strong unlike the problems I'd had with Telekom the entire 2 weeks I'd been in SA. I'd grabbed a Castle beer and a bottle of water on the way to my seat so started checking email. Persistent flashes from the reading room soon became annoying. Two young tipsy girls were using the reading room as a private photo studio and couldn't get a shot they liked. After about ten minutes of this I wandered over and offered to 'take their photo for them so they could get one they were happy with and then stop annoying the rest of us with their flashes'. They seemed happy with this and whilst I don't think the resultant photo was any better than their own they stopped with the flashing.

Returning to my seat I checked through the menu on offer. CH food is better. I went for the 'South African Snacks' (Biltong, mixed nuts and dro_ wors) and a club sandwich. The wors was good, the biltong less so. Nuts are nuts. The sandwich seemed to have been fried and had a strange texture.

The wines on offer were good quality South African. I had a glass of red before making my way to the gate. The trek for the 234 put some of VS's LHR treks to shame and there was no signposted priority boarding. I joined the back of a long queue but then a checkin person at the front stood to one side and yelled something about 'Business/First' so I strolled to the front and was soon on my way down the gangway.

Unlike on the last trip with SAA I was not escorted to the FC cabin but simply told to 'walk to the front'. Entering the sanctuary of the cabin (11 seats) I was immediately offered a drink, a sleep suit and my coat hanging by the FSM equivalent who was to prove to be equally attentive all flight. My duty free and purchases were stowed in the front wardrobe and I quickly changed into the sleep suit, hanging my clothes in the front wardrobe. Settling back into my chair I waited for my fellow pax of whom there were 5. As noted in a previous TR SAA don't upgrade to F. I'd opted for seat 1K and so couldn't watch them board but before long everyone was on board and we were rolling back.

Canap_s were offered shortly after take off and I settled back to watch Tsotsi.... and waited and waited. Seems that V:Port isn't the only AVOD to have problems - this was a Rockwell system and needed two reboots before it would work. Still well worth waiting for - a very enjoyable film.

Food arrived about 45 minutes into the flight and I opted for the Viognier to go with (good) seafood salad. As a main I went for the Springbok shank with a good red Vansha. This was very disappointing as it was gristly and the vegetables were too sweet! The espresso poached pear part of the main was interesting. Port followed with a good cheese selection then it was back to Vansha and finishing the film.

All other pax bar one were already asleep so at the film conclusion I walked off to the toilets to clean my teeth and allow the crew to make my bed up. The cabin was too hot BUT the three vents over the bed provided sufficient cool air that I could get comfortable. I prefer the privacy of the suite as SAA beds are 'open' but I still manage to sleep more in SAA. I managed to sleep with my Bose on by the simple expedient of using two pillows and arranging the side of my head so that the headphone cup fell between the two pillows.

At 05:00 breakfast was served but I opted for an extra hour of sleep - settling for coffee when I woke up. Breakfast seemed better than the VS offering tho' that's not a fair comparison as I never actually got to taste it.

We'd arrived early so were put into a holding pattern at LHR. There were quite a few planes holding but we seemed to be one of the first to be allowed to land. Coats were handed out just prior to landing and after landing and taxiing to stand disembarkation commenced - in a manner that was a major disappointment over previous times. Normally SAA walk F passengers through the J cabin and hold back J and Y until F have deplaned. This time this didn't happen so I didn't actually get off the plane until after all of F all of J and about 50 of Y. I made this up by power walking and reached immigration with a queue of about 5 people in front of me.

As I'd approached LHR I'd been tussling with what to do about customs as I suspected I was over having bought Mrs D's cigarettes and a box of Bolivars for me. I can never remember tobacco rules. So I opted to do the proper thing and go through the red channel. No one was there but a sign instructed us to 'pick up the red phone and speak to a customs officer' along with another one basically saying 'And if you don't it's an offence'. I picked up the 'phone and explained my dilemma. 'Hmm came the reply - you're over the limit. The limit is 200 cigarettes or 50 cigars'

'But don't worry about it - off you go'...

So straight through and out to find my driver waiting for me. He'd parked in a very close location and so we were on our way in no time. He didn't have Sat Nav as it kept crashing so I had to provide directions but this is no biggie living so close to LHR. He was very interested in new South African music so he borrowed my 'Freshly Ground' CD to play as we drove. If you like ambient jazzy lounge/electronica check out GoldFish from Cape Town - they'll be in the UK later in the year - they're just signed to a small label over here.

I was home by 07:30 less than an hour after landing - much to Mrs D's surprise.

So conclusion - VS still get some things better with their J product than SAA with their F but if given the choice of paying the same or less to fly SAA and being requalified for Au already I'd go for SAA.