Please sign in to post.

Budgeting for Southern Africa Flights Fall 2020?

Posted by on

I am thinking of booking a escorted trip to southern Africa. Starting in Victoria Falls and ending in Cape Town in October 2020. I am trying to budget flight cost. I would be flying out of New England.

I prefer non stop and delta but think I will be out of luck on both. United will be offering a non stop flight out of Victoria Falls but only seasonal.

What would be a estimate cost for a flight from JFK to southern Africa round trip October? Is there a direct flight from Europe to Victoria Falls, as maybe stay over to break up the trip?

I was looking at South African Airways to get some idea. Any reviews on this airline? Big price difference from saver option and plus option. I see with the saver option you don't get a seat number and the plus option you do get a seat option. Is one better then the other? I would be a little nervous booking the flight and not having a seat. How does this work if there is two people?

I know this is all subjective and who knows what the prices will be in 2020 but appreciate your input.

Posted by
4657 posts

Look at pricing and route options for Fall 2019. I use matrix ITA website. It is the old system travel agents used to research flights. Then you buy on the airline website.
I think there is a transportation forum for reviews on the airline.

Posted by
4098 posts

Matrix.itasoftware.com shows three airlines with non-stops from New York to Johannesburg. The initial price on SAA is low considering the distance involved. But yes, extras such as advance seat selection cost extra on many if not all airlines these days. If you need to sit with a companion, pay the extra charge. Otherwise wait to see what is available on check-in. Purchase directly from the website of the airline you choose. The website I cited is owned by Google but set up to service the airlines so it does not sell tickets. Google Flights does, but it is my superficial impression that it can't sell some of the flights that show up on the Matrix.

Posted by
9060 posts

My experience with pricing flights to Africa is through KLM. Interestingly enough, although the distance is twice as far (two nine hour flights instead of one), the price has always come out very close to the price of just traveling to Amsterdam from the west coast.

Posted by
531 posts

If I recall...Delta has a NonStop from Atlanta to Johannesburg...from there you would take a short flight to Vic Falls....otherwise the only direct flight to JNB is SAA from JFK or DC. Those are the only options for NS from the US.

We flew BA to LHR and spent 2 days in London before heading to JNB. BA flys direct as well to CPT.

It looks like SAA might be your quickest and most direct to Vic Falls .....NonStop JFK-JNB with change to Vic Falls.

This topic has been automatically closed due to a period of inactivity.