I READ with interest the letter in your paper regarding the lack of service given by SAA to a pensioner recently. It didn’t surprise me.

I fly regularly and always use the online check-in via the internet to ensure all I have to do is drop off my bags and get on the plane. On Thursday last week I was once again flying to Johannesburg and checked in online the day before.

As I suffer from bad motion sickness, I changed my seat allocation to sit as far forward as possible. When I checked in, however, my seat was not given to me. When I queried this, I was told row 11 is “reserved” for silver, gold and platinum members. When I queried why the seats show as available on the online site and are allocated to you within the check- in process, I was told it was because other passengers hadn’t “shown their voyager status”.

This is absolute rubbish – if the row isn’t available, it shouldn’t be available for selection. SAA passengers be warned – the apathy of the check-in staff and the inability to give an answer to a logical question remains king.

Then, to add insult to injury, the SA Airlink flight I took from East London to Port Elizabeth was delayed for four hours. When it was queried why we were not at least put in the SAA lounge to sit in comfort (anyone who’s been at the EL airport recently will understand), we were told “sorry but it’s not an SA Airways flight and the lounge is reserved for “premium” customers”. When I walked past the lounge, it was empty. Thank you, SAA, for always putting your passengers’ well-being first – it’s no wonder British Airways is taking your passengers away from you. Not only are they cheaper, they treat their passengers better.