I'm looking for recommendations on where to get an airline ticket from the US to Johannesburg, South Africa. Is there a discount ticket travel agent you have used and like? Any hints on getting the best deal for such a long and expensive flight will be appreciated.

check kayak.com or airlineconsolidator.com. a lot of times airfare is cheaper on the airlines own website so check those out also. (saa, klm, virginatlantic etc. they all have websites.)

if you go to the individual airline websites, like Delta, be sure to try different days of the week. Often flying on a mid-week day is cheaper than a Friday. Play with the dates a bit and your will get a feel for the fares.

Air France is having big promotion including Johannesburg but, it might be over today or maybe Wednesday. I used the UK site and it was over today but I think the US goes till 31.

I did see something about promotions on SAA. They are facing new competition from Delta, so it may be possible to get a good deal. When I went in October, it was $1300 round trip from New York, which is considered a good deal. It was apparently a discount fare, so I only got half miles on United, which gives miles for SAA flights. That really pissed me off.

South African Airlines still has their 2/1 promo on for another few days I believe, nonstops from DC and I think Atlanta travel from Feb to end of March

I just booked JFK to Joberg on Iberia (Spanish airline) for $996. We have a long layover in Madrid - but I'll go get some Paella and see a few sights and then head back to the airport.

Contact Premier Tours, www.premiertours.com who has some of the best deals for flight to SA.

They are a tour operator, but you can click on "airfares" on their site to see what's available. It's best though to call, as current fares or specials may not be listed.

Time of year can determine whether anyone if offering low/lower fares. During peak seasons, it's rare.

Check out all and see who's got the best offering. Actually, compared to flight to East Africa, South Africa is quite reasonable for the distance flown... and they offer specials.

Cheapest flight for us JFK/JNB/CPT/JNB/JFK was $970 w/ taxes, thru Premier.