ChrisTheZulu

Hi All,

We've only just booked our CW flights to LAS thanks to all you lot, and already planning a trip 'home' for me to South Africa.

I've played around with the matrix and a few sites to see what deals we can take advantage of, but thought i would ask the font of all knowledge for any advice too.

Is anyone able to make any recommendations for traveling to JNB and back on the following dates from LHR (or Ex-UK), Unfortunately i have a feeling this will be in Economy, although there could be a possibility of upgrading with Avios to WT+, or if there's a deal, booking WT+ and considering avios upgrade to CW.

Depart - 20th November
Return - 8th December

One world is obviously preferred :-) we will both be silver by this point.

I know you guys are able to sniff out all the bargains, so i am intentionally abusing your skills!

LondonElite

Not sure that there's much we can do that you haven't tried...ITA is probably your best friend. Use various EU gateway options (BRU, AMS, DUB, OSL, etc) to see what you can generate. I find the system crashes when you try to do too much (multiple departure cities, date ranges, etc), so pour yourself a large glass of wine and get going!

nux

To upgrade from WT to WTP with avios you'd need to be in a flexible fare bucket, usually more expensive than just buying WTP outright.

Give ITA Matrix a try. If you're willing to depart ex-EU you may get some good premium fares.

QR is £1600 in J from OSL.
QR is £383 in Y from BRU.
BA is £1900 in J from DUB.
BA is £1600 in WTP from LHR.
BA is £580 in Y from OSL.

Stewie Mac

and just to add that you might want to get yourself on QR's mail list - during their last '2 for 1 in J' sale, I priced up CDG-JNB return at about eur 2,200 for 2, ie around GBP900 each at today's exchange rate.

LondonElite

You make a compelling argument for QR if you're willing to put up with a second connection.

Cymro

What second connection?

You're still connecting in CPH and A.N. Other airport - it's just that it happens to be DOH rather than LHR. I suppose some people might find the break in the journey quite unsettling though - when you connect at LHR, you're on the final leg very quickly.

However those are some long old layovers - going via DOH adds about 7h to the total trip length even compared to ex-EU on BA.

LondonElite

Sorry, mind on blink...was thinking QR though LHR which is of course stupid. I blame Taittinger.

JohnAx

QR has a lot of plusses - due their business model fares are often significantly cheaper (especially one-way premium), inexpensive cancellation may be offered even on discounted fares, equipment is modern and in-flight service good.

But - passage through DOH is sometimes fraught: anecdotes speak of indifferent staff and premium pax being d/g to coach with no compensation when regal locals appear at the last minute demanding seats.

My only experience was to book a bargain one-way I-class fare that I eventually canceled for a bargain (imo) fee ~USD100. I'd also read that they didn't readily refund monies, so had booked via Expedia for that reason and was promptly refunded. (And Expedia showed better availability than QR.com when I needed it.)

All the above comments are from reading the FT QR forum, which I recommend.

TeflonMan

Worth holding out for a possible "2 for £2015" sale at the end of the year (like the one we were able to enjoy before Christmas 2014)?
Might not cover your travel dates though.

Cymro

Almost certainly won't - it's designed to cover the period when business travel tails off between Christmas and New Year and wealthy premium leisure pax will have booked up months in advance, so the pool of last-minute premium ticket buyers is very small.

msm2000uk

Bear in mind that it is quite regular for upgrades to be offered at JNB for a price.