Hi there. I am not from ZA but worked in the ZA airline market for a number of years in this arena (marketing and pricing), albeit more than 6 years ago. 6 years is a long time in the airline industry so this is very much top level. Take advice from ZA folks but a few things.
Re direct v agency. You need to check. In Europe and North America direct is definitely the way to go. Things can get a little different outside those regions for reasons which I won’t bore you with, but of course the value of the ZAR has more than halved vs the EURO since 2010, which means that folks have struggled to pay online in one hit, or even get credit, and agencies have offered the opportunities for folks to pay instalments to manage the cost. So if you can pay in one hit, direct may be the way to go, but you want to stagger payments then agencies may be an option if they offer it. Or maybe some airlines offer instalments online I don’t know. Agencies in some countries still retain quite a lot of power so you may want to check this, as they may offer lower fares. That said if thing go wrong, dealing direct with airlines is always easier and maybe cheaper! Fares are often very similar between airlines and agencies, but change fees and ancillaries (i.e. baggage) can vary wildly.
Flying to Europe, JNB has the most flights followed by CPT. Most of the pax are returning Europeans as opposed to ZA originators, so flight prices are largely aimed at these customers, who are normally quite high end. So prices can be high but not excessive as there are alot of travel options. It is an early booking market as most customers are travelling on leisure. CPT is more leisure than JNB but customers often use JNB as a gateway to and from other southern Africa countries such as Zambia and Namibia. So in other words the flights get busy quite early, so as soon as you have your dates and a visa I would press buttons. Check flights on Skyscanner, Google Flights, or Kayak. JNB tends to be a little cheaper than CPT even if they have the same pricing structure as the cheaper fares sell quickly. Have a look at semi flexible options and see what the change fees are, but bear in mind that as well as a change fee you will have to pay a fare differential. Change fees also be higher via an agency than direct.
I have had many ZA friends complain about VISA’s so get cracking!
June not a bad time to travel as outside European school holidays.
Most airlines will be fine so check prices. SAA were having issues when I was working in the market. No idea how they a few doing now! You can either look at direct, via the Middle East or via another European hub.
Hope abv makes sense and not too much info.
Where in ZA are you from btw. The domestic airline market in ZA was pretty good with flights plentiful and fares low.
I am searching from UK and am seeing £542 round trip on Qatar Airways via Doha to Madrid for some random dates in June via Skyscanner… about ZAR 12300. That’s a good fare
Hi there. I am not from ZA but worked in the ZA airline market for a number of years in this arena (marketing and pricing), albeit more than 6 years ago. 6 years is a long time in the airline industry so this is very much top level. Take advice from ZA folks but a few things.
Re direct v agency. You need to check. In Europe and North America direct is definitely the way to go. Things can get a little different outside those regions for reasons which I won’t bore you with, but of course the value of the ZAR has more than halved vs the EURO since 2010, which means that folks have struggled to pay online in one hit, or even get credit, and agencies have offered the opportunities for folks to pay instalments to manage the cost. So if you can pay in one hit, direct may be the way to go, but you want to stagger payments then agencies may be an option if they offer it. Or maybe some airlines offer instalments online I don’t know. Agencies in some countries still retain quite a lot of power so you may want to check this, as they may offer lower fares. That said if thing go wrong, dealing direct with airlines is always easier and maybe cheaper! Fares are often very similar between airlines and agencies, but change fees and ancillaries (i.e. baggage) can vary wildly.
Flying to Europe, JNB has the most flights followed by CPT. Most of the pax are returning Europeans as opposed to ZA originators, so flight prices are largely aimed at these customers, who are normally quite high end. So prices can be high but not excessive as there are alot of travel options. It is an early booking market as most customers are travelling on leisure. CPT is more leisure than JNB but customers often use JNB as a gateway to and from other southern Africa countries such as Zambia and Namibia. So in other words the flights get busy quite early, so as soon as you have your dates and a visa I would press buttons. Check flights on Skyscanner, Google Flights, or Kayak. JNB tends to be a little cheaper than CPT even if they have the same pricing structure as the cheaper fares sell quickly. Have a look at semi flexible options and see what the change fees are, but bear in mind that as well as a change fee you will have to pay a fare differential. Change fees also be higher via an agency than direct.
I have had many ZA friends complain about VISA’s so get cracking!
June not a bad time to travel as outside European school holidays.
Most airlines will be fine so check prices. SAA were having issues when I was working in the market. No idea how they a few doing now! You can either look at direct, via the Middle East or via another European hub.
Hope abv makes sense and not too much info.
Where in ZA are you from btw. The domestic airline market in ZA was pretty good with flights plentiful and fares low.
I am searching from UK and am seeing £542 round trip on Qatar Airways via Doha to Madrid for some random dates in June via Skyscanner… about ZAR 12300. That’s a good fare in my view.
