dibbs98

Hi All

looking to fly economy London to CPT late march, often this was a couple hundred pounds cheaper to do via JNB with the comair partnership, however I don’t see any connecting flights anymore with comair bankrupt.

anyone know if BA have plans for a new domestic partner in South Africa or should i just bite the bullet and go direct (obviously direct has time benefits too).

thanks

escape2sun

Comair have gone bust, and BA are looking for a new partner I think.

I've done LHR-JNB-CPT recently admittedly in First & Club, and booked a flight with flysafair, which are OK for a 2-hour flight, but you need to allow a lot of connection time in JNB, as it would be an unprotected transfer

dibbs98

Thanks have used safair a few times but for this short trip ideally want it all on one itinerary.

without comair can one still use the domestic slowlounge at JNB? Am a BAEC silver

Grumpyflyer

Did the flight both ways last week in first/business using BA Holidays as the agent. Initially, the JNB-CPT-JNB was booked with Comair but when they went under flights were transferred to South African Airways who were very good. Quite a wait in JNB on the way home but everything was on schedule. SAA checked us all the way through and would have done the same for the hold baggage but the agent suggested that it would be better not to. No problem and, after a very reasonable lunch landslide which took up the time until check in opened, we were on our way to the lounge.

AleTrail

No OneWorld carriers between JNB-CPT so the Silver card won't open any doors.
I recently flew AirLink on this route as part of a Qatar Airways booked itinerary (they moved us to AirLink when Comair went under) and used the free Gold Amex PriorityPass to access a lounge.

konagirl2

BA will definitely ticket with a connection, but annoyingly the new search is very difficult to force an indirect journey. I think you have to use the multi-city search tool. Google flights is helpful to identify flight timings you might want, or the ITA matrix, but note you can't use the OneWorld filter on google flights because SAA aren't OneWorld.

Unfortunately it looks like they are only using SAA (South African Airways) who are doing ok at the moment but always have issues with Government funding and fall apart every so often. Airlink are a more reliable airline who they also used during the Comair collapse. Airlink in business class gives you access to the SLOW lounge or SAA in business class would give you access to "The Lounge". But flying Airlink or SAA or any of the other airlines in economy as a BEAC member won't - none of the airlines are OneWorld so your OneWorld benefits don't apply.

dibbs98

Thanks all this is really helpful

andymcdonnell

We’re doing this next month but on separate tickets, DUB-LHR-JNB in F and JNB-CPT with Lift. Never flown with them before so should be interesting. We’ve about 3.5hrs in JNB each way so hoping that’s enough

johnaalex

Are you sure about Airlink using the SLOW lounge? I have just checked their website and it says "Bidvest “Premier” Lounge Access: For all Domestic routes offering business class and Menzies “Shongololo/Mashzha” Lounge Access JNB OR Tambo International: For all Regional routes offering business class."

konagirl2

I don't know for certain as I haven't been through JNB since this was announced, but they signed an agreement in August 2022: https://www.flyairlink.com/en/za/news-slow-lounge-access

https://www.flyairlink.com/en/za/slow-lounge-access

Stewie Mac

I'm with johnaalex on this one, as of last week the slow lounge was only admitting specific SA bank account/card holders. Apologies, looks like should get access to the SLOW lounge,,,

Lift = surprisingly good

surryson

used the Slow Lounge in JNB for Airlink Business to HRE. Think it’s a recently done deal.

zdcatc12

Agree, 100%. Used them a few months ago on a CPT-JNB flight and the service was better than any US domestic carrier.

pmramsay

Have just done Lufthansa man-Fra-Jnb with the Fra to Jnb leg in first which was a nice comparison to have with BA first! We had a 7 hour layover and booked our domestic leg with South African airways. I was actually pretty impressed with the. If you have virgin miles you can book using them. We spent the day in the SAA domestic business lounge which did the job and the flight was comfortable and on time. The 2-2 business class on a a320 is nicer than the 3-3 with blocked middles on Lufthansa

lhrsfo

I find the SAA domestic lounge in JNB to be pretty good but the lounge in CPT is merely functional.