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Find First Class Flights to South Africa

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Thu 6/6
Thu 13/6

FAQs for South Africa first class flights

  • How does KAYAK find such good deals on First Class tickets to South Africa?

    KAYAK is a travel search engine. That means we look across the web to find the best prices we can for our users. With over 2 billion flight queries processed yearly, we are able to display a variety of prices and options on flights to South Africa for economy class as well as First Class travelers.

  • What is the best airline for first class flights to South Africa?

    The highest-rated airline by KAYAK users offering first class flights to South Africa is Delta, with an overall rating of 8.0.

Top 5 airlines flying to South Africa

 
Need help choosing which airline to fly first class to South Africa? KAYAK airline reviews give an overall score for each airline based on loads of factors, including comfort, boarding, in-flight entertainment and more, to make your decision easier. See airline scores according to verified KAYAK customer reviews.
8.1
EmiratesOverall score based on 3995 reviews
8.2Boarding
8.3Crew
8.1Comfort
7.9Food
8.3Entertainment
Airline reviews

we bought trip insurance from you and could not use it. 'underrated' only return 50 % of trip cost. my doctor told me i have stage 4 cancer and that I might not live till the end of the month..

2.0 MediocreAnonymous, May 2024EWR - ATH
Read more about Emirates reviews

we bought trip insurance from you and could not use it. 'underrated' only return 50 % of trip cost. my doctor told me i have stage 4 cancer and that I might not live till the end of the month..

Emirates is always great experience, however, they should reopen their lounge in Istanbul. The IGA lounge is not worth it

I am going to be just factual, not bad mouthing nor complaining, but this was my experience. With 3 pieces of luggage, I was told the flight from Mumbai to Dubai was cancelled due to flood. This was told not by the airport board which still showed the regular time of departure, but general stuff at the airport. No Emirates stuff around to direct the transfer passengers of the cancelled flights. By the departure counters with crowds of people, one by one, angry, frustrated, urgent conversations were going on. No announcement were made, no postings being seen, just private conversations. I still have 5+ hours of layover, so I let more urgent people settled first. However, the fact that no communication of when, what and where I should go was very unsettling. Basically no time limit waiting means, no meal, no sleep, no step away, no planning, no change plan, no telling of the family what to do. Nobody was able to tell you anything but asked you to wait, no chair, no space, no facility to freshen up. That went on for 10+ (from 5) hour without warnings and accurate communications. Email received from Emirates asked me not to go to Dubai at all, or boarding at the time that was passed. In other words, communication were very untimely, after the fact. That created more confusion instead. After changing several of boarding time, we were given the gate # and a boarding pass. However, the boarding pass still have the original time of boarding, so again, not knowing walking 30 min in the airport to the gate would make you late or not, therefore, still dare not to eat a meal. The flight arriving to Dubai was uneventful and I gave a 4/5 rating. I just thought the layover at Dubai would just cut short from 8+ hours to 2+ hours. At Dubai airport, I saw people sleeping on cardboard, knowing, these people got stranded but they dared to sleep because they know when to board and I didn't. Or these kind of delay are just so normal that people know what to do to pass time. Then the worst service and crazy thing happened. The boarding time on board for LA and at gate A9 was clearly 8:50AM. At 8:40, surprised by not having any boarding activities, then one single staff showed up and said to a few passengers that the boarding would be delayed without a time frame. Since only a few people know, I asked another Emirates staff at another counter, who simply said basically non of his business. I was shocked with that indifferent attitude. Yet every boards I saw show the same boarding time. What kind of system failure was that to prepare delay situation! How confusing and unnecessary chaos and anger that provoke. That poor staff had to repeat himself so many times, answered questions that he had no power nor information to provide nor solved. One an only one stuff to show up for 10 min, leaving the counter non-staff with board showing 8:50AM boarding. This was purely irresponsible from top to bottom of the entire airline operation staff. What kind of leader in a service industry would allow this to happen to their customers. Without explanation, after changing 3 times the boarding times, again, means you should not go to eat a full meal, because, when you found a mob at the gate. People who were stranded for 2 days were afraid of not getting a seat with a full plane. That would not be happening if the airline provide adequate guidance to each person, instead of just having 4 staff yelling at the gate at the same time to "control" the crowd, threatening no boarding and delay boarding. Finally, I was on board, hungry and tired, not sleep for 36 hours. I was denied with a snack of fruit. By the time meal was served, it was an hour later. Half way of the trip, I felt sleep in fetus position and did not want to move, happy I finally could have some shut eyes time. However, when I got up to the bathroom, I felt very light headed. Having sleep deprived, constipated for 3 days, dehydrated, I knew it could happen since my blood pressure usually was low closed to 90/60. Any lower then that, I could have syncope. Sure enough, I was on the floor just 10 feet from my seat and 5 feet to the bathroom. However, nobody called for help. I asked for warm water and juice to hydrate, came only with cold and icy drinks which I wouldn't take. I asked for blankets, one was given. Yet my shivering, needs to cover my head and multiple requests did not hasten to take the two blankets that are at my seat 10 feet away. I waited 10 min for that. While 2-3 staff surrounded me, nobody did the vitals until after 15 min, just the spirometer only of which did not work due to my cold fingers. The first reading was 86 and oxygen was suggested. But another supervising personnel came, fussed over another reading, ignoring my comfort and needs. Seemingly the reading of spirometer was the priority. By then, no oxygen needed. I had this fainting experience before, and I knew how to help myself. However, I was not being listened to but to be told this and that. Finally, I got better and returned to seat. One kind flight attendant said she would check back with me in 15 min. She did not come back. I felt asleep in that fetus position again and this time I woke up with a bad cramp at my left leg. Yet I needed to go to bathroom, the cramp was too bad to walk. So I stepped back to seat. When I tried again the second time, the other front leg got cramp. This time I dare not move but massaged myself. For all these 5-10 min, I called for attention. Attendants passed me by because they were carried with heavy load of blankets and stuff. Nobody answered the light. Then came landing and off board. I was asked by two attendants how I felt. I smiled and said "fine".

Flight never took off. Boarded after multiple 30 minutes interval delays for hours.. then after an hour onboard, captain announce cancellation and back on the bus to the terminal with no information and everyone to fend for self.. Emirates did absolutely nothing to communicate either electronically or announcement. It’s unprecedented I know with the flood but lack of communication creates anxiety and extra pain for staff. Emirates should do better.. no supervisors monitoring floor and passengers abusing them which isn’t right but should Have had supervisors monitoring

Flight got canceled without any prior information and it caused lot of trouble

Not that good The crew in the plane were rim professional & almost lost in their work distribution

Didn’t like it at all. Cabin crew unfriendly. Very bad experience.

Food is really bad, not to the Emirates standards. Coming out of Houston airport is very confusing,

The flight was great. We had to purchase extra long seats for the long flight. But overall it was great.

Checkin and boarding staff at Delhi Airport is not cooperative with passengers Their behavior very humiliating . They don’t allow Lap top bag and Ladies’ purse/vanity bag which most of the airlines allow besides cabin baggage and check in baggages. They try to charge extra payment on the pretext of small variations which normally other Airlines staff don’t do. Airline staff should be courteous & cooperative but check in staff of Emirates Airline at Delhi was not so at all.

The flight was excellent, I recommend people to fly with Delta

It was a crowded flight. They did the best they could.

The flight was delayed but we got to our final destination.

Wifi wasn’t working well so we couldn't view any media.

The pilot was excellent - he flew us around a storm and even though predicted it would be a bumpy ride - was able to avoid all turbulence and land us safely with only a 15 min delay. Kudos!

It was a Red-Eye flight so was not comfortable enough to sleep, but seat was as expected. Crew was great and in-flight entertainment was excellent. Flight was smooth

I was sitting at comfort +. One of the Asian male crew was so loud when he delivered service. When he asked questions or what food you need, he was shouting. He must be a prison guard before going Delta.

I like using the Delta app to keep informed, boarding was smooth, and flight attendants were awesome and on top of everything, good communication from pilots.

Quick flight on older aircraft. Sat in last row…really noisy. No video available

Terrible. Delta delays caused us to miss our flight and they did nothing to fix it.

The food from Lagos to Amsterdam was was very poor compared to AMS-YYZ

The flight was again delayed for more then 2 hours with some lousy explanation regarding the reason of the delay. Although the flight was delayed for more than 2 hours, no refreshments were offered (according to EU regulations). Last 4 flights on KLM - always at least 2 hrs late. So be prepared that you cannot plan anything with KLM.

The flight was delayed for 2 hrs. Because they didn’t have a crew to fly. And it is not a first time for klm to do that. Last time they cancelled my filght and rebooked me 3 days later. Not reliable airline

We left one hour late because of technical difficulties. The economy comfort seats are great for the price. The crew was mediocre, they do not provide a pleasant experience, they just deliver food and drinks and give orders, not very amicable, no service and hospitality focus.

Booked connecting flights with KlM. My serving flight was the furthest part of the airport. On arrival in Zurich. My two cases arrived but only one carry on belong to my son. His three suitcase didn't arrive. After enquiring we discovered they were still in Amsterdam. We landed at 11.12. We eventually left the airport just after one.

Seats are fair enough for medium tall people. Good food all the trip. Fight attendances are warm

I thought KLM was the best airline but the Lima - Amsterdam was 1 hours late, the Brussels - Amsterdam was 2.30 hours late and the Amsterdam - Lima was 30 minutes late

no issues at all... Kudos to the food. This time was really really good

The food was ok. The crew seemed like they were cranky. I had one guy get mad at me for passing in between the storage area to get to the other toilet. I can understand if it's not allowed but reprimanding me like I'm a student saying "This is the last time!" was not appropriate. During my meal time, there was a French family around me. No problems there but when we usually have meals, they are supposed to put their chair in the upright position. These people did not do it and the steward did not tell them to raise their seat in the upright position. However, I was told to do so! So, me and another person next to me had to eat with the monitor almost touching our faces. Furthermore, a lady in front of me was putting her feet up and preventing another elder passenger from putting her seat back. To make it worse, she was continuously hitting her back into her seat, shaking my monitor while I was watching a movie. A crew member did speak to her about it but then she accused me of pushing her seat forward! The crew member gave me a death stare and told me to stop pushing the seat forward. I did not even touch her seat at all, if I did, she would know it. Her boyfriend also stood up and tried to push her seat even further past the maximum decline to no avail. None of these people were reprimanded but the steward, some bald guy, was extremely friendly with them and did not even try to instruct them to do anything until it was time to land. I resisted the urge to really argue with them because I would have obviously been seen as the aggressor (I have no idea why). I hardly said anything on this flight except "more wine please" and "sorry" if I bumped into someone accidentally. Overall, it was an annoying flight and I had to resist the urge to yell at the steward and the people he was overly friendly with. The happiest moment of this flight was leaving it.

Overall a good experience. We were disappointed when we had to check our carry on due to the plane being full. KLM hadn’t notified us and we had valuable items in the carry on but they still made us check it. Some of the food was great and some was mediocre. Crew is really kind and funny.

Cathay Pacific seems to be an airline in trouble and on its way out. Lots of broken or poorly functioning things like entertainment screens, seats, and enough well trained staff to handle a full flight. Sad...

The flight crew was exceptionally good. Personal needs were well met. The food choices were very nice.

The boarding experience was as expected and went well. The plane's economy seating plan is not designed for a positive customer experience but rather for company profit. When the passenger in front of me reclined, the distance from the screen to my face was the span of my hand (thumb tip to pinky fingertip). There is no such thing as personal space in this setting. This results in the domino effect, for when I recline the person in back of me reclines and so it goes. This is not to say that reclining is the answer as the experience is not increased, but simply managed.

Crew experience was more transnational, seats were so close together (LtoR and FtoB) that it was difficult to enjoy much of anything. When the person in front leaned back, there is no space for me. Sadly it was a flight to be endured not experienced.

While I was in great pain, the seat was sufficiently comfortable to allow me to rest and not be in so much pain.

My seat was sold off to someone else. Had to wait 9 hours to catch the next filght. Definitely will never use Cathay Pacific again. Bad, very bad airline. will comment on google reviews too.

Very poor check-in experience, and flight meal service was very disappointing with no drinks service or hot meal.

Not impressed with check in desk staff at Vancouver airport. Not a professional mind service and not cared or tried to help. Don’t think I would fly with them again

Seats were very comfortable. Crew were excellent. Food very good.

Flight crew was especially thoughtful and attentive, made sure our seats were comfortable so we could rest on the long flight

Don't be afraid if you board an Oman Air Airbus A330 - it will take you to Colombo and not Muskat. The Aircraft is leased by Qatar Airways ;-)

Good staff, good intent, decent entertainment. More seat space would always be of benefit

I had first class service from them. A little late taking off, but no major problem

Operated by American Airlines. Very chaotic and the crew was bit rough responding any enquiries. Restricted leg space.. Qatar would have been better

No towels or tissue and chocolate and mint provided before arrival

Qatar airways from Doha to guangzhau was excellent big bird Boeing 777 more room and smoothly flight, I Love it

It was good no problems made it on time for the next flight overseas!

There’s lots of problem I faced from Bom to Doha that experience was worst I never faced before like this

Fantastic, the 787-9 is a very beautifully designed plane and it was a pleasure to fly in the Qsuite. The suite did feel slightly smaller than the 777 variant, and the suite door also felt smaller, as I felt more exposed as passengers and crew walked past. Food was too notch, and the service was fantastic. I wish they’d enforce boarding zones more effectively, but otherwise they did really well.

Online check-in doesn't work. That's why I couldn't give it full Star.

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