South Africa: BA F, BA J, SA Y, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Safari and Garden Route
Jun 27, 2017, 8:24 am
#46
Join Date: Aug 2008
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Very nice, particularly the photography; I'm looking forward to seeing the rest. 
BA is happy for oneworld Sapphires/Emeralds and those travelling in J/F to check in at any time on the same day.
If you're travelling from Terminal 5, just head towards the First Class Check In (turn right as you enter the terminal and go all the way to the southern end). If you are being dropped off by car, it is the final entrance before the ramp exit. After the check in desks, which you don't have to use, there is a dedicated security route for F and Emerald pax.
It was informally called "Millionaire Door" because BA had to pay a lot of money to the airport to install the door and provide a way for their F pax to bypass the shopping mall. Some others call it "Millionaires' Door" because apparently, all BA F pax are millionaires ( I'm not
). BA have now re-instated the door after complaints from travellers who naturally come in that way from domestic flights.
BA is happy for oneworld Sapphires/Emeralds and those travelling in J/F to check in at any time on the same day.
If you're travelling from Terminal 5, just head towards the First Class Check In (turn right as you enter the terminal and go all the way to the southern end). If you are being dropped off by car, it is the final entrance before the ramp exit. After the check in desks, which you don't have to use, there is a dedicated security route for F and Emerald pax.
It was informally called "Millionaire Door" because BA had to pay a lot of money to the airport to install the door and provide a way for their F pax to bypass the shopping mall. Some others call it "Millionaires' Door" because apparently, all BA F pax are millionaires ( I'm not
). BA have now re-instated the door after complaints from travellers who naturally come in that way from domestic flights.
Jun 27, 2017, 8:26 am
#47
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Iver
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Loved the first hotel and great lap pool, did you make use of it. Room liked nice albeit though the carpet would do my head in why not have something plain^
Jun 28, 2017, 12:29 pm
#51
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Thank you Uncle T. I actually don't know, none of us smoke, so we never enquired, however I would assume it was non-smoking. I certainly saw no ashtrays nor did I smell smoke in any of the rooms/areas. However the outside area did have ashtrays, so you could always have a drink AND a cigarette
Jun 28, 2017, 12:34 pm
#52
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Thank you Uncle T. I actually don't know, none of us smoke, so we never enquired, however I would assume it was non-smoking. I certainly saw no ashtrays nor did I smell smoke in any of the rooms/areas. However the outside area did have ashtrays, so you could always have a drink AND a cigarette
Jun 28, 2017, 11:27 pm
#53
Join Date: Oct 2005
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I'm excited to see the remainder of this trip report. We have 1 night in JNB (hotel TBD) and 54 on Bath looks good. Are you doing the fed air charter to Madikwe? We have the Morokuru Farm House booked and realllllly looking forward to your impressions of that park. Keep up the awesome work!!
Jun 29, 2017, 4:28 am
#54
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I'm excited to see the remainder of this trip report. We have 1 night in JNB (hotel TBD) and 54 on Bath looks good. Are you doing the fed air charter to Madikwe? We have the Morokuru Farm House booked and realllllly looking forward to your impressions of that park. Keep up the awesome work!!
We decided not to do the charter to Madikwe basically because I totally screwed up! I had travelled to Pilanesburg the year before and assumed that all reserves in South Africa allowed you to self drive, hence we opted to drive a rental car there. Next time I would probably take the charter service. Other guests who we met used it and were very happy with the service, however a couple of things to note; soft bags only (i.e. ruck sack or gym bag) and you can only take 20KGs per person. There is a service at the airport though where you can unpack and leave luggage, so most people do that.
The park is just wonderful, well maintained, lots of wildlife, excellent guides and not many vehicles. There are a lot of photos coming
Jun 30, 2017, 6:04 am
#56
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Jun 30, 2017, 8:08 am
#57
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Good job you don't use Photobucket for your TRs. They have just stopped 3rd Party posting (i.e. linking images to websites like this) unless you subscribe at USD 399.99 per annum (not a typo!), so I'm having to reload all my TR imagery through another facility (Imgur.com). Well, not "all", as that would take forever. <expletives deleted> 
Jun 30, 2017, 8:13 am
#58
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Good job you don't use Photobucket for your TRs. They have just stopped 3rd Party posting (i.e. linking images to websites like this) unless you subscribe at USD 399.99 per annum (not a typo!), so I'm having to reload all my TR imagery through another facility (Imgur.com). Well, not "all", as that would take forever. <expletives deleted>
Jun 30, 2017, 1:35 pm
#59
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: JAX
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Thanks for writing, am looking forward to the rest of your trip, especially the Garden Route section, which I'm visiting myself in August. It's a beautiful region!
A couple of notes; the BA Comair flight would have been a 737 (that's all they operate) and the airport code for George is GRJ.