I imagine many of us are going to try to use miles for the long fligts. Just wanted to provide some information.

South African Airlines (SAA) is joining Star Alliance (with United and USAir and others) probably by next year. Along with that, it is probable that the partnership agreement between Delta and SAA will end. The five year agreement is up in 2005 and it appears that it may not be renewed. On the other hand, Continental, Northwest, and KLM will be joining Skyteam (Delta, Air France, etc).

So, United and USAir miles will be good for SAA along with the other current choices.

For those of us with Delta, Continental, and Northwest miles, we will have lots of choices. We can use AF through Paris, KLM through Amsterdam, or Virgin Atlantic (don't know if this will work for Continental or Northwest) through London. If SAA remains a partner, we can combine with Delta flights. Therefore, we can connect in Paris, Frankfurt, London, or Sao Paolo (I believe) or other places you can get to with just Delta to SAA flights.

I don't the first thing about OneWorld (American).

Any one have additional insight?

One World or American you can use British Air. They fly directly into Capetown from Heathrow. Coming home British Air it will be necessary to fly from Johannesburg back to Capetown to connect to a flight Capetown to Heathrow and then to the USA. So a one way ticket Johannesburg to Capetown will need to be acquired.

SAA direct to Capetown from Atlanta(14 hours) is a great way to go. Service on SAA was excellent and you have movies on demand at your seat. If you go that route and you're on a 747 try to get seated on the upper deck(economy on SAA).

Doug, I am hoping to go with SAA airlines direct to Capetown here. I would rather suffer through a 14 hour flight than do 2 overnighters by going through Europe. As I remember, it leaves in the afternoon and gets there the next morning?

Is everyone booking their air now? Can you do it this far ahead? I can't even begin to think about air until I know whether I can afford the trip, but I was wondering what the availability for doing miles on Star Alliance (my miles are all USAIR) will be at a later date. Any thoughts? I usually purchase coach and upgrade with miles...actually, that's the only way I have ever used my miles, but I am hoping to have enough to "purchase" the entire flight with miles. I just didn't know if availability changes when you go 100% miles.

Sheri - you can't book air yet - it's usually 330 days ahead of time, so May '05 will be the time to start thinking about it for real. Especially true if trying to use miles - call the first day availability opens up - they will hold your outbound, then when the return date opens up, call back and grab that.

SAA has best schedule, I think - get it over with with one flight. The downside is that I doubt you can upgrade using Star Alliance miles - usually you can only upgrade on the flights operated by the carrier on which you have the miles. But you can use the miles for "free" tickets. For those with Platinum AMEX - SAA is in the 2 for 1 international air program.

I have a platinum AMEX...but travelling alone, I guess I can't benefit, huh?

With Star Alliance I could just "buy" the business ticket with miles, as opposed to an upgrade, right?

Sheri, yes. You will just have to wait until SAA actually joins Star to find out how many miles.

For those of you who are planning to fly out of
Atlanta, if you have a signficant layover, Ida
and I will pick you up for some pre ROAR cheer
at our house before our flight to Capetown.

Wes & Ida

Wes and Ida...you're on! That was a really nice offer! Are you sure you know what you are getting yourself into though??? ;)

We have all of our fr fl miles with American. In checking with AA they partner with British Airways.

There is a direct flight from London to Cape Town on BA and there is, according to a AA rep, a direct flight on BA from Johannesburg to Heathrow.

Hope this info is correct.

Sheri,

Ida is a wonder & gourmet too, when stationed
in Germany the last three years, we had our annual
Cinco De Mayo fiesta (our anniversary that day) and Ida cooked (fajita's, tamles, enchiladas) for 75 (I had the tough job poured the tequilla and bottomless margarita's) we had flamenco and folkloro dancers and a DJ (conga lines, etc)...we all had a blast.

We're ready...just let time fly.

Wes & Ida

Sheri, on the USAirways website you can find the mileage required between all continents to redeem free tickets here: http://www.usairways.com/dividendmiles/redeemingmiles/star_alliance_award_chart_060104.pdf. The FAQ's on Star Aliance website say that with a couple of exeptions you can't upgrade on other airlines. But with USAirways I think you can upgrade to biz class on USAirways "partner" airlines, (I think I have done this before) but you have to take the same airline both ways across the Atlantic. All the Star Alliance affiliates are not "partners", however.

When we flew to South Africa last year, April, the SAA flights alternated their schedules, Atlanta/Johannesburg/Cape Town and Atlanta/Cape Town/Johannesburg, depending on the day of the week.....to Cape Town, through Johannesburg, we totaled about 17-18 hours, but, with the 6 or 7 hour time differnce, were there about noon time.

Wes, just keep the te-kill-ya away from me and we will all make it through the day!!! :D

Olivia, I will check into that. Thanks for the info!

Sheri

We left Atlanta @ 1100 and arrived Cape Town at @ 0800 next day(14 hours). If I remember correctly, the flight then continued to JoBurg. On the return trip we had to stop for fuel in the Cape Verde Islands and the flight was @ 15 hours. Depends on the time of year going from Atlanta to Cape Town. We went in Nov and the upper level winds are such then that they can go direct. At some times of the year they have to stop at the Cape Verdes to refuel, but it's a short stop. They won't let you leave the airplane in the Cape Verdes either way.

Maurice I hope you are correct. When I checked the web I did not see any BA flights from Johannesburg to Heathrow but I did not look very hard just one site.

ROAR Team,

FYRI, Skyauction.com shows many R/T flights from USA to Capetown ranging from winning bids of$750-850!...altho Coach, this is the best deal out there right now. Worth taking a note to check back in May.

Wouldn't it be fun if some of us do end up together on a flight? We would get the party started that much earlier!

If flying through Atlanta is still a possibility at that time, that's probably the route we would take. Not counting on it, though.

Pam, as many of us are trying to use FF tickets, we probably won't end up on same flight. Limited tickets. If SAA only gives up two seats for business DL awards a flight, we will have to spread out. Some of us from ATL, some from JFK, some from Paris.

I sure hope Delta still has a relationship with SAA in 2006. If they don't, they won't be flying out of ATL.

It looks like we are either going to do AF through Paris, KLM through Amsterdam, or Virgin through London. Of course, if SAA is an option, going through Sao Paolo looks like a good choice as it is not too far out of the way.

Wes, I will fly via Timbucktu (in Mali) in business before I fly in coach for 18 hours. Of course, I may have to eat those words if I can't find award tickets.

We aren't counting 100% on being able to use miles, Marc. It would be nice, but we are assuming that we'll probably be going for the AmEx free companion ticket, if we can get there that way. We will not be making that trip in coach, either.

NW had an announcement in our paper today, and we might be getting more direct KLM flights out of Memphis in the next year or two. While I'd prefer a different airline, I'll do that if it's easier.

Pam, yes it is nice that SAA participates in the Amex program. Now that KLM is a Skyteam member, I need to start researching them. Arlene has said she would love to have a precruise in the Netherlands.

Wow Wes, these are such good prices! Now, how do I convince myself that I'm capable of flying all the way to Capetown in Coach?? I'm 5'3"....though I probably sound like I'm 6'3"!!

Masaki, I may need a good 20 hour "knock out drug" to do the trick! :eek:

Marcie - that is doable ... (evil cackle and gleeful rubbing of hands)

Masaki

Marcie,

Just fill your large 'water' bottle with vodka and sip (gulp!) away -- those 20 hours will be over before you recover!

We're hoping to use UA miles, and if not that, Alaska miles. Last choice is to use the AmEx 2 for 1.

Betty

Marc, On flights over 10 hours I could not
agree with you more...will use the AMX or
a fare consolidator (only $300 more than 2:1)
deal right now...who know the delta in
May of next year.

r/wes

Would you really fly coach for that long? It's like 24 hours or something. Yikes! :ohmy:
I wouldn't fly to San Diego from LA in coach LOL

Claudia, yep, I would, if it allowed me to go there and I couldn't afford it otherwise. I am actually thinking of doing it in coach, if I don't have enough miles to upgrade if and when when SAA joins Staralliance.,I will look at my opportunities and then decide. While I always prefer to pay coach and upgrade to biz class with miles, I can't always do this, we shall see

Guys, just a suggestion. For those of you on the West Coast, or who can get there cheaply, check out flights via the Far East (HKG, SIN, KUL). There are often good deals to be found and mostly cheaper than going via Europe. Also, should you chose to break up the trip with an overnight you don't have to deal with cold weather in Europe. Plus, luxury hotels in the Far East are far cheaper than Europe. Finally, if you don't have miles, you will generally find that consolidators have better prices to the Far East than Europe.

RTA (RetiredTravelAgent)

RTA,

Welcome to LCT! Thanks for the good suggestion..


r/Wes

Welcome RTA...that's something I never considered and I do live on the West coast.

Olivia, I agree re: coach. If it's the ONLY way, than it beats staying home. Once I flew all the way from LAX to Tokyo in coach in a middle seat! It was terrible, But somehow I survived!

Marcie: I would not waste money nor points on first class flights unless we were going a long distance - we fly jax to nyc, 2 hrs, coach, painless - I don't even mind flying to California in coach - have done that flight both ways and coach is fine - Joanna

But, do you and Marcie have LONG LEGS! :eek:
My sister and I are colts!

I flew LAX to Sydney in the last row and the middle of the center section of seats...the seats didn't recline due to the wall behind them, we couldn't see the movie screen from our seats...not even partially...and the food was terrible...THAT was torture!!! We were in such foul moods when we got to Sydney...and stiff, sore and hungry to boot.

BUT, that certainly was the exception...EVERY seat on that plane was better than ours!

I have broad shoulders and LONG legs (we won't talk about the rest of me, because I plan to shrink that part before ROAR). I could handle coach, EXCEPT... Mark is simply broad. He sits in his coach seat, and part of mine; that is fine for flights up to 4-5 hours even, but not for an extremely long one.

Sheri, did you get to choose your own seats on that flight, or did they just assign them at check-in? There's a great website at www.seatguru.com where you can check out a lot of different planes and where the best seats are. They don't have every airline, but I've been saved from lousy seats a couple of times since I found it!

That is a great web site...no, we didn't get a chance to choose our seats. It was done through the cruise line. I remember calling and being told they would give us our seat assignments when we checked in.

On the way home, we actually forfefited our seats through Radisson...purchased NEW seats and upgraded with miles. As it turned out, it wasn't outrageously expensive...it was something like $300 pp (NZ-LAX) for the coach seats, and that was at the last moment. The only problem was that we had to use RT miles for a one way ticket! That smarted a bit. It was WELL worth it. We all ate a good meal, slept until breakfast and awoke feeling great!

SAA has changed equipment on the ATL-CPT-JNB flights. They have switched from 747-400s to Airbus 340-600s. The 747's (still used from JFK) have among the best first class seats available - like the original Swissair with moveable ottoman and single row beds - the Airbus has 2 classes - premium class has 2-2-2 lie flat seats with up to date entertainment options - comfortable seating, but insuffient lav space for the morning rush. Major downside - Airbus requires refueling in both directions on all flights! Last month, we were on the plane for 21 1/2 hours to JNB including a CPT stop. We never had to refuel on East bound flight on 747s

hrprof,
I also understand that when you make the fuel stop they WON'T allow you off the plane, correct? That's really adding insult to injury!

Marcie
Yes, no one leaves the plane. All lights come on and a crew change takes place. Fortunately, it is an 8 hour flight from Sal to CPT, so more sleep is possible. A crew change also takes place on the return. But, the convenience of one direct flight still makes it our first choice. I'm sure that all are aware that the ticket is less expensive buying from SAA than going on the Delta code share. Delta miles can be used for free tickets.
Ted