rog747

Good morning,
I have called FC but cannot get an answer today.

Does anyone kindly know if FC miles can be redeemed on SAA flights operated by Airlink (SA8131/8132) JNB-HLE St Helena - JNB and also to Victoria Falls.

Is LHR-JNB better redeeming in Upper on a VS Dream-liner or an SAA A330

Thanks

Theirin

Not sure about the first question, however for the second, I would personally always take the Dreamliner over the A330. The cabin experience (air quality, pressure, humidity, etc.) are much better.

littlefish

Technically it is feasible to use VFC miles for Airlink redemptions. It is notoriously difficult to find the rewards seats that Airlink release (United.com seems to give some insights), it is then a bit of a lottery to whether they are available or can be seen by VS agents. On top of that the co-pay is tough to see online and not enough recent examples out there to be sure. That said, there is some availability to Vic Falls over the next 6 months, biz is more widely available (be wary of connecting flights via odd transit points!).
St Helena looks like a blank. But then again domestic Airlink routes can be close to a blank too for no apparent reason (hi Upington ).
For the long-haul. By and large you'd want to take the 789 assuming availability / timings work. If I recall, Virgin now offer two JNB flights daily whereas SAA offer just the one (from London). I think the other SAA from Europe is from Germany.
As an aside, the BA Executive Club are worth investigating for the Vic Falls or Livingstone flights using avios. Availability used to be reasonable (not great but okay outside peak weeks) to the Vic falls area. The pure mileage costs are less than with VFC/SAA and the co-pay is reasonably transparent.

greenarmy

The in the Small Print on the website it currently says..

Which, if we ignore the two (2) typos in eight (8) words, it would mean VFC miles can't be used on Airlink.

Also this thread, Cost of redeeming miles on Airlink? says that in SAA's own Voyager program there is not even a "saver level" price for awards to St Helena, which would make it very unlikely that they were releasing seats to partner programs.

With regards you question about which Airline to use to get to Joburg, I would first suggest that award seats on this route for direct flights are pretty rare, so unless you are booking for spring 2020 and the schedule hasn't opened yet you may find the question rather academic as the only availability on dates that suit you will force your choice.

However, if you will have a choice, the differences in the product quality are fairly small. Both are lie flat and have direct aisle access. On the SAA seat your feet go into a cubby hole in the seat in front whereas the Virgin seat area is slightly curved. Perhaps the biggest difference will be the lack of partial recline in the Virgin seat; but as it is a night flight I assume you will either being eating, for which upright is fine, or sleeping in lie flat mode, but this is a thing the Virgin UC seat is commonly slated for. On the other hand the "feet-in-cubby" aspect of seats like the SAA one can lead to complaints of feeling cramped which then effects the ability to sleep - but the SAA seat is not particularly known for this being an issue. Most reports of the catering on both airlines suggests they both have solid offerings to the extent that the food offering you would enjoy more is likely to be based on the luck of that particular menu lining up well with your preferred tastes.

The Virgin Clubhouse is fairly well regarded, although there would be a plethora of lounge hopping options in T2 if you are on SAA.

So overall I think it is hard to say that there is a "better" one to redeem on - SAA may have the slight edge but a lot of the decision will be down to personal preferences, and neither are a "bad" redemption.

rog747

Thanks very much for the replies - yes it is for Spring 2020 - I am coming back to UK April 1st on the Cunard Queen Mary 2 so am planning to go out in March for some sightseeing,
VIC Falls and maybe St Helena then join my friends who have homes in CPT.

VS redemption's in J for JNB are wide open for 2020 on those dates on sale at the moment - especially with the double daily 787 so as soon as March is loaded on I should be OK and will take this over SAA's JNB offering - Redemption miles in J are similar but no live booking available with VFC - all SAA is on application...

Sad to see SAA down to just once a day from LHR - a few years back SAA had double daily 747's to JNB, and a 747 direct to CPT with a fantastic albeit old fashioned business class seat and service. (Ie: fine dining took half the night)
I flew down one night on a SAA Rolls Royce 747 LHR to CPT as Virgin had gone tech, and the service was so good I was so comfy that I did not want to get off in the morning at CPT, and would have been quite happy done to spend another day on-board!

Yes, I did look, and ask for more detailed T&C's on the SAA redemption's when using VFC miles but I, nor could the VFC agent find any ref to SAA code shares and/or Airlink flights with SA flight numbers - His notes said as long as it had a SA flight number he could request redemptions - Hey Ho well I can only ask!

Once again thanks all -
PS I also have loads of Avios too - So will def look at BA/Comair for my internal flights and those to VIC Falls Etc.