iahphx

So I want to visit South Africa with my family. We've been several times before (all pre-pandemic). Am I correct that the current flight situation is bleak? Is there only a daily UA flight from EWR and a daily DL flight from ATL? Both to JNB? Is that it? I looked at the UA website and it seemed like COACH seats were going for 80,000 each way. Yuck.

Alternatively, is the fastest/cheapest option to fly the Middle East airlines? Looks like there's some award availability that way, too.

Anything I should know about security and costs in South Africa now? I assume costs on the ground are still relatively cheap for Americans? Anything "new" in the safety situation? I assume the country hasn't gotten safer. Is it any worse?

B747-437B

SA is quite miserable right now with the load shedding and the general collapse of the economy and infrastructure. Its fine at the top hotels, etc.. with redundant systems, but the last couple of years have taken their toll generally on the country and I see a significant (negative) change in most everything. Things are very cheap though because the rand isn't worth the paper its printed on, but thats about the only silver lining.

From an aviation perspective, South Africa (and Nigeria) are dragging down the entire continent. While Africa is still lagging 2019 numbers in total airline capacity, if you take those two out the recovery is nearly 115% of 2019 capacity. So that sorta tells you why its so much harder to find cheap seats into SA at peak season.

cheltzel

If you want award flights to JNB/CPT, my advice is to book on the 330 day horizon (as soon as they are available on your airline's award booking engine). If you have AA miles and want to book on QR, the flights form the US to DOH as well as the flights from DOH to JNB/CPT disappear very quickly (in 1 - 3 days after you first see them available). The same applies for booking Star Alliance awards using UA miles. Award availability using UA miles does not disappear as quickly as it does for using AA miles but the high demand dates do get snapped up in a week or so. You can find some decent last minute LH/LX awards to South Africa using UA miles but I would recommend having awards booked in advance so you have something set up and can fall back on and then see if you get a better flight close in.

If you are using money to buy tickets, my only advice is to be flexible with dates and routings. You can get some very attractive business class fares from JFK to South Africa on KQ. But you need to be able to fly when the fares are lower and be willing to book well in advance. Otherwise coach fares are anywhere from $1400 to over $2000 each and business class fares are anywhere from $4500 to over $6000 each (peak demand dates get to over $8000).

iahphx

Thanks. From a tourist perspective, how would this downturn affect us? Obviously, the think most people (including me) worry about in South Africa is crime. I've spent months in the country before, so I certainly have at least some understanding of the situation. For a tourist, my belief was SA was "safe enough." Is that still the case, or is it now materially less safe?

Otherwise, from an infrastructure standpoint, is there now unreliable power? Are the roads terrible? Do basic things not work, like the food supply chain? Or will these things just be minor nuisances?

LAX_Esq

We just got back from Cape Town last week -- see my TR here: 9 Nights in Vic Falls, Okavango Delta & Cape Town: Trip Notes . I wouldn't have even known about the load shedding if it weren't for our Cape Peninsula guide mentioning it. Everything was smooth at the airports, our 4-star hotel, the nice tourist sites, Ubers, etc. Your belief that SA is "safe enough" is probably right.

B747-437B

As a tourist it is minor inconveniences. As a business visitor, slightly less minor but still not really bad. Safety hasn't reached a tipping point yet, but will be close to it as elections approach next year. Crime is as bad as it has ever been, but not significantly worse either. Supermarkets have more products out of stock than I recall them ever having over the past 20 years, but not so much as to be particularly noteworthy. It's a slow bleed rather than a huge overnight change.

iahphx

Thanks. Yup, that sounds right. Came across a horrific story of violence (nothing I haven't heard before from South Africans -- they all have these stories) but the crime numbers suggest a slow but steady increase. One could argue that it would be wise to go now because, eventually, it is almost certain you won't be able to go. Unless a new Nelson Mandela comes along, that sad outcome seems almost certain.

https://vdare.com/posts/south-africa...abbed-and-shot

soxfanndc

Hey OP. Thanks for posting this. I've found the info very helpful. So some context before I reply. I've been to SA six times before and I'm scheduled to go in October of this year. I live in DC and I'm a single male traveller. I know we all have our "preferred" way of travelling but I very much agree with the poster who advised

If you are using money to buy tickets, my only advice is to be flexible with dates and routings. You can get some very attractive business class fares from JFK to South Africa on KQ. But you need to be able to fly when the fares are lower and be willing to book well in advance. Otherwise coach fares are anywhere from $1400 to over $2000 each and business class fares are anywhere from $4500 to over $6000 each (peak demand dates get to over $8000).

I booked my biz class ticket in January to travel in October of this year. I booked on Kenya Airways from JFK-NBO-JNB. I've taken the nonstops on both Delta and United in the past five years and they are great products for sure. The tipping point for me was that at the time I booked, DL was something like $8500 r/t, United was $5400 I think and Kenya was around $2700 r/t. I KNOW Kenya isn't gonna compete w/ either DL or United. Kenya has 2x2 seating in biz, the food reportedly isn't as great, no PJ's are offered etc. Honestly, though, for me all I really need is a flat bed and all the rest is easy. Again, that's just for me. I plan on taking Amtrak to NYC then head over to JFK and on the return I found a cheap $70 flight from JFK back to DC. That's a lot of "moving" parts and some may not want to endure all that but it's all worth it to me. So that's my two cents..... thnx

cheltzel

My wife and I have been flying from the US to southern and eastern Africa for about a decade now. And I totally agree with the highlighted part of your post. Even if you get a decently short connection, all one stop flights from the US to Africa are >19 hours in length. The shortest JFK-NBO-JNB flight has a 90 minute connection at NBO. It is a smaller airport and fairly easy to connect through. But I always worry about the timing of the JFK-NBO leg. I've researched the on time arrival performance of this flight and KQ is not the most on-time carrier I've seen. If you miss the connection, the next flight is 8 hours later on a 737 (basically in domestic first class seats) and arriving after midnight. I'd look at doing a stopover on NBO and do a day or two there. If you have never spent time on Nairobi, there are a surprising number of things to do. And be guaranteed of widebody business class seats all the way to JNB and back.

jsnydcsa

Since 2000, I've been to and stayed short (less than 3 days) to long (more than 6 months) times in JNB, DUR and mostly CPT (and surrounds as far as PE, Grahamstown/Makhanda) and have contributed to or read this this board practically ever since then - though I'm certainly no "expert". As for visting for business or pleasure, I'll repeat what I've said many times before, if you consider yourself a savvy, researched "worldly" travel and treat traveling to SA just like traveling to virtually any other big city (with all it's urban "issues") and keep your wits about you, you'll be fine - ANC/EFF-political-power wars be darned.

As for flights, unfortunately, at my stage in life I'm not into the hunt for the best fare by 37¢ less over hours and do favor quick/convenient/comfort over crazy bookings to save the aforesaid 37¢. Lately, I've been happy with the IAD-SA concept on United (I hated flying through or returning to EWR from SA) but have noticed that fares are quite high. Granted I was a bit spoiled flying during the pandemic when myself and +3 other jsnydcsa family members got fares just a touch +/- $1000 each (but see, EWR).

tkelvin69

Shop for fares, set alerts. Recently bought Sea-jnb//cpt-sea on Tk for $3,700.

It is safer in SA than the U.S. and the health care is better.

allbrosca

I have been going once or twice a year to CPT or JNB and I taken many different routes from Toronto, favouring Star Alliance and shopping for cheapest fares, all in J for as little as CDN$3000, but usually closer to $5000. I have went thorough IST, ADD, VIE, FRA, MUC, GRU, DXB, JFK, IAD, EWR and LHR on UA, SA, LH, ET, TK, EK, OS and found very little to distinuish one from the other, other than getting some well worn older planes on SA (but that won't be an issue anymore). I was presently surprised by ET and a one hour connection in ADD was not an issue. Toughest connection always seemed to be transitting thorugh JNB to or from Cape Town. Flights were always delayed!