I think that the Kulula policy of never giving refunds on any flights, no matter what the circumstances, is completely unreasonable.  I book a number of flights with them for my clients, and recently in a personal matter, where a flight was no longer necessary, we asked, with four days to go, if we could cancel the flight.  We were told that all we could get back were our airport taxes and that Kulula will keep the entire amount paid for the ticket – and of course try and sell it again!  

The one thing about flying with SAA is that although it is sometimes more expensive, if you miss a flight they will make a plan for you even if it is at a small penalty, and the problem with booking with airlines like Kulula is that if you miss a flight, even if you notify them days in advance, you will have to pay again and there is no refund.  It is a very harsh attitude, it is not a good way to do business in my opinion and it is something that they should really give some serious thought to.  You don’t always have to keep somebody else’s money in your pocket when you are not rendering a service to them and you can still sell that ticket again and probably will and it leaves you feeling that you have just dealt with a completely unsympathetic company who has relieved you of some of your money.  I cannot for example see what the problem would be if they, at the very least, don’t want to give you the money back, or give you 80% of the money back, why they cannot give you a voucher that you could use on a similar flight at a similar time later.