wijibintheair

I am subcontracting/helping out with one of the officially appointed tour operators in the US for 2010 and its a bit of a nightmare. As you know, we will only find out 4th December where each team plays and then it will be a bun-fight. There is also a huge shortage of accommodation in the main cities - Johannesburg worst hit.
As for the air-fares well I have been tracking as seats come in range - I checked SAA on a Y class return I think 10 - 18 June just as an example and got $9,000 in coach! To make matters worse our stock of guaranteed "lowest" fare tickets with SA have to be issued by 30 July or they then just to GDS prices and of course people don't know yet where they are going to be watching the games etc so it is all fun and games.
I think there is a chance that on the day you will find rooms, but who knows, you may end up on the pavements - right now it is a guessing game. Even for us where we have allocated room inventory around the country we won't know until 4th December where we will be over supplied and where we will be under supplied - all depends on where Team USA ends up playing!

oceanside greg

Thanks for the tip - I'll keep my fingers crossed!

noirpepper

thanks for the information, I am living a similar nightmare but just for a smaller group of friends and family. I am waiting to secure my tickets by end of Aug 2010.

wijibintheair

Good luck - I know that through Match there is an option for buying sets of stadium specific tickets but these come with a hefty price tag. The other option is if you are lucky enough to get given tickets through a corporate sponsor or win in the FIFA lotto.
If not you will have to use the "follow team X (fill in your home country) tickets like we have on offer - and will not know where your fixtures will be until 4th December. I wish you all the best of luck and hope by the end of August you get your desired tickets

noirpepper

we have some of our game tickets but problem is securing a group airline tix from many locations across north america. the hotel situation is a total mess right now. any ideas on how I can score hotels in JNB from Jun 30-July 14?

monsa415

Has anybody stayed in this lodge? Any good recommendations on the lodge itself or the game reserve? I will be going for world cup with family so I am not sure if this is nice and family friendly... any info?

wijibintheair

It is a good lodge and Madikwe is a great little reserve. As you will be traveling with family it also has the advantage of being a malaria free reserve. Just remember that you will be there in winter so take big thick heavy clothes, scarfs and gloves for the morning game drives - it is Africa, but at dawn it is still very cold on the back of an open landrover

monsa415

I am not sure the big diffeence between Madwike and Kruger or whether this lodge is comparable to lodges in Kruger. What would be your overall choice with family? Is this it? My son is 8 so attention span is low but he loves animals -- Thanks!

wijibintheair

To be honest the experience that you get at the majority of the good lodges in South Africa will be pretty similar. Tuningi has a good reputation and Madikwe is a good reserve. Me personally I love Kruger - but I think it is as much a South African thing as anything else - having grown up with holidays in Kruger.
From a game point of view, as all the areas are expansive reserves you have no guarantee of seeing more or less game in Madikwe or Kruger. There are certain lodges in certain areas - like a Mala Mala for instance where game viewing is definitely above average - but that would come with a heftier price tag and not quite as family friendly.
I really do not think you will be disappointed going to Madikwe.

EnvoyBoy

I was there for five days in 2006 and can assure you it's very family-friendly. More than just welcoming families, they do a lot for kids, including special kid meals and kid activities. I was very impressed with the rangers' interactions with kids and the patience and time they took with them. The only thing the kids seemed unhappy with was the length of the drives but they often just laid down and slept in the jeep instead. I was actually worried that the rangers would deny the rest of us the full experience to accomodate the limited attention span of the kids but they did not at all.

johan rebel

Yes, but Madikwe is seriously overstocked with lion, and their wild dogs are needles in a far smaller haystack.

Johan

AUSMatt

Hi all,

I hope this thread gets some more life as people start to book their WC travel. (Good to have suggestions & group knowledge).

I am about to drop a reservation at Leriba Lodge (6/14-6/25) I booked via hotels.com (and you can book diretly with the hotel). It's the cheapest I've found at $106/night for a single and $140ish for double. Located between Pretoria and Joburg.

Leriba Lodge
27-12-6603300
245 End Ave Clubview
Centurion, ZA

I'll probably wait a few days to drop it in case it makes sense for anyone else to try and pick it up. It looks like you can still book directly with Leriba Lodge (google is your friend) at around $130/night for a single. Not bad considering how tough it is to find rooms in Joburg/Pretoria.

We've secured a motorhome/RV for our visit which gives us the flexibility needed to follow the US team depending on the draw and our CONCACAF ranking (hopefully 1st). In addition, I'll add a post as we get closer to June if we think we will have a spot in the camper for someone to rent or catch a ride to a city for fellow FTers.

I don't think Leriba is a fabulous place, but it looks like it would do the trick for anyone looking to stay near Joburg.

Go USA.

-Matt

joefiro

I finally pulled the trigger and purchased my flight to JNB for June 3rd - July 17th for $1300+ (on UA and SA). I plan to do the Kruger National Park and perhaps some other sightseeing before the start of the World Cup.

The plan is to take the Premier train from JNB to Kruger upon arrival to do the safari tour, fly to Durban before the World Cup, spend a few days in Durban (have tix to 1 game), fly to Port Elizabeth and spend a few days there (no tickets to any games), and then fly to Cape Town. We will make CPT our World Cup base for 3 weeks (have tickets to 3 games, hopefully 2 more, and perhaps the Semi Final), and then fly out to JNB after the Semi Final (have ticket to the final game).

Does anyone know whether SA (or any other airlines) offers flight coupons that can be used on any domestic flights within South Africa?

thijsseh

Star alliance have something called the 'Africa airpass'. I think that's the only product that comes close to what your are looking for.

joefiro

Thanks. That's what I was looking for. Although after toying with the tools for a bit, I found that booking directly from SA is a much better alternative. Not only SA is cheaper, but it also provides more flight availability.