Booking with &Beyond directly
 

Has anyone booked a trip through &Beyond (formerly ccAfrica) directly?

Is it safe and secure to send money to this operator in South Africa?

best to all,
KSC

We booked our September 2006 trip directly with CCAfrica. They are a reputable company and we had no problems whatsoever. The booking was easy and smooth, and their arrangements were flawless--no glitches.

They are a very responsible company. I have booked directly with them several times. You need not worry.

Mike

Absolutely! They are a first class operation. We booked with them when we went to Tanzania in December 2007 and are in the process of finalizing an itinerary with them for this September in Kenya. Go for it!

Ditto as to CCAfrica/AB being a first rate outfit. I've stayed with them on my last 4 trips to Africa (2 SA, 1 Botswana, 1 Tanzania) and they do an outstanding job.

Though I've stayed with them, I had ngwesafari.co.za take care of all the bookings. If you land at JNB they will do a meet and greet, present you with all vouchers, and give you the agent's cell number. I've always felt a bit reassured knowing I had someone on the ground in Africa to take care of any problems.

Best of luck!

safariadvisor

Are you saying &Beyond (HQ in JHB) do not meet & greet their clients? Hard to believe this one.

I booked directly with CC Africa last year, and it was fine. They're a very professional company and my agent was excellent. I was able to pay via credit card (for an extra charge).

&Beyond (aka CC Africa) do provide meet and greet services at JNB. However, they charge an extra ZAR 931 for this service (at least they did last year). It's not a big deal to find their counter, though you have to know that it's where the bus terminal is rather than in the car park at JNB.

climbhighsleeplow

Not saying they don't---I don't know. In SA, I always arrived at CCAfrica lodges on my own. For my Botswana safari, CCA met me at the Victoria Falls Airport to get me to Botswana, which I'm sure was services I paid for.

CCAfrica met us at JNB and went over our documents etc., then transfered us to the Federal Air terminal. They met us as we came out of the immigration/customs area.

I did book through CCA for my SA trip in 2006. Superb service. My cousins used them as recently as last year. Ask for Leigh Bell at their reservations department. She is one of the best in the travel trade.

Been to one CCA camp (Ngala) and going to another (Kirkmans) this year - but my TA booked. However, what I want to say is ask for deals. Don't just say "give me three nights". Both camps I got x nights but payed for less than x nights.

regards - tom

CCA are definitely safe to book with although they do not have a bond or other consumer protection in place

although they are perfectly competent in booking their own lodges they are less competent in booking 3rd party lodges

re price - make sure that you get their long stay discount of 4 nights for 3 or 6 nights for 4, and if you make the booking less than 1 month before travel they can (and should) discount the cost of the lodges by 20% (much to the disgust of us tour operators !)