Delta Airlines have quietly slipped in a charge of US$ 50.00 for 2nd checked bag for passengers traveling in coach class internationally. Below is the information taking from their website :

Checked Baggage—International
Currently when traveling to or from cities outside the United States you can check two bags, per passenger at no extra charge. For tickets purchased on or after April 22, 2009 for travel beginning July 1, 2009, customers in economy class will be charged $50 US (or the local equivalent currency) for the second checked bag. Exceptions to the second checked bag fee include:

First and Business Class passengers
SkyMiles and WorldPerks Elite members (Executive/Platinum/Gold and Silver, including Flying Colonels)
Active duty military members traveling on orders
Passengers who purchased tickets prior to April 22, 2009
Passengers who are confirmed on a Full Y class Economy ticket.

Steve

Does Delta offer the same level of service across the pond as SAA, or is it similar to their domestic flights?

Hi Bryan - I did the trip in October last year and had the flight been full I would probably have gone crazy, fortunately it was not full so had seats to myself. The old aircraft seating configuration of 2/4/2, same as SAA, was good. However, once they go non-stop (effective 01 June 2009) with new 777 aircraft seating configuration in coach is 3/3/3!

Now one has to consider if the non-stop flight on Delta (flying time 15 hours and 5 minutes) is better than the 2/4/2 seating configuration on SAA and their one-stop service (flying time 16 hours and 35 minutes plus an hour on the ground in Dakar) from Washington, Dulles International.

SAA does offer non-stop from JFK but it is a morning flight and very hard to make a same day connection to.

Steve

don't forget the spraying-down of the plane and passengers in Dakar. Makes the flight extra special.

The morning flight may not be bad, depending on flight time. I got into Harare about 9pm, and was the only one on a hunting trip. They moved me to the front of the line and were very courteous, probably too tired to screw with me.
My PH Myles McCallum (CMSafaris.com) met me there and took me over to the Gecko for the night. I was awakened about 8am, which got me over the jet lag; had a marvelous breakfast and all day to enjoy the drive up to Makuti in the north. Got to camp about 4pm, sighted in the rifles, and got to talk about the upcoming week.

Rich
Buff Killer