Hi there,

I am new the forum, so I'm not sure where this should go, if it's on the wrong board, forgive me!

I am planning on hiking Kilimanjaro in August of 2011, and would like to use frequent flyer miles to get the tickets.

I have done a lot of research and I just find myself totally overwhelmed by the different credit cards, mileage programs, etc.

Could someone give me some advice on this? What would be the best way to get the miles in time for the trip? I do a lot of traveling for work, but primarily use JetBlue and/or Southwest. I'd be happy to fly other airlines that have partner programs with an airline that flies to JRO or Dar es Salaam.

I know that KLM is one of the few major airlines that flies directly to JRO. The other option is to fly to Dar es Salaam and meet my brother (who is flying from California). in that case, British Airways is an interesting option with the 100,000 mile credit card bonus.

Would 100,000 miles get me from Washington DC to Dar es Salaam?

Thank you for the help in advance!

You need 90,000 BA miles to Dar es Salaam, so the credit card may be your best bet.

If you want to accumulate miles the old-fashioned way, KLM is a member of the SkyTeam alliance, which includes Delta/Northwest in the US. Any miles you earn with DL/NW can be used on KLM. I'm not familiar with that program; perhaps someone else will chime in.

First you have another choice (which I've done for a safari). You can fly into Nairobi and then take one of the small shuttle buses to Arusha and to JRO.

The little buses take a while and you end up with overnights in Nairobi, but they are relatively cheap. see this, http://www.riverside-shuttle.com/index.htm and this http://www.kilimanjaroshuttles.com/index.htm

The trip from Nairobi to the mountain by bus takes about as long as from DAR to the mountain and it may even be shorter from Nairobi.
See http://www.scandinaviagroup.com/Scan...dararusha.html

But the biggest advantage of going through Kenya is you end up with lots more choices for frequent flyer programs because a lot more airlines fly to Kenya than fly to Tanzania. (I flew Swiss International on United miles). Especially from the DC area, there are a lot more opportunities to fly United or US airways to get miles that will get you to Kenya then there are to fly Delta flights that will get you on KLM.

Ths has been discussed before in the "Travel and Dining: Destination: The World. Africa section" in several threads. You'll find a lot more info there.

By the way, you'd be crazy to go that far without also doing a safari. They don't have to be expensive

Oh by the way. Getting frequent flyer flights in August may not be the easiest thing in the world to do. You might want to check availability before racking up a lot of miles. There may be other alternative ways to get the trip done through credit card purchases, than doing miles.

We are planning on doing a safari, don't worry, we're planning a 3-4 week trip that may also include Egypt and/or Zanzibar in addition to the climb and safari.

Thank you for the advice, I will look on the other forum, as well.

Generally you can't stop off in Egypt on a frequent flyer ticket to Kenya or Tanzania. I don't believe flying to Egypt is cheap either.

so you might want to look at the cost and alternatives (like doing more of Kenya as well.)

I suspect the cost of going to Egypt may lessen the advantage of doing it as a frequent flyer trip. (As a paid trip, you might be able to stop in Egypt. As a frequent flyer trip you could end up paying $500 for the Egyptian sidetrip, but I haven't looked at prices.) Egypt also requires some internal travel to see things and some time.

Fodors web site has more on africa

We went through Nairobi on our way to Kilimanjaro. You can actually coordinate for the Nairobi to Arusha bus to pick you up at Jomo Kenyatta Airport (NBO), and continue straight to Arusha from there.
See your doctor for a Diamox prescription to prevent altitude sickness.