saleflyer

Having benefitted from a lot of great advice in the past from fellow FTs I am now looking for some advice on best ex eu departure points for J class to JNB/CPT in March 2018. Have a family wedding in Stellanbosch and looking to arrive around24/25 March and fly back 1 or 2 April. JNB ex AMS seems cheapest option at around £1590. CPT flights are all around £1900 unless I fly Ethiopian which I am not going to do as read too many stories of significant delays.

Is AMS generally the best ex EU departure for South Africa and is £1590 a reasonable price or should I hold out for cheaper fare over xmas/NY?

Any advice welcomed.

Globaliser

In my experience, AMS is a very good departure point for flights to ZA, not only because of the prices but also because positioning to start the ticket there is very easy: AMS is a "foolproof" back-to-back point for doing this.

Whether you should buy now depends on what availability looks like for the flights that you need. There are no CW sale fares loaded at the moment, but waiting always involves a gamble.

Are you getting that £1,900 price if you route through JNB? If you are, then don't forget that there are myriad options for buying a long-haul ticket as far as JNB and then buying the short-haul ticket separately - but equally, don't forget all the complications involved in "connecting" at JNB across two separate tickets.

Virazuno

Try adding a week's car hire in (you don't have to pick up the car)....you might be pleasantly surprised....

Horatio

Agree with much of the above. After a lot of research I'm doing ex-AMS to CPT next May having considered and then rejected flying ET. Lots of AMS positioning choice and a kind-of-free day to spend in the city on the way back. Approx. €1,700 pp including car hire, which from memory was practically free. The other advantage is that it turns it into a BA holiday meaning only the deposit needs to be paid upfront, which was helpful for me as the balance will not be due until my next CV earning year.

mikeyfly

A while back Portugal to JNB was £1,250.00 in J I doubt it is any more but worth having a look starting there

orbitmic

That’s likely to be best if you want to stick to ba. Recently however, tk had Dub-Jnb for just above £1000 in j or from uk departure points for about £200 more.

Cris L

My most regular route is Stockholm to Johannesburg, admittedly in Y, not J, and these fares are usually excellent. Stockholm is a much easier airport to navigate than AMS or BRU.

3x in 2017, with an ex AMS & ex BRU thrown in for good measure.

The only problem I've had was in AMS with a delay, where the staff were not willing to put me on an earlier available BA flight as I had baggage checked in. So I had to be put on a later flight to JHB at LHR. It screwed my schedule!

msm2000uk

As an aside, and if you're not wedded to the idea of BA, QR sometimes have some decent fares to CPT/JNB from AMS and ARN.

Double tier points etc, albeit I appreciate a longer routing.

M

captainak

I am flying Ams-lhr-cpt today and cpt-lgw on the return leg - only in Y (at the moment..) but it was the cheapest I could find at £532, the flight back to gatwick is ideal for me also.
I did look at routing through Jnb and using avios on Comair, but preferred this route.

Firipu

Yes, I did AMS-LHR-JNB-LVI earlier this year and it was the cheapest ex-EU that I could find at that time. I've also done BCN-LHR-CPT a few years back.

scottnothing

AMS is a good departure option. Do keep an eye on QR sale fares ex-AMS and CDG, be flexible with dates and stopovers and leverage off any Avios balance you have for the connections. Given you propose to travel over Easter you may be out of luck.
For example:

• I flew AMS-LHR-CPT (return) in 2014 (EUR 1207-) and it was bearable. AMS a relatively reliable and cost-effective routing given the number of flights daily and that you will likely be able to use Avios for your positioning flights pretty easily. Definitely leave yourself a buffer in case your outbound positioning flight is cancelled or delayed.
• I'm flying LHR-JNB on a one-way 2-4-1 redemption in First over Christmas and coming back CPT-Doha-CDG in business on 2 Jan in QR (paying cash). Using Avios for the JNB-CPT and CDG-LHR connections. The total cash component for that trip all-in is around £1,550.

So AMS-JNB for around £1600 is still alright at current rates and given you're travelling over Easter.

scottnothing

Also consider MAD-LHR-CPT // JNB-LHR-AMS. It is showing as £1769 on ITA matrix at the moment - departing Friday 23 March and returning 1/2 April. Has the benefit of cutting one connection out of the whole journey. Also has the added novelty of flying the 777 between MAD and LHR.

Happy planning and have a great time in SA.

ESFLYER95

While on topic of SA....Any body know of any ports for good WT+ fares? Have a GUF to use and fancy a long weekend in CPT when I'm home. Thanks

flatlander

I'm not seeing anything cheaper, from the common ex-EU places, than some Dual Inventory Fares from LHR. Check they're upgradable, of course. You might struggle to do better than the DIF fares, assuming they apply to the days you want to travel at the times you want to book.

Roger

IME ex-AMS is great for reasons outlined elsewhere. A similar fare seems to be available for most of the year, via LIS too. If you have reasonable access to LHR, judicious planning can ensure worry-free travel with the l/h flights starting and finishing in London, sleeping at home before and after:

outbound
Day 1: AMS-LHR (having back-to-backed or spent a <24 hour stay in NL)
Day 2: LHR-CPT, ensuring that this flight is <24 hours from the AMS flight

on the return:
Day 1: CPT-LHR arriving Day 2
Day 3: LHR-AMS ensuring that this flight is <24 hours from the inbound, though longer connections usually available at modest extra cost

I have b2b'ed using LIS, DUB, VIE, MIL using this timing; AMS wins for me because of the short connecting flights (can also use LCY or LGW) and the convenience of sleeping at home on the way in both directions.