christabir

Helen - sign up with South Africa airways e-mail specials. They'll send you their specials.

I went to Cape Town in 2006. It's a beautiful, exciting city. If you like cities, definitely go. And the penguins at Cape Hope are special. Robben Island was a major highlight.

We are going back for our third trip in June 2011. We were there in 2009 and froze and it rained (very unusual) for four straight days. If you watched the World Cup, it was frigid this year too. But it's when the brush and grass starts to dry up and die back so the animals are easier to see. But a hot water bottle in bed and layers (plus gloves) on safari makes it OK. Just be prepared. I was not in 2006.

2011 will be our first self drive. I'm not sure if I'd do a self drive my first time. Transfers can be expensive, but so are rentals that sit unused while at a safari camp. I agree with Tom, Sabi Sands and Timbavati are perfect safari destinations, as well as the trip mentioned above (Sabi Sand, Pafuri, Mashatu). All arrangements can be made through the camps or a travel agent.

We've done the long layover in Europe. It's not so bad, but if you want to leave the airport, add a couple of nights there. And the layover on the way home is usually shorter, which works well.

Enjoy the planning. It's lots of fun. Keep us informed!

Gardyloo

There are a lot of excellent ideas and points here. I'll pitch a couple of ideas/comments. I'll try to link these into some kind of logic.

First, I'd recommend late August to early September as the time frame, rather than May. I'll get to my reasons in a minute.

Second, I'd start in the north (Kruger/Sabi) and then go south from there (Cape Town). Putting the Cape last in September will give the weather a little more chance to improve.

Third, I'd splurge for the best game viewing I can afford, which for a first timer - IMO - should be Sabi Sands. The costs are assuredly high, but I can see rack rates at, e.g., Elephant Plains, at ~US$230 per person/night inclusive, i.e. $460 per day for a couple. IMO that's good value at an excellent lodge.

I'd book air tickets through JNB to Hoedspruit, then arrange a car transfer from HDS to Elephant Plains - around $290 round trip for two persons. (This is probably cheaper than, for example, renting a car and having it sit around for a couple of days at the lodge.)

Stay at least two nights, three if you can, at Sabi Sands.

Then return to Hoedspruit and through Johannesburg to Cape Town. Spend three or four days in Cape Town, then rent a car and off you go. (By this time you'll have gotten over your jetlag, and you'll have been in enough vehicles that the combination of compromised alertness + driving on the left ought to be less a problem.)

I'd then spend several days - maybe 5 or 6, touring around the Western Cape. Visit the wine districts, but at some point head up the west (Atlantic) coast to the West Coast National Park, a couple of driving hours north from Cape Town.

Here's one of the main reasons I suggest August/September: wildflowers. In the spring, the area from around Darling more or less all the way to the Namibia border has areas where the wildflowers will knock your socks off. At the southern end of this area, around Paternoster, you also have great coastal scenery, and the West Coast National Park (self-drive visits) have not only great wildflowers, but also wildlife including various antelope and zebra, foxes and wildcats, numerous migratory birds... it's not Big Five stuff, but it's gorgeous and very close to Cape Town. Paternoster is a beautiful little whitewashed/thatched-roof fishing village (so the local fish is pretty good) that we fell in love with.

Then back to the airport and off you go.

Regarding flights, have a look at Chicago to London on American Airlines, using their morning departure from Chicago (evening arrival in London.) Book a room at Heathrow on Priceline and sleep in a bed that night, rather than gutting it out to make a direct connection. Western Europe and SA are on the same time zones (more or less) so getting over as much jetlag as possible in Europe will make your time in SA more rewarding. Plus, by hitting the game reserves first, the early/late hours enforced by game drives will be less onerous than trying to wander around Cape Town as a zombie.

As others have suggested, leave Victoria Falls and Botswana for the next trip. (And oh yes, you'll be planning it on the plane flying home.)

Some photos:

Paternoster - http://gardyloo.us/aug24b%20016s.jpg and http://gardyloo.us/aug24b%20026s.jpg

West Coast NP - http://gardyloo.us/aug24b%20044s.jpg and http://gardyloo.us/aug24b%20066s.jpg

helen63

You guys are just amazing!!! I can believe all these wonderful advice I am getting!!!

Gardyloo, thank you so much! August/September actually work better for me, so just need to look for the right priced tickets.

Christabir, I have just signed up for specials. Will see what they offer. The budget is so limited, that I would love if I could get a ticket cheaper than $1400.

Pixelpower, I am reading your report - great stuff!

Craig, I already looked into the agency you suggested. So, possibly, I will use them.

Thank you so much everyone again!

helen63

Gardyloo, by the way, the pictures of the wildflowers are unbelievable!

christabir

Another option - if you have enough, use air miles for Europe to jnb, buy the fare from US to Europe. That's what we do. And airfare to Madrid from here is usually the cheapest way so use Iberia if you are able. The connections are long, but it can be worth saving a few dollars. Take the savings and add more nights in the bush.

I prefer doing any city at the beginning. The safari is the highlight. August/September is also better for wildlife viewing - but it's so far away!

jessyirish

Hi Helen 63
I have been twice to South Africa on safari in the Eastern Cape Low
season is 1 May to 30 September.After that the prices go way up. Weather was nice and sunny.

helen63

Christa, this is such good idea, that never come to my mind. I just checked, on American there is 60,000 mile requirements from Europe. I am little short of it now, but will have it soon (just opened another card with miles bonus .

However, it will take me a couple of month to get my bonus miles. How far in advance do you normally buy your milage tickets?

I just noticed that for May, the ticket from Chigago to JNB and Cape Town to Chicago, only maybe $200 more expensive than round trip from Chicago to JNB. However, for August, for some reason that Cape town leg adds about $600 to the cost. Not sure why. Hopefully, this will change.

Thank you, Jessy!

TC

Hello Helen, If I may add my two cents.....I know the urge to see and do it all is strong for all the reasons you state -- Africa is far and expensive. However, I caution you to consider this carefully. I have been to Africa twice. On the first trip we changed locations every two days, on the one this year we stayed put in each location for four days. It was a world of difference.

What I loved about the first trip were the animals and some of the camps, what I didn't love was all the moving about. We never really had the opportunity to take advantage of the camps, get to know anyone, or wait patiently for things to happen in a natural way. It was always hurry, hurry, hurry along to the next thing. The safari this year gave me just what I wanted, time in each place to enjoy all the area had to offer at a leisurely pace.

I did a cost analysis between the two trips. Our first was a total of 17 days for about $15,000, of which we spent only 5 or 6 full days on game drives. The rest was all moving from one place to the other. Making the cost <u>per game drive day</u> nearly $3000 each. Compared to our most recent itinerary of 22 full days of actual game drives for $18,000. Making those game drive days cost a little over $800 each. Definitely more bang for the buck.....and that is what I wanted.

I urge you to think beyond the initial cost and time investment to the quality of your days and dollars. Africa is marvelous -- too marvelous to short change. IMHO, better to come home with a few spectacular memories than a book full of places ticked off a list. Whatever your choice, I guaranty you will fall in love. Happy travels.

Gardyloo

Helen, a word about mileage redemption tickets.

If you decide to go in late August/September, and plan to use AA miles, now is the time to get those miles in your account and book the outbound flights. FF redemptions with AA miles have a 330 day window; i.e. the farthest out you can book today is 330 days from now, i.e. September 2, 2011. However, AA now only makes one-way awards, so if you're going over anytime before September, you could book that direction now.

AA's redemption rate from N. America to Africa using the all-partners award is 37,500 miles each way in economy, 75,000 miles each way in business class. (That compares with 30,000 miles each way for Europe <> Africa, thus rendering the transatlantic flight's "cost" only 7500 miles each way.) Thus in economy the N. America <> Africa award is a significantly better deal. IMO the business class Europe <> Africa award at 75,000 miles round trip is a killer deal, by comparison.

With FF redemption tickets, however, you can fly all the way to your final destination, even if it means changing planes a couple of times. So for example you could fly ORD-LHR-JNB-MQP (Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport, near Nelspruit) thereby saving the cost of an internal flight within SA (JNB-MQP is on Comair, the British Airways affiliate in SA, on a 737.) You could still do as I suggested and take the morning AA flight from Chicago to London, then have almost 24 hours to sleep and get accustomed to the time zone before flying to JNB the following evening. We do this all the time - book a hotel at Heathrow (Priceline, usually around $80 all in) and spend the day in Windsor or London before getting to the airport for an evening departure. Because it's less than 24 hrs connecting, you also avoid the high UK airport duty that you would pay for a Europe - Africa redemption.

A road transfer from MQP to a Sabi Sands lodge would be a little more money and take a little longer than from Hoedspruit, but it wouldn't be a killer, and you'd still get to the lodge in time for the first evening game drive (so you're not wasting money by arriving too late in the afternoon to join it - you've paid for it after all.)

You'd then need to get to Cape Town using separate tickets (which could also be award tickets bought using AA miles - 10,000 miles for a one-way economy ticket, say MQP-JNB-CPT using Comair). Then returning, it's a second one-way Africa > N. America ticket, CPT-LHR-ORD.

If you don't have enough miles to book all legs now, you could book the outbound while waiting for the credit card miles to arrive. Conversely, you could simply purchase the miles from AA for around 2.5 cents per mile, i.e. 10,000 miles for $250. That would put them in your account in time to book the remaining flights.

Right now British Airways is showing tons of availability between London and Joburg for next August, and getting over the Atlantic on AA/BA (given their new joint operating agreement) will be a piece of cake for the time being. I expect it will be the same returning if you book close to the "opening" day (i.e. D minus 330.)

Hope this doesn't just add more confusion to the mix...

christabir

Helen - you can use your AA miles on British Airways and Iberia. Use them for the Europe to JNB/CT leg - not the US to Europe leg. Call the AAdvantage number and they will help you. You can make reservations with miles about 11 1/2 months out. We have good luck as long as you are a bit flexible with your dates. I always make my flight arrangements first and then work my vacation around them.

I agree with TC - stay at least 3 nights/camp.

helen63

Gardyloo, Christa,

I just performed my milege situation analysis.
So, before we get our new miles with new cards, here is what we have currently:
My husband has $55,000
I have $41,000
So, if I go purchasing route, and fly from US, I will need to buy 20,000 for my husband ($500) and 34,000 for myself (about $75). There are fee for booking these types of otickets around $80-$100 per person. So, in total my tickets will be about $600 for my husband and $850 for me. This is this basically the price of one regular ticket. This sounds good to me? What do you think? It would be more expensive to buy mileage tickets from Europe, and then the airfare to Europe, in this situation.

Now, from economicalperspective - I think I have to go JNB first, so I can incorporate my internal flight to Kruger. If I go Capetown first, there is not way I can include any internal flights on my mileage. Am I correct on this?

Gardyloo, do you ask them for a stopover in LHR when you book?

Thank you SOOOO much again! Your advice is just invaluable!!!

helen63

I apologize for all my spelling and grammar errors... Typing quickly from work, no time to spell check or think

One more thing. If I buy one way tickets first, and then wait for some time for my card to arrive and post the bonus miles (probably 6-8 weeks), I think I would run a risk, that the return flight may not be available. Isn't this true?

I think with milage tickets, I have a better chance for August. So, I want to try around Labor day to make my vacation a little longer

christabir

That's one of the problems with having to work.

I have no trouble getting FF flights for Europe to JNB. But I am more flexible than most. We got our tix for last June's trip in March. This year, August for our June trip. Around holidays makes FF's more difficult. Trying to get flights to Europe is the tough leg. But wait for the bonus miles. It'll save you money. Gardy's right - We do business class for that long flight and it makes more sense.

Here's the chart -

http://www.aa.com/i18n/disclaimers/a...rtnerChart.jsp

All the fees on AA went up last week in a business merger with BA and IB.

Gardyloo

Stopovers: If you use AA miles all the way (ORD-LHR-JNB, or ORD-LHR-CPT, or ORD-LHR-JNB-MQP etc.) then AA no longer allows en-route stopovers at LHR or JNB etc. Their definition of "stopover" generally means greater than 24 hours, but if there's an earlier connection with space available they can make you connect on the first out. Thus if you were flying to, say, Joburg, you might be put on an overnight flight from ORD to London that arrives in the morning, then connect out that same evening on another overnight straight to JNB, with anywhere from 6-10 hours to cool your heels at Heathrow between flights. Bleh.

If, however, you take the morning flight to London (departs ORD at 9:00 AM) it arrives at Heathrow at 10:30 PM or so, long after that evening's JNB and CPT flights have departed. So in that case you'd connect out the following evening on the first available flight. Hence you'd have a night in a bed and a day to get up late and recuperate before flying south. As a rule the morning flights to LHR tend to have plenty of FF award seats compared to busier evening flights.

If you pay for a transatlantic ticket and use miles for Europe <> Africa, same deal - no intermediate stopovers.

As for buying miles, you need to crunch the numbers and decide what's best. Right now I'm seeing fares of around $2100 per person for ORD-LHR-JNB//CPT-LHR-ORD for BA or AA in late August; if you spend $1500 all together for the two of you to buy the additional miles, that reduces your out-of-pocket cost by over $2500 (2 x $2100 = $4200.)

Put another way your total of 150,000 miles has a value of almost 3 cents per mile ($4200/150,000) i.e. a "profit" even over the purchased mileage cost. I know it's all a bit esoteric, but I'd tend to view that $2500+ in savings as license to spend more nights in a game lodge.

I'd buy the miles now, then use the credit card bonus miles (you'd need 20,000 miles total) to "pay" for the one-way flight(s) between Kruger and Cape Town. The reason is that the transatlantic and Europe <> Africa seats might be harder to book the longer you wait.

TC

<i>(just opened another card with miles bonus .</i>

Helen, Not sure what you mean by the above statement, however, if you mean that you already had one card and now have taken out another, please read the fine print. I noticed that on the Delta AM EX offers it specifically states that the miles are awarded to first time card holders ONLY. Even though they continue to send me the offers every week, I would not be eligible for the bonus miles, having already had (and canceled) one of their cards last year. Maybe your deal is different, or I've misunderstood your statement, just don't want you to plan too much and be disappointed if the miles don't come through.

helen63

TC, I know what you are saying. I had a similar situation with United from Chase card. This is a different deal. I own AA Master Card and AMex from the Citibank, but now they indtroduced AA Visa from the Citibank too. So, I will be a new cardholder for Citibank Visa.

Crista, thank you again for sharing!I know, there are lot of disadvantages of having to work , but I need my vacation funds!!!

Gardyloo, I feel smarter now!!! I travel for about 15 years, and I did not know things like this, and never performed the mileage cost/benefit analysis Thank you so much for doing this for me. So, I guess, this is how I will proceed. I kind of agree with Crista that I would want leave safari for last, but I guess from financial perspective, I will try to book ORD-LHR-JNB-MQP.

aknards

Hi Helen,

I was in your position a few years ago and posted a similar cry for help on this board. The response was phenomenal and I am eternally grateful for everyones' help.

Rather than trying to add more fact/info, I'll pass along two recurring comments that were made to me:
1. No matter where you end up going you'll have a wonderful time, and
2. It probably won't be your last time

I was fairly confident that #1 was true but skeptical about #2, given my bank account. However, I just returned from my second safari and am quite sure that there will be a third. So, rest assured that your upcoming adventure will be one of a lifetime, and enjoy!!

regards,
anita

helen63

Thank you, Anita! Well, I will keep my hopes high that my bank account will tolerate the subsequnet trips
I have no doubts that I will have the desire to come back...

helen63

Christa, Cary, just finished reading your trip reports. Sounds so cool!

How much are the transfers between the lodges cost (like if I Sasbi Sand, Parfuri and Mahsuta)?

As I understand, the options are:
- either book the airfare thru MQP - and have us transferred between the lodges, and then fly back to JNB
- or fly to JNB, rent a car(per Craig suggestion), drive ourselves between the lodges, and then back to JNB. Is driving easy enough?

I would like to review these two options, before I book my flight.

TC

<i>I own AA Master Card and AMex from the Citibank, but now they indtroduced AA Visa from the Citibank too. So, I will be a new cardholder for Citibank Visa.</i>

O.K. I hope this is correct. But the miles will be going into the same AA account number and I think that is how they track. Just saying........you want to be sure. Its still Citibank and AA. Has this worked for anyone else here?