Traveling to South Africa-need flight assistance

In November 2015 I used Delta points for AtL-Jnb business class on delta 777

I can't give any first hand advice, but I do have a friend from Joberg. He flies either direct from Atlanta or through London. It will be long, but if you have time it may be nice to spend a day in London on a layover.

There is one flight a day direct from DC from Johannesburg on South African air. When I went in November, I did Msy, DC, Johannesburg booked through United. On the way home, I did Johannesburg, London, Chicago, msy through United. Joburg to London was Lufthansa. Saa and Lufthansa are star alliance members but all flights were booked through united

I've flown through Rome and Amsterdam before, if you are going to stop, try stop in Europe.

That's all I've got, probably not even worth posting, but I typed it out already.

Air France is an option too connecting in CDG. In economy this is one of the cheapest options. In business/first not so much.

Personally I would use UR -> Korean to fly business RT for 120K pp. United is a tad higher at 140K. But Korean only allows RTs on partners so if you've already booked your one way, this is not an option anymore.

On way back I would suggest transferring both UR and MR to Singapore and fly Business on Star members back. Think it is 72.5K pp.

So does anyone have a trip report for Cape Town and/or Kruger?

I just booked for March 2018.

Biz class IAD - ADD - CPT; back from JNB - ADD - IAD in Econ (that should be fun) on Ethiopian. Have to add my Austin leg later.

Anything not so obvious suggestions? I see this Blue Train idea but that may take too long so planned on flying CPT - MQP nonstop to get to Kruger.

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If you can get your points converted to Korean Air miles. They have good redemption rates, you can exchange it on another Skyteam partner.

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Easier said then done as I just tried it.

Would have been great to book the Delta flight ATL to JNB or perhaps KLM, but to book this you have to call the Korean customer service line and feed them the route and dates. They then call you back. I have no patience to do that 30 times nor using an award booking service.

We are heading out May 6 for 2 weeks to South Africa. Ended up doing Turkish Biz there (2 stops) + SAA to Cape Town, then Virgin Atlantic First Class back through London. The Skyteam partners deal seemed better but I couldn't pull the trigger to fly through Cairo.

We are doing Cape Town 4 days, Frranschoek Wine Country 3 days, Sabi Sabi Safari (near Kruger) for 3 days then Victoria Falls for 2 days.

We are flying CPT - Kruger via SA airways, then have a Federal Air Shuttle to Sabi Sabi.

Will try to remember to come back and post a trip report!

Figure by now you already have it booked.

Went last year on Business class. I wanted to fly on an A380, so it ended up like an Amazing Race itinerary.

Columbia - Charlotte - Paris on American. 8 hour layover in CDG (got a hotel room). Then Paris - Doha - Cape Town on Qatar. A380 to Doha and 787 to Cape Town.

American was surprisingly good.

Qatar Airways was amazing. Gorgeous brand new aircraft; beautiful friendly flight attendants; super comfortable pods with 22-inch monitors. Food brought out on plates -- made to order. No trolleys and no trays. Pajamas and slippers. Bar in the back of the A380 is sweet.

Airport in Qatar is incredible -- opened in 2014. Freaked my wife out because she went to the bathroom in the business class lounge & two female attendants waited outside the stall door for her to finish so they could do an immediate clean up.

Wife was a little antsy about flying through the middle east, but it was a breeze. No sense of unease on the flight or the airport. She flirted her way through security at Doha with zero problems. Yeah, you see a few people in traditional clothing, but no one bothers you. You're pretty darn safe on Qatar, Etihad or Emirates.

After a week in Cape Town (stayed in Camps Bay), took the Blue Train to Pretoria. Overnight at JNB airport hotel and then flew to Botswana for safari. Flew home on Delta's nonstop between Joburg and Atlanta. 16+ hour flight.

I've taken both the Blue Train and Rovos Rail (and the Orient Express in Europe). They are fun as a bucket list sort of thing, but eventually grow pretty tedious. Scenery out of Cape Town is fantastic, but once you get deep into the Karoo, you're ready to get off the damn thing.

Go paragliding off Signal Hill. Best thing you'll ever do.

Springbok and Ostrich are delicious, as is the fish. If you see crayfish on the menu, it's actually lobster. Order it.

Take the cable car up table mountain; the boat to Robben Island; and drive to Cape Point. Rent a car. Unlike the rest of Africa, South Africa is easy to drive in (only real adjustment is driving on the left side of the road). Roads are in great shape, well-sign posted, and everyone actually obeys the rules.