Help with Options for Southern Africa Next Spring

[knick1959]

Hi. I'll try to keep control of the length of my inquiry and rambling, but this isn't in my nature. This will be our biggest trip yet as we continue to expand our comfort zone.

We are a married couple in our 50's. We enjoy the outdoors, hiking and animals. Very active but don't do marathons. We're excited to be planning a visit to Africa in the early half of 2017 (flexible here). Seeing cities and landscapes is important, animals even more so. We want to see some of S Africa, the country. Certainly it would be nice to visit one or more other countries, and Victoria Falls is on out hot list, so AT LEAST one other country. Botswana? Zambia? Zimbabwe? From responses about where to go in-general on Trip Advisor, I'm still in the clouds, but a rough itinerary has emerged which can go in either direction, but to optimize travel time, fly in close to Victoria Falls and work our way down though S. Africa and fly out from Capetown (or work back to Johannesburg to leave). But hopefully someone has done this before and can offer options that I'm not thinking about, right? Well, thanks in advance if that ends up being the case.

If anyone is interest and/or wants more background, here is my TA forum query:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g293740-i9186-k9036390-o10-S_Africa_and_WHERE_Also_When-South_Africa.html

I'm still hoping for April or May, but someone suggested July and to Tanzania. Maybe, but I'm not yet sold.

So. How best to get there? I've been working under the assumptions that using Aeroplan miles might be advantageous, but this may be naive. With that in mind, I've padded my MR stash a little, and collected some minor Aeroplan miles. Here's my collection loosely. Note that I have plans to use a significant chunk of AA miles for Hawaii and the west coast (2 separate trips before Africa), unless it becomes apparent I shouldn't. We certainly can use cash, too. SORRY, flying out of CLE but can position to where ever. My account / wife's:

UR - 188k
AA - 320k + 230k (net 250k after other trips. No help?)
MR - 203k + 57k
AeroPlan - 25k + 25k
BA - 144k
AS - 106k + 103k
UA - negligible - used recently
HA - 56k, but I don't see these helping.

SPG - 20k + 20k
Other various hotel points, no significant Marriott balance (used).

Creative uses of stop overs isn't really in play, but ideas will be entertained. We'll have just over 2 weeks and would like to spend as much as possible in Africa. On the other-hand, my wife appreciates when I can break lengthy flights up with a strategic overnight and an inexpensive hotel. Or fix the long segments to be overnight sleep flights Ideas welcome, but ...

We want to fly in biz for longer segments. Will start shopping for flights "soon" as they come into scope, but some ideas of the best places to focus will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading. I failed at being brief. Again!

 

[SanDiego1K]

I've been working diligently on flights 11 months out. I wanted to use AA miles pre deval. I started by determining gateway cities for Emirates, Qatar, and Etihad in southern Africa. But then I learned it would take two AA awards to use Etihad. AA would require one award to Dubai and a second award to Africa. That made it points prohibitive. As best I could tell, Qatar was only available in biz and I was hunting for F. The sweet spot was using AS miles. F on Emirates is 100K one way to southern Africa. AS allows free layovers. I've been diligently beefing up my AS accounts. I opened another AS credit card on each of our accounts. I moved SPG points in. And I moved a small chunk of Marriott points in to get my husband's account over 100K points. Since you ae considering business class, if you used AS, you'd need 4 x 77.5K points. AS can also be redeemed on CX. CX flies business from JNB-HKG and then on to the US.

If I were you, I'd focus on Tanzania or South Africa. I wrote a comprehensive report on organizing a tour of Tanzania. It's old, but the parks don't change.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/africa/386947-northern-tanzanian-game-parks-9-day-itinerary.html

We've been to South Africa before and love it. Cape Town is a beautiful city and is a must. Then Kruger, whether self drive or in safari lodges, is a must. Here's a bit of information on self driver in Kruger: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/africa/1376521-mixing-luxe-grit-kruger-area-info-needed.html We did a three week itinerary on one trip where we flew into Cape Town, visited, then rented a car, drove south to Hermanus (wonderful penguin colony and lots of whales in the water off Hermanus), then drove the garden route (a bit boring, honestly). We ended at Addo Elephant Park. We were there too briefly but loved what we saw. Then we flew on to Durban and picked up a rental car again. We stayed at Shakaland, and took a boat ride at St Lucia. The river was thick with hippos. It was an amazing experience. We stayed a night in Hlulewe-Imfolozi Park, where cape bufalo grazed on the grass outside the dining hall, then spent a night in Swaziland, where poaching has severely damaged the animal population, and up to Kruger. We dropped the car off at JNB on our return flight out.

We've been to Namibia and to Vic Falls. Should you choose to do South Africa, there is more to see than time will permit. The trip I just laid out was roughly 3 weeks long. I wouldn't worry about adding a second country but if you must, then Vic Falls would be high on my list.

We're now planning a trip to Botswana. It will be substantially more expensive than South Africa or Tanzania. You have to fly to each lodge by private plane from Maun. It's supposed to be the best safari experience, but I have to tell you that seeing animals in Kruger was an exceptionally satisfying experience.

 

[knick1959]

We've been to South Africa before and love it. Cape Town is a beautiful city and is a must. Then Kruger, whether self drive or in safari lodges, is a must.

Exceptional info! Thanks for sharing. What's really exciting is that everyone seems to have done the ultimate trip, whatever they've done in Africa. Which just means to me that you can't go wrong. Your note about driving the garden route? Already something I'll make sure we don't do! But penguins and whales! Very interesting. Yes, I am absolutely sure SA can warrant months. I'm trying to get a mix of quality with a bit of quantity. Still, between you and a couple of posts on TA, SA has to be our focus.

Funny I just saw it now in my Evernote doc ... but based on a couple of passes through the TA posts and supplemental reading, I had sketched out this possible working itinerary. Note the appropriate label:

First illogical draft:

1. Fly to Tanzania / Serengeti NP 2-3-4 days.
2. Victoria Falls - Chobe NP day trip?
3. Kruger NP in SA
4. Johannesburg/Pretoria (quick or optional)
5. Capetown and home

I guess I HAD been talked into adding Tanzania. I have not yet checked the practicalities, but any form of THIS will make me happy.

I had almost left our AS miles off of my list ... first pass I had skipped over them. Interesting that they may be able to help here. +50k each might be rough, tho, since we each have a new/recent AS card and I already have a biz card open. MS with no bonus categories is a ton of work, particularly now lacking any BB/Serve cards. We'd need 2 new cards each in a very short time. Unless we push the trip back a bit. Possible, but I want to go now! Practicality will win in the end.

What's your vote as to best time of the year to go? Climate comfort-ability and animal viewing being key? With and without Tanzania, if it makes a difference.

Again, thanks for all of the detail! This community is amazing!!

 

[knick1959]

+50k each might be rough, tho, since we each have a new/recent AS card and I already have a biz card open. MS with no bonus categories is a ton of work, particularly now lacking any BB/Serve cards. We'd need 2 new cards each in a very short time.

Ha! You used SPG points ... perfect! We have enough to add 50k to AS!! Now I only need 1 new card each to consider your idea. This is certainly feasible now.

 

[SanDiego1K]

Check your flights now to see if they are realistic. You want to combine Tanzania and South Africa. I suggest that is overly ambitious for one trip as there is so much to do in each area. I encourage you to stick to southern Africa for one trip and Tanzania/Kenya/Zanzibar for another. But it's your travels. So check flights.google.com and see the possibilities for flying from Arusha (the heart of safari country) to Johannesburg. I chose an arbitrary date, and found it requires a minimum of 3 flights and roughly 20 hours plus. The coach price isn't bad, roughly $500, so it is an issue of whether you have appetite chewing up a day to transit. Or you can make your way to Dar es Salaam. There is a nonstop flight on an airline of which I've never heard and a more expensive flight on South African Airlines. Look at award availability for SAA on United.com. Should you find that route, you can move UR points to United. (I found a flight on SAA from JNB to Maun but United doesn't offer awards on the route. I've no idea why.)

Emirates shows its African destinations here: http://www.emirates.com/english/destinations/flights-to-africa/ Dar es Salaam is its gateway city in Tanzania.

Also, take a look at alaskaair.com and look at award availability. I've been booking furthest day out in order to grab seats. There's a massive very helpful thread on FT on the topic. The amazing thing is that once you are ticketed, AS allows flight changes with no fee until 60 days in advance of the trip. I believe you are based in Cleveland. You'd need to find your own way to an Emirates gateway city in the US. AS only allows EK and AS flights on an award or CX and AS flights. It does not allow EK/AS/AA on the same award (for example).

 

[knick1959]

You want to combine Tanzania and South Africa. I suggest that is overly ambitious for one trip as there is so much to do in each area.

I am going to agree with you and drop Tanzania. For this trip. I'm still interested in working out Victoria Falls as a "day or 2" trip from JNB. I'll keep that in the plan at this time but focus the rest on SA. Thanks!

 

[SanDiego1K]

Nonstop flights are available from JNB-VFA in coach for $142 or 17.5K UA miles plus $34.70. BA is a better deal at 7750 Avios plus $50 one way. It's a great opportunity to use some of your Avios. BA also has flights to the Zambia side of the fall for 4K Avios. The airport code is LVI.

 

[knick1959]

Some random observations and a couple of questions as I read, read, read.

First, I was at first shocked at the Alaska Air flight calendar when I searched for award flights. Looking at JUST the calendar itself, I saw few 77.5K + pocket change flights, but tons of 70k + $728 (from memory) flights. I was worried, until I realized that Alaska believes the 70k flight is "cheaper" than the 77.5k flight. Well, sure, it is in miles. Opening up one of the actual 70k days and there is an adequate mix of the Emirates-based flights in there. These flights looks very realistic as I work up a plan to create the necessary additional AS miles.

Reading about the best time to go, centered on Kruger, opinions are all over the place. Opinion mining says May through October is a good (large) range. October got several mentions as best, being the end of the dry season. Our original notion was to shoot for April/May, but it we push if off more towards October it gives me more/easier time to print AS miles. Still reading.

I also read about South African Air (SA) having NS flights between JFK and JNB. And they do with attractive 14hr flight times. Are there any partner/transfer options to SA to explore?

My wife was not thrilled when I mentioned a potential 4+ hour layover in Dubai (Emirates). I did more reading and figure the risk is low, particularly if we don't leave the airport and wait with an empty seat between us! As long as she can keep her hands off of me for a couple of hours, we'll be ok . But the idea of turning this into a stop over and seeing the city is not very attractive to us. Which is ok, but all options are still on the table. I see United flies through Addis Ababa (sp?), which is interesting if we want to actually STOP for a visit. Traveling to the west through Asia is just too many additional hours for this CLE based couple closer to the east coast.

Thanks again for your input!

 

[SanDiego1K]

I also read about South African Air (SA) having NS flights between JFK and JNB. And they do with attractive 14hr flight times. Are there any partner/transfer options to SA to explore?

SA is part of the Star alliance. You can book tickets with UA miles. You can move your UR points into your United account. It's an instantaneous transfer so there is no need to do so til you find flights. I checked the UA award map and found an award seat in C on Nov 18 for 80K miles plus $5.60. I've no idea if 2 seats are available nor how frequently award space can be found. You can start playing with the award chart 11 months out and become familiar with availability patterns.

I see United flies through Addis Ababa (sp?), which is interesting if we want to actually STOP for a visit. Traveling to the west through Asia is just too many additional hours for this CLE based couple closer to the east coast.

Be aware you'll then need a separate ticket from Addis to JNB. UA only allows stopovers when you book a RT ticket.

 

[Suzie]

We went to SA in September and it was wonderful. Vegetation is low which makes spotting animals easier. Weather was great - light jackets at night and short sleeves during the day.

We flew Etihad JFK-ABU-JNB. We had a 6 hour layover - which turned out to be fine. We spent the entire time in the Priority Pass Lounge, good food selection, bar and showers (which we took advantage of). I never felt the least bit unsafe. I was traveling with my adult son.

Have a great time. I have some suggestions on Kruger if you'd like. PM me.

 

[knick1959]

SA is part of the Star alliance. You can book tickets with UA miles.
...
Be aware you'll then need a separate ticket from Addis to JNB. UA only allows stopovers when you book a RT ticket.

I've done UR->UA transfers before and know how easy and quick it is, thanks. I had forgotten the stop over rule for RT only, good point. I should add a plan to beef up UR points, but I'm still pretty far away from a full RT for 2 on UA. Particularly if we want J seats for the long haul.

I'll also research the Star Alliance approach from the Aeroplan angle. I have some miles there with a plan to create more. I also have MR points along with the SPG wildcard set of 25k x 2.

 

[knick1959]

Ok, here's a viable option using Aeroplan miles. We each have 26k+ (and I have a machine making more until it breaks). We have 202+57 MR and we'd need all of this (with the SPG points in reserve), but we can easily muster up 300 Aeroplan miles via transfer. This is non-stop each way from JFK and JNB. Ideal would be an open jaw mixing in Capetown, but I'll research this later. I could easily live with something like this as long as it remains available at this cost when we're ready to book. This is 150k + $57 RT per person:
[file]Aeroplan Option|none[/file]

 

[SanDiego1K]

That's great. And since you don't want a stopover in DXB and don't crave the EK F experience, it saves substantial time to go nonstop.

You'll be able to use your Avios to fly from JNB to CPT. BA has a subsidiary in South Africa. I've found it easy to redeem Avios with them.

By the way, I've seen a number of agencies offering day trips from Vic Falls to Chobe in Botswana. It includes a boat ride on the Chobe River where you are supposed to see a lot of animals as well as a game ride in Chobe. That could be a way for you to get the tiniest of tastes of Botswana.

 

[knick1959]

That's great. And since you don't want a stopover in DXB and don't crave the EK F experience, it saves substantial time to go nonstop.

You'll be able to use your Avios to fly from JNB to CPT. BA has a subsidiary in South Africa. I've found it easy to redeem Avios with them.

By the way, I've seen a number of agencies offering day trips from Vic Falls to Chobe in Botswana. It includes a boat ride on the Chobe River where you are supposed to see a lot of animals as well as a game ride in Chobe. That could be a way for you to get the tiniest of tastes of Botswana.

Well, that IS a negative of this alternate plan. I don't get to experience an Emirates flight. I'd prefer the direct approach but it's good to know there are multiple options.

I found it very easy and inexpensive to skip around South America on BA miles; with your experience I'll plan on using these for hopping around. Yes, I had heard about "day trips" into Chobe and that definitely is of high interest.

 

[dpd82]

My profile photo is from Pilanesberg National Park in SA. We were doing research on brown hyenas and en route to retrieve some cards from our camera traps. We'd had an unnerving encounter with a musth bull the previous day and named this young bull Detour.

Glad to read that you've dropped the TZ idea. Although Serengeti is fantastic; as your search revealed, it would be a PITA to get down to SA. Having recently gone on safari in Bots, I'd recommend a look at what's available in November/early December. Yes, it's the Green/Value aka rainy season but just the start of that season. We saw such varied wildlife that we began teasing the guides about being unable to find a pangolin for us. Yes, we got rained on, but had brought rain pants and jackets so we were fine.
Another good source for safari ideas is the Africa forum on Fodors; zero snark and people with lots of safari experience.

SAA biz class is quite comfortable but nothing special. It beats the heck out of economy on an 18 flight!
PM me if you have any questions. I might not have the answer, but I might know of another resource.

 

[knick1959]

Ok, here's a viable option using Aeroplan miles. We each have 26k+ (and I have a machine making more until it breaks). We have 202+57 MR and we'd need all of this (with the SPG points in reserve), but we can easily muster up 300 Aeroplan miles via transfer. This is non-stop each way from JFK and JNB. Ideal would be an open jaw mixing in Capetown, but I'll research this later. I could easily live with something like this as long as it remains available at this cost when we're ready to book. This is 150k + $57 RT per person:
[file]Aeroplan Option|none[/file]

My post above was from Jan of this year. I plan on traveling in the Sept 2017 timeframe, so it's almost time to start searching and finding our flights. I've got points in position to move to Aeroplan for 2 biz tickets just like the ones I found "back then".

Disappointed to see that those ideal flights aren't all that common now that we're getting close. Coach did offer a direct flight (from JFK, we'd have to get there first which is no problem) but ick!. And there were some other city options, but direct in business is suddenly scarce. I've got a couple of months yet before my time period is listed, but suddenly I'm not as optimistic that this will work. Flights are 1-2 stops and went from 14 to 22 hours and way up. It'll get us there, and we'll go one way or the other, but I could be happier!

I'm hedging my bets with Alaska miles and I'll look at Emirate options more closely again. I mean, if we're going to need a layover and all of those in-flight hours anyway ...

 

[SanDiego1K]

11 months out is in the American summer season when more people organize holiday travel. I'd be cautiously optimistic that you will find more award availability in two months.

 

[knick1959]

11 months out is in the American summer season when more people organize holiday travel. I'd be cautiously optimistic that you will find more award availability in two months.

Thanks, yes, I prefer to travel when most Americans aren't; a benefit of releasing kids (now allegedly adults) into the wild. I get what you're saying and I will attempt to remain cautiously optimistic! July-August, bad for flights. September, good. I hope.

 

[Xtina]

My post above was from Jan of this year. I plan on traveling in the Sept 2017 timeframe, so it's almost time to start searching and finding our flights. I've got points in position to move to Aeroplan for 2 biz tickets just like the ones I found "back then".

Disappointed to see that those ideal flights aren't all that common now that we're getting close. Coach did offer a direct flight (from JFK, we'd have to get there first which is no problem) but ick!. And there were some other city options, but direct in business is suddenly scarce. I've got a couple of months yet before my time period is listed, but suddenly I'm not as optimistic that this will work. Flights are 1-2 stops and went from 14 to 22 hours and way up. It'll get us there, and we'll go one way or the other, but I could be happier!

I'm hedging my bets with Alaska miles and I'll look at Emirate options more closely again. I mean, if we're going to need a layover and all of those in-flight hours anyway ...

I am going to Joberg in November and need a one way flight back to JFK, so I feel your pain. In my searches, I am seeing lots of award space in business and first. But then i learn that if the flight has a stop over, one of the segments is in economy - which should be freaking illegal. how can you sell and charge for something in biz but oh, just kidding, it's only half in biz?? It's looking like emirates and etihad are the airlines with full class fares. I apologize if this is old info to you, but hoped it might be useful to you, just in case!

 

[knick1959]

I am going to Joberg in November and need a one way flight back to JFK, so I feel your pain. In my searches, I am seeing lots of award space in business and first. But then i learn that if the flight has a stop over, one of the segments is in economy - which should be freaking illegal. how can you sell and charge for something in biz but oh, just kidding, it's only half in biz?? It's looking like emirates and etihad are the airlines with full class fares. I apologize if this is old info to you, but hoped it might be useful to you, just in case!

I saw quite a few mixed mixed cabins in my own search. How not exciting, when the coach leg is US->Frankfurt. I'm still hoping to find a direct flight when the schedule I need comes out ... but I'm prepared to settle for whatever is the best I can find.

 

[smittytabb]

I am going to Joberg in November and need a one way flight back to JFK, so I feel your pain. In my searches, I am seeing lots of award space in business and first. But then i learn that if the flight has a stop over, one of the segments is in economy - which should be freaking illegal. how can you sell and charge for something in biz but oh, just kidding, it's only half in biz?? It's looking like emirates and etihad are the airlines with full class fares. I apologize if this is old info to you, but hoped it might be useful to you, just in case!

When you do searches, only one segment has to be in the class you are searching for for it to show up on a lot of airlines (especially with Star Alliance) That's just one of the things you learn to look out for.

This will sound nuts but I traveled to Joberg via Brazil to get an itinerary all in business. I was traveling from Chicago and went from there to São Paulo on United and then from São Paulo to Joberg on South African. If you look at a globe it is not as inefficient a route as it sounds. You are crossing straight over from South America to Africa. Only caveat is you need to have a Yellow Fever certificate to fly from Brazil to South Africa, even if you are only connecting in Brazil. I had one anyway so not a biggie for my travel plans.

 

[MickiSue]

Xtina, if you find an itinerary that fits your plans with even one segment in the class you want, go ahead and book it. Then, starting about 2 months before your flight, call once a week to see if any award seats have opened on the other segments in the class you want. About a month out, call daily. If possible, call when the call center first opens.

I had an advantage when I did this, three years ago; I live in CST, and was calling AS, which is in PST. LOL, I usually got the CSRs still croaky voiced from not having talked much yet, that day. And they got to know me, so that, once a seat DID open, but they couldn't get it to book, they kept trying for two hours, and then called me to let me know they'd taken care of it.

Sooner or later, it's very likely that one will have, and you can book it for no more points, because you already have "paid" for it. There may be a change fee. But, really, who is gonna mind paying an extra $75 or $100 for moving from coach to J or F?

If you book in coach, and then try this, they will likely try to charge you the current cost of that front of the plane seat, which will be a huge premium.

 

[dpd82]

Xtina, if you find an itinerary that fits your plans with even one segment in the class you want, go ahead and book it. Then, starting about 2 months before your flight, call once a week to see if any award seats have opened on the other segments in the class you want. About a month out, call daily. If possible, call when the call center first opens.

I had an advantage when I did this, three years ago; I live in CST, and was calling AS, which is in PST. LOL, I usually got the CSRs still croaky voiced from not having talked much yet, that day. And they got to know me, so that, once a seat DID open, but they couldn't get it to book, they kept trying for two hours, and then called me to let me know they'd taken care of it.

Sooner or later, it's very likely that one will have, and you can book it for no more points, because you already have "paid" for it. There may be a change fee. But, really, who is gonna mind paying an extra $75 or $100 for moving from coach to J or F?

If you book in coach, and then try this, they will likely try to charge you the current cost of that front of the plane seat, which will be a huge premium.

This is exactly what I did in 2014, flying DEN>IAD>JNB. There were two of us, but I just needed the one seat in J on one leg. I didn't have to call too many times before one opened up. We're going back to Botswana in 2017 and I expect we'll have to try the same strategy. Or go through Brazil.

 

[MickiSue]

dpd82, once I got my seat in J, I called DL to try to upgrade Husband so he could sit with me. Back then, they bent their rules to allow him to upgrade with just the difference between saver Y and saver J. When I tried to do it last fall, they wanted a total of over 200K points to rebook an entire roundtrip at the NOT saver rate. And wouldn't budge.

 

[dpd82]

MickiSue, I said some choice words when I read your post. We live in DEN, so I don't give Delta much attention; they have no real presence here. Since United seems to be copying so much of what Delta does, I'll keep your experience in mind when we start looking for seats. We like to go to SA or Bots in late October at the start of the rainy season, because there are often some pretty good deals at lodges.

 

[MickiSue]

That incident last year taught me something important, dpd82: never ever ever book RTs. Always book one ways. That way it's just easier to either cancel one way and book on another airline, or change the date/seating class for one way so much more easily.

 

[dpd82]

Good reminder to avoid RT bookings! Anymore, the only RTs I book are short haul flights that run like buses between DEN and some popular destination.

 

[Xtina]

When you do searches, only one segment has to be in the class you are searching for for it to show up on a lot of airlines (especially with Star Alliance) That's just one of the things you learn to look out for.

This will sound nuts but I traveled to Joberg via Brazil to get an itinerary all in business. I was traveling from Chicago and went from there to São Paulo on United and then from São Paulo to Joberg on South African. If you look at a globe it is not as inefficient a route as it sounds. You are crossing straight over from South America to Africa. Only caveat is you need to have a Yellow Fever certificate to fly from Brazil to South Africa, even if you are only connecting in Brazil. I had one anyway so not a biggie for my travel plans.

it doesnt sound nuts at all! actually, i am looking for a one way home from joberg - jfk as i have a one way ticket to joberg that i paid about 400 for. so i am ok to go in econ for that price and tough it out. i am also going with my momma, and i want her to be comfy since i am forcing her into econ going. but should i see that routing coming home, i wont rule it out.

 

[Xtina]

Xtina, if you find an itinerary that fits your plans with even one segment in the class you want, go ahead and book it. Then, starting about 2 months before your flight, call once a week to see if any award seats have opened on the other segments in the class you want. About a month out, call daily. If possible, call when the call center first opens.

I had an advantage when I did this, three years ago; I live in CST, and was calling AS, which is in PST. LOL, I usually got the CSRs still croaky voiced from not having talked much yet, that day. And they got to know me, so that, once a seat DID open, but they couldn't get it to book, they kept trying for two hours, and then called me to let me know they'd taken care of it.

Sooner or later, it's very likely that one will have, and you can book it for no more points, because you already have "paid" for it. There may be a change fee. But, really, who is gonna mind paying an extra $75 or $100 for moving from coach to J or F?
If you book in coach, and then try this, they will likely try to charge you the current cost of that front of the plane seat, which will be a huge premium.

ahhhh sneaky! brilliant, tho. i will absolutely remember that, what a great tip!

i see two tickets in biz all the way home, with one stop..on turkish with the connection in istanbul. now, im not normally the type to get freaked out - but because i am not traveling alone, i dont want to spook my mom going with me.

i need to pull the trigger soon, so one way or another - its istanbul or your early morning call trick. i just want to do the right thing that will cause the least worry. sigh.

 

[MickiSue]

Given the political situation in Istanbul, and the unlikelihood (is that a word?) that it will improve soon, I would have that at the bottom of the list.

When Grandson was a baby, Youngest Son flew through Istanbul, with a 24 hour stopover, each way, to go meet him (near VCE).

He's a DJ. A few months ago, a friend he'd made there sent him a request to come DJ at his club, and they'd pay his airfare. Last month, they told him not to come; it's not safe.

 

[knick1959]

So ... the flights I need should be appearing as bookable now or very soon. We're shooting for 9/14/2017 as a start to our trip, but this isn't carved on stone. Searching on the Aeroplan site, there are flights available now for this date, but they are not all that desirable ... too many stops in the wrong cities and mixed cabin. Ick. More options are available if I search a month before, so I'm just a little early yet.

Searching in August (just to see, we don't want to go in August) the Aeroplan offering still don't include the route I found last December. The SAA direct flight in J from JFK->JNB is not there. Most flights are 2 stops, on occasion there is a 1 stop (and I still need to get from CLE->JFK).

If I search via the United site I *can* find the JFK->JNB flight listed on some days as a Business Saver award.

My experience with international awards is light and I usually get what I need from simple searches. This is not going to be the case. However, from what I understand, if United lists this segment as an award option, should I not be able to call any Star Alliance partner (Aeroplan) and have them book this flight? If I find saver J award segments from CLE to where I want to go via United or ANA, is it assumable that I can get them by calling Aeroplan?

I guess I remember reading that this should be possible, I've just never done it and want to make sure I'm not remember incorrectly.

Thanks in advance.

 

[knick1959]

Me again. Read an article this week that talked about United getting more stingy with awards. The same day I read that, most of the award flights to SA I had been watching for August and the first week of Sept had disappeared. Coincidence or rule changes? dunno, but reluctantly I checked this morning.

On the DAY BEFORE I wish to leave United has a workable saver award. It's actually pretty good. I may gamble and see if it pops up soon for the next day, or I'll talk with my wife and see if leaving a day before would work.

HERE'S the question, and perhaps I should post outside of this thread. It involves an airport change in DC. Is this feasible or too scary to attempt?

Land at DCA at 2:08pm on a Wed/Thurs. International flight leaves from IAD at 5:40pm. 3:32 between.

Doable? Close? I would assume this wouldn't be too hard, but I'd rather not assume.

TIA.

 

[MickiSue]

DCA isn't too big of an airport, so that helps. But I'd check the on-time history for those flights. Otherwise, I'd see if I could do a phone reservation, with an earlier positioning flight.

 

[knick1959]

Update. The business flight I was watching for TO SA came into scope just this morning and I snagged it. This one is to Cape Town (could have done JNB first). Closely watching the schedule change over the last few weeks, more options might have developed over time, but I also saw many suddenly disappear. Now I have a flight there, although I'm already looking to change the CLE->IAD leg once more flights show. Yes, this option DID NOT require the DCA->IAD switch. However, it is scheduled to leave at 6am and I'm allergic to early hours. Will certainly do it this way if I can't find a way to fix it, but I'm pretty sure I can manage to fly the evening before and overnight in DC. Will see.

I ended up booking via Aeroplan. I had 54k miles and I transferred another 96k MR to get the 150k required for 2 seats. Fees were $14-something. This gets us to Cape Town leaving on the day we wanted. The trip home is the next adventure, then filling in the in-between flights (JNB and Victoria Falls/Chobe NP). Wife has 50k Aeroplan and we still have plenty of MR to fill in the rest, so we're hoping to score similarly to get home.

I started this thread in January of this year. At that time award searches showed an option for an SAA flight nonstop for Aeroplan 150k and I swear low fees, but I didn't jot this down (I see the note now, was $57 each in fees). Now any award flights involving SAA (and there are apparently few or no nonstops offered now) have huge fees ($900-1500 for 2).

The Emirates option offered via AS miles also turned into high fees and one of the longer legs in economy, all now for more miles. We now have ample AS miles, but using them here seemed unattractive.

I'm thankful to snag what I have. Coach to DC but Business to ADD and then to CPT on Ethiopian Airlines. I haven't read much about their service, but the flights I searched had decent (sleepable) seats. We'll see.

Thanks again for all of the advice and help offered over the last few months!

 

[knick1959]

I was able to swap the first flight in this series from CLE->IAD at 6am to CLE->DCA at 7:30pm the night before. It's now up to me to handle the logistics of a hotel and transport between the different airports. I'm sure I'll manage, but if anyone has a system for this that works, please advise. Ideal would be a hotel in between that has shuttle service to both airports, but I'm sure the distance makes this improbable. I may (probably will) just rent a car unless I find a practical alternative.

The swap cost me $90 x 2 + some new fees ($14). Worth the cost to keep my wife happy which she was not with a 6am flight to start the trip! The Aeroplan CSR was friendly and efficient. Took perhaps 10-15 minutes providing credit card info and all.

In hindsight, I might have been able to have set this up in the beginning and avoided the change fee; I did not check DCA from a Aeroplan perspective even though United's search was telling me it was the thing to do. A learning experience.

I mentioned that the 2 long hauls are on Ethopian. I had looked up their typical seat arrangements and it all looked good. And still does, as one flight has angle-flat seats (the shorter flight) and the other one is reported to have true lay-flat seats. However, I also found that they are pretty laxed about swapping hardware per OMAAT:

http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2014/07/28/review-ethiopian-airlines-business-class-767-addis-ababa-frankfurt/

We'll be managing our expectations, but as long as we get there in moderate conform we'll be happy.

I have a separate topic to ask about. A new reply ...