I just finished trying to book a South African JNB-CPT, Business Class return using flying club miles.
Checked the availability on my site and saw good availability in Business on the dates I wanted. Chose the two flights I'd prefer based on departure times and phoned flying club call centre.
It took a lot of searching (35min call including the hold) before I was told the latest I could fly out was 16.00 and back at 17.55. I gave the specific flight numbers of two later flights I'd seen as having availability which were then checked and found to be available!
Those flights were held and I was given a booking reference. After 2 days and 2 more calls to flying club South African had confirmed the booking.
The dreaded taxes? ZAR 6,900. So that's £498 + 30k miles, or a cash fare of £434. I know which I'll be taking!
I know the "taxes" racket is nothing new but I thought it was less of a problem with partner redemptions. I had an Air New Zealand redemption with no taxes to pay and assumed it was the same for all partners.
Does anyone know how to find out the "taxes" for partner redemptions without 2 days of calls to the contact centre?
Checked the availability on my site and saw good availability in Business on the dates I wanted. Chose the two flights I'd prefer based on departure times and phoned flying club call centre.
It took a lot of searching (35min call including the hold) before I was told the latest I could fly out was 16.00 and back at 17.55. I gave the specific flight numbers of two later flights I'd seen as having availability which were then checked and found to be available!
Those flights were held and I was given a booking reference. After 2 days and 2 more calls to flying club South African had confirmed the booking.
The dreaded taxes? ZAR 6,900. So that's £498 + 30k miles, or a cash fare of £434. I know which I'll be taking!
I know the "taxes" racket is nothing new but I thought it was less of a problem with partner redemptions. I had an Air New Zealand redemption with no taxes to pay and assumed it was the same for all partners.
Does anyone know how to find out the "taxes" for partner redemptions without 2 days of calls to the contact centre?
