tdiddy23

In the process of finalizing a safari trip in Kenya/Uganda. All the internal details will be done by agents but was going to book my own international flight

Need to get a ticket from YVR -- EBB; and from NBO -- YVR

may add a connection stop-over but will decide on that later. Flights with lie flat seats seem to be in the 6-8Kpp range. Is this what to be expected for prime season flights I suppose? If so I will be flying economy, hopefully with a bulkhead (safe that money for the safari camps). Is there an ideal time frame to book these?

I will have star alliance gold, should I book a flight with leg on Ethiopian airways to take advantage of this (and hope to keep it for the next year)? Or just use KLM metal?

Hezu

I don't know about when it is the best time to pick cheap flights and what would be the optimal price for this route, but I can note that ET isn't the only *A airline flying to these destinations: both cities are served by SN from BRU, MS from CAI and TK from IST and NBO also offers flights on LH from FRA and LX from ZRH. And for sake of completeness SA also has flights between these two airports and JNB and NBO and CPT, but I assume that when you start your journey from Canada it is a quite a time-consuming detour to first get to South Africa, although depending on the *A FFP and booking classes taken that sort of creative routing might earn some significant extra mileage. And of course it is still possible that these *A routings might not suit your schedule that well and the competing airlines (the prime suspects are KL/AF, KQ and QR) offer better flight options and pricing.

tdiddy23

Thanks Hezu

Yes I looked at the other *A options; LX home via ZRH has a stop in DAR; SN from BRU to EBB is an extra stop (although it is on same flight so slight bonus) but I am considering this and taking a stopover in BRU for a day or two, never been, and to stick to more reliable airlines.

Goaguy

Yes, prime season is June-Sept with peak in July/start Aug. You will see ticket prices go down drastically towards end of Sept.
I can only speak for flights to Tanzania, but I'd expect Kenya and Uganda to be the same: The European airliners tends to have more passengers, especially tourists, that books further in advance. I would not book later than Feb if I were you. Pricing will go up drastically during period Feb-April. ET in my experience have less tourists, hence more people that book later.
Be careful of KL flights operated by KQ, I personally do not like KQ.

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Goaguy

Most, if not all, TK and MS flights to East Africa from CAI and IST are narrow body, do not have lie-flat seats. That's a lot of hours, especially from IST, in a recliner-seat.