Lindyhopper

Notified by Travelocity
Air France & KLM: WAS->JNB $828AI 18,874 4.3cpm

confirmed KLM bookable for next year; didn't try this year or Air France

AA_EXP09

I wouldn't want to use AF if I were you anyways because of the terrible airport that they will land in.

cmccool

I was just looking at these flights. Saw $790 on KLM in January (Vayama). ^

milerunner

Just booked a couple of these.. Good deal for SA runs.. NYC-CPT was pricing out at $777 mid Jan to end of Jan 2012.

Im taking a few of these to requalify DL DM in early 2012 so I can get status thru 2014. Better than trying to shoot for requalification this year. And I'll still get the RDM bonus at least thru end of Feb!

Thanks OP

shectangle

For those looking for a brutal 20k mileage run...$777.5 Round trip Washington to Cape Town with no overnight stay and max of 2 hrs per airport bookable on orbitz.

IAD-AMS-CPT-AMS-IAD departing Saturday Jan 28, arriving CPT Sunday the 29th at 10pm. Immediate turnaround departs CPT at 1220 AM on Monday morning. Don't even have to leave the airport.

Total Mileage - (19,744) / Total Cost ($777.5) = 3.9 cents per mile

Fare class R (100% Sky Miles credit).


Leave Sat, Jan 28
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines 652 Airbus A330
Depart: 6:10pm Arrive: 7:45am
Washington, DC (IAD)
Amsterdam, Netherlands (AMS)
Change planes. Time between flights: 2hr 10min
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines 597 Boeing 777
Depart: 9:55am Arrive: 10:30pm
Amsterdam, Netherlands (AMS)
Cape Town, South Africa (CPT)
Total duration: 21hr 20min
Return Mon, Jan 30
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines 598 Boeing 777
Depart: 12:20am Arrive:11:05am
Cape Town, South Africa (CPT)
Amsterdam, Netherlands (AMS)
Change planes. Time between flights: 1hr 40min
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines 651
Depart: 12:45pm Arrive: 3:20pm

Tybio

First time poster here, sorry if it is a silly question!

If I book on Orbitz it shows as a KLM flight, how would I link that to my skymiles account...and would it count toward Medallion status when on a partner airline?

bmoeller1

Tybio,

As you go through the booking page you will see where you can select Delta Skymiles from the drop down menu and enter your #.

I just booked one night stay end of January 2012 and 6 hour return layover in Amsterdam. Totally stoked, thanks OP!!!

waltinsocal

Welcome to FT. No worries, not a silly question. Never hurts to ask anything in advance. I believe that when you book a flight on Orbitz, Orbitz will ask you for the name of your Frequent Flyer program and your membership number. I seldom book through Orbitz, but when I did, after booking, I always went to the actual airline website to make sure my flight showed up there as well as at Orbitz. As far as the miles from a flight counting towards Medallion status, I believe above it was stated that these flights to earn 100% MQMs. Always double check that BEFORE booking so that you don't fly 20,000 miles for no MQMs. That's happened here before and will happen again to somebody. Also, what program do you want the MQMs applied towards? Some "team" airlines do not always give 100% MQMs for EVERY class of flight on a team partner. Also, you probably know this, but stuff happens so always hold on to your boarding pass at least until you have logged in AFTER the completion of your flights and see that the MQMs have posted properly. Finally, if you have membership in two programs, be absolutely certain that the MQMs are credited to the program you want them to be credited to. It is next to impossible to change the crediting after the fact. Safe travels.

Tybio

Thanks to both of you, that's great information. I'm in Delta's skymiles program and want to pad next year to bump a level. I've noticed that booking these flights trough delta.com results in a much higher price...and if I wanted to get the Econ Comfort seats it doesn't seem to have that option. So I'm wondering how I can get them credited to my sky miles account and perhaps have the option of buying an Econ comfort seat.

waltinsocal

Once you are certain of the MQM earning and book the flight, you should be able to find the flight at Delta.com. If Orbitz has somehow screwed up, which in my experience seldom happens, you can contact Delta and have your Skymiles number added. I, too, have experienced price differences between 3rd party booking engines and Delta, but that's life so just take into consideration my above comments and book through Orbitz. It does not matter where you book as to the accessability or availability of EC seats. Once you find your flight under Itineraries on Delta.com, you can handle your seat selection if that has not been properly done on Orbitz. A final bit of advice, fares that you find here often disappear on literally a moment's notice, and have been known to disappear even while you are trying to book them. My unsolicited advice is if you want this fare, hop on it and get or it may be gone like right now. Many times, certain fares are only good for a certain number of seats, etc. Good luck.

menton1

Yes, lately, the 3rd party engines seem to do so much better than the airline sites; Orbitz, and lately, Best Travel Store has been rocking with prices hundreds of dollars cheaper! Only problem with the 3rd party sites is that sometimes you cannot pick the exact flight you want, so you have to do a 7AM flight rather than a 2PM or some such. No biggie.

No problem getting your Delta miles credited no matter how you booked, on any SkyTeam airline.

bmoeller1

Did anybody else book?

notsosmart

Huh?

dd1612

I just booked the same itinerary.
Hoping to meet up at the AF Lounge at IAD ... will be booking a positioning flight MSP-IAD-MSP ... also.

Tybio

I booked one myself, anyone know if the 2h turn around is going to cause problems with customs and entry and having to turn around to get back to the same gate?