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Thank you for your interest in our STEP-UP ancillary products. These products provide additional benefit to your original flight purchase. Please familiarise yourself with the below terms and conditions for your desired product, which is read with our Conditions of Contract. Should we have not addressed any of your questions in the Frequently Asked Questions below, please get in touch with us on Twitter @flysaa_care or send an email to TicketingSAA@flysaa.com.
1. The following terms and conditions ("Terms and Conditions") shall apply to an offer (“Offer”) made by you (“you”) to South African Airways (“SAA”) for an opportunity to upgrade from the economy class ticket purchased by you for travel on SAA to a business class ticket on that same flight (“Upgrade”). Offers can only be made on selected flights operated by SAA (at its sole discretion) on condition that you possess a valid and issued SAA Economy Class ticket for the concerned flight. Upgrades shall not apply to code shared flights or flights operated by other airlines. The Offer shall apply solely to the single flight sector (i.e. one way) to which it is made and not in respect of additional flight sectors within the same itinerary.
2. All persons who submit an Offer must have reached the legal age of majority in their country of residence at the time their Offer is submitted. The parents of underage passengers and/or the adult responsible for such passengers may obtain an upgrade on their behalf. You shall be deemed to have the authority to act on behalf of and to bind the person or persons named or included in the Offer to these Terms and Conditions.
3. An Offer, when submitted by you in association with a booking made with SAA, whether made directly with SAA or indirectly through other means, and presented to SAA, shall entitle the person or persons named in the Offer, subject to these Terms and Conditions, to be considered for an Upgrade. If more than one passenger exists in the original flight booking, the upgrade offer shall apply individually to each passenger in that original booking. The offered amount will, accordingly, be multiplied by the number of persons included in the original flight booking. Prior to submitting your credit card details you will see the total amount for the upgrade. Your submission of an Offer constitutes a contractually firm and binding offer which SAA is entitled to either decline or accept.
4. Persons may only submit one Offer per flight which corresponds to the purchased ticket issued on South African Airways ticket documents 083, and offers must always be made and paid for by using a credit card.
5. SAA is under no obligation to accept your Offer, and it makes no representation that you or any passenger will be upgraded. The acceptance of any Offer is at the sole discretion of SAA.
6. SAA Step-Up Upgrade is not eligible for the following bookings: Tickets booked using Voyager miles for Journeyblitz or Saverblitz tickets and free or rebate tickets.
7. By submitting an Offer, you agree that your Offer will remain open for acceptance by SAA at any time up to 36 hours prior to the scheduled flight departure time. You may revise or cancel your Offer for as long as your Offer has not already been accepted by SAA. Once your offer is accepted by SAA, you are legally bound to complete payment for the price stated in your final Offer and you shall not entitled to withdraw from your Upgrade, except and to the extent as described in these Terms and Conditions.
8. In the event that SAA cancels a flight and re-accommodates you on another flight, any Offer you made in relation to the original booking may be transferred to the new flight(s) subject always to availability of seats in Business Class and at the sole discretion of SAA. If, for any reason, there are not enough seats available in the higher class of service to fulfil your Upgrade (only where your original Offer has been accepted), any amounts paid by you for the Upgrade will be refunded to the credit card that was used to pay for the Upgrade.
9. There will be no refunds, credits, or exchanges once your Offer has been accepted by SAA, except under the following conditions: • The flight for which your Offer was accepted and on which you were upgraded is cancelled. • The flight for which your Offer was accepted and in respect of which you were upgraded is cancelled, and SAA re-accommodates you on another flight but in the class of service of your original booking. • Your Offer was accepted and you were given an Upgrade, but you were not able to be seated in the upgraded class of service for reasons attributable to SAA, including, but not limited to, a change in equipment, a delay in the connecting flight that resulted in your missing the connection on which you were upgraded, but excluding reasons attributable to your own actions. For the avoidance of any doubt, if the refund is approved, the amount paid for the Upgrade will be refunded to the payment card that was used to pay for the Upgrade.
10. Should refunds be approved, they will be processed in the currency in which the Upgrade amount was charged. Such refunds will be limited to the amount charged by SAA for the upgrade and no bank related charges will be refunded by SAA.
11. The fare conditions for the original ticket you purchased shall remain in effect and will be applicable even if your Offer has been accepted and you have been upgraded, including, but not limited to, cancellation policies, change fees, and rules relating to the accrual of frequent flyer miles.
12. SAA does not guarantee specific seat assignments to passengers whose Offers are accepted and who are upgraded.
13. The amount of Baggage you may carry with you is determined separately and individually for each Flight Segment in accordance with the conditions and limitations applicable to the corresponding Flight Segment.
14. The fare conditions for the original ticket you purchased shall remain in effect and will be applicable even if your Offer has been accepted and you have been upgraded, including, but not limited to, cancellation policies, change fees and penalties. Mileage accrual will be awarded to SAA Voyager Members based on the amount spent for the original ticket and the upgrade. Additional baggage is given only on the single specific sectors in respect of which the upgrade is awarded, for more information on baggage allowances please click here.
15. In the event that your Offer is accepted and your credit card is charged the Offer amount but the Upgrade is not provided, you shall be entitled to apply for a refund. Your request must include the original boarding pass for the flight in question. If you are not able to provide the original boarding pass for the flight in dispute, SAA is under no obligation to refund you for the amount you paid for the Upgrade.
16. If you cancel or miss your flight in respect to which the Upgrade applies through no fault of SAA, no refund of the Upgrade fee shall be issued by SAA.
17. If you are travelling with an infant, the cost of the upgrade would be 10% of the bid price and would be chargeable separately at the departure airport subject to the travelling adult's Step-Up Cabin Upgrade bid being successful.
18. SAA reserves the right to modify and otherwise change these Terms and Conditions at its own discretion. Except as provided for in the preceding sentence, no amendment, modification or waiver to these Terms and Conditions shall be binding on SAA unless made in writing and signed by an authorized officer of SAA. By submitting an Offer, you accept all of the terms and conditions of the SAA Step-Up Upgrade.
19. These terms and conditions should be read in conjunction with the SAA Conditions of Carriage which are available on flysaa.com.
SAA offers its passengers the opportunity to upgrade from Economy Class to Business Class by submitting a bid to SAA. SAA will evaluate all bids for that specific flight and inform you within 24 - 3 hours prior to departure whether your offer has been approved or not approved.
The Step Up programme is available on all SAA operated flights with ticket numbers starting with 083.
The SAA StepUp Upgrade is available for SAA operated flights only, where the ticket issued by SAA starts with 083
If you booked your flight through a travel agency and the email in the booking is that of the travel agents, the travel agent may submit a bid on your behalf or they may forward the email to you and you may bid for yourself. Alternatively you may check your eligibility and place your bid by clicking here.
You will receive an email 24 hours (international flights) and 3 hours (domestic flights) prior to departure informing you that your offer was successful. Your credit card will be charged by the amount you offered and a new ticket will be emailed to you.
You will receive an email 24 hours (international flights) and 3 hours (domestic flights) prior to departure informing you that your offer was unsuccessful. Your credit card will not be charged and your original travel ticket remains the same.
All flight legs/segment where the SAA StepUp Upgrade is available will be listed and you will have the opportunity to make your offer on any or all the legs you choose. You have to make your offer per leg in your itinerary; some legs in your itinerary might not be eligible.
No, the offer amount includes all taxes. If there is a special type of tax in a specific country this will be shown to you throughout the offer process and will be charged as an additional amount to the offer.
You may cancel or change your offer any time prior to departure as long as SAA has not accepted your bid. If SAA has accepted your offer, you may contact us and we will refund your transaction. you may then proceed to submit a new bid.
After your offer has been accepted by SAA, the upgrade amount is no longer refundable.
You have up to 25 hours (international flights) and 4 hours (domestic flights) prior departure to correct your offer, re-offer or cancel the offer.
SAA StepUp Upgrade considers all passengers within the booking.
Note: The upgrade cost for a travelling infant would be 10% of the accepted bid price and would be charged separately at the airport at the time of departure.
Please contact SAA’s contact centre and ask for the booking to be split, you will receive a new booking reference, once that is done you may submit your individual offer by clicking here.
No, Voyager members can redeem their miles for upgrade in the same way they currently doing.
Yes, you will earn SAA voyager miles for the upgrade. You will earn the base miles as per your original ticket plus additional miles for the cabin upgrade bid spent.
No, the same fare rules apply as the original fare purchased including change fees and cancellations penalties.
Yes. The system has a strength indicator which is a guide to show you the strength of your bid; this does not guarantee the bids success. The minimum and maximum bid amount set, is a guide on a fair value of the upgrade.
Yes, you can offer different amounts for each eligible leg.
You need to cancel your current offer first. You will be able to submit a new bid using your preferred credit card only after the cancellation of your first offer.
If SAA cancels your flight, SAA will try to accommodate you on the next flight in an upgraded cabin. If SAA is unable to honour the upgrade, then your bid amount will be refunded back to you.
Additional baggage allowance applies only on the segment that has been upgraded. All other segments normal economy class baggage rules apply.
If you have any concerns or need clarification, please email: TicketingSAA@flysaa.com
What is MY EXTRA SEAT?
Economy class travellers have the option to purchase additional seats on a flight for addtional space and comfort.
Who is eligible for MY EXTRA SEAT?
Any Economy Class traveller holding a ticket irrespective of FARE paid.
Note: This service excludes Unaccompanied Minors, persons travelling in a group booking and persons seated on the emergency exit row.
When is the purchase of MY EXTRA SEAT available?
MI-SEAT purchases are available 48 hours and upo to 3 hours prior to departure.
How can I purchase a MY EXTRA SEAT?
48 hours prior to the flights original time of departure we will send you an invitation to participate in the purchase of the MY-EXTRA-SEAT service or you a can access Manage Your Booking from our homepage to complete the purchase of MY-EXTRA-SEAT.
Is MY EXTRA SEAT available for sale at the airport?
We regret that the MY EXTRA SEAT service is only available for purchase online.
How many names on a single reservation can block seats on a flight?
A maximum number of 2 persons on a single reservation can block seats on a flight
What is the maximum number of seats that can be blocked on a flight?
1, 2 or 3 seats can be purchased on a flight. This is dependent on the operating aircraft seat configuration, availability of the preferred seat/s.
What is the cost of MY EXTRA SEAT?
The cost is far lower than the original FARE paid and gets cheaper when adding more seats However, the rates vary in accordance with the origin and destination.
What form of payment can be used to complete the purchase?
At this stage Mastercard, Visa and American Express can be used to complete the purchase.
When will I be charged?
The payment is processed immediately after completing the purchase accurately.
Can I change or cancel MY EXTRA SEAT after purchase?
Voluntary changes and/or cancellations for a MY EXTRA SEAT purchase is not permitted. If you change the date or flight on your reservation, your MY EXTRA SEAT purchase would be forfeited.
Is the MY EXTRA SEAT purchase refundable?
The purchase of this service is non-refundable unless we have inconvenienced you as a result of a flight disruption which is including but not limited to a schedule change, aircraft change, flight cancellation or any operational safety and/or security reason. In this case we shall refund you no later than 21 days from your request. Your request must include the original boarding pass for the flight in question, where applicable.
How would I know if the MY EXTRA SEAT purchase has been confirmed?
After completing your payment and it is successful, we would e-mail you a confirmation of your purchase which you would need to keep on you when travelling.
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