Originally Posted by
sk3x
Looking to book a OW Explorer to South Africa for next year (2 in J). I am outside the 330-day window for the last flight, so not ready to book yet, but wanted to run the plan by the experts here to see if anyone saw any issues (or potential optimizations).
MIA-DOH-JNB-CPT(stop)-JNB(stop)-DOH-MAD(stop)-JFK(stop)/LGA-MIA
I think it's relatively straightforward, but a few specific questions:
1. GC Map has this as 24,982 - any reason to believe that AA would calculate it differently?
2. Will I run into any issues booking the JNB-CPT segments on Comair (BA)?
3. If I want to extend my stopover in New York, I should be able to move the LGA-MIA segment back without incurring a fee, correct?
4. Anything else others would do to optimize? Priority is South Africa; MAD not required, nor is the LGA-MIA segment on the back end (but figured I would use up the extra 1,100 miles).
Regarding the Comair segments, keep in mind that they will add a substantial amount of YQ to your total cost. The last time we travelled to South Africa - a few months ago - we decided to avoid BA/Comair and use SA, which allowed much more flexibility (many more flights availble for purchase). The difference in cost between BA YQ and a revenue ticket on SA between CPT and JNB was less than $30, and it could be even lower if you fly one of the local LCCs. Business class for a two-hour segment is not crucial for us, and economy on SA was quite acceptable.