Johannesburg OR Tambo Transit holdups?

Old Dec 18th, 2013, 05:10 AM
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Johannesburg OR Tambo Transit holdups?

How are the hold ups at OR Tambo airport these days?

My experiences of transiting was bad before the modernisation but now, from my experience it is a total nightmare due to passport control!

My last trip through the airport in 2011 took nearly 3 hours to clear the check point, although they tried rushing passengers through who had imminent departures many missed their connection.

Before I book my flights I have the choice of a 1¼ hour stop over & a 4½ hour stop over.
I'd prefer the 1¼ hour but am I in danger of missing my outbound flight even though I'm flying with the same airline, SAA.
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Old Dec 18th, 2013, 05:31 AM
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Aren't you going to Botswana (from your previous post)?
If so you can have your bags checked through and transit without clearing immigration, in which case the shorter transfer is fine. The danger with that is that there is more of a chance that your checked bag might not make it. But you can guard against that by making sure you have a few essentials in your hand luggage in case your checked bag arrives a day late.

If you need (or want) to clear immigration and re-check in, then I wouldn't risk the shorter transit. In fact it may even be impossible as check in might be closed by the time you get through.
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Old Dec 18th, 2013, 06:19 AM
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If you do not perceive a problem then perhaps they have overcome it which is really why I'm asking.
It is a transit ticket & passport check. not SA immigration.

How can you bypass it? All incoming passengers either go through immigration or through the transit lounge but before you enter the lounge there is a ticket/passport check which is where the holdup is.
After this check you enter the transit lounge where the airlines desks are then through a security check before entering the main departure area.

I have always booked my baggage through be it Botswana or Zimbabwe because of the problems at OT my more recent trips have been via Harare or Lusake & therefore missing the problems at Johannesburg.
I know I mentioned this problem as a warning to others on another forum & a other people had also experienced the same problems.
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Old Dec 18th, 2013, 06:59 AM
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OK, I know the bit you mean, and I've never experienced any delays there. Maybe a 10 person queue, nothing more.

I have sometimes opted to go through main immigration, collect my bag and recheck in on the outbound journey just to keep an eye on my luggage. On the way home I have it checked through as I don't much care if it's delayed.

My last trips were Dec 2011, April 2012 and Jan 2013. The first two I only used the transit lane on the return journey, but this year I used it both outbound and return.
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Old Jan 13th, 2014, 01:49 AM
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Update:

Luckily I decided not to risk it & booked the earlier flight SAA has now changed the Kasane flight schedule by bringing it forward by half an hour!

Even without any holdups it would now be difficult to make the transfer on time.
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Old Feb 9th, 2014, 07:45 PM
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It has been over ten years since I last transited JNB but will be doing so next month.

Unfortunately our "main" tickets are PDX >JNB via Lufthansa with a separate British Airways flight to Namibia 2 hours and 20 minutes after we land---therefore I assume we'll have to pick up our bags in JNB, go through whatever formalities are required and re-check them on to Namibia---unless any Fodorites have a sneaky way around this ;-)

Must admit I've been worried and wanted to see what the latest travel tales have been. We will of course pack change of clothes and essentials in carry-on, but would prefer not to have extra hassles after the l-o-n-g flight.

Any recent experience/advice would be welcome.
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