South African vs Air France?!
 

I am stuck in South Africa and need to get back home. Which is better: South African Airlines or Air France? Air France is a member of SkyTeam while SA is a codeshare partner, so there really is little difference for FF purposes. AF is $100 more.

Please help. I need to book something fast!

Cathay Pacific or British Airways.

Depending upon your final destination.........I would go SAA and avoid CDG. SAA to ATL or JFK.

I agree. SAA.

Columbus Ohio is my final destination.

It sounds like SAA. Don't get me wrong, Cathay Pacific is a great airline, but that can't possibly be as short a flight as SAA or Air France.

SAS?

Do SAA............fly them at least yearly........family visits to Capetown. Loke missing the Europe stop.........just a refuel at Cape Verde.

I go with SAA. Definitely not AF.

Do you want MQMs? If so, either book SAA under the DL code or go with AF. Personally, I don't think that AF and CDG are all that bad (obviously, I'm in a VERY small minority here), but it sounds like you need to get back fairly urgently. If that's the case, you may prefer the more direct SAA flights to JFK/ATL.

Talking to the Delta reservations person (actually in Dallas/Fort Worth), I got quotes for $1,300 for Delta and $1,400 for Air France (one way, JNB to CMH). On AF's website, a one-way trip in economy is quoted as $11,000. On Delta's website, it is quoted as $2,000. So, much for Delta's preamble "Go to www.delta.com where lower fares may be ...." I guess the key word is MAY.

I guess I will try SAA (Code share with Delta). I must confess that I am one of the few who has actually had favorable experiences with Air France, however. But the shorter trip wins out.

Thanks for the advice. I really appreciate the effort by members of this community.

You won't be able to do an e-ticket on that route, but there are Delta city ticket offices in both Cape Town and Jo'burg, in case you need any help with ticketing.

I am far from a fan of AF, but I regularly travel between ATL to JNB and will do almost anything to avoid the direct SAA flight. Service on SAA is often poor (I won't bore you with myriad stories) and the stopover at Cape Verde is pretty unbearable. Granted, the SA-CDG-US flight is going to be 3 hours longer in total, but I personally appreciate the ability to walk around an airport for a few hours. As an added bonus, you'll get more MQM on the route via CDG (though that wouldn't be a major concern for me).

The people advising you to fly SAA must not have flown it recently ... AF is far better (sad but true, and I never thought I would be praising AF as better than any other airline). But going on AF adds about 6 hours flying time (and a day elapsed, albeit it is a day in Paris). I wouldn't hesitate to pick AF in Y over SAA and be confident that it is far better. Disclaimer: I have flown SAA in Y but have never flown AF in Y (only in F), but I think my advice is unbiased in this case.

I just got back from my 2nd AF roundrip this year. I have found the service to be consistently outstanding. I have been flying them for 6 years now (SFO-CDG or LAX-CDG), and I have absolutely nothing bad to say about AF.

It's two overnights versus one - my choice has always been one - no matter the difference in service. It's healthier.