Originally Posted by
jrobin
Thanks for this advice.
Any suggestions of airport hotels at JNB?
In addition to what ironmanjt mentioned, in JNB I always stay at the Hilton in Sandton, it's also in a safe area, you can take the train back and forth to Sandton if you'd like vs. a taxi but you'll still need a taxi from Sandton station.
Originally Posted by
jrobin
Malawi then Zambia and Victoria Falls are the ultimate destinations; LUN is just a little closer and more central than JNB to start.
Unfortunately I have no shortage of segments so can use one from JNB-LUN or HRE and not need to return to JNB.
Great idea about the overnight in SYD, but we are starting in RAR, and do not get to AKL until 6:25pm Last QF non-stop is at 4:05pm.
We might add in a night or two in Malawi after the night at JNB before our tour starts.
There's no longer a oneworld airline covering those segments, so using your xONEx segments isn't an option. Pre-COVID there was a BA franchise that was really handy but unfortunately went into bankruptcy and looks like we won't have another (sub-Saharan) African carrier until WB (Rwandair) joins.
Agree with ironmanjt, JNB is a lot more convenient of a transit hub in Southern Africa than LUN or HRE. Another potential advantage using JNB as your departure point is that you might get lucky with QR QSuites, while both LUN and HRE are 788s so you know the seat you're getting there.
From JNB you have options to both LLW and BLZ, from LUN it's LLW only. Not sure where you're ultimately going in Malawi but if just the cities I'd say Blantyre is the more interesting one. Having said that I'd advise going to Cape Maclear or Nkhata Bay if you have time. I did self-drive in Malawi and had zero issues there, you don't deal with so many police checkpoints like in certain neighboring countries.