There's been a vibrant discussion about Velvet Sky on our site, and we've been looking forward to adding our 2c to the discussion. So, we took the plunge, booked our first Velvet Sky flight, and flew on the 24th April 2011 (Easter). Besides the fact that we wanted to review their services, Velvest Sky were cheapest so it was a no brainer.
It ended up costing us in total R4044 (2 adults, a toddler and an infant) to fly from Cape Town to Johannesburg and back with Velvet Sky. By contrast, it would have cost R4212 with Mango Airlines, R4374 on 1time airlines, R5034 with Kulula and R5900 with British Airways (SAA's site was down, so we couldn't check their prices).
We again used Excite Taxis to shuttle us to Cape Town Airport, costing R200.
The online booking process went smoothly, although I understand that those experiencing booking problems were those who paid cash (we used a Kulula credit card to help increase our Kulula moolah).
There was a delayed check-in - something I haven't encountered too often, but once we got going the queue moved fairly quickly. Velvet Sky's check-in counters are in the far right corner (as you enter) of Cape Town International Airport.
A couple of passengers who had checked in didn't make it to the boarding gate in time, and their bags were offloaded, so it took a little while longer than usual to take off.
Friendly passengers allowed me to jump the queue to get my infant son out of the rain.
Instead of an in-flight magazine, there were 2010 copies of a "Business in Durban" magazine.
The back row of an aircraft often has either more or less space than the other rows. In the case of the Velvet Sky plane there is happily more space than usual. So, try sit in the back row, at the emergency exits or in the front row to get more space.
We were seated on the right hand side of the plane, which we found out from the cabin crew has only 3 face masks (in the event of decompression face masks drop), so were moved to the left hand side of the plane, which annoyed the passengers who were meant to be there, as they arrived to see people in their seats "You should have asked first, before moving them there".
The plane was only about half-full, so once the seat-belt signs had gone off after takeoff, I moved over to the empty row next to us (what a pleasure). Some of the switches to keep the tray-tables up weren't working well.
With other airlines whenever we fly with a baby they ask whether we've ever flown with an infant before, and demonstrate things like how to use the oxygen masks and the brace position with a child. I was surprised that Velvet Sky cabin crew didn't do this.
You had to pre-purchase food, and since we're fussy eaters (vegetarian, etc...) we decided not to do so. But Velvet Sky did provide free beverages (I had an orange juice).
Here's a South African Airways plane which was parked on the apron next to us, at O.R. Tambo International Airport.
This Europcar Johannesburg advert really stands out as you enter O.R. Tambo Airport.
A few seconds after making the reservation, the following info was emailed to us by Velvet Sky:
From: bookings@FlyVelvetSky.com [mailto:bookings@FlyVelvetSky.com]
Sent: 03 April 2011 03:40 PM
To: INFO@SOUTHAFRICA.TO
Subject: Thank you for booking with us, here are your flight details, your itinerary follows
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Passengers should report to Velvet Sky check-in desks 90 minutes prior to departure of all flights and not later than 60 minutes prior to departure. Boarding for your flight begins at least 30 minutes before your scheduled departure time. Gates close 15 minutes prior to departure. Please check with departure airport for restrictions on the carriage of liquids, aerosols and gels in hand baggage |
VELVET SKY COUPON
On-Flight Snack
SA 30APR11 VZ 0314 1250 1500
MRS JANE DOE
VELVET SKY COUPON
On-Flight Snack
SA 30APR11 VZ 0314 1250 1500
MR JANE DOE
VELVET SKY COUPON
On-Flight Snack
SA 30APR11 VZ 0314 1250 1500
MISS TODDLER DOE