Cheap Air fares!

[Tamara HDU]

I thought that i would share this one as it might save people lots of money while it lasts.

One of my South African guests that has just arrived has recommended it to me and I have just bought a ticket!

Malaysian airlines have some special prices at the moment.

I have just bought a one way ticket from Cape Town to Adelaide for March 2011 for R5031

Now that's cheap!

It might be even cheaper from Joburg?

The fares have lots of restrictions so don't think about refunds or changes but at that price you can't go wrong.

The other interesting thing about airfares is that you can pay for a SAA flight and fly Qantas. The flights that go to Perth are SAA planes (SA 280 and SA 281) but the flights that go to Sydney are Qantas flights (SA 7700 and SA 7701).

The Qantas flights are Boeing 747's and have more leg room and better in flight entertainment systems but it's a trade off flying past Adelaide and a longer flight than the Perth route. However, if you want to fly Qantas...book and pay for it on the SAA web site and you will get the price cheaper than buying it on the Qantas web site.

hope that this helps

Tamara

[quinswan]

I thought that i would share this one as it might save people lots of money while it lasts.

One of my South African guests that has just arrived has recommended it to me and I have just bought a ticket!

Malaysian airlines have some special prices at the moment.

I have just bought a one way ticket from Cape Town to Adelaide for March 2011 for R5031

Now that's cheap!

It might be even cheaper from Joburg?

The fares have lots of restrictions so don't think about refunds or changes but at that price you can't go wrong.

The other interesting thing about airfares is that you can pay for a SAA flight and fly Qantas. The flights that go to Perth are SAA planes (SA 280 and SA 281) but the flights that go to Sydney are Qantas flights (SA 7700 and SA 7701).

The Qantas flights are Boeing 747's and have more leg room and better in flight entertainment systems but it's a trade off flying past Adelaide and a longer flight than the Perth route. However, if you want to fly Qantas...book and pay for it on the SAA web site and you will get the price cheaper than buying it on the Qantas web site.

hope that this helps

Tamara

Thank you for this, this was a really cool tip. and they get to spend time in KL.

May i Ask will it still work if you book on the website from Australia, because people have said in the past that somehow the airlien websites know you are not booking from the RSA, and thats why the prices booking from Oz is more expensive.

Hope you can, cos that will be nice.

[rozellem]

Hi Tamara,

we flew with Malaysian Airlines in January, Sydney to Cape Town. It was also on a special and a good $1000 cheaper than Quantas or SAA. The entire trip, from getting on in Sydney to stepping off in Cape Town, took us 26 hours!! Just to bear in mind, they do not say anywhere on the ticket or itinerary that this flight also stops in JHB. We sat in the plane there while they refilled the food etc for a hour+. From Cape Town the fight actually goes on to Buenos Aires! We also had to sit in KL for 5 hours in the early morning in the airport where the a/c war turned to freezing. Although we saved money, I will never do this again, unless I was by myself and had a lot of time on my hands. They are a really good/friendly airline despite the time issue. If you have time, get off in KL for a few days, KL and Malaysia is a fantastic place to eat, shop, explore. My 2 cents.

[pkn]

Having flown both SAA and Quantas in past 2 weeks to/from Australia (on Quantas tickets...its called code sharing), I can confirm that SAA flights are very comfortable and efficient. The leg room on an Airbus A340 (SAA) and a B747 (Quantas) are the same. In flight entertainment on SAA is very good, it has the latest touch screen device. ANd the flight to Perth is only 9 hours, compared to Sydney at 14 hours. I guess it all boils down to personal choice...personally I do not like to double back on travel (eg. Travel Jozi to Sydney, then double back to Adelaide). Just think of your carbon footprint, lol!

[Tamara HDU]

Yep...I guess that it does come down to personal choice.

My husband has done the trip 9 times. 5 times on Qantas, twice on SAA, once on Emirates and once on Malaysian.

He hates the SAA flight with a passion!!! His opinion is that the seats on the airbus are so uncomfortable and he's happier flying the extra distance to Sydney just to avoid leg cramps! The worst experience (seat and cramps was on Emirates)

On the one SAA flight from Perth to Joburg there wasn't any entertainment system...an airbus with the drop down screens! The entertainment systems on the Qantas planes offer better selection and variety (and i don't work for Qantas!)

I have flown Qantas, Emirates and Singapore airlines and i prefer Singapore!

With the Malaysia flight there are issues but at R5031 for a flight from Cape Town to Adelaide i reckon that they might be worth it! The flight doesn't go to Buenes Aeries! but there is a long delay in KL. It gets in on the morning and flies out on the evening (a good excuse to take a tour of KL?).

It's all personal choice and what you are willing to (endure!) to save those rands!

Tamara

[rozellem]

We went to the Butterfly Garden in KL and it was a wonderful experience. http://www.geographia.com/malaysia/klparks.html

There is a few nice places on the link above, the Orchid place looks fab, depending on your taste, this is the type of climate Orchids like. Brace yourself for the crazy humidity and "foreign" food. We chatted to a RSA couple on the airport in KL, who had stopped over for 2 days, they had basically not found anything they could stomach in all that time and eventually ate at McDonalds! Must say they were older and conservative. We loved it, the weirder the better. We also bought cheap electronics there, dont know if it is the case any more. There is also the tallest (surviving) twin towers in the world, they have a observation deck to look out from. Remember it is a Islamic country, not too uptight about it, but I would leave the hot pants at home.

[cristel]

The one and only and LAST time i ever flew SAA I got that damn plane without entertainment too ! A 57cm tv at the front of economic to service the whole damn area ! Thank God I was alone, and didnt have a nagging kid with me. But SAA is never seeing me again, and therefore im very anti Quantas too ! I had a Quantas ticket, but they shoved us all on SAA ! Back to your RSA i swear is what they think !!!