1Time v Kulula v Mango v Velvet Sky

1time, Kulula, Mango and Velvet Sky airline are South Africa's low-cost carriers - but which is the best? Here's our comparison.

	1time	Kulula	Mango	Velvet Sky	Winner
Flight specials / airline sales	R489 JHB-CPT on latest 1time special	R499 JNB-CPT on latest Kulula special	R499 JNB-CPT on latest Mango special	R449 JNB-CPT on latest Velvet Sky special	Velvet Sky
Space between seats	It is difficult to tell whether 1time or Kulula have the most leg space. At times I have thought 1time has more leg space, but on another occassion I had the misfortune of sitting behind a broken 1time seat which lent back on me. The 1time seats seem to be set higher, so your legs dangle downwards instead of into the seat in front of you. However, after a chat with a very seasoned flyer who's opinion I trust, and who insisted 1time has more leg space, I've given them the nod.		Mango Airlines seems to have less legspace than 1time or Kulula. There's usually not enough space to put my laptop up.	The back row has more space than usual, but the row that we were sitting in felt cramped like Mango.	1time
Check-in	Generally short queue, but at Livingstone Airport there was a LONG queue. We have had the inconvenience of having to rearrange luggage because our hand luggage weighed 7kg instead of the maximum of 5kg. In terms of queue length there is not much difference between Kulula and 1time.	Kulula have recently had longer queues at CPT. Kulula didn't check hand luggage weight. A BA staff member once offered to take a family photo whilst we were in the queue. With Kulula we sometimes have to take our fragile items ourselves to the fragile items depot. Check-in staff gave our little one a fizzer sweet.	Queue was short but not as short as the 1time queues I've experienced. Mixed experiences with Mango staff members - some friendly and cracking jokes, whilst other serious and moaning about hand luggage weighing 9kg (maximum is 7kg).	We've had 2 check-in experience with Velvet Airlines - in one there was a check-in delay, so we had to stand and wait for a while, and in the other there was no queue.	1time
Choose seats online	-	Allows you to choose your seats online 24 hours before your flight.	Can choose seats online at point of booking, for an extra charge (but front row seats and seats at the emergency exit are taken)	-	Kulula
Baggage handling	1time sent our luggage on an earlier flight without informing us, we had to search around at the airport to establish this, and eventually found the bag unattended to at the 1time luggage office.	Flew Kulula from Johannesburg to Cape Town and one of my suitcases got lost.	Never had baggage lost through Mango Airline.	Never had baggage lost with Velvet Sky.	Mango Velvet Sky
Courtesy	A good experience was a 1time host holding up the overhead locker for me, and offered to stir coffee whilst I held my baby. A negative experience was having to ask a hostess thrice to get a kiddies bag, and only getting a coherent reply on the 3rd attempt. Then she took so long that I went to get it myself.	A good experience was BA staff at check-in offering to take a family photo, and Kulula staff giving our toddler a fizzer sweet. A negative experience was after cancelling their flights twice, Kulula not making enough effort to get us on an SAA flight leaving on time, and then when it was too late their excuse changed to they would but it was too late.	At check-in the Mango staff member cracked jokes and was friendly. As a sandwich dropped on the floor, the attendant immediately said she'd replace it.	Whilst nothing stood out, Velvet Sky's personnel were always courteous.	Mango
menus	1time's menu is at the back of their in-flight magazine. They accommodate vegeterians with their veggie burgers, and have recently added smoothies to their menu. They offer a greater variety of crisps. I love their cheese platter.	Kulula's menu is in their in-flight magazine. No smoothies or veggie burgers (but they do have veggie sarmies).	Mango's menu is in their in-flight magazine, and requires some looking around to find. Their menu is not as comprehensive as 1time or Kulula's.	You have to pre-order food (we didn't as we didn't know what we would get and we're fussy eaters), but unlike the other low cost carriers free juice, tea and coffee was served.	1time Velvet Sky
Free newspapers	Mango offered us a complimentary Business Day and The Times newspaper. On a Kulula Cape Town - Johannesburg review, we got a free newspaper from Mango :)				Mango
Kiddies Pack	Free jellytots, a pack of crayons, a jigsaw puzzle & a colouring-in-sheet. They used to have a juice crisps, but on our latest 1time flight we noticed it had been removed (cost-cutting?). Kids can enter a colouring-in competition to win a Kulula hamper.	Kiddies pack available, but you've got to pay for it.	Have to pay for the kiddies pack.	No kiddies pack was offered.	1time
Travelling with babies & children	Both 1time and Kulula have shown consideration to us when travelling with babies, in the form of making sure we sit together, and if there is free space putting us on a 3 seater with the seat in the middle for the little one. I like 1time's 2 seater configuration on the left of their planes, as it means even if the plane is full you don't need to sit next to a stranger. Kulula offeried our toddler a fizzer at check-in, and then delighted us by doing face-painting on-board a flight for children.		Haven't flown with a baby yet.	Velvet Sky accidentally checked us in on the starboard side of the plane, which doesn't have 4 emergency oxygen masks, and we had to move to the port side. They also didn't ask whether we'd flown with a baby before, and demonstrate the brace position with a baby.	Kulula (Mango)
Marketing	All of 1time, Kulula & Mango are clueless when it comes to the affiliate marketing of their airline tickets (South African Airlines other than British Airways are way behind the curve in this regard). Overseas competitors like Jet Blue, bmiBaby, BA, Qatar Airlines, Emirates, Etihad, KLM, Lufthansa, Air France and Virgin Atlantic all have fully-fledged affiliate marketing programs.			Velvet Sky also utilise First Car Rental to sell their tickets.	Velvet Sky
In-flight magazine	The A5 size is easy to hold. Interesting articles like contemporary photography by Araminta de Clermont Please publish aboutTime online so we can read it even when we're not flying.	Khuluma's guest editors are comedians, making for hilarious reading.	Available on-line (but there's pdf errors when you try to download the whole document)	Velvet Sky had 2010 issues of Business in Durban on their plane.	1time Kulula Mango
Safety announcement	Pre-recorded & clinical.	Live and sometimes packed with Kulula humour. A major differentiator.	Sometimes live, sometimes pre-recorded, but no humour.	Live, but no humour.	Kulula
Frequent Flier program	1time does not have a frequent flier program.	Kulula has a Jetsetter program, and one can also earn Kulula Moolah with the Kulula Credit Card.	Mango does not have a frequent flyer program.	No frequent flier program.	Kulula
Travel Insurance	1time sells AIG Travel Insurance policies.	Kulula doesn't sell travel insurance together with its flights.	Mango and AIG offer travel insurance.	-	1time Mango
Planes	MD82s have more manual features for pilots than 737-800s. As they're older, they may be expected to be in worse general condition (interior, etc.) and the engine noise is higher than the 737s.	Boeings, use 26% less fuel than the MD82s, saving a lot in terms of carbon emissions.	Boeing 737-800, carrying 186 people.	737-300s have more manual features for pilots than the 737-800s.	Kulula Mango
Boarding the plane	All airlines allowed front and back boarding of their planes, allowing them to fill up quickly.			Boarding at the front only.	1time, Kulula, Mango
Toilets	Toilet planks stay up when placed up. Toilet wasn't flushing properly.	Toilet plans fall down and have to be held up by hand when (men) pee.	Not reviewed yet.	No problem with toilet	1time Velvet Sky (Mango)
Air nozzles and overhead lights	1time's air nozzles had very little pressure during one flight, but have yet to experience their overhead lights not working.	Overhead lights have worked well on my Kulula flights so far...touch wood. Some planes don't have air nozzles.	Yet to review Mango air nozzles and lights.	No manually operated air nozzles	1time Mango?
Engine noise	The noise of the engines of 1time's MD80 engines are rather loud at the back of the plane. It sounds like a mix between a very loud bee or a very noisy washing machine going through a spin cycle.	Noisy, but not as loud as sitting at the back of a 1time flight.	Noisy - I was sitting right next to the engines on the wing, but not as loud as sitting at the back of a 1time flight.	Fairly noisy	Kulula Mango
Flexibility	Very little flexibility. If you miss your flight by a few minutes, 1time put you on standby for the next flight.	Very little flexibility.	Mango offers Mango Flex and Mango Plus tickets which are flexible to change.	Not sure that there is much flexibility, but still to be tested properly.	Mango
On-plane advertising	1time have advertising on the outside of some planes (Count Pushkin Vodka, Avis Car Rental), on the overhead lockers (Count Pushkin, 1timeholidays.co.za, Sanlam Liquid) and had advertising on the tray table (DSTV, 1time holidays) and head-rests (Sanlam Liquid). We are not supporters of advertising alcoholic products in areas where there are children.	Kulula have advertising on the overhead lockers (advertising the Kulula credit card), and on the outside of some of their planes (Europcar).	The Times advertising on the serving trays.	None	Kulula Mango
Price display	include all taxes	I had thought Kulula had ended its practice of quoting prices excluding taxes, until I saw this wasn't the case for Kulula Holidays.	include all taxes	include all taxes	1time Mango Velvet Sky
Cancelling flights	1time has never cancelled a flight I have booked.	Two days before a flight from Cape Town to Durban, Kulula emailed me to cancel my flight and change it to a new time (no compensation offered).	Mango has never cancelled a flight I have booked.	Velvet Sky has never cancelled a flight I've been on.	1time Mango Velvet Sky
Time taken by call centre to answer phone	Less than 10 seconds.	More than 5 minutes. Had phone put down on me!	Less than 10 seconds.	Still to be tested.	1time Mango

Flight reviews

25 Aug 2011	1time Cape Town to Joburg flight - enjoyed the legroom.
24 Apr 2011	Check-in delay before Velvet Sky Cape Town flight.
4 Feb 2011	1time from Durban.
12 Apr 2010	1time Johannesburg - Livingstone (Zambia) flight.
12 Apr 2010	Kulula return flight to Johannesburg.
4 Dec 2009	Kulula Cape Town - Johannesburg flight.
19 Sep 2009	1time flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town.
14 Sep 2009	1time CPT-JNB flight.
24 Jul 2009	BA cheapest, chose Interlink but eventually fly Mango.
18 May 2009	Switching from 1time to Mango
27 Apr 2009	Review of 1time flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town
28 Jan 2009	Kulula from Cape Town to Durban
24 Dec 2008	Kulula from Cape Town to Johannesburg
31 May 2008	Kulula from CPT to JNB
9 Aug 2007	Mango from Cape Town to Johannesburg