Decided to tick off the last three Star Alliance members I never flew (SA, AV and CM) and I am challenging myself to do all three in one trip (almost certainly by means of multiple tickets) and here are some data points:
- While I could literally start from pretty much any airport (can position myself anywhere needed), my preference would still be to start somewhere in Europe or Asia or Africa
- The inbound should ideally include LIM-BOG-MUC/BCN/MAD (with or without an intra-Europe leg after that); I avoid LHR like the plague so BOG-LHR must be excluded; an inbound like this would tick off AV
- I would like to avoid having to get a South African visa (too complicated to my taste as it would mean having to visit a South African consulate in person), so I would ideally just do a transit in JNB or CPT or PLZ or DUR; hopefully I won’t have to deal with a long layover
- given the above and CM’s network being limited to the Americas, SA should probably have to be included in the first part of the itinerary, then CM, then AV
- the itinerary doesn’t have to be limited to these three carriers only; if I can’t switch from SA to CM (GRU apparently being the only option for that) and from CM to AV, I won’t mind doing short hops on any other carrier in between
- I will do this in coach/economy; don’t necessarily have a $$$ limit but I would obviously like to do it on the cheap(ish), if possible
- When? February 2020 (ideally) or April 2020 (less desirable)
First I looked at starting in HKG or PER on SA on my way to GRU but HKG and PER are quite expensive points to start. I then looked at starting on SA from MRU or SEZ or NBO or MPM or ADD or CAI; these could work, but there are probably better (cheaper) points where to start on SA?
I guess what I am trying to do is ask the collective wisdom here for better ideas than mine. Any pointers?
Thanks a million!