On the 24th of this month all roads will be leading to Johannesburg for the annual shopping festival and the Joy of Jazz festival which coincidentally falls in the same period. As you attend the shopping festival, you have a chance to check out one of the biggest jazz concert this side of the Sahara.
The Joy of jazz festival has been ongoing for the last 18 years and for those 18 years it has been the apex of jazz entertainment in Africa. The 3 day festival will include music workshops and film exhibitions with the main concerts hosted at the Sandton Convention. Among the artists in this year’s line up are; Larry Carlton, Marcus Miller, Peabo Bryson, William Parker, the Yellow Jackets all acclaimed Jazz and cross over musicians in their own rights from the US. The African Jazz musicians list is also an enviable one with names such as the legendary Hugh Masekela, Vusi Mahlasela, Jimmi Dludlu, Oliver Mtukudzi and Simphiwe Dana among others. This year’s festival promises to be good if not better than all the previous festivals held in the city of Johannesburg.
With the shopping experience being described as a fusion of shopping, glamour, music and cuisine one doesn’t need any further convincing to book the next flight down south. Other than the fact that there will be over of 280 shops across the four shopping centers that will open their doors to the public over the 10 day shopping bonanza. There will also be great discounts on items on sale, lots of fun activities for the entire family as well as over ZAR 1 million in prizes to be won in the various competitions. You could even emerge as one of the winners of one of the four Fiat 500s on offer in the grand prize competition.
Now that it is evident that both the jazz and shopping festivals are events that one cannot afford to miss. I will delve into reasons why South Africa Airways is the airline of choice as you fly yourself and your loved ones to South Africa.
Value for money
The airline has graciously offered to fly you down south for just USD 964 per person sharing and USD 1263 per person single on bed and breakfast. This includes return flights from Johannesburg, airport departure taxes, 3 nights’ accommodation at the 5 star Maslow hotel, airport – hotel – airport transfers and last but not least a free shopping voucher of ZAR 500 per room. So not only will the airline facilitate your travel, accommodation it will also facilitate your shopping too. This is one airline which is giving you value for money as compared to the competition.
Safety
Given the various airplane related incidents that have occurred of late, people have generally become apprehensive about the safety records of some airlines. With some even going to the extent of checking out the International Civil Aviation Organization online for safety statistics. In South Africa Airways case their safety record speaks for itself having not had any safety related incident of late which is why I would not hesitate to recommend anyone to use the airline.
Service Quality
I did some research on the service quality on South African Airways and majority of the people who had flown with the airline had glowing reviews. A lot has been said about inflight food being sub-standard but one individual actually described food served on a SAA flight being of the same quality as food he would have cooked at home. The planes themselves have been described as being comfortable and in good condition with inflight entertainment being of high standards. The flight attendants are also said to be quite interactive and willing to assist in any situation. Their service levels are so high that the airline won the ‘Leading Airline in Africa’ award at the World Travel Awards held a while back, which the Grammys is basically of air travel.
Timeliness
Once in a while i see rants on social media concerning irate airline passengers complaining about delayed flights. I have yet to see anyone complaining about South Africa Airways flights being delayed which leads me to the conclusion that they are mostly on time. Clearly they must be doing something right and i urge them to keep doing what they do best.