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Flight advice

roz47

I would be interested in hearing about the flights you have taken to get to Johannesburg and then on to Livingstone. Any suggestions as to airlines, flight schedules from LAX?

Also, I would like to know when we should plan on arriving in Livingstone. We are currently booked with one pre-day. Tour starts Sept. 3 at 5 p.m. Set to arrive on Sept. 2. Should we change it for 2 days? Wonder how much we need to acclimate before such a busy trip.

Thanks for all the replies.

Comments

British

I am sure others will chip in here and be of more help. We are already booked for this tour, but it is still just over a year away, but, we have been on the South Africa Elegant Adventure tour which begins in Cape Town and ends in Johannesburg, the airline of choice is definitely South African Airways. Whenever you fly long hall you are likely to get better quality seating and amenities on flights that are not US Airlines and I believe S Africa Airlines is the one that Tauck uses, we will be looking into flights as soon as the one year out timeframe comes along. Our process is to call Tauck o see what flights they use, if we don't like those, we chose our own and then get Tauck to book those for us, that way we do not have to fork out a big amount of money a year in advance, we pay when we get the final bill sixty days out, it means that changing flights is also more possible without a change fee. Also, if there is some big event such as earthquake, terror, well think your worst, Tauck will assist you with flight changes. If you book yourself they can't.

AlanS

We haven't done B/SA/Z (yet

) but are hoping to someday so I have looked at various flight options already and we did K&T Safari this year.

There are a number of different options, but first you need to decide which is most important to you- seating comfort (Business class w/lay-flat seats vs coach with all that entails), airline (US/foreign code share/foreign), flight time, layover time, ability to earn/use frequent flyer miles, etc., or price etc.

I would first check out Tauck for all the reasons British mentions. But then, using the individual airlines and travel websites (Travelocity, etc.) look at other options.

We used Ethiopian Airlines to/from Dulles for our K&T flights. It had a number of advantages- a short layover was near the end of the flight (in Addis Ababa) vs one in the middle (Amsterdam) and fares (for business class) were lower than with other airlines we checked (including Tauck). The seating and service on fairly new Boeing 777-300ERs and a new Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner (for the short flight from Addis Ababa to Kilimanjaro!) was equal to or better than many US carriers. Addis' Bole airport (ET's base) wasn't the greatest but not too bad (was a piece of cake on the return leg.) Someone here likened it to Chicago's Midway from a few years back.

ET provides service from Dulles and LAX. This year they started serving Capetown, but I'm not sure how many times a week they provide this service. Flying LAX- DUB (1 hr stop for gas, no deplane)- ADD - NBO* and CPT - JNB- DUB (1 hr stop for gas, no deplane) - ADD - LAX is a tad over $1600 per ticket (r/t, coach) and a tad under $4900 for business for April 2016 flights. They are using the new Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners for both the LAX to Addis and Addis to LAX legs. The long layover in Addis is probably a deal breaker for most, however.

You can fly Delta/KLM from LAX via Atlanta to J'burg and return Capetown to LAX via Amsterdam and Minneapolis. Constructive flights for April 2016 ran a tad under $2000 per ticket (r/t, coach) and $7300 for business/first.

*While you are doing your research, think outside the box like my ET example. Depending on when the flights you are looking at arrive, you may find that you will need to spend the night in Jo'burg before you can get a connecting regional flight to Livingstone. In that case take a look at flying into Nairobi, Kenya (NBO) and flying Kenyan Air to Livingstone. It might be quicker and cheaper.

Or, you can let Tauck or a travel agent handle all the details.

British

Wow Alan, that makes things very complicated. I would not want to leave Johannesburg airport to go to an hotel. I would not want to stay around Johannesburg longer than I had to, it's nice but some people have mentioned being stuck in elevators with shady people, and I did not feel too safe there either. All that plane changing means more chance of lost luggage. Our luggage arrived 24 hours late in Tanzania and that was with only one plane change. Nairobi airport, I don't like it. But great to give roz47 lots of ideas and options.

AlanS

British wrote:

Wow Alan, that makes things very complicated. I would not want to leave Johannesburg airport to go to an hotel. I would not want to stay around Johannesburg longer than I had to, it's nice but some people have mentioned being stuck in elevators with shady people, and I did not feel too safe there either. All that plane changing means more chance of lost luggage. Our luggage arrived 24 hours late in Tanzania and that was with only one plane change. Nairobi airport, I don't like it. But great to give roz47 lots of ideas and options.

This info was based on a quick search and I was a bit surprised about the routing through Jo'burg on the return and long layover in ADD. Unlike the LAX routing, the Ethiopian website routing for my personal "when-if" for B/SA/Z starts in Dulles (IAD). The return flight from CPT makes a quick stop for gas (no deplane?) at GBE (Sir Seretse Khama International Airport in Gaborone, Botswana) and has only a 2+45 layover in ADD. It totally avoids Jo'burg in both directions which is a good thing from everything I have heard (though they are different, Schiphol and Frankfort have their own set of issues). I'm not sure why ET's Capetown to LAX return routing stops at Jo'burg.

The source of my info was ET's website, so it might be possible to get my return routing (CPT-GBE to ADD) then ADD - (DUB) - LAX. When we stopped for gas in Dublin it was early morning and still dark. We didn't even pull up to the terminal and were airborne again in about an hour. Many folks slept right through it.

Anyway, as you say I was just making the point there are options. But, without knowing what is important to Roz47, it is hard to get specific. Since my wife is not a big fan of flying, I normally look for (in this order): comfort- business class/full lay flat seats and shortest enroute times (with fewest/shortest layovers), then cost. Cost is not a big concern yet- at least not until my kids' inheritance runs out : )

TravelGuy

We took this tour last September. It was quite an adventure. You will have a great time!

Business Class is the way to go if that is your preference. We flew Economy Plus on United Chicago to London and stayed there two days to get used to the time change and to relax a little. Then we took a 6 PM flight on British Air Premium Plus (or whatever they call it) and landed in JoBurg around 6 AM. No problems at the airport. We left JoBurg for Livingstone around 11 AM that same day on British Air. Inbound we flew on British Air Premium Plus Cape Town to London landing around 5:30 AM then United Economy Plus leaving around noon.

Just replace ORD with LAX. It worked out fine.

Sealord

TravelGuy wrote:

We took this tour last September. It was quite an adventure. You will have a great time!

Business Class is the way to go if that is your preference. We flew Economy Plus on United Chicago to London and stayed there two days to get used to the time change and to relax a little. Then we took a 6 PM flight on British Air Premium Plus (or whatever they call it) and landed in JoBurg around 6 AM. No problems at the airport. We left JoBurg for Livingstone around 11 AM that same day on British Air. Inbound we flew on British Air Premium Plus Cape Town to London landing around 5:30 AM then United Economy Plus leaving around noon.

Just replace ORD with LAX. It worked out fine.

I'm an AA AAdvantage guy, so we booked using miles through AA, and got business/first milesaver on all legs except the CPT-LHR leg ... SFO-ORD-LHR-JNB-LIV ... CPT-LHR-SFO. I know, lots of legs, but I would rather fly two legs in business/first than one leg in coach. Still working on CPT-LHR leg. If it opens up, I just need to call an agent as we are currently listed as a voluntary downgrade on that leg. Currently have thirteen legs of reward travel booked, and got twelve of thirteen on business/first milesaver. I feel like I should have an advanced degree in reward travel booking ... and I feel very lucky. (;-) Most of our trip is actually on BA. If I were actually buying a ticket I would certainly be looking at the SAA option.

kli821

Going 10/17/15

Live in Florida, flying Delta to Atlanta, then 15hour Delta flight to Joburg (ecomony comfort seating).
Arrive too late to get to Zambia that day, staying overnight in Joburg. Hotel has airport shuttle, near airport and is adjacent to Emperor's Palace Casino. If jetlag keeps us awake, there is always the casino!

British Airways and So African Air fly to Livingstone 10:30 or 11am arrive 1-1:30. I chose BA for the mileage rewards. The mistake was re: checked luggage. SA Air would check it thru...have to pick it up and recheck in AM.

My son and I are going to Pretoria and Joburg after Tauck tour ends, so will follow the same route back.
I could not deal with the NY/NJ to London itinerary Tauck suggested...too many airports.

I figure we will be rested upon arrival in Livingstone for our extra day before the tour (a must)!

Can't wait!

sidecar

We also flew Delta into Johannesburg. Stayed at the Protea Hotel which is located inside the secured area of the terminal. Was fine for the overnight stay. We did not want to deal with leaving the terminal and having to take transportation that we were not familiar with.

British

It's interesting to read all the possibilities for flights. Another month and we will be researching out flights for next year. Everyone has different priorities. Ours are, as few plane changes as possible, then cost, then possibility of using air miles. But we still these days like to get Tauck to book for us, so air miles are out, we can use them for another vacation.
Because of our proximity to The New York area, we got a limo to Newark on our last tour of South Africa, then a non stop flight to Johannesburg, then on to Cape Town to start our tour. I do hope the flight on to Livingstone does not include a stop overnight in J'burg because of time of connecting flights. On this Zambia, Botswana, South Africa tour, it will be wonderful to just have one flight back all the way to Newark and then the limo waiting. Even if we end up going coach class, to us that is preferable to lots of flights, waiting at different airports, worrying about connecting to next flight and less chance of lost or delayed luggage. If the flight ri,ex don't work out its nice to know about the Protea hotel. We have two nights in Livingstone before the start of the tour.

Scott T

We used British Airways for the trip from Seattle to Heathrow to Joburg to Livingstone, as well as the return flights, Cape Town to Heathrow to Seattle. Everything went fine. We each managed with a 15 pound under the seat bag and a 30 pound overhead bag (nothing checked).

DonL

I just completed reservations for the April 2, 2016 departure. Tauck's price for a round-trip was about $9,000 in Business Class with good connections. I am a Delta/KLM/AF frequent flyer. KLM sold me a r/t Business Class ticket for $5,895 albeit with two long stopovers and arrival 2 days after departure. I know the business class lounges in Amsterdam and will spend 10 hours there. And about 6 hours in Nairobi, Kenya with a small lounge.

B

Sealord

Sealord wrote:

I'm an AA AAdvantage guy, so we booked using miles through AA, and got business/first milesaver on all legs except the CPT-LHR leg ... SFO-ORD-LHR-JNB-LIV ... CPT-LHR-SFO. I know, lots of legs, but I would rather fly two legs in business/first than one leg in coach. Still working on CPT-LHR leg. If it opens up, I just need to call an agent as we are currently listed as a voluntary downgrade on that leg. Currently have thirteen legs of reward travel booked, and got twelve of thirteen on business/first milesaver. I feel like I should have an advanced degree in reward travel booking ... and I feel very lucky. (;-) Most of our trip is actually on BA. If I were actually buying a ticket I would certainly be looking at the SAA option.

Traveling through DFW to Budapest got that CPT-LHR leg through JNB. Coulbn't get business, but got first using miles. I have long legs so I will put up with more 'legs' to avoid coach. I checked those flights every day since July and had almost given up, and then there it was. The 'miles' game sometimes takes some patience.