Hi Friends
I am sure some of you are planning to buy OWERTW tickets from South Africa. I am buying two in the next month. Watch the US Dollar Rand rate , the Rand has come down dramatically recently. You may save a bundle by timing your purchase

we were in capetown in oct. was very surprised at the prices. two drinks at the bar were ~ $4 us, dinner w/ 2 glasses of wine & modest meal was$20 with ~ 20% tip. its an interesting idea . we want to go to australia in apr, but i don't know the economies of going to sa to start. sweden seems less expensive to get to to start. thanks for the heads up..... edit to add ... is slidell in louisana? if not, where?

[This message has been edited by clacko (edited 11-29-2001).]

Slidell is in Louisiana and is 25 miles from downtown New Orleans across the lake.
The RTW airfare from Sweden has now gone up.

what are the economics of doing a rtw from sa from either london or new orleans? i am paying my self. thanks, don

I am a bit confused Pl clarify question?

I am absolutely amazed how cheap a 5 continent fare is from JNB today. About $4,600 dollars in First . This is less than half the fare from the US. I think that I will take drbala's suggestion and buy my ticket ex-JNB

Clacko, here are the economics. Now understand, there is no accounting for the economic value of one's time. For some people, it's worthless. Bill Gates or Andy Grove would feel differently about theirs.

Lets assume you live in New Orleans, want to do a 5 continent, want to leave on Feb 15 and return on Mar 15 and want to fly in First class. Fares are from Expedia, simple search, and assume $300 taxes on the RTW.

New Orleans:
RTW Base $9700
RTW Tax $300
Total $10000

London:
Trip to London (coach) $512
RTW Base $10528
RTW Tax $300
Total $11340

Jo'burg:
Trip to Jo'burg (coach) $1800
RTW Base $4958
RTW Tax $300
Total $7058

So is your time and energy worth about $3000? Mine is, since I don't get paid all that much. It takes me three months to make $3000, and it would take me 3 or 4 days of flying to go down there.

It makes far more sense for someone from London. The trip down there is only about $600 at the most, so they can save a lot. Otherwise, for you, it would be easier and less taxing on your body to leave from somewhere like Stockholm, where it would cost closer to $8000 after factoring in the flight over, base, and taxes. By the way, the star alliance fares out of Jo'burg are arguably better than the OW alliance at this point. If Dorian's page is right, a 39K trip in First is about $3800 plus tax. My understanding is that the OW alliance has tried to keep their fares about 5% to 10% less than the *A, but they are beginning to fail at this. Some are even more....



[This message has been edited by Darren (edited 11-30-2001).]

darren,
it costs you a lot less to go to Jo'berg

1. use the enormous amount of miles you earned to take CX F ward for LAX-HKG-JNB, 140k miles
2. before doing that, try the Flying Dutchman run and get FD to match your AA miles. the trips LAX-AMS-JNB might cost you $1800, but god knows how many miles FD could give you

darren- thanks for the info. the catch w/ good rtw fares x other places is going there. to start [ & coming back]. we are looking at a rtw in apr going thru australia to see relatives. i will check it out. thanks again.

Pegasus,

You said:.
before doing that, try the Flying Dutchman run and get FD to match your AA miles. the trips LAX-AMS-JNB might cost you $1800, but god knows how many miles FD could give you.

Is FD the same as Flying Dutchman? Is there a way to get credit for the same trip on two different airlines?

What is a Flying Dutchman run anyway?
Thanks.



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TANSTAAFL - but if you work it right, FF miles comes pretty close.

Since I can never sit in Economy Class again, I think that the low price of the OWE First Class fare from South Africa means little to me. (I live in Canada)

A roundtrip Business Class ticket from YVR to JNB costs almost as much as a OWE 4 Continent originating in YVR!!

All I can hope for is for the Canadian Dollar to rise (One of the reasons I hate being Canadian) so that I can save on my hotel expenses in countries where the currency is closely correlated or pegged to the US Dollar. (I need at least a Junior Suite when I stay at hotels)

Just started a *RTW First trip ex Johannesburg yesterday. Was tortured on Lufthansa Airbus 340 Economy MUC-JNB on Saturday night but had a relatively much nicer experience on the upper-deck on the 747 yesterday.....

CFM3RD -- See this thread: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum28/HTML/000250.html

This is the KLM match... one thing I read is it's no good to people who live in the states.
Thanks anyway.
Using the South Africa as a starting place - it's a matter or matching the savings with what it takes to get there.
South Africa may be the cheapest but if I can get close to the same cost and start in EUR somewhere I think that's better.
How is South Africa now? Is there turmoil still?

Depends on your definition of the turmoil, I guess...

But seriously, I was very impressed (spent about three weeks in May-June this year, mostly in Cape Town) with the country and especially people.