Title says it all. Getting a generic “validation failed” error on the final (third) page of creating a Voyager account. Tried multiple browsers, etc. Is this a known glitch and/or are there workarounds?

Prebankruptcy, SAA's websites used to always crash for all sorts of unexplained reasons even with attempts via multiple browsers, clearing caches, reinstalling windows, etc. Never explained/understood. My only recommendation is to keep trying. As a small aside, do you really want/need a Voyager account? (That's merely a rhetorical question).

I was/am keen to redeem an award on JNB/CPT-GRU or vice versa. SA seems to be rather stingy on making I space available to partners, so I want to see if its own Voyager members fare any better.

You can redeem miles for any seat available for sale at any time but it requires A LOT of miles as it’s linked to the price of the ticket. Otherwise SAA makes space available periodically when they run JourneyBlitz/SaverBlitz promos at the better miles redemption rates. The timing of these promos is a bit haphazard but there are usually three or four a year and always one in February or March before miles expire.

Platinum members (and I believe Nedbank Voyager credit card and Discovery members) get early access (whether all at once or staggered/platinums first and then bank cards holders I don’t know…).

As for JNB/CPT-GRU, J awards through JourneyBlitz and SaverBlitz promos are hard to come by (read never) but Y is plentiful. Be aware of the high surcharges however meaning that you’re probably only saving R2-3k one way when compared to a paid ticket. Similar on domestic redemptions where the surcharge is around R900 on a one way vs a paid ticket in the region of R1400.

A much better use of voyager miles is for cabin upgrades (but you need to buy a flexible fare class). Awards are easier to secure on JNB-GRU on certain days of the week and more difficult for Cape Town (especially on the weekend flights!). Always call Voyager to confirm there is E class availability (the award upgrade class) on your preferred flight BEFORE you buy the ticket. My experience is that once E class is gone SAA won’t make more available, and only very rarely on the day of the flight if you are a status holder and there are unsold seats. If there is no E class availability for your preferred flight then don’t buy the flexible upgradable fare class (my view).

More generally Voyager is quite restrictive when it comes to awards - especially on star alliance carriers where you can only redeem a return and not one way rewards. Unless you plan on flying SAA a lot and using the miles for cabin upgrades or the occasional Y redemption when there are JourneyBlitz promotions I would think carefully.

Before starting a new thread I found this one and your message seemed very informative. I have a few questions.

I'm looking for a one way from MRU to CPT (direct or via JNB). According to *A award chart it would cost 25K in Y and 35 in J. They seem to be acceptable. However, I can't see any availability via TK's M&S *A award tool. After your message I also tried some dummy dates with a return but still no luck.

- Is this one way restriction applicable on all SA operated flights? Any exceptions?
- Do you know how far in advance award space (domestic and international) becomes available for *A partner airlines?

I assume you’re awarding through TK M&S?
There isn’t (as far as I know) any one way restrictions for rewards on SA and I’ve managed in the past to redeem one way flights using SQ miles to prevent expiry (albeit only for domestic flights between CPT and JNB).

SAA has allows seats to be purchased quite far in advance (360 days I believe) and presumably reward seats are also available this far out.

I suspect the issue you are having is that SAA just isn’t releasing seats. CPT-MRU is a new route and from what I understand doing quite well and JNB-MRU also performs well. MRU is very popular holiday destination for South Africans so if you’ve picked a school holiday period it’s likely that there isn’t isn’t availability. Suggest you look for the domestic flight (JNB-CPT) for your chosen dates and if there is availability you then know that it’s the MRU sectors which are not available.

Your assumption is right. I'm trying to book with TK M&S miles.

After your suggestion I checked for one way CPT - JNB. No availability for my dates. Maybe I'll check a bit more.

Like you wrote earlier if the redemptions aren't bringing much of a financial advantage over a revenue ticket then it's not a big loss.