Air routing to Capetown from US east coast

this is for anyone who may have done an Africa itinerary out of Capetown.

I'm curious how Regent may have routed your flights.

I'm in Atlanta and we are considering an Explorer itinerary round trip Capetown in December 2018.

Any advice/information would be appreciated.

This is one itinerary that I would highly recommend deviating your flights. I would either opt for a long layover (long enough to rent a room for four hours to rest or move around. Both of our trips to Cape Town (from Vancouver, BC) we choose to fly through Heathrow on BA (not sure that I would do that now but, IMO, even though BA has cut back a bit, they are better than any U.S. based airline - IMO).

We had a long enough layover that we could really take advantage of the lounge - including having a shower. Their showers are lovely - really they are bathrooms with a shower, sink and toilet. Plenty of room to change and clean up. We just bring a change of clothes in our carry-on (a good idea even if you don't take a shower - just in case your luggage gets lost as ours has done a couple of times). Your flight to Heathrow is much shorter than ours so you may want to do things differently.

If you let Regent book your flights, you are likely to get KLM, Delta, American ..... possibly BA or Lufthansa.

Our fight left at night and arrived at Heathrow in the morning ..... then leaves again around 5:00 p.m. and arrives Cape Town in the morning. Since it is an overnight flight, we eat, read, watch movies or play games and take an Ambien to get 4-5 hours of sleep (there are scare stories about Ambien so I would speak with your doctor and try it before flying -- we sleep and wake up quite refreshed). We allow enough time in Cape Town as it is one of our favorite cities in the world.

One of the best airlines in the world is suppose to be Qatar and they definitely fly to Cape Town for a good price. Sometimes you can find better deals on your own than with Regent (typically on long - expensive flights). We took a $12K air credit and purchased our own flights for around $8.5K and considered that savings good enough to do our own transportation to and from the ship (easy to do in Cape Town).

It is obviously too early to check flights now but my order of preference would be:

1. Qatar

2. BA

3. Lufthansa

Then the U.S. based airlines.

We were on the November 2015 Capetown - Capetown cruise, as well.

We did not use Regent air. We used mileage and flew from Washington Dulles airport to Johannesburg then to Capetown on South African Airlines. Same on return.

Yes it was a long flight, but we hate long layovers. Two hour layover from Joburg to CPT each way. Same flights leave from JFK.

Check out SA airlines. If you don't have mileage, perhaps the price is good and you can take the air credit and be in charge of your own flights. Taxi service to/from Capetown to the airport was very reasonable.

Qatar is very good but I highly suggest Emirates. With Emirates on a long layover they will put you up a the Meridian and chauffeur you to and from the hotel if you are booked in Business or First. BA does not offer this service and the Emirates lounge is huge. The downside to the lounge is that they have their own duty free shops which is my downfall.

We have also flown South African airlines not anywhere near BA or the Middle East airlines in comfort or service.

Thanks for the informative responses!

this is for anyone who may have done an Africa itinerary out of Capetown.

I'm curious how Regent may have routed your flights.

I'm in Atlanta and we are considering an Explorer itinerary round trip Capetown in December 2018.

Any advice/information would be appreciated.

We did a similar trip in 2015 from Toronto to Cape Town on Emirates. If you have not flown Emirates Business Class to Dubai, I highly recommend it. We flew Emirates through Dubai to J'burg, and then on SA Airways to Cape Town. Good connections, great service.

Another vote for Emirates....to Dubai, rest/layover, then on to CPT. Superior service!

We have also flown South African airlines not anywhere near BA or the Middle East airlines in comfort or service.

I have heard great things about South African airlines and Emirates, however, when I did a search for flights from Atlanta to Cape Town, neither airline showed up. If we could fly South African airlines or Emirates from Vancouver, we would do so, but, they do not fly to South Africa from Vancouver either.

There are two nonstops and one direct flight from the US to South Africa, Johannesburg(JNB) only. Since you are in Atlanta, one of those is on Delta to JNB and you can get a connection to CPT on SA. As noted above, the other nonstop is on SA from JFK. The direct flight is from IAD to JNB, with a short fueling stop. They are your shortest travel times. The pricing on these flights is generally high, and its also very hard to get award seats. Good luck, its hard to get there but worth it!

It's been a couple of years and airline schedules are always changing but BA was a good fit for us when we flew to Cape Town. Our Flights on BA were Orlando to London (Gatwick) and London (Heathrow) to Cape Town (direct flight). Because of the change of airports in London we opted to fly to Gatwick a day early transfer to Heathrow and stay overnight in the Sofitel before completing our journey (we did the reverse on the way back and found it a great way to break up the trip and get a respite from that horribly dry cabin air and the sinus discomfort that goes with it! ) As has been said before South Africa is well worth the discomforts of getting there. Enjoy!!!!!

A couple years ago we were returning from JNB from a Regent post cruise safari. We flew back non-stop from JNB to Atlanta on Delta Business class and it was long but a very good flight. You might want to consider flying from CPT to JNB and then non-stop to Atlanta Delta Business Class. Generally i avoid flying US based airlines but i was very impressed with the product and for you other than a short stop in JNB the rest is non-stop.

Thanks everyone, great information.

Just a couple of additional comments about flights to South Africa. We went last year on a land tour, and used United points (transferred from Chase) for *A partner business class saver seats.

On the inbound flight, we had one long-haul segment on South African Airways, JNB-MUC, then Lufthansa from MUC-LAX. We thought the SAA flight was OK, but the overall experience was not as nice as what we've had on other carriers. It was an overnight flight so we slept most of the time, which says something I guess. They were lie-flat seats on an A346. The continuing flight on LH was great. We actually prefer LH over BA in Business Class.

Our outbound flight from LAX was on Ethiopian Airlines (remember, *A business saver seats!). All I can say about that is "never again". The onboard experience was adequate, but the connection in Addis Ababa is not something we'd want to repeat. :eek:

Just be aware that South African Airways is in dire financial straits (somewhat akin to Alitalia). That is not a short term issue as they are presently being propped up by the South African government, but I would be weary of booking with them far out into the future.

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We were on the November 2015 Capetown - Capetown cruise, as well.

We did not use Regent air. We used mileage and flew from Washington Dulles airport to Johannesburg then to Capetown on South African Airlines. Same on return.

Yes it was a long flight, but we hate long layovers. Two hour layover from Joburg to CPT each way. Same flights leave from JFK.

Check out SA airlines. If you don't have mileage, perhaps the price is good and you can take the air credit and be in charge of your own flights. Taxi service to/from Capetown to the airport was very reasonable.

We were on the plane with Bellagio. Took our air credit and used mostly miles. I point out the JFK flight is a true non-stop. Our flight from IAD is a direct flight. Meaning we stopped on West Africa for gas, some passengers, and bug spray.

Oh and I'd do South African again

We were on the plane with Bellagio. Took our air credit and used mostly miles. I point out the JFK flight is a true non-stop. Our flight from IAD is a direct flight. Meaning we stopped on West Africa for gas, some passengers, and bug spray.

You must have made the fuel stop in Dakar like we did

What Regent will do will depend entirely on what loads are like 75 days out.

If I was a betting man, I'd say the most likely option out of ATL will be DL/KL. Scads of capacity across the Atlantic, and decent connecting options at Schiphol. But if KL don't have enough space on the day you need to travel, then Regent will go looking farther afield.

BA tend to sell out in J from LHR to CPT, but if there's space going spare to JNB, they might connect you JNB-CPT on their South African franchise partner (which, frankly, makes Club Europe look attractive).

The ME3 are extremely unlikely. They suck up vast amounts of lift between North America and Asia, and getting them to pony up J space to consolidators is not likely their best use of space. Furhtermore, connecting through DXB/DOH/AUH is going to put you way over MPM (maximum permitted milage) for a through-fare from ATL-CPT. I don't see the ME3 selling consolidator space without a fare add on, and I don't see Regent paying for that if European carriers can do it for less.

The other possibility (and not a bad one) is TK. They have one of the best J class lounges in the world at IST and they are keen to start poaching from the ME3, making them motivated to offer up consolidator space.

What Regent will do will depend entirely on what loads are like 75 days out.

 

If I was a betting man, I'd say the most likely option out of ATL will be DL/KL. Scads of capacity across the Atlantic, and decent connecting options at Schiphol. But if KL don't have enough space on the day you need to travel, then Regent will go looking farther afield.

 

BA tend to sell out in J from LHR to CPT, but if there's space going spare to JNB, they might connect you JNB-CPT on their South African franchise partner (which, frankly, makes Club Europe look attractive).

 

The ME3 are extremely unlikely. They suck up vast amounts of lift between North America and Asia, and getting them to pony up J space to consolidators is not likely their best use of space. Furhtermore, connecting through DXB/DOH/AUH is going to put you way over MPM (maximum permitted milage) for a through-fare from ATL-CPT. I don't see the ME3 selling consolidator space without a fare add on, and I don't see Regent paying for that if European carriers can do it for less.

 

The other possibility (and not a bad one) is TK. They have one of the best J class lounges in the world at IST and they are keen to start poaching from the ME3, making them motivated to offer up consolidator space.

James, when we have a difficult time using miles we use a consolidator. Currently she has inventory on F/J on Singapore, Cathay, Eithiad, Emirates and Qatar.

As far as miles we use a points person who can get the job done most of the time. Have you ever seen the Emirates lounge in Dubai? This is huge and I think nicer than Turkish as well as the Singapore Kris lounge. We were in the TK lounge in Istanbul and thought it was very nice but not on the level of Singapore and Emirates.

As far as any US carrier lounges they are meh in comparison to international carriers. We use primarily Delta and they are the best of all of them IMHO.

Purplelady… can you explain exactly what a "consolidator" does for you when you are having a difficult time

using your points. And if you don't mind… who do you recommend? Thanks!

I would love to help you but she is also a Travel Agent so not allowed here. Consolidators buy award miles and resell tickets they can book at very reduced prices mostly business and first. As far as points, many are out there to help you use them. I use two very prominent ones but I am not certain I should post their names here on CC. You can google how to use my airline points and you will see many. The points people will not charge you until they get you what you want but they will require you to put a credit card on file. When they find your mileage/points awards and you are satisfied you will pay them a fee for their services which can range from $150-400. This all depends on your destination and airline of choice. It is next to impossible to find two F seats but easier to find Biz seats as all the airlines are capacity controlled. AMEX Platinum and Centurion members can also take advantage of their two for one on participating airlines.

Using points people can save you a lot of headaches and money as they have computers that work 24&7 searching for the flights and class of service you are requesting and you are not charged until you are satisfied with the flight arrangements. If you do this, give yourself a few weeks and they will give you choices of airlines they can get your desired service and seats. So far for us this service has been very valuable. Btw you can deviate on most of these airlines at no charge.

Hope this helps and happy sailings.

James, when we have a difficult time using miles we use a consolidator. Currently she has inventory on F/J on Singapore, Cathay, Eithiad, Emirates and Qatar.

 

As far as miles we use a points person who can get the job done most of the time. Have you ever seen the Emirates lounge in Dubai? This is huge and I think nicer than Turkish as well as the Singapore Kris lounge. We were in the TK lounge in Istanbul and thought it was very nice but not on the level of Singapore and Emirates.

 

As far as any US carrier lounges they are meh in comparison to international carriers. We use primarily Delta and they are the best of all of them IMHO.

I could not be paid to fly on any of the ME3. Labour exploitation is the UAE and Qatar is appalling, and their airlines are as much a party to it as their developers. While no airline has a stellar record as far as wages and working conditions are concerned, I can, at least, make a less bad choice.

None of the Silver Kris lounges have wowed me. The Private Room at SIN T3 is good, but I prefer to use JetQuay when I fly through SIN.

I could not be paid to fly on any of the ME3. Labour exploitation is the UAE and Qatar is appalling, and their airlines are as much a party to it as their developers. While no airline has a stellar record as far as wages and working conditions are concerned, I can, at least, make a less bad choice.

 

None of the Silver Kris lounges have wowed me. The Private Room at SIN T3 is good, but I prefer to use JetQuay when I fly through SIN.

Kindly post what "ME3" is. Thanks!

Kindly post what "ME3" is. Thanks!

ME3 = Middle East Three = Emirates, Qatar, Etihad