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Connecting thru Joburg to another African country.......and why it might be a good idea to overnight in JNB.
I am currently on a 3 week trip to Angola and RSA, with the Angolan part of the trip being business related and the RSA part being a short hunt with Paw Prints Safari followed by week long hunt with @Game 4 Africa Safaris.
I flew from Houston to JFK in New York and overnighted there. Had to do this because of the 11 am departure of the SAA flight. B-class check in for SAA Flt 204, 15 hr. nonstop to JNB, was quick and easy (completely separate check in desk from Economy Class) and use of the Swiss Air lounge was nice. The flight and food service was decent, but the B-class flat bed seats are not very comfortable on this Airbus (might be long enough for a 5'9" person, but not a 6'2" person.)
The attraction of SAA Flt 204 is that it arrives into JNB around 8 am, making it viable to make a connection to another African country. Since my final destination was Angola, my company made the booking to connect on a 9:45 am flight to Luanda, Angola. When I checked my bag at JFK, I confirmed that it was checked all the way through to Luanda and I didn't need to collect it in JNB and make the transfer myself.
Just prior to landing at JNB, I asked a flight attendant if the plane was going to park at the terminal or out on the tarmac and transfer passengers by bus, which seems to be the norm. The flight attendant went and checked and reported we'd be parking at the terminal and I was relieved, thinking this would help with the relatively tight (1 hr. 45 min.) connection. Unfortunately, we parked out on the tarmac and had to be bused to the arrival terminal.
Since I was ticketed and connecting on another international flight, I did not have to go through immigration and customs. Thinking this was going to be a breeze, I followed the arrows "Connecting International Flights" or something like that. Road block number 1 was some sort of passport control check point, similar to check point right after security screening. The line was short and moved pretty quickly. Once pass this point, needed to go up one floor. Road block number 2, the escalator was out of service and blocked off so you could not simply walk up it. The line for the elevator was quite long, as there weren't any other options. Finally made it to the main floor of the international terminal and then had to hustle to get to the far end where Gates 21-30 are located and get on another bus to get to my plane.
Nice, short 3 hr flight to Luanda, arriving a bit after noon time. It has been about 6 years since I've been to Luanda and the airport terminal has been significantly upgraded and modernized. Cleared immigration super quick and then waited and waited for my bag to come on the carousel. It never arrived. I went to the Lost and Found desk and filed a claim. Another flight from Joburg was due in around 8pm and I was told my bag might be on that flight. No such luck. Saturday morning, I had to go to a normal company safety briefing and both our Security and Travel personnel got involved with helping me locate my bag. We went back out to the airport and checked with the Lost and Found desk again. It appeared that my claim was not filed properly the day before, as they couldn't find me online. So I filed another report and a tracking number was issued to me. Why SAA does this is beyond me. The checked bag claim ticket, with bar code and corresponding number doesn't suffice I guess, so another number gets issued. The SAA website has a page for lost bag tracking. It's now been two complete days and SAA still doesn't know where my bag is. Luckily, I always carry a couple of changes of clothes in my carry on.
Based on this, I doubt if I will connect through JNB again, especially a tight connection of less than 2 hrs. I will fly into JNB and will always plan to overnight and/or collect my bag directly.
I am currently on a 3 week trip to Angola and RSA, with the Angolan part of the trip being business related and the RSA part being a short hunt with Paw Prints Safari followed by week long hunt with @Game 4 Africa Safaris.
I flew from Houston to JFK in New York and overnighted there. Had to do this because of the 11 am departure of the SAA flight. B-class check in for SAA Flt 204, 15 hr. nonstop to JNB, was quick and easy (completely separate check in desk from Economy Class) and use of the Swiss Air lounge was nice. The flight and food service was decent, but the B-class flat bed seats are not very comfortable on this Airbus (might be long enough for a 5'9" person, but not a 6'2" person.)
The attraction of SAA Flt 204 is that it arrives into JNB around 8 am, making it viable to make a connection to another African country. Since my final destination was Angola, my company made the booking to connect on a 9:45 am flight to Luanda, Angola. When I checked my bag at JFK, I confirmed that it was checked all the way through to Luanda and I didn't need to collect it in JNB and make the transfer myself.
Just prior to landing at JNB, I asked a flight attendant if the plane was going to park at the terminal or out on the tarmac and transfer passengers by bus, which seems to be the norm. The flight attendant went and checked and reported we'd be parking at the terminal and I was relieved, thinking this would help with the relatively tight (1 hr. 45 min.) connection. Unfortunately, we parked out on the tarmac and had to be bused to the arrival terminal.
Since I was ticketed and connecting on another international flight, I did not have to go through immigration and customs. Thinking this was going to be a breeze, I followed the arrows "Connecting International Flights" or something like that. Road block number 1 was some sort of passport control check point, similar to check point right after security screening. The line was short and moved pretty quickly. Once pass this point, needed to go up one floor. Road block number 2, the escalator was out of service and blocked off so you could not simply walk up it. The line for the elevator was quite long, as there weren't any other options. Finally made it to the main floor of the international terminal and then had to hustle to get to the far end where Gates 21-30 are located and get on another bus to get to my plane.
Nice, short 3 hr flight to Luanda, arriving a bit after noon time. It has been about 6 years since I've been to Luanda and the airport terminal has been significantly upgraded and modernized. Cleared immigration super quick and then waited and waited for my bag to come on the carousel. It never arrived. I went to the Lost and Found desk and filed a claim. Another flight from Joburg was due in around 8pm and I was told my bag might be on that flight. No such luck. Saturday morning, I had to go to a normal company safety briefing and both our Security and Travel personnel got involved with helping me locate my bag. We went back out to the airport and checked with the Lost and Found desk again. It appeared that my claim was not filed properly the day before, as they couldn't find me online. So I filed another report and a tracking number was issued to me. Why SAA does this is beyond me. The checked bag claim ticket, with bar code and corresponding number doesn't suffice I guess, so another number gets issued. The SAA website has a page for lost bag tracking. It's now been two complete days and SAA still doesn't know where my bag is. Luckily, I always carry a couple of changes of clothes in my carry on.
Based on this, I doubt if I will connect through JNB again, especially a tight connection of less than 2 hrs. I will fly into JNB and will always plan to overnight and/or collect my bag directly.