How are people doing with their plans?

Not great so far.

I'm having trouble finding reasonable flights. Best so far is around £750, but that's neither flying to my first destination, or coming back from my last one, so I'd be looking at two extra internal flights on top of that.

I'm not even going to look at hotels etc unless I can get a decent flight with a decent airline.

 

It is certainly not easy and cannot be done on a budget. I think numbers are going to be well down and all this talk of 40,000 English there will be total rubbish. There were 8,000 in Japan and would not expect much more than that. South African Airways are having the biggest laugh at present offerring London to Cape Town at £1,700 return! Internal flights will be essential and hence my thread on TSTs. Even Thomas Cook who are mentioned many times as usuable Tour Operator are struggling to help in any way.

Do they really have to make it so challenging for everyone?

 

You guys wanna hear amazing? I live on the small island of St. Croix in the Caribbean. So small that our airport only flies to 3 cites, San Juan, PR a few times a day and once a day to Atlanta and Miami. Delta has the flight from St. Croix to Atlanta. From there they have a direct flight from Atlanta to Johannesburg!!!! What are the odds for 1 stop?!?! I love Delta... about $1700 for the ticket but it is totally worth it... I am going to the World Cup!

 

I have yet to book anything yet other than my match tickets.

For accomodation, last month match ag sent me an email telling me that they'll begin their sales July 16th.

As far as flight, I am also waiting for the 330 days window which for me is going to be mid august, since I am planning to leave SA July 12th.
I have about 250K miles with Aadvantage and 500K points in my American Express which I can transfer to Virgin Atlantic.
I am hoping to get a first class ticket from Miami - LHR - JNB using my miles for an award ticket.

shaunsindelman, what site have you been using to find the $90 a night for accomodation.

 

A few questions....

Has anyone actually booked a flight with SAA? And if so, how did you go about it?

And does anyone know when BA will make flights available?

Thanks

 

For SAA you click on www.flysaa.com and when you have finish pissing yourself laughing at their prices you can start getting annoyed as seemingly no one else goes to Cape Town and some of the other suggestions of going via Dubai are too ridiculous to be true. I think BA are hedging their bets by not releasing any flights yet.

So far I have spent days trying to work out how to get to SA and where to stay and not finding it a very fruitful experience and my plans are pretty simple.

 

Has anyone heard about renting a (secured) condo in SA?

 

I just checked on Expedia for a one-way flight from Las Vegas to Cape Town on June 12, 2010. The cheapest flight was $1620 USD.

 

Flying into Cape Town appears to be hideously expensive.

Flying to Johannesburg does appear to offer some cheaper options, if not exactly on "A list" airlines, but the problem is not knowing if getting an internal flight from there to Cape Town will be possible. There are internal flights, but many don't seem to be on sale yet.

Buses are an option, but you can't buy them yet either.

It's very hard to plan without knowing how long it'll take to get from one city to the next, and I don't mean in hours, but in days.

Maybe, just maybe, some airlines will realise the demand for flights doesn't justify the £2000 prices some are charging, unless there are people out there paying those prices.

 

Oh I just went to how much it would cost me this year to do it. I am more excited that I can get to SA in one stop. I know the flights will exist.

 

Sorry, that quote was for Johannessburg.

Las Vegas - Johanessburg $1620 USD.
Las Vegas - Cape Town $2783 USD.

These are for one-way flights on June 13.

 

for accomodations i found a hotel in cape town right near the stadium at a good price too. i would suggest getting a copy of fodor's and emailing every hotel to see which ones will have availability / good rates. keep in mind that many hotels require the booking to be done through a booking agent which i found to be the case more so in Joburg

for joburg i was able to book a place in the northern suburbs which is probably the place to be from what i've read. for me - safety and security is a big deal, especially in joburg which i've read is quite a dangerous area.

go to this website http://www.sa-venues.com/ and send an inquiry email about your travel plans and someone will help you. that's what i did and was able to get a nice hotel in a safe place. and they are also keeping a lookout for flights as well.

anyone travelling to south africa from south florida? i plan on leaving june 9 2010

the best you will be able to find on kayak.com are one way flights from the United States to Cape Town in the $2k range and up around june 9, 2010. i haven't seen any return flights yet (for me June 21). i also have seen a few domesitic flights within south africa but i am pretty sure the selection will increase during the next month...

message me if you have come across better flight itineraries. i think by mid to late august we will have a keen sense on flights. right now is still too early...

 

I've also got acomodation sorted. Nice appartment for the week. That was the easy part - although I'm embararrased (on behalf of FIFA and South Africa) to report that most appartments were charging extortinate rates - double, triple or more than typical peak rates.

Flights is a different matter. Just seen that KLM have upped from £700-£900 return out of World Cup to £1600-£2400 return in World Cup. To sum it up, all foreign supporters are being held to ransom by these thieving ******** airline carriers.

As soon as I see anything good for £1K I'm taking it.

 

Good grief... Emirates is showing at £1400 too. I'm sure their and KLM prices have gone up.

Book a seat on Virgin Atlantic quick if your return date fits!

 

Just to add the KLM and Emirates prices are to Cape Town. VA only go to Johann, which appears to be much cheaper to get to.

 

to and from the games? i guess i would be taking a cab or arrange something through the hotel. i am going to soccer city - the main stadium. we'll probably take a cab to a certain point where we would have to walk the rest.

i have games in joburg june 14 and 17 both at soccer city. and i believe we have some tickets for other games that we will not be able to attend but will try to sell.