travel_mary

I am looking at flights from the US to Kenya for a safari in March. With travel time 24 - 38 hours, I am really worried about traveling economy but the price of business class is over $5,000. Am I booking too early? Is this reasonable to think that economy would be really hard for this long of flight? Is $5,000. a reasonable price for business class? Any experience or help would be appreciated!

amyb

Where are you flying from? Look into KLM instead, which has Premium Economy and that's plenty of legroom for not that much more than price of coach. For me from Boston it's about 19 hours, including a break for transfer in either London or Amsterdam.

BostonHarbor

$5000 is about the going rate to Kenya, but I agree with amyb, check our Premium economy. Also, try miles if you have them. There are a number of miles services that for $100-$150 will find your super saver miles tickets. Note: you don't pay unless they find a route/airline you agree to--although you need to be flexible. I was able to go round trip to Myanmar and back, first class (actual first class, not "business first") for 190,000 miles total. I used "book my award", but there are a number of services. You could also break up the trip and stay over night in Amsterdam or another gateway city which could make flying coach easier.

KathBC

I'm on the west coast of Canada and fly coach most times with a stop over for a night or 2 in London to break up the flight.

I fly British Airways who also offer premium seats which are the old 1st class seats where the arm rest is solid and marginally wider. However any extra width was taken up by the remote control which is housed on the inside of the armrest.

The extra leg room was nice but I found this leg room for a shorter person like me wasn't worth the extra cost.

I always pay to pre-select my seat and choose an aisle seat with the hope no one will take the seat next to me. This usually works for the London to Africa leg but never for Vancouver to London.

"Is this reasonable to think that economy would be really hard for this long of flight?"

The flight seemed daunting at first when thinking about it but was quickly forgotten once the excitement of arriving in Africa took over and I find it gets better each time. However everyone is different so only you will know what will work for you.

christabir

That price is not unusual. It's actually a great deal if you compare it mile for mile in biz to other, closer destinations. When we have enough miles, I've always been able to find something as long as we are flexible, although that is getting harder as there are fewer miles seats available. The 24-38 hours of travel time is not time in flight, it includes the layovers.

I have flown economy to JNB with a full day layover in Madrid, a three day layover in London and direct from ATL (15 hours!). I have also flown biz twice with a layover in London, although one of those we had to fly coach London to JNB due to a flight cancellation. Honestly, it's so much fun in Africa that you forget how bad the flight was. I am 5'4" and do fine in coach. My husband is 6'4" and agrees that although uncomfortable, it's worth the discomfort for the fun!!

Go however you can. You will love it.