davetravels

On the KL/BA baggage issue . . . I sent a question about the potential fees for next month, via KLM.com, which got routed to DL. Naturally, knucklehead DL got it wrong!!

Thank you for sharing your concerns regarding the service provided while
traveling with us. On behalf of everyone at Delta Air Lines, I sincerely
appreciate the opportunity to respond to you.

Please understand when you checked in for Flight 3766 operated by
British Airways they collected any fees associated with your baggage.
Please contact British Airways and they will assist you with questions
regarding free baggage allowances for Elite members. Their contact
number is (800) 247-9297.

Thank you for your support as a Diamond Medallion member and for
trusting your business to us since 1994 You can be assured we will make
every attempt to service you well; we are focused on the future and look
forward to our continued business relationship Mr. DaveTravels.

Sincerely,

Jane Doe (alias)
Coordinator, Corporate Customer Care
Delta Air Lines

RamblingMan

Just did the JFK-AMS leg of my trip, had a 3-seat row in EC all to myself. Problem with the EC seats though (don't know if it applies to the back of the plane)...the armrests only go up about 45deg! May not be a problem for petite flyers but I'm a big guy. So I had the armrest digging into my side and legs as I tried to sleep.

Travelomania

Thanks for the update - good to know and anticipate fitting arrangements for plan B

craazyman

I'd be interested in going along with someone for some interesting stories. In fact, If anyone is planning to stay for any period of time (few days or a week etc), I'd be interested in seeing the area (never been). Would be willing to go 1/2 on hotels, fun, etc. Preferably someone that has already been there!

My orgin airports could be LAN, GRR, FNT, DTW. Can someone tell me if any of those are valid? I haven't learned how to do all this yet. Just got silver after my first year of college working for an international finance company and now I am addicted to travel!

RamblingMan

Another update from the OP...

The KLM flight from AMS-CPT was packed full, 3 to a row, even in EC and in the back (I walked around and looked). The armrests on that equipment raise fully out of the way though.

The BA flight from CPT-JNB was good, still packed but at least they still serve hot meals on that 2hr flight! Checking in with BA in CPT though, they couldn't find my ticket # even though I had my BA booking reference #, so make sure you've got your entire itinerary printed out to make it easier for them if you have a snafu. They were able to check me in but they had to associate my ticket with BA to do it (and subsequently printed out all of my boarding passes including JNB-AMS and AMS-JFK on BA paper). So when I got to JNB just an hour or two ago, I made sure to check in at KLM again and get new boarding passes with KLM paper, just in case Delta "forgets" to credit my account... Though the MQMs have already shown up from the JFK-AMS leg!

Yaatri

Here is what I am doing.
DCA-MSP-AMS-CPT dep 7th Feb arr. CPT 8th Feb
CPT-AMS-MSP-DCA dep 14th Feb arr. Dca same day.
I am in CPT right now.

Some info: Got 500 MB of data for R159, good until the last day of the following month (i.e. Feb 29th); 250 MB for R99; 100 MB for R49 and 30 MB for R25

Yaatri

Yes, AMS_CPT is quite full these days. All pf EC was full on my flight too. There were quote a few seats free in the back tgough. Sevral people had all three seats to them selves.
Were just your BPs on BA paper, or was your ticket number was BA too? If it was just the BP, it's to be expected as BA counter would not have KLM BP stock.
It seems that U.S.-EU is full in RC on DL metal but not on KL/AF metal. EC has been full on both my DTW/MSP-AMS flights. Senior citizens tour groups on both the flights. You wouldn't believe how rowdy they were, woo-hoo-ing to each other, as if they were in a party. The dame group of about 10 was in MSP Skyclub also. The FA had to cut off liquor of one of the old ladies.

RamblingMan

EC on my AMS-JFK flight was also packed. What is "RC"?

dd1612

Most probably a typo:

E and R letters are next to each other on a keyboard.

Yaatri

Correct. I meant EC

CapetownZA

Anyone needing information about what to do in Cape Town for 24hrs , Cheap Options from the Airport to the city etc PVT me. Cape Town Airport - international side is very quite KLM is the last flight to arrive so you can clear immigration and customs under 5 mins with hand luggage only. No transfer desk at Cape Town (CPT) only available in Joburg(JNB)

Yaatri

At that time of the night, there are only two options. Taxi or shuttle. Shuttle costs (ZAR210). A taxi is more convenient and quicker will cost about the same, around ZAR2150. For your return trip to the airport, you can take the bus (MyCity) from the Civic Centre. It costs ZAR 53 and the last nus leaves at 9:00 p.m. for the airport. dropping you at the airport at about 9:20 p.m. You could get to the airport earlier too.
If you don;t want to spend money on tours or the Table Mountain, take the Metro to Simons Town or the town before that. A multi ride ticket for the day costs ZAR30. Bring swimming gear and enjoy your day at the beach in either of the two towns. Food will not be a problem there. The trip takes about 45 minutes each way.

xliioper

I'm arriving on Jan 25th and departing on the 30th. Anyone else around on these dates? My SO is coming with me. I'm staying at a place on Hout Bay. Any recommendations for things to do?

CapetownZA

Hout Bay is nice for one day but its quite far from everything so i hope you will have a rented car if not their is regular hourly bus service from Houtbay to Cape Town CBD takes about hour.

RustyC

Well, after a marathon 7-hour booking session (thanks to perfectionistic tendencies), I emerged with DCA-MSP-AMS (23 hour layover)-CPT/(nearly 5 days)/-JNB-AMS-ATL(14-hour overnight layover)-DCA for a total of $748.10.

Am also having to get an ATL-DCA feeder at $100.80. So I'm in for $848.90 for some 22,419 MQMs, or about 3.8 cents per if I'm doing the math right. With my RDM valuation at 1.5 cents it'd conservatively spin about $673 worth for the $849.

Doing it CPT-JNB-AMS rather than CPT-AMS got the R fare and dropped it by $90, but the BA-operated KL 3764 7 p.m. CPT-JNB flight was presented confusingly. Looks like they're saying I can take one bag.

Getting the 'O' to take it was like feeding a cat a pill, but I made one pass on KLM's site and decided it was way too kludgey a ticket for that.

Still, I couldn't bring myself to go all that way just as an MR. The AMS layover was deliberate (11 a.m. to 10 a.m.) and the ATL one also convenient . I notice that Sting is doing a concert in CPT March 27-28 (albeit with the 28th sold out), and I came very close to building something around that.

For those with time and a real ability to manage complexity, maybe u could also use a CPT trip as a springboard to a 30K intra-Africa award on Kenya Airways. Dunno how hard they make it to book or whether the low-tier-award availability is as bad as on DL, but I s'pose it's a possibility.

Quentin Hotel Arrive in AMS near Centraal looks like it might be workable as a cheapie at $50-60. Didn't want to be too far from the station but didn't like pricing on airport hotels.

Anyway, if anyone's around CPT on March 16th-20th and wants to meet up I'd be happy to. Will be my first trip to that whole continent.