With Mango Plus specials having become part of the offering in the last 2 weeks' Happy Days sales, we thought we'd share a review of our Mango Plus flight.
Cruise news: Celebrity cruises promotion - book a veranda at inside prices. Mediterranean cruises. Promotion ends 5 May 2012. Email cruises@southafrica.to for more info
Mango Plus flight review
Mango Airlines in Durban had no complaints with our heaviest bag weighing 29kg thanks to us booking Mango Plus - in a similar situation on our outbound Comair BA flight to Durban (booked through Kulula) we had to either pay a penalty or go on our hands and knees and repack our luggage at the airport. Added bonus was Mango giving our kids Easter eggs :) We had to change our Kulula credit card which we had used to book the flight, due to fraudulent transactions, but luckily we remembered the number and expiry date of the old card, as they wanted that.
Our first time with Mango Plus
Our Mango Lanseria flight at the end of 2011 was such a pleasure that we decided to fly with them again. And because we've never used Mango Plus, we decided to spoil ourselves and try that out too. The highlight of it was using the Bidvest lounge - in Durban's humid climate it's a pleasure to be in a lovely air-conditioned room. The lounge has free wifi, snacks and drinks.
Security check-in admiring my camera
As I was going through the security check-in at King Shaka Airport, one of the security personnel was admiring my camera & asked how much it cost - he was gobsmacked when I told him that without the battery or lens it costs R20k, saying that he would never be able to save up that amount in his lifetime. I'd cry if I lost my Canon 5Dii, and keep her close to me at all times :)
Paying to choose seats
We threw in an extra R105 to choose our seats. Having read the tips on surviving plane crashes, we chose the row behind the emergency exit (cant get the one on the emergency exit with kids). All in all, we coughed up R3326 for 2 adults, a child & an infant.
Sardine Airlines
A fellow passenger was joking that we're flying with "Sardine Airlines", because of the lack of legroom - I agree, Mango offers the least legroom of the airlines in South Africa. On our BA flight to Durban our daughter sat on the floor at our feet & played on her iPad - on the return leg to Cape Town with Mango she again tried this, but found out to her dismay that there isn't enough space. In order to work on my laptop I had to sit with it half closed on my lap.
Mango Plus
Mango Plus gives us the convenience of unlimited flight changes without penalty fees, an extra 10 kg checked-in luggage, a R50 meal voucher to take advantage of while on-board, & the use of Lounge facilities while you wait and 10% off executive car port at OR Tambo Airport.
It's a bit difficult to spend the R50 each when they've run out of goods - for example, we wanted to buy 2 kiddies packs for R60 - sorry, they didn't have any in stock. In the end we only spent R60 out of the R150 we had available on crisps, peanuts & colddrinks.
SAA flight specials
Book now on SAA or through the SAA Call Centre on 0861 606 606. For Call Centre bookings, please quote booking code: mn26Apr12
Route |
From |
Johannesburg to Beijing |
From R6980* |
Johannesburg to Harare |
From R3565* |
Johannesburg to Lusaka |
From R3593* |
From R5538* |
|
These flights to Dubai are operated by SAA's codeshare partner Emirates. |
|
Durban to Dubai |
From R6498* |
Cape Town to Dubai |
From R6698* |
* Above fares are on a return basis, inclusive of all taxes and are subject to change. |
|
R700 for 2 nights for 2 people, at the Brown Jug in Hermanus
Kulula is cheapest to Lanseria in a survey of Durban to Johannesburg flight prices.
Today, the 30th April 2012, is the last day you can book hot air ballooning at Heia Safari Lodge for R1700 per person. From tomorrow the price goes up to R1800 per person.
Lufthansa has taken delivery of the first Boeing 747-8, the “Queen of the Skies”, which from 1 June, will operate 6 flights per week on the Frankfurt-Washington route. Go here to try win 2 tickets on the new jumbo.
The Purple shall rule! "Turkish Airlines left my luggage behind in Istanbul last year but told me this straight away on landing in Cape Town. They delivered the suitcase to my door 48 hours later. My seat was broken, it wouldn't recline, and the TV wasn't working. I was flying business class. They promised a "gift" as part of an apology and this also never arrived."
"I have flown Turkish Airlines probably 5 or 6 times. All my point were credited and when I had an enquiry they emailed with in a week or two. I also received my Miles and Smiles upgrade card recently I have really had no problems! An awesome airline." Angenita
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Errors & omissions occur from time to time.
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The Bottom Line: I'm a huge 1time airline fan, so was concerned to read in their audit report that: "The current liabilities of the Group exceeded its current assets by R295 032 163 at 31 December 2011. The Directors` Report also indicates that these conditions, along with other matters, indicate the existence of a material uncertainty which may cast significant doubt on the group`s ability to continue as a going concern."