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Anyone worried about making their connecting flight out of Johannesburg?
I've read a few accounts of delayed flights from Victoria Falls to ORT, leading to missed (or nearly-missed) flights home. Is anyone giving themselves extra time to make their flight home? Right now we're booked on a flight back to Seattle leaving at 7:10pm, but I'm considering taking the next flight and then staying in Dubai for a few nights just to see it.
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We just flew home last Tuesday. The flight from Victoria Falls was slightly delayed, but we made it to Johannesburg before 4 pm. Our flight to Newark, which we were more concerned about, was 9:20 pm. A 7 pm flight should be OK, but I understand the concern.
Thanks for the feedback
better and easier than NY.
Is there a set departure time for the flight from Victoria Falls to Johannesburg? We have the Newark flight at 9:20 as well & are wondering how we will be spending our day. Hopefully not sitting at the airport for hours:)
There are nice lounges at the airport if your fare qualifies. Shopping ok. It is better to get there early. At one point it was a hassle to come back from Victoria and but last fall we were apparently the first group that was able to arrive and stay in the airport without having to check in.
We are very fortunate to have been to Victoria Falls three times. It is such a hassle to fly to or from there. We intend to keep going back to Africa so I wish Tauck would do a Southern Africa tour that does not include it.
British - I think you’re in a very small group of travelers that have been to Southern Africa so many times that you’re tired of seeing Victoria Falls.
My first trip there will be coming up next year. Victoria Falls was one of the main drivers for the trip. I could be wrong, but the number of travelers that want to see Victoria Falls is why almost all of their tours have it as a component of the tour.
Of course, but when you start booking flights you will see what I mean
British - the flights are already booked. The arrival time from Victoria Falls back to Johannesburg ruled out a good price from Turkish Airlines. Ended up booking flights* on Emirates. Will be our first time using them. This will be our first trip with two legs longer than 10 hours both coming and going. We’ve had longer legs, but not two of this length going each way.
As is usually the case with airline tickets, when you live in a minor hub like Tucson you have to be creative or else spend big, big money. To save decent money our Emirates flights fly out of LAX and return to SEA. We use miles to get to LAX and home from SEA.
We’ve just now managed to book flights to New Zealand on air miles, but like traveling from Vic Falls, the tour finishes in Queenstown which really restricts flight choices. I can’t believe we had enough points, Tauck was quoting $13000 each.
When I went to South Africa, the flight from Johannesburg to Zimbabwe and the flight from Zimbabwe to Johannesburg were included in the tour. The flights I booked were from Orlando to Cape Town and Johannesburg to Orlando.
Sam the flight from Johannesburg to Atlanta (where I always have to go with Delta) was 16 hours.
Gladys - We’ve had some long single legs before as well - Seattle to Singapore and LAX to Melbourne come to mind. Both were in the 15-16 hours length. The thing about the SA flights is that it will be a 10+ hour leg, then a bit of a layover, and then another 10+ hour leg.
I hope I survive! 😂
Sam - Those are 2 long ones, at least after the 16 hour one I had a short flight to Orlando. Hope you have enough room to spread out or a flat bed.
We flew to South Africa on Economy in the past, same with Kenya and Tanzania. We flew to Australia and then New Zealand on separate tours on Premium economy then too. My tip was always that if we could not afford upgrades on flights to arrive two days early to help recover and certainly an extra night in an hotel is much cheaper than a flight upgrade.