MilesBuzz! - IAD-JNB in C - LH or LX?

I have a friend who needs to fly from IAD to JNB in Business. He can choose between Lufthansa and Swiss to get status on AA or UA. Any recommendations? Thanks!

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by TWA Guy:
I have a friend who needs to fly from IAD to JNB in Business. He can choose between Lufthansa and Swiss to get status on AA or UA. Any recommendations? Thanks!</font>

Why not fly IAD-LHR on AA, and then LHR-JNB on BA? He can get miles on AA for the whole thing. And it makes no difference, since he still has to cross the pond and land in Europe somewhere, unless he flies SAA/DL from JFK to JNB, which I would recommend strongly against, having done it in J once. And he definitely isn't getting AA/UA miles for that.

Thanks for the info. He can't do AA/BA because the ticket must have the code of an American carrier for the whole journey. That's why he can do AA op by LX or UA op by LH. Besides, IAD-LHR would require an extra stop in JFK, ORD or BOS.

Maybe it is some special deal or better pricing if it is all ticketed on AA flight numbers, but if he's trying to build up status miles (Q-points), the LHR-JNB leg in BA will count.

And you are right about the intra-US stop before crossing the pond. On the other hand, I'd go for it, since you get WBC in BA, which is quite fine, and better than the alternatives you propose.

[This message has been edited by Pickles (edited 06-18-2003).]

Fly JNB FRA in C with LH this year and it was good but not great.

I'd be tempted to try Swiss. The preference would be to do the AA/BA deal via LHR as the Europe-JNB part is overnight and flat beds make a difference !

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by TWA Guy:
He can't do AA/BA because the ticket must have the code of an American carrier for the whole journey.</font>Does he have a Fly America Act problem?

IMHO, service, food and inflight entertainment are all better on LX than on LH. The seats are about the same, both bad. BA has the best seats in C class.

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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Globaliser:
Originally posted by TWA Guy:
He can't do AA/BA because the ticket must have the code of an American carrier for the whole journey.</font>Does he have a Fly America Act problem?

You got it!

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by TWA Guy:
You got it!</font>Pity, isn't it!

If for whatever reason LX or LH don't work out, he can always fly NW the whole way, which is currently operated by KLM for both the IAD-AMS and AMS-JNB segments. His kids might like the dutch houses they give away.

Lucky guy, going to the Zud!

UA C class on the 777's is right decent. Do a UA codeshare as far as possible.

If he can't / doesn't want to fly BA [ http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/rolleyes.gif] , I would definitely opt for LX! Service is far better on them than on LH.

But, when I look in the OAG, neither LX or LH codeshares with their American counterpart on the Joburg flights. People I do business with at a US government agency who have the same requirements, fly the US carrier to Europe and then the European carrier of their choice the rest of the way.

Our last trip to JNB from the U.S. was with Cathay Pacific (via Hong Kong) and it was wonderful. Service and comfort in Business and First can't be beat. Trip was longer than going the other way, but much more enjoyable. Don't know about fares, though, from the East Coast. Competitive fares from the West Coast.

What is wrong or so objectionable about DL from JFK to JNB?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by DENROC:
What is wrong or so objectionable about DL from JFK to JNB?</font>DL is a code share on SAA metal ... if you have flown SAA before you will know what is so wrong or objectionable ... I've done it a few times and now refuse to do so again (even via ATL, better than JFK-JNB) and instead fly BA via LHR, VS via LHR, LH via FRA or even LX via ZRH (sadly the last choice due to the terrible deterioration of LX). Avoid the other choices (KL via AMS, AZ via FCO, IB via MAD). CX via HKG is nice but problematic with timing and timezones (fine if on vacation, not fine for business).

Not sure I understand the objections to SAA....

I flew in J to Cape Town from MIA in June '99 and it was delightful. Excellent entertainment with big personal screens and video on demand. Food was good, service good. No complaints. Definitely better than LH I thought.

Having said that....

I'm flying CX in April in F from JFK...agree with the sentiments about schedules. It's not easy but this is vacation so it works okay, and will stop a day or two in Asia. And CX service and lounges make up for the schedule problems.

Perhaps things have changed in the past 8 years but in 1995 our family of 4 flew SAA in Business Miami-Capetown and Johanesburg-New York and all of us were delighted. Comfortable seats, excellent service and decent food. At that time they were partnering with AA, maybe things have gone downhill since?

The SAA BC is comparable to LH. If you are short on time, SAA is definately the way to go.

I still think he can do the AA/BA option. When I fly to Africa under the fly american act requirement, if I route through Europe, the US-Europe is an American carrier, and the Europe-Africa route is anything you want.
(As no american carrier flies between Europe and Africa.)

You can argue that the 14hr flight is too long and you want to break it up, and usually this is allowed in USG regs.