Going to be flying from Frankfurt in June on Air Namibia - any comments on the service, comfort, food, etc.?

I flew the Frankfurt route in May. No problems, all was good, but I am not known as someone who is difficult to please. I read for a while, popped an ambien and woke up just in time for breakfast, which was nothing special but it did the job. The flight back to Frankfurt was much the same, but instead of reading I went through all of the pictures on my digital camera, smiled continually and swore I was coming back ASAP. I doubt you will have any problems with anything.

Made that trip in Sept.'07. WAY better than SAA. Service, well they didn't loose my gun case or luggage, then again I had Gracy make my arrangements and all airlines involved had baggage handling agreements.I've come to realize that this is a vital part of any booking scheme. Comfort, I'm 6/2 and the seats and leg room seemed fine. Food, it was marginally better on the way down, all and all tolerable, especially for airline fare. The desk staff in Frankfurt were Lufthansa employees so things went very smoothly there, in Windhoek, well, not so much. Not surly or incompedent like SAA, just slow, 300 people checking in, 2 desk agents. All my baggage ended up in Chicago as expected. The flight crew was polite and attentive both ways. Would I fly with them again, yes.

Went that route in May 07. All went well. A couple of suggestions. Get a day room in Frankfurt on the way over. The Holiday Inn Exp was about $60 with the airport shuttle. There's a great Italian restaurant within walking distance and the food was great.
On the return there is a lounge at Windhoek airport to wait in with free snacks and drinks for about $30. Clean restrooms even had showers.

Flew over in April economy, but was still comfortable - flew back in May in business, and was much better. No complaints with service, handling, etc. I agree it is better than SAA.

I think that Air Namibia's service is overall very good. There is one stewardess that I just can't keep my eyes off of. I've ridden (with) her several times and I always try to get her attention when I want something.

Also, you will have no trouble clearing customs and your firearms yourself in WDH, unlike JNB.

The flight from FRA to WDH is long but, mercifully, it's at night and you should be able to get some sleep. Flying over the Sahara gets boring after a while. My son plays with a Nintendo Gameboy most of the time to keep himself busy. I just read, sleep, and watch my favorite stew.

Namibiahunter

i went in august 07 from frankfurt and had no problems with service, check in at either end, and no luggage/gun problems. the namibia form and office are such a breeze compared to other places fo guns. the only confusion was in getting my VAT back. that was a pain in the neck.

Now I'm intrigued - what does she look like? I wonder if she's ever heard of the "Mile High" club?

quote:

Originally posted by namibiahunter:
I think that Air Namibia's service is overall very good. There is one stewardess that I just can't keep my eyes off of. I've ridden (with) her several times and I always try to get her attention when I want something.

Also, you will have no trouble clearing customs and your firearms yourself in WDH, unlike JNB.

The flight from FRA to WDH is long but, mercifully, it's at night and you should be able to get some sleep. Flying over the Sahara gets boring after a while. My son plays with a Nintendo Gameboy most of the time to keep himself busy. I just read, sleep, and watch my favorite stew.

Namibiahunter

I flew Air Namibia in May/June via Frankfurt. As mentioned already, get yourself a dayroom on the way over if you have a long layover. The shower/nap/good meal did me wonders. Do yourself a favor and be sure to get to the check-in for the trip down to Windhoek early or you will find yourself standing in the longest line of your life.

There are any number of reasons that the Frankfurt-Windhoek route is preferable to the Jberg route. The ease of gun transfer and lack of need to overnight in Jberg are among them. My major complaint was that the Air Namibia crew turned on the cabin lights just about the time everyone was good asleep to hawk "duty free" cigarettes and overpriced booze. This I could have done without.

I would seriously advise AGAINST getting a day room in Frankfurt, for a couple of reasons. The most important is that staying up and active will help you adjust to the time differential, and, mercifully, help you sleep on the overnight from FRA-WDH. You'll be buzzed about traveling, anyway, so pushing yourself to keep going isn't that hard and will pay dividends for the rest of your trip in terms of diminshing jet lag. Besides, you should have slept quite a bit on the trans-Atlantic leg and be ready for some activity. Second, there are worthwhile sights to be seen in Frankfurt, so why not take advantage of the twelve hour layover? Ride the train downtown and enjoy some of the local sausages, beer, and shopping. This will be much more entertaining (and less costly) than trying to sleep during the day in an overpriced motel room (a bad idea which will screw your internal clock up for your whole trip).

Yes, the Air Namibia check-in line is long. But the plane doesn't depart until the last (on time) passenger is through it. So how is it an advantage to show up early to stand there yet another two hours longer?

I liked going through Frankfurt and would highly recommend it over Jberg.

quote:

...I would seriously advise AGAINST getting a day room in Frankfurt, for a couple of reasons. The most important is that staying up and active will help you adjust to the time differential, and, mercifully, help you sleep on the overnight from FRA-WDH. You'll be buzzed about traveling, anyway, so pushing yourself to keep going isn't that hard and will pay dividends for the rest of your trip in terms of diminshing jet lag. Besides, you should have slept quite a bit on the trans-Atlantic leg and be ready for some activity. Second, there are worthwhile sights to be seen in Frankfurt, so why not take advantage of the twelve hour layover? Ride the train downtown and enjoy some of the local sausages, beer, and shopping. This will be much more entertaining (and less costly) than trying to sleep during the day in an overpriced motel room (a bad idea which will screw your internal clock up for your whole trip).

Yes, the Air Namibia check-in line is long. But the plane doesn't depart until the last (on time) passenger is through it. So how is it an advantage to show up early to stand there yet another two hours longer?

I liked going through Frankfurt and would highly recommend it over Jberg.

Seeing how I have done both the J'burg route as well as the Frankfurt route, I could not disagree more with your recommendation. My recovery time once in Namibia was a mater of hours when doing the Frankfurt route with a day room and a short nap vs a day or more when doing the J’burg route with little rest. Now, if you are one of those that can get a full nights rest on a plane then maybe you can do without a rest, but I ain't.

As for the line in Frankfurt, I guess I preferred standing in line for only an hour and spending an hour or so getting a bite to eat and lounging in a chair to standing in that God awful line for 2 hours like my seat mates did.

It has been three years sense my last flight to Africa via JoBerg with SAA. I wrote letters, voiced my complaints here in these forums, and declaired that I would never fly SAA again. From my home to the final destination Windhoek it was 32 hours and I could not sleep on the plane even with three Ambiens taken. I have been told by my PH in Namibia that the only way he will go either way is via Germany. It is eight hours from here to Germany, the 10 hour lay over, and then nine hours into Windhoek. Even IF I could sleep on a plane the total hours in the air don't add up to me wanting to fly SAA ever again.
As said before uncaring staff, lousy seats, noisy, on and on. I will fly with someone else other than SAA. But then, if things continue to get worse over there I might not go ever again.

I've flown the Frankfurt - Windhoek route for three years now. They only managed to lose my gun case once out of the three times. I think that was an issue in Frankfurt as when we did get the rifles the air ticket was no longer attached to the gun case.

The first trip we did not get a day room and after a quick trip into town in Frankfurt for beer and lunch we spent the rest of the day waiting, snoozing, basically zombies in the airport. The next two trips we got day rooms. Maybe you don't sleep THAT much in the day room but the shower, followed by several hours of QUIET, and being able to actually be horizontal made a HUGE difference in attitude.

I found that the comfort of the Air Namibia seating was better then the 747's we had from Denver to Frankfurt.

Now the new Airbus they have making the Denver-Frankfurt flight has bathrooms in the belly of the plain. This is quite a nice deal as there is room to mosey around and I never did see the bethrooms fully occupied.

As previously stated, service in both Frankfurt and Windhoek is a breeze. Yes, you will wait in lines but I found we were too buzzed up to notice much.

Other than possibly getting a day room in Frankfurt, what is the price difference between the two? Flying to J'burg and then Windhoek or flying to Frankfurt and then Windhoek?

quote:

Originally posted by Sherrill Philip Neese:
Other than possibly getting a day room in Frankfurt, what is the price difference between the two? Flying to J'burg and then Windhoek or flying to Frankfurt and then Windhoek?

The fares vary considerably, depending on the phase of the moon, level of tides, and relative humidity. But generally, the fare going either through Frankfurt or through Jburg is going to be roughly the same. HOWEVER, it is almost impossible to get a connecting flight out of Jburg to WDH the same day you arrive in Jburg, so you will need to count the cost of an overnight in Jburg. That, together with the extra red tape of tranferring guns, makes the Frankfurt route much more appealing.

Cannot address Air Namibia, but the Frankfurt Main Airport is easily one of the best, most efficient airports on the planet. I have been through it at least 25 times and never had an issue on connections or on getting out on time. I flew AA, Lufthansa, BA, Malev, Aeroflot, and Air Canada.