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Review: South African Airways Cyobab Premium Business Lounge Domestic, Cape Town Airport, Cape Town, South Africa

“Like many aspects of South African Airways, the Cyobab Lounge Domestic at Cape Town International Airport offers a spacious place with great airside views to relax before your flight.”

Arriving to Cape Town International Airport:

More Headaches with Europcar…

After the food extravaganza at The Tasting Room, the next morning we checked out of Le Quartier Français and drove the two hours to the Cape Town airport and returned the Europcar to CPT Returns. There was no roving return attendant with a printer here today, although there was a very through check of car including mileage, fuel level and spare and equipment. 

I asked about the GPS that were were promised and proposed to be billed on the reservation. “Go talk to Bradley inside”. Bradley inside says we have a GPS on reservation. Can I have it removed? I’ll have to email you back later today. “I can’t remove it from here”. I never heard from him again.

“We will email you a bill”. A little strange to leave the counter without a final tally but it seems that the business travelers were doing this so we went with the flow. 

As we mentioned earlier, four days later we received an email bill as promised with a 10$ charge on it for refuelling. The car was returned full and filled up for $35 less than 30 minutes ago. We emailed National at the email provided. We never got an answer.

Based on this treatment, lengthy initial process, unclear policies, failure to guarantee GPS when reserved and gas mix ups, lack of customer service response, I’d probably recommend renting some where other than Europcar while you visit CPT. 

Checking into South African Airways:

We entered the airport building and checked in at the Star Gold counter at far left end of the Cape Town terminal.

Our two bags were accepted as checked bags without issues. We had elected not to wrap bags in plastic film for this short domestic flight. We had a few bottles of wine that we had purchased at wineries hidden in our bags for Mauritius. 

Locating the South African Airways Cyobab Lounge:

We cleared through security and proceeded onto the secure side. We located a not well marked passage way to the upstairs domestic lounges and an elevator that smelled like stale smoke and sticky floors reminiscent of a pub that has been open for too long.

The South African Airways Lounge was at the end of a long corridor. The left side was marked for Business with the right side marked for Platinum First Class. At the time of our visit, South African Airways was still running a premium First Class lounge for it’s South African Airways Voyager Lifetime Platinum travelers.

Accessing the SAA Cyobab Lounge:

The lounge was accessed today courtesy of holding Star Alliance Gold Status in the Air Canada Aeroplan Program, on a departing Star Alliance flight, regardless of travel class. The lounge can also be accessed with a departing flight in business class on South African Airways or connecting to another Star Alliance carrier.

South African Airways also affords access to those travelling on South African Airways Business Class, South African Airways Gold and higher (Platinum and Platinum Elect), and South African Airways Lifetime Platinum members. If you happen to be a credit card holder of the SAA Nedbank Premium Card and Voyager Credit Card issued by Ecobank, you also are lucky enough to get access.

Inside the South African Airways Cyobab Domestic Lounge:

We were give access and invited into the lounge. The lounge is some what split into two areas. It has a darker part that shares windows with the indoor terminal concourse check in desks, and a part that has great views outside to the apron. In its efforts to be contemporary, similar to the South African Airways Baobab Premium Business Lounge in Johannesburg, the area lost a lot of space thanks to curvy design.

The lounge really shines on the brighter side with the plane apron views. Unfortunately, due to the foot print, there are a lot less seats over here. As a result, we weren’t able to get a seat over on this side.

There was also a general computer work area with separate tables and chairs for eating, seen on the center left of the below photograph.

In addition to loungers, the air side portion of the lounge also offered bistro styled tables.

The lounge offered WiFi with a free with code available at front desk. Unfortunately, there were no electric plug in’s near seats which were regretfully only for work stations.

In addition to the above amenities, the lounge also offered a children’s play area. There was also a media room for the adults.

The airside views were a great opportunity to see aircraft that I don’t usually get the opportunity to see back home. Today, we were treated to views of a Taag Angola B737 and a South African Airways Airbus 340.

Food and Beverage:

The lounge itself reminded me of a format that was much along the lines of a Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge.

There were some light snacks available along with an attended bar. The lounge featured self pour South African wines with 2 reds and 2 whites. 

The airport was featured as one of Africa’s Top Airports and placards were posted around the lounge celebrating this fact. I actually think that the Mauritius Airport is much better than Cape Town, and easily takes the trophy for the best airport in Africa.

The Bottom Line: South African Airways Domestic Lounge:

The South African Airways Cyobab Premium Business Lounge at Cape Town International Airport was an enjoyable place for a domestic lounge. The high ceilings, large windows and views of airside operations made this place an entertaining spot to hang out in before a flight.

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