follow up on airline question

doctorbj

I had posted a topic about 3 months ago about my airline situation and really appreciated the assistance from everyone.
I've now reached the point that I am about 11 months out, and the time has come to make reservations.

Here is my situation:
1. Wife and I are flying out of Dulles (we live outside Baltimore).
2. The only reasonable airlines price-wise for business class are Turkish and Ethiopian airlines.
3. There were in the past some problem areas mentioned with regard to Ethiopian air, but i was reassured by several people not to worry in the last topic discussion.
4. The difference for 2 people 3 months ago was ~$7400 with Turkish and $6800 with Ethiopian, plus the Turkish schedule was not very good, getting us in at 1 AM, requiring an extra day's stay at the beginning over and above the day we added in as alumni, plus leaving at 5 AM after the trip ended, although Tauck assures me we would have access to a 'free' room to wait.

So.......... it would appear that Ethiopian is the way to go, but does anyone have recent experience with either to offer. Thanks so much!

By the way we are on the August 11, 2018 trip; if anyone else is going, let us know.

Barry S

Andrea Goldsand

Hi Barry,

We are leaving from Toronto on the Oct 7/17 trip from Toronto. We are flying bus class with Turkish air, arriving at 1:20AM and leaving at 5AM. I can let you know how it went upon my return on Oct 20. I hear the bus class lounge in Istanbul is really nice! We booked an extra night hotel at the beginning, in fact, we booked 2 extra nights as we want to enjoy every minute! We found a fun excursion to do in Arusha on this forum, to go to the Arusha national park. We decided to book an extra night hotel at the end, as the latest time Tauck will take you to the airport from the day room is 7 or 8PM (I heard both times from Tauck). We will take the exta night to rest until our flight out at 5AM. Also they moved our hotel in Nairobi to be closer to the airport due to the re-scheduled election on Oct 17. We are SO excited for this trip! Let me know if you want to wait until I am back to hear about the flights.

Andrea

doctorbj

Thank you so much. I think i will need to buy tickets before then.
It does not matter in your case, but Tauck assured me that a room would be available until we needed to leave for a 5 AM departure, even beyond 7 AM.
I didn't see other departure times for Turkish Air other than the 5 AM ( which is the return from the 1 AM arrival)

In any event, have a GREAT time and I will read all about in in late October!

Barry

AlanS

You probably read my previous posts, but I (and my wife) really did have a great experience with ET. The price, excellent enroute, departure & arrival times with only one stop, great seats (in Business), etc., easily beat anything else I could find. I had researched it and found negatives (mostly associated with ground personnel) for sure, but you'll find the same with other airlines, not just ones in Africa. As I said, we will likely use them again for the B,SA,Z trip.

doctorbj

yes, i did read it, and, if you're going with them, so will we.
Barry

rbckim1

I live near Dulles and booked our trip on Delta/KLM through Amsterdam and Kenya Airways/Air France through Paris returning. We are flying business and I thought the fares were reasonable. We're traveling in January. Perhaps the fares are lower than. Hope this helps.

British

We always avoid Air France, they strike so frequently

AlanS

doctorbj wrote:

yes, i did read it, and, if you're going with them, so will we.
Barry

I hope all turns out well!

FYI, I was researching ET flights and aircraft configurations. We like 1-2-1 seating or 2-2-2 Business Class seating and choose the center section for long flights since it gives us both aisle access. The ET website shows seating in the first row of the 777-300 that ET flies from Dulles to Addis Ababa to be in a 2-2-2 configuration. However SeatGuru and ET's virtual tour show the first row is like the rest of the Cloud Nine (Business Class) section- in a 2-3-2 configuration- which is what we had on our flights. Oh, well.

Another thing, when I checked in 2014 when we bought our tickets and just now, SeatGuru said ET's Business Class seats were "angle flat," however I remembered them being 180° full flat seats. Just now, after a little more digging, I found this link to an ET press release which said as of August 2015, ET had finished converting all 777 Cloud 9 seats to 180° full flat bed seats. There are good photos of the seats in the full flat position at the link. Also, notice in this and ET's website photos there is a lot of at-seat storage under that fixed foot rest. Other than the 2-3-2 configuration the biggest negative for me was the large IFE screen was not close enough for my cheaters and too far without them! Oh, and then there are the pillows. : )

VPL

Hi all,

Really appreciate you will share your experience if you have flown with Turkish Airline to Kilimanjaro. We are joining the 8/22/18 K&T tour. Upon researching available star alliance award tickets, only Turkish Airline is offering award business class seats from San Francisco to Kilimanjaro (JRO). However, the arrival time into JRO from Istanbul is 2:40 am on 8/21/18. We don't mind paying 2 extra nights before the tour starts but the 2:40 am arrival time worries me.

1. Tauck said they will send a driver to pick us up but we are most likely the only guests in the car. Is the transfer driver reliable?

2. The drive from JRO to Arusha is at least 45 minutes. Is it safe to commute in the middle of the night with just the driver and us? I asked Tauck the same question and they were vague about it.

Any thoughts will be greatly appreciated. Many thanks.

British

You should be perfectly safe and Tauck always sends a driver whatever day or time you arrive. Be sure to have the local emergency number Tauck provides you with just in case the driver does not turn up. The roads are now paved almost up to the hotel which was not the case when we took our first tour starting in Arusha. We have arrived in the dark both times, but not so late. We have arrived into Arusha twice before and last time it was one of the Safari guides we had for our trip who collected us from the airport. Ensure you arrive two days early to ease you into the time difference and prepare yourself for getting up about 5am every morning.

AlanS

And you probably won't be the only Tauck folks on the flight. Since you are still almost a year out, it is still an unknown, but there may eventually be other Tauck travelers on your flight Once you are about a month out, Tauck should be able to give you a better idea if and how many fellow Taucktourians are on your flight.

VPL

Thanks British and AlanS for the reassurance.

Andrea, when you return from your Oct trip, love to hear your experience on Turkish Airline and especially the night transfer from JRO airport to Arusha. Have a great trip

British

AlanS wrote:

And you probably won't be the only Tauck folks on the flight. Since you are still almost a year out, it is still an unknown, but there may eventually be other Tauck travelers on your flight Once you are about a month out, Tauck should be able to give you a better idea if and how many fellow Taucktourians are on your flight.

Is telling people who else will be on the same flight something that Tauck would do because of privacy issues?

AlanS

British wrote:

Is telling people who else will be on the same flight something that Tauck would do because of privacy issues?

I seriously doubt it. I was just speculating they might say, how many, just like they do for number, gender, and age of kids on Bridges tours. Tauck obviously has access to this data but it may not be easy for their agents to retrieve. It might be something to ask the next time you talk with an agent. I always look around the airport waiting area and aircraft cabin to see if anyone is carrying a Tauck duffle or is reading their green book. : )

Andrea Goldsand

Hi Barry & VPL,

I will post about our Turkish airines flights upon our return, and comment about the transfer from Kilimanjero to Arusha. We also chose Turkish airlines as it is part of the Star Alliance, for the business class flights. We are VERY excited, we leave next Wednesday!

I am not worried about the transfer to Arusha, I know we are in great hands with Tauck and I am sure they do this late transfer often! Just make sure you book the hotel for the night before you arrive. We arrive at 1:10AM on Oct 6, tour starts Oct 7, so we booked the hotel from Oct 5-7.

Barry that is so strange, I called Tauck several times and they said the latest transfer would be 7 or 8PM so we booked an extra night hotel. Better safe than sorry I guess! It will be a long journey home, so it will be good to have the extra hours at the hotel prior to arriving at the airport.

If you have any other questions after my return, I will be happy to answer. It is a lot of research prior to the trip, and now, the final countdown is here! Can't wait!


Andrea

VPL

Hi Andrea,

After British and AlanS reassurance, we have booked Turkish Airline business class arriving 1 day early at 1:15 am.

Barry, Tauck also told me the same thing. We have to check out at the Nairobi hotel room by 8 pm on the last day unless you book an extra night. I am still debating if I want to stay longer as I have to depart for a Cuba cruise shortly after I return to San Francisco. We are looking into Lufthansa and Swiss Air options for our return flight.

Andrea, the segment from Istanbul to Kilimanjaro does not has flat bed seats. Please share your experience on the comfort and experience when you return.

Wishing you a safe and wonderful trip. Enjoy!

Andrea Goldsand

Hi VPL,

I will post a review about our experience with Turkish air business class, and the transfer to the hotel in Arusha. I did not realize the Istanbul to JRO segment was recliner seats, thank you for pointing that out. I think it will still be very comfortable, I hope! Good luck with your flight home!

Regards,
Andrea

doctorbj

Interesting developments today:

booking is now available on Turkish and Ethiopian.

Ethiopian business is now $6800 per person rather than for 2 as I thought i saw on their website in past. This is for cloud deluxe. Cloud deluxe restricted is now about $8400 for 2 i think

Turkish airlines business is still $7400 for 2 people as it was before. (i actually saw $5200 briefly this morning!)

Even with having to book 2 extra hotel days b/o 1 AM arrival and 5 AM departure, this seems to be a no-brainer.

Barry

British

We often find that the more we check into flights on line, the more the airline 'knows' we want to fly then and often changes the prices to their advantage. So we use one email to check prices but another just once to book. It might jist be our imagination but you never know.

AlanS

doctorbj wrote:

Interesting developments today:

booking is now available on Turkish and Ethiopian.

Ethiopian business is now $6800 per person rather than for 2 as I thought i saw on their website in past. This is for cloud deluxe. Cloud deluxe restricted is now about $8400 for 2 i think

Turkish airlines business is still $7400 for 2 people as it was before. (i actually saw $5200 briefly this morning!)

Even with having to book 2 extra hotel days b/o 1 AM arrival and 5 AM departure, this seems to be a no-brainer.

Barry

I think you are doing something wrong or misreading it! Are you looking at Ethiopian's website or are you using a third-party flight search site- use the ET website! It really is just a tad over $6800 FOR TWO- time to check again! You might have to clear the cache on your computer or completely exit the site and/or browser, although I have never had to do that with ET's site- I have been getting the same fares since well before this thread first started! Their fares rarely change throughout the year, unlike most/all US carriers.

There is no "cloud deluxe" or "Cloud deluxe restricted", they are Cloud 9 Restricted and Cloud 9 Deluxe- Cloud 9 is their term for what we call Business Class. The "restrictions" for Cloud 9 Restricted which are explained in a pop-up window when you put your cursor on the column title, apply to refund/change rules and fees only and frankly more lenient than US carriers, but do not affect your seat or class of service which are exactly the same as Deluxe. In my opinion you don't need to waste money on the "Deluxe" fare category, especially if you take the Tauck insurance as most recommend. It would be the same if you purchased Delta's "refundable" Business Class fare which is almost double the regular Business Class fare!!! Read what it says first, before you decide, however. IMHO it is just not worth the extra $$$, unless you already think you will need to cancel or just want to pay more than everyone else : )

Also, when you select both outbound and inbound flights, make sure to click on the little dots in the "Cloud 9 Restricted" fare column- if you don't click the dot in that column you might get the higher, "Deluxe," price ($6,867.18 USD total per person/ $13,734.36 USD total for two) if you selected Deluxe in a previous attempt

I'm not selling ET, just had a good experience and trying to save you a few bucks.

I just checked ET's website at 1129 EDT, 29 Sep and again at 0024, EDT 30 Sep and got the following:

At the top and bottom of the right hand column you should see $6,822.36 USD in large print- that is for "Passengers: 2" (On the left, just below the flight info, in much smaller print, it will say $3411.18 USD per person.

That price is for this multi-city itinerary:

9 Aug 2018 Ooops, update- better return flights- shorter layover in ADD, same price:

ET 501 Dep IAD @ 1100, Arr: ADD @ 0715, ET 815, Dep: ADD @ 1020, Arr: JRO @ 1255, 10 Aug 2018

23 Aug 2018

ET 3071915, Arr: ADD @ 2105, ET 500, Dep: ADD @ 2245 (short fuel stop DUB) Arr: IAD @ 0840

If needed I can post a screen capture to confirm what I see.

UPDATE #2, @ 1643, 9/30/2017: Price is still the same $6,822.36 USD for "Passengers: 2" and $3411.18 USD per person.

doctorbj

As always, Alan, you were correct about the Ethiopian flight pricing. Thanks yet again.
Barry

AlanS

doctorbj wrote:

As always, Alan, you were correct about the Ethiopian flight pricing. Thanks yet again.
Barry

No problem.

It can be difficult to navigate some of the airline websites. Sometimes data will not change or revert if you use the 'back button' on your browser. Often you must also hit 'reload.' Another gotcha with foreign airline websites- one of the regulars here who will remain nameless thought she found a fantastic air fare for an upcoming Tauck trip. But, as she started working through check out, realized the particular airline website thought her country of origin was Lithuania (or one of the other Baltics : ) ). Once she corrected that, the fare went up and fell in line with that of other airlines.

I don't think I mentioned, but in addition to a previous comment about the reworked seats on ET's Boeing 777's which they use on the long haul routes, ET is using almost new Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners for the both short ET 815 (ADD to JRO) and ET 307 (NBO to ADD) connecting flights. Rarely do you see nice, big aircraft like that used on a two hour flight! In 2015 we flew in a brand new 787 from ADD to JRO, but had to settle for a much smaller 737 from NBO to ADD. If I sound like I'm a bit OCD about flights, I have been accused of such . . . my wife is not a big fan of flying, so I really put a lot of effort into finding shortest flight times and layovers, best cabin layouts (1-2-1 or 2-2-2 if I can find them), 180° lay-flat seats, and of course, reasonable fares.

British

As I often fly coach and not business class on Tauck trips, I always pat myself on the back when I have saved myself the price of a business class seat that I can use for another Tauck vacation instead. I arrived back in the US last night after two coach level flights, however I fly the jet lag is still there. For those who find business class prices just too much to add to the price of a Tauck vacation, I still think a much cheaper compromise is arriving two or three days early when the price of two extra nights in the hotel is way less than a business class ticket and that helps way more with jet lag. Make sure you wear support socks and keep hydrated however you fly.

AlanS

British wrote:

As I often fly coach and not business class on Tauck trips, I always pat myself on the back when I have saved myself the price of a business class seat that I can use for another Tauck vacation instead. I arrived back in the US last night after two coach level flights, however I fly the jet lag is still there. For those who find business class prices just too much to add to the price of a Tauck vacation, I still think a much cheaper compromise is arriving two or three days early when the price of two extra nights in the hotel is way less than a business class ticket and that helps way more with jet lag. Make sure you wear support socks and keep hydrated however you fly.

I still get jetlag to some extent, but that is not the reason we fly business class. It is sitting almost straight upright for 8, 10, 12 hours in a seat with barely a cushion, not being able to sleep or recline, etc. in coach. I've tried neck pillows, etc. nothing makes for comfort better than a business class seat. And, of course, there are all the other niceties. : )

British

Yes, I do hear you Alan, but the price of a business class seat is out of reach for many people, yes even Tauck travelers. In fact, when we took our Tanzania Zanzibar tour, we were the only people on the tour who did have business class. There is no way we could take our next five tours with Tauck in the next fourteen months if we took business class with all of them. On our way to England tonight on coach class, not looking forward to it but not willing to shell out the price of a business class ticket for a five hour flight, I know we will be tired tomorrow but at least we do not have a busy Tauck tour ahead of us.

VPL

Appreciate any inputs from fellow travelers who have flew with Turkish Airline into Kilimanjaro. How do you rate the flight? Do you feel safe arriving past midnight and transfer to Arusha? Many thanks.

British

Arusha is a smallish airport and the Tauck people will be there to pick you up, no problem. We have been to this airport twice and it does not feel threatening or scary like other crazy airports we have been to. We have also arrived there late evening. Be sure to hustle when you get off the plane to make sure you are near the front at immigration. If you are the only Tauck people on the flight, likely if you chose Turkish, you will be at your hotel much more quickly than if you have to wait for others. Sometimes it is one of the men who will be one of the Safari drivers that will pick you up.

Sealord

We have done Africa once in coach and the next time in business/first. On one coach flight we were offered and bought the exit row seats. All the difference in the world. We rarely sleep on airplanes so business only makes sense to us when we can get the most direct routing, and use ‘miles’. Could not do that this time. So we had Tauck buy our coach tickets on KLM, and paid for them, so we could upgrade to exit row seats, and coach comfort. So we got three sets of coach comfort ‘twins’, and one 747 exit row. Easy access and plenty of leg room. Those are our priorities. We will see how it works out.

LaurelL

To doctorbj ..... We are also on the August 11th trip.....traveling from Eugene, Oregon!