It’s Finally Here
After about 6 months of anticipation, our first South Africa trip day finally came. Being local to the DMV region I booked our flight out of Dulles (IAD) and booked a round trip to Johannesburg on Ethiopian Airlines. This also includes a short layover in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia.
Being that this was our first time using Ethiopian Airlines and Business Class, I was ready for all that it had to offer. Of course, I did my due diligence and looked up every Youtube, TikTok, and blog post that I could find about this experience. And from what I previously read and saw out there on the web, it was as I expected.
There were a few questions that I had but never could get a direct answer to online. This may help others with similar questions.
Early Check-in
If flying from the US to ADD (or Addis Ababa), the information on the ET website said you need to be checked in 4 hours before your flight. Now I understand for International Flights, it’s recommended to check in 3 hours, but I didn’t know why we needed to be there 4 hours earlier.
So for a 10 am flight, that meant that we needed to be there around 6 am. So because I am a “rule follower”, we were at the airport around 6 am, but by the time we parked and went to ticketing, it was around 6:30. After all the security checks we were sitting next to our gate at 7 am. Boarding didn’t start till 9 am so we sat for about 2 hours. I think next time we will heed the 3-hour timeframe instead of the 4-hour mark.
Since it was earlier in the morning, we were pretty much the only ones at the check-in counter. There were 2 lines, one for Online Checkin and the other if you didn’t check in Online. But as I said, since we were basically the only ones checking in at that time, it didn’t seem like it mattered.
Vaccination requirement?
Another point that I don’t recall seeing in any of my travel research was the vaccination requirement. When we got up to the check-in counter, the agent asked for proof of vaccination. I thought since pandemic procedures were pretty much over, that this was no longer needed. Luckily we had our information online and could quickly bring it up, but I’m not sure what would have happened if we didn’t produce that information or if we were being singled out.
In the last email from Ethiopian Airlines about the flight, there was information towards the bottom of the page regarding having a photocopy of the original certificate and only if you are traveling to China, U.A.E, U.S.A, and France (which we were not traveling “to” those places).
However, within that same section, there was a face mask mandatory section, but in reality, face masks were not required. So to me, there was some conflicting information.
Lounge Access
Since we were Cloud 9 Business Class, we were allowed to use the Turkish Lounge right outside Gate B42. When we arrived it was not open for some reason. It did open about an hour later, but we had already found a seat and ate and didn’t feel like relocating. Plus, from the looks of it, the lounge was filling up quickly because it services multiple airlines and we felt it was less crowded where we were.
Priority Boarding / Cloud 9
A little after 9 am they called for Cloud 9 members and all those associated with Priority Boarding. It felt nice to be like the 5th person on the plane. As soon as we found our seats and got settled in, we were greeted with some champagne.
As mentioned in some other blogs and videos, this plane is a little older so some of the features are not as updated as you would probably find on Qatar or even Delta’s Business Class. But the ability to lay my seat all the way back, recline, and get free beverages can’t be beaten. I was nice and warm with the blanket that was provided.
This plane had a 2-3-2 configuration and we had one of the two-seaters. Even with being in the window seat, I was able to easily move around to get to the aisle to use the restroom.
The restrooms are typical, but I never had to wait which never happens when I fly economy. If you have the opportunity and have never flown Business or First Class, I highly recommend it at least once or especially if you have a long flight.
ET provided us with a travel kit even though I didn’t use many of the items in it. But it was a nice touch. I’m sure this will make a nice travel bag in the future for something else.
Meals
Shortly after take-off, we were served dinner which was like a 3-course meal. I sometimes forget they really give full meals on flights longer than 3 hours and not your typical cookies and juice.
Layover
The layover in Addis Ababa was relatively short. It gave us enough time to have our checked luggage transferred and to go thru customs again. Because technically you are going from International to International. It took about 20 minutes and we had to do the typical actions such as removing shoes, electronic equipment, coats, etc. Once we completed that part we were off to our next gate to wait for our flight to be called.
From Add to JNB
The second flight was similar to the first, except it was under 5 hours. The meals were about the same. I was still full from the first flight so I didn’t eat as much on the second flight.
After arriving at JNB airport, we went through customs again which didn’t seem to take too long as we were the only flight at the time and we were off the plane first due to being Business Class. However, waiting for luggage took about 20 minutes or so and then we were off to meet our driver to take us to our luxury accommodations.
overall
The flight was rather uneventful, which for any flight is what you want right? The aircraft was older than some of the others I’ve seen online. The food was pretty good and it was a rather comfortable flight. It’s not direct so if you are looking for a direct flight from the states, I would suggest going out of ATL or JFK. We just happen to live in the DMV area and the cost was less expensive than Delta and United. Either way we would have had to take a connecting flight unless we drove 3-4 hours to JFK.
Would I travel with Ethiopian Airlines again? Probably. However, if there is a better alternative, I would consider it.
