don_drapper

Expecting a YMMV for my situation: I had flights changed on my onward and return trip on my mRTW, not itinerary broking but adding some additional travel time + delay risk. Since I am (no matter what) getting rid of all those flights as I am moving to a J booking, any chance I can get them to waive the fees? I am expecting not really since it is essentially a completely different booking but curious to see if any have some experience with this.

canadiancow

I'm taking my 17 year old female cousin to South Africa in March. Stops will almost certainly be CPT and JNB.

We have a booking, but it's YYZ-JNB-CPT-YYZ right now, and two of us are starting/ending in SFO (17yo is YYZ).

As such, the booking is going to split at some point, which should make securing J space easier (we're all J right now except for CPT-IST in TK Y).

There are concerns over having the 17yo transit on her own. The parents are okay with USA and Europe, but are more hesitant with middle east and Africa. I'm not even sure I'd be happy with FRA (though I have no safety concerns there), but I've never been to IST or anywhere in Africa, so I'm looking for advice on where would be safe and "easy" for a 17yo female to transit. She would NOT be leaving the airport... unless there are IRROPS

I see lots of ADD/CAI options pop up. I'd definitely get her on the plane in CPT/JNB, but I'm not sure that's going to be sufficient unless JNB-JFK or CPT/JNB-MUC/FRA/ZRH open up.

Maybe I should just revoke the invitation... that would make this much easier

tracon

Since this is the rtw thread, your itineraries should look like
YYZ-Asia-PER-JNB-either Europe or GRU-YYZ
You could do
SFO-Asia-PER-JNB-either Europe or GRU-YYZ-SFO.....or some version of that depending on mileage.
You will have different ``destinations.``
Don`t forget about the new GRU-YUL flight.

If you`re going the 3rd week of March we`ll see you down there.

canadiancow

I am considering cutting out CPT and doing something else instead. I found GRU-JNB for 3 pax, but I couldn't get even 1 for YYZ-GRU. But my real question is about which airports would be safe for transit. I am really struggling to get out of Africa without a connection in Africa.

Smiley90

As a 17y old I'd be tempted to say most international hub cities are safe, but you and your cousin would know best. (That would include IST and ADD). Have you considered watching some YouTube videos or reading blogs of female travellers transiting there to see what their impressions were? That might be your best bet should there be no availability from Europe (or from NA direct)

You COULD try going the other way around and get on PER-JNB/JNB-PER as well, if availability out of Africa is bad. Or JNB-CAN/HKG/SZX/PEK(?). but any of those might break MPM from YYZ, not sure.

FWIW out of ALL those airports, her luggage is probably most at risk in JNB, I'd that's a concern. So there's no avoiding that. (Though no personal risk to herself, just the risk of having to deal with stolen items)

Edit:cousin, not daughter, my bad

yyznomad

I believe it is his cousin, not daughter. (not likely it matters, but more just clarifying)

Smiley90

Misread, my bad.

canadiancow

Ok I made a new booking. Old one still held.

YYZ-GRU // GRU-JNB // JNB-NBO-FRA-YYZ

NBO-FRA is LH Y, everything else is J.

Timing works that we can tag on SFO flights, so no big deal about splitting up. But we need J on the return or I'm not going.

don_drapper

Have you checked returning through ZRH instead of FRA via LX? Might cut YQ and be a more enjoyable product no? Though not sure if there is still a NBO-ZRH flight with LX.

allbrosca

I have been going to CPT every year for a bit My daughter came to join me last year and transited through IST and JNB without issue. Frankly, I was worried about JNB but it wasn't an issue. It might be misguided, but I avoided ADD. Not sure about NBO. Itinerary was YYZ IAD JNB CPT IST YYZ

canadiancow

Thanks. By searching JNB-ZRH and ZRH-YYZ, I found JNB-DAR-ZRH-VIE-YYZ.

No issue feeding the segments to the agent, even though it didn't come up in a JNB-YYZ search.

He said I owed ~$200 more though. I mentioned there should be a refund because I was no longer on Lufthansa, and he said he agreed, but the "Vienna Toronto still had YQ". "Uhhhh I'm Super Elite". So he put me on hold to talk to a supervisor.

He came back and confirmed I shouldn't pay it, so now he's calling ticketing. He said he'd call me back.

I had a similar issue where I was charged YQ on an all-AC North American itinerary but it was subsequently refunded after another change.

Twickenham

While it's been quite a while since I've been 17 , I have transited IST twice, both times myself and MamaTwick, so I can address the female part of the equation. Both times was in J, so lounge access; first time overnight, second time just a connection. (Note: both times were through the old IST; will be travelling through new IST in a month's time so can update if necessary)

I can genuinely say that I never felt unsafe or uncomfortable in any way. Especially if travelling in J, as you have the separate immigration/security lines, and of course the lounge. But even out and about at night in Istanbul we always felt safe.

While you're obviously wise to use caution, I would not personally be any more nervous with her transiting IST than any other major airport.

canadiancow

Callback from a different person says I'm wrong and YQ is charged based on all airlines (I believe the only YQ is ZRH-VIE) and oh whoops I can't reissue your ticket and someone will call you back within 48 hours but it's Christmas so maybe not.

Happy

JNB the domestic and international airports are right next to each other. I cannot remember from JNB international arrival to domestic departure requires clear immigration / custom or not (even though we definitely have done that at least 2 if not 3 times between 2015 and 2017 when we went to South Africa every year). Though I distinctly remembered we had to look for bank ATMs to get some rands so most likely the transit wasn't airside.

The airport is safe. There is not much at the international side when all the eateries and shops are on the domestic side, with a big hall separates the 2 sides. In fact on a trip we had overnight layover at JNB both going and coming , we stayed at Protea airport (not the transit one behind security but the one at one end of the terminal though you need to take hotel shuttle to wind thru the roads outside airport to get there), we took the shuttle back to airport on each occasion to have dinner at the myriad of eateries at the domestic side, using various passage ways thru the garage area once we figured out the short cut. We did that several times.. It is that safe.

IST the new airport is a nightmare to transit due to the size of the airport and the lack of means to move passengers. We had a transit there in Sept, arrived from VCE, departed to SIN. We had the luck that the arrival and departure were at opposite ends of the concourse. Very Very long walk. Large airport with lots of distractions (shops and crowds) but is a safe airport.

I would definitely avoid middle of the night transit at airports like ADD, as an example. I would definitely avoid NBO as well.

allbrosca

To clarify Happy's post, you need to go through immigration in JNB first if you are transiting and there is also exit immigration. The only scary part of JNB is that there are lots if people who want to "help" you after immigration but it's easy to just say no and keep walking.