Yeah. There are five internal budget flight operators as far as I can tell, and their prices, after tax, seem to be roughly in the range I quoted (I checked a month or two before the world cup) varying depending on the time and route. It wasn't a comprehensive check, but enough to see that normally prices are good, and there are plenty of flights, although all will show "no availability" if you check for June 2010 at the moment.
I'm putting together a catch all reference thread for this forum for all our travel, ticket, accomodation needs. Can people PM me, or put in the existing catch all thread any information or links they think would be useful for visitors to this forum? Cheers
I have been constantly looking for SAA prices for Jo'Berg to Cape Town. Normally they have 21 flights a day yet 11 months in advance and for the whole World Cup they state no flights available. AS BA have hiked their prices up I decided to ring up SAA and they said all flights are sold. I did suggest that 600+ flights all sold out 11 months in advance was unlikely and she just giggled. In reality I am sure they will release them later in the year, but a crap way to treat customers. I do not think I am alone in feeling that two many companies are holding too many hoops for people to jump through. I would rather it was greed than incompetance but I think for a lot of fans it is all leaving a fairly bad taste in the mouth. It has been suggested her and in SA that there is so much aggro finding accommodation and flights etc. that in the end less will be going and the will actually have excess capacity. As travelling throughout the country is not a very inviting prospect they could at least make things easier for people. I do hope Brazil is better. Some hope!
I don't agree that "travelling around the country is not a very inviting prospect." Have you been to South Africa? I've spent about a year there (I know - not tons of time - but some time eh?) and believe it's a beautiful country, particularly outside of the major cities. And part of the experience of going to the games is going to the country too. I understand if time is of the essence in terms of getting to the matches, and therefore would be totally pissed about the SAA flights (I agree that all of this is being handled poorly). But if you have time, I would recommend travelling by car or bus around the country and not worrying too much about flights. But that's just my opinion. Cheers, John
John that is all very well but when you read endless books and websites that say do not use public transport unless there are 20 of you, the driving is appalling with regular daily fatalities, do not go out at night I do not care how beautiful the country is it is still a daunting thought. Yes we will be getting a car for the Garden Route from Port Elizabeth but even that I am in trepidation about. Of course it is beautiful but I am more concerned with the safety aspects.
Fair enough. And I imagine, just like in any country hosting the tournament, the roads will be even more dangerous with drunk drivers. On second thought - flights are not a bad idea. Good luck.
As for travelling on public transport - I wouldn't worry too much; just as you would travel to any country if you take precautions (i.e. don't worry a fancy watch, don't have your wallet in your back pocket, etc.) and use common sense, you should be fine. And yes, during this tournament, I'm sure there will be more opportunitistic criminals, but wouldn't that be the case during any tournament in any country?
I might be one of the few who thinks otherwise...I am sure they'll have more police, undercovers on the streets up to 20 times a regular day. It cannot happen anywhere of course, but the major cities and entertainment areas, I wouldn't be to concern. I am not saying this is germany, but back in 2006 I was in dortmund to watch a second round game between Ghana and brazil, anyways as we are standing on the streets, I see this guy get a head run start, grabs a guy's cell phone and run like forrest gump have never run before...5 minutes later while we walking we saw all kinds of cops, undercover cops, standing over the guys head. They were coming out from vans, from horses, guys fixing electricity...I swear it was more exaggerated than what we see on tv. I might be wrong, but this one aspect I am not too worried about. Just stay where the activities are, and we should be fine.
Flying Rates Rio-Jo'burg until May 2010 - USD 1063 Flying Rates Rio-Jo'burg from June 2010 - USD 2400 Damn it!
A good example of being ripped off but still not better than BAs returns from Joburg to CT at the beginning of July which are £750 each!!!! OR $1200 if you prefer. Cheaper to get a cab.
Well I just got back from South Africa and there are many cheap, low budget airlines that make flying around very affordable.. don't know if they show up on expedia or travelocity.. try: http://www.kulula.com/ http://www.flymango.co.za/ http://www.interlinkairlines.co.za/ .. or just wikipedia an airport in SA and see the various airlines that fly domestically. Do be careful if u happen to go swimming around Cape Town however, took this with my own camera... [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDfJMLLI0FE"]YouTube - Great White Shark Diving[/ame]
Just this week I booked my flights to/from South Africa on Delta. Detroit > Atlanta > JNB/JBB > Atlanta > Detroit for $1,700. I’m just glad to have the airfare secured at a significantly lower rate than what was quoted by the first travel agent I was considering booking through ($3,000). I’ve decided to use a travel agent for accommodations and transportation to/from the airport and the seven matches. Received a quote from a travel agent today for a boutique hotel “In an upper class neighborhood on the outskirts of Pretoria, centrally located between the games in Johannesburg and Rustenburg/Royal Bafokeng.” 1. Any idea as to what location they’re alluding to? 2. Thoughts on staying in that area? We had always planned on staying in or around Johannesburg and this is obviously a bit further out. The price is so much more reasonable in comparison with other quotes I have received, so I would definitely consider this if it is a good area with things to do. I don’t want to be trapped in the hotel.
I would contact Alana Dilley <alana@worldonline.co.za>. She works for SA-Venues and was very helpful with another member of this forum's lodging plans. Plus I know the place they suggested for him (Hyde Park Villas) will be providing transfers to and from the stadium in Jo'burg.
A bus from Johannesburg to Cape Town seems to cost about $50-100, is there some downside to this from a safety perspective? I don't mind sleeping overnight in a bus so long as nobody mugs me in the process.
good thing... if they were to try that in South Africa next summer... with their HIV rate... it could have disasterous consequences...
This is perfectly safe ... I would recommend using http://www.greyhound.co.za/ which is a good quality service. I have a teenage sister and sister in-law who use the bus between Durban and Johannesburg with no problems ... even my 3 yr old daugther and her grandmother have taken the bus between JHB & DBN. And what exactly is the HIV rate???
Hi I rang the head office in London, enquiring for flights in June 2010 via egypt to Jo'Burg and the guy on the line said that tickets were not available yet and I should ring back in December lol!
Yep - sorry that it didn't work out for you! I think I had a particularly helpful ticket agent - which was a miracle. I would recommend giving it another try at some point and I actually rang the sales office number NOT the ticket number - since no one even picked up the ticket number. So maybe that will help. As for the website - who knows -things might be working now - but I'm not sure. Good luck!
When I talked to the agent - I had to be flexible with my dates in order to find good rates. Rates changed from day to day by hundreds of GBP. So if you're flexible with your dates I'd try calling the office again and asking them to find the best rates. Good luck!
Irrelevant! The costs for flights to X via Y are totally unrelated to the cost for flights to Y. Either could be more expensive than the other. Really.
That's true. I've been on several long haul flights in the past few years that have involved stopping at that airline's hub airport for two or three hours, and without exception (I know because I check out of curiosity) the total cost of the flight I booked was considerably cheaper than trying to book a return flght to/from that very same hub on exactly the same flights.