Internal SA flights JNB to CPT

Hi all

I am after some advice about internal SA flights.

I booked this weekend for a short trip via the call centre and as the Cape Town flights have not started on my departure dates I am flying via JNB. Exactly as last year.

However, when pricing up the internal flight with the call centre they are quoting some £190 per person for the one way ! . This compares to the £67 when I took the same flight last year. I did go back to them afterwards when even the South African Airways flight on the SA site was pricing up at under £90 per person as I thought maybe they were quoting for two people - but no definitely per person.

So - I am looking for suggestions as the best airline to use for this JNB to CPT leg - the local low cost ones like Kalula or Mango - or ones like BA/SA. Also how much time to allow for the transfer as not being on the same PNR I do not want to risk missing the connection. The normal time (if booked all on VA) would be to aim for the 11am flight giving around 2.5 hours. But last year we arrived late and had to get the next one!

Am I being over cautious if I went for a flight around noon?

Thanks

Jon

Hi Jon,
I do the LHR/JNB or LHR/CPT run regularly.

The pricing that you have is about right. I have booked similar fligts with BA (operated by Comair) and SA at around the £70 per person rate....booking early though... as with any full service airline, the earlier you can book, the better chance you have of geting into the lower fare bucket.

Kulula is a fun low cost airline , very popular with students and make a really light hearted job of getting you from A to B with hilarious in flight and post flight announcements....good prices as well, but you need to be quick to get them.

Never flown Mango, so can't comment.

If you are taking the VS601 to JNB, then I usually connect to DUR on the SA 547 (11.00am departure). This gives a connection time of 2 hrs 25 mins...I always do OLCI for both flights whilst in U.K, and have never had a problem, even when VS has been up to 30 minutes late.

I was going to suggest taking the VS603 direct to CPT but, as you say, this is seasonal and might not fit your dates...

Go for the noon flight if you are worried. JNB domestic terminal isn't all that bad fo waiting an extra hour, unless you are flying in business class with BA/SA, in which case you can use the lounge.

Hope this helps.

Paul

VS will more then likely be quoting the cost of a flexible fare that will protect you should the VS flight into JNB be delayed and you miss your booked connection.

The SAA website is probbaly just giving you the cheapest fare bucket.

Thanks for the information. What I found a little annoying about booking via Virgin is that I did exactly the same routing last year and they gave me a price of around £70 per person.

We were also over an hour late last year - so may just be on the cautious side and take one around noon.

Regards

Jon

[honey lamb]

I'd say you missed out on the lower fare buckets. I know that on several occasions when I have looked for a fare for JND-DUR on SAA my preferred flight is much dearer than others even when months in advance. My nephew who regularly flies that route for business tells me that the larger companies have blocks of seats pre-booked with SAA for some of the flights