Toronto-Capetown, SA flights
 

I am travelling Toronto to Capetown, SA -eventually end up at Sabi Sand/Kruger for safari with my 14 year old daughter. I would like to stop somewhere for a day or 2 to break up the trip for her. Wondering what the suggestions would be. Prefer not London, Paris as we have already been. I am also open to going to NYC for a day and then flying from there.
Other questions...
1. Reviews on Virgin, Emirates, Qatar, Delta for these long flights?
2. I have heard out flatbeds on some flights ? Is this business class?

Basically any recos on flights for travelling with a kid on these long distances would be really appreciated.

Thanks so much

My understanding is KLM has some of the best connections to Cape Town via Amsterdam, which would be a great place for a stop over IMO.

Also - KLM Canada has some great promotions --- sign up for their email or like their Facebook page. Friends from Ottawa are there now (KLM out of Montreal) and got a great price. If you're going to Sabi Sand/Kruger you'll likely want to do an open jaw.

When are you traveling? There are occasionally "deals" (relatively speaking) on business class to SA, but they're not year-round and not on every route. And yes, "flat beds" are in business class.

Thanks so much-we are travelling around July 16-Aug 2

This year? Flights won't be your biggest problem - finding availability in Sabi Sand will be. Here's a map of all of the lodges (Senalala is missing in Klaserie) in greater Kruger. I recommend the private reserves Sabi Sand, Timbavati and Klaserie - not Thornybush or the reserves across main roads as they are fenced from Kruger.

http://skukuzaairport.com/wp-content...Kruger-Map.pdf

Flights in northern hemisphere summer are expensive to S Africa, but mile for mile pretty reasonable. Biz class is very expensive. I find the cheapest fare and deal with the flight - they are all pretty awful, so why pay more? Just get there, you'll forget the bad flights because S Africa is wonderful. I've broken up the flight in Europe - it was a terrible decision. We would have been better just going. One or two days is not much to enjoy a city anyway. NYC, a European city... Spend more time in Cape Town - it's lovely and you can't just do a short trip there like NYC and Europe. Lots to do and lots to see. Great food, excellent wine for you and nice hotels to help recover from the travel.

I like safari last. And the longer the better. It's the highlight.

I checked on stopovers and fares in general. For your dates, plus/minus a day or two (flexibility is crucial) you're looking at around C$1900 for flights without stopovers (but with two plane changes, e.g. New York and Doha) or around C$2500 with a 48-hour stopover someplace. For your dates, KLM wants C$3500 with a stopover at AMS, C$100 less with no stopover.

However, if you're willing to leave on the 18th, Turkish offers business class for C$3193 - $200 less than coach on KLM. You get flat beds all the way (the flight from Istanbul makes a stop in Durban) - which is quite a good deal IMO. (Business class on other airlines is C$5K+.)

Thanks so very much for the advice christabir. Im on it. I may continue to ask rookie questions as I plan. Thanks so much. And many thanks also to gardyloo for the legwork. I really appreciate it. I am most definitely very flexible with the dates by 7+ days. I'm interested in the Turkish flight. I will check it out.

I use www.kayak.com for flight options, but book with the airlines directly (usually online) to avoid problems.

Come back with questions. It's not as hard to plan a trip to S Africa as it looks.

Gardyloo...I checked Turkish and I didn't see that low price you mentioned?
Thanks....

<I>Gardyloo...I checked Turkish and I didn't see that low price you mentioned?
Thanks....</I>

Yep, it's gone. Current price is more like C$4500. Sorry about that; these things happen. Best I can see at the moment is C$2971 in Air France premium economy to Joburg.

OK thanks for checking...I will check Air France. I was also thinking Emirates economy (2,300 ish). I understand they are a good airline. They offer comp. hotel, transport, food on long stopovers which I would have in Dubai. I'm just really thinking of my 14 year old. If it were just me I would suck it up on the cheapest flight and get there. Thanks again.

Why can't a 14 year old handle a flight? My niece takes her two kids to Australia by herself every year with no problem. In coach. She uses emirates mostly, but because it has just one stop.

There is a "reasonable" biz flight on Turkish Air July 18-31. I just checked on kayak with +/- 3 days. Under $2500 U.S. (I don't know the exchange). Not sure if those dates are practical, but there might be others.

Although flights are more expensive in summer, I just got a flight for next month JFK to JNB for $905. With the 10% off using the British Airlines CC, just $820. Maybe fly to JFK, IAD (SAA) or ATL (Delta) and fly direct from there - possibly less than booking from Toronto.

<i>There is a "reasonable" biz flight on Turkish Air July 18-31. I just checked on kayak with +/- 3 days. Under $2500 U.S.</i>

Those are the flights I mentioned upthread. It's available on Turkish's website right now but may disappear again as it did with me. Good for 17/18 July outbound, a couple of days in early August returning.

Kayak relies on ITA for its fare feed, and ITA seems to have a problem with showing zombie fares with Turkish - ITA shows it after TK has pulled it, so if interested don't bother with Kayak or ITA, go straight to Turkish's Canadian website, http://www.turkishairlines.com/en-ca

Got it...awesome and THANK YOU. I will check it.

I'm in Amsterdam right now, returning from Cape Town on KLM.

For flights from Toronto (or Montreal), KLM is a good option. You leave early evening from TO, arrive 8 am and take your onward flight at 1030 am.

On Air France or BA, by contrast, you have to wait up to 8 hours at CDG or LHR and then fly overnight once more.

We spent 24 hours in AMS on our return but if you flew KLM from either CPT or Joburg to AMS, you'd arrive at 10 am and could make an afternoon flight to YYZ.

IST is another interesting stopover option.

Finally I'd note that in addition to New York and Washington, there's a direct flight from Atlanta to SA that might work for you. I think/assume it's a Delta flight.

Skyteam just re-released their good business class fares to South Africa - buy by May 1, start travel by Aug. 31, e.g. C$3297 round trip YYZ-CPT via Amsterdam or Paris, C$2800 - 2900 to Joburg.

(For US readers that's US$2200 give or take, a tremendous deal.)

I use kayak to see which airlines fly the route I'm interested in and general pricing - without doing that, I wouldn't even know Turkish Airlies existed, much less that they have a flight to JNB. Always use the airline websites.

I have a BA credit card. I get 10% off all flights and double miles. Might save a lot on biz fares.

I was searching for flights for my nephew today. Flights through Boston are much less expensive than NYC or IAD. Surprisingly, much less.

An iPad makes traveling with kids much easier. But even in coach these days, everyone gets their own tv. Those long flights are quieter than expected.

I just bought r/t flights JFK to JNB. $820. From Boston, $750. Two biz tix, even with that tremendous deal, is more than our entire two week stay (including coach fares). I get to go back sooner than expected!!!!

Thanks so much for your tips. They are awesome. I am going to be looking into it Friday. My daughter has a disability.
Thanks again! I will keep checking in for tips.

KLM Canada Summer Business Class sale just came up on Facebook - did a quick check of Toronto to JNB and biz class is about $2700 CDN - quick quick

http://www.klm.com/travel/ca_en/plan...SocialCampaign

Open jaw is virtually the same price - into JNB and out of CPT.....