SkyTeam Africa Pass
 

Any chance that SkyTeam will come out with one of these now that Delta has added so many new routes?

The regional passes are for flights within a region, not flights to/from a region. An Africa Pass would basically be for KQ flights only (and the occasional tag-on flight form AF/KL). I doubt that such a pass would be particularly cost effective, though I don't really know; the Pacific one usually isn't cost effective.

And DL hasn't added that many destinations (CAI, JNB, ???).

Yes, but one would think between them and Kenyan airways they could pull something off (just like the Star Alliance does).

DKR? NBO? LOS? CPT?

While I found the *A South Pacific Airpass to be cost ineffective the *A African Airpass seems like a good deal. It costs "some base fee" (still waiting on that) plus 15 cents per mile flown. You cannot make changes to the first segment but can make changes to any subsequent segments for free.

I saw the ads on the subway yesterday listing the 7 destinations for the first time; most of them are scheduled to start up later this year. Still, DL is not offering intra-Africa connectivity; most of the flights are non-stop to JFK or ATL. That doesn't help much for an Africa Pass, though it might drive some need for one to get back to another gateway city.

Maybe my sense of affordable airfare is skewed, but 15cpm seems pretty high.

I'm not sure how much intra-Africa flying there is with *A since most everything would have to connect in JNB/CPT. From that perspective having KQ as the basis makes most options in Africa more convenient. Still, getting between cities isn't going to be especially great.

I'm not suggesting that the alliance shouldn't offer such a product, but I'm also not convinced that we're missing much if they don't.

I believe they will be operating DKR-JNB. Kenya Airways could serve as gateway, providing connectivity from both locations to NBO which then could fan out to the rest of Africa.

Do they have 5th freedom rights to sell seats on that route? I know that the plane makes a stop in DKR, but I wasn't sure if they could sell seats.

KQ would have to serve the traffic up - they're the only option. And I'm not sure that it is beneficial to them to offer the coupon-based travel instead of just selling regular tickets. Then again, at 15cpm it could be very profitable...

Yeah having looked again at the Star Alliance Africa pass you are right that it is highly profitable to the airlines, while only marginally beneficial to rhe flyer. Apparently they charge a coupon just for the connection through the gateway city. While I'd like to think Sky Team could offer a superior product, these days air service is seemingly a race to the bottom. Ah well.

SkyTeam charges for each coupon on their AsiaPass as well, including on connections, so *A isn't alone in that approach...

I was just comparing it to the South Pacific pass which is even more expensive. I personally like the flexibility that comes with the African Airpass. There are certain routes that do not go through JNB so you can make that work to your advantage....but its definitely more of a Southern Africa Airpass.

I think the Skyteam Airpass would be a great option to tour Eastern and Western Africa!

I'm still waiting to hear what the base fare is going to be though. It sure is taking them long enough to price this.

Interesting. I guess I understand the rationale, but it is hard to think that ends up working well for the customer.

Oh what are the nonJNB routes available? I, too, would at least consider still getting the pass if the base price was reasonable. If SkyTeam would partner with Virgin Nigeria that would be ideal for getting around West Africa.

Cape Town - Walvis Bay
Cape Town - Windhoek
Cape Town - Bloemfontein
Cape Town - Port Elizabeth
Cape Town - East London
Capetown - Maputo
Durban - East London
Durban - Port Elizabeth

If done right it lets you make a nice circle trip around South Africa.

SAA Express Route Map http://www.flysax.com/images/route-network.gif

Ah I see. Thanks for the ideas! Given how cheap some of the discount carriers are though I don't know if a pass would be worth it for just South Africa/immediate vicinities--although it is nice to see you can make it up to Victoria Falls. Are you planning a trip soon?

Yup, I just cashed in 300k miles for two Star Alliance First Class awards to JNB with a 11 day stopover in SIN.

These are our flights:
UA: DCA-ORD-LAX
SQ: LAX-(NRT)-SIN
TG: SIN-BKK-JNB
SQ: JNB-SIN-(NRT)-LAX
UA: LAX-ORD-DCA

Honestly I haven't even looked at the discount airlines yet. I had been so worried about getting availability I wasn't focusing on anything else. My trip is not until next spring so I will have plenty of time to research the best options for intra Africa travel.

Do you have any recommendations on reliable discount African airlines?