Have any of you booked your own flights to Africa?

[enysse]

I have a rare day off from work today. And I was trying to figure out how much flights were in the end of August 2016. The travel agent I usually use came up with $2074, which to me was pretty steep. I looked up individual airlines with obvious delays between flights to allow for errors and I came up with less than $1550.

My questions for the people of AH, have you ever booked your own flights? To me that is a lot of money. Maybe I'm more conscious about my money, but I'm thinking of just booking the flights myself.

 

[dory]

Only problem with booking your own is no guarantee !!
If something goes wrong with the bookings while your traveling your all by yourself .
No travel agent to ring to sort their shit out and get you there on time .
Most people behind the counter at airports are only doing a job and not there to work out why your ticket has the wrong seat in the wrong plane on it .
Im lucky as my daughter is a travel agent with her own travel business .
For that few extra bucks I like the piece of mind .
Some of my mates do book there own flights arond the world , but the small amount they save and the extra stress is it really worth it ??
And we travel with guns !!
Nup ! use an agent .

 

[enysse]

I never even carry a phone on me, in 3 trips to Africa. Just a schedule of the flights and times. I own a flip phone, nothing fancy.

I can say flights have been cancelled due to thunderstorm and weather, but the airlines got right on it for me and rearranged flights just by looking at my flight information.

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

I have a rare day off from work today. And I was trying to figure out how much flights were in the end of August 2016. The travel agent I usually use came up with $2074, which to me was pretty steep. I looked up individual airlines with obvious delays between flights to allow for errors and I came up with less than $1550.

My questions for the people of AH, have you ever booked your own flights? To me that is a lot of money. Maybe I'm more conscious about my money, but I'm thinking of just booking the flights myself.

I do some of both. Sometimes I'll use a travel agent and sometimes I book it myself. Several airlines won't let me book and pay for a flight online if it's originating from Lagos. If I use the travel agent my company uses, they can get around this issue.

When I do book my own flights, I usually start on Expedia or Kayak to see the various options and then go to the actual airline website. If it's the same price, I prefer to buy straight off of the airline website.

For United and Delta, if you use the "flexible dates" you can see a range of travel dates (+ & - 3 days of the preferred date) and see if you adjust your travel plans a few days, you potentially can save some money. When I am using miles to book a flight, I always use this option and can get a flight for considerably less miles on off peak dates.

 

[enysse]

Thanks for the insight 375 Ruger Fan. I'm on the fence right now. I like to be in charge of everything.

 

[cpr0312]

I always book my flights, all of them for business and personal. You can monitor the situation weekly, and sure sometimes the agent will get you a better deal, but in this case as you say, that's a lot of money

 

[CAustin]

I have booked all of mine! Do the research as you are doing now. Decide what flights you want then you can call the airline to make the final booking and ask questions. First time I did this I got an airline rep on the phone who book everything and charged me $50 bucks to do the work which gave me a sense of confidence.
You can do it enysee.

 

[cpr0312]

Do as much research as you can, pick your days/times, then check all the websites. SAA, Delta, Orbitz, Expedia, Travelocity, Priceline, etc. Tons of options, best of luck!

 

[Philip Glass]

I have a rare day off from work today. And I was trying to figure out how much flights were in the end of August 2016. The travel agent I usually use came up with $2074, which to me was pretty steep. I looked up individual airlines with obvious delays between flights to allow for errors and I came up with less than $1550.

My questions for the people of AH, have you ever booked your own flights? To me that is a lot of money. Maybe I'm more conscious about my money, but I'm thinking of just booking the flights myself.

Enysse,
Bad idea. It usually costs $150-200 for a travel agent fee and for what they do it is worth it. Now that said you can ask them to keep looking for a better price and tell them exactly what you want to do.
I just think with the guns and other issues I want a trusted travel agent . I use Gracy Travel and Shawn has helped me with so many travel issues. See I am tempted to ask for short layovers but that is where they bring you back to reality on what you need in each airport to make your connections. Like you I've thought to myself: I can do this all I need to do is register the guns with the airline and I'm done. It is tempting especially when you have traveled the route before! When things go wrong and flights are cancelled I am glad I have a person I know to call and get help.
Regards,
Philip

 

[Scott Slough]

There is the new thing called the Internet ... I think it has been years since a travel agency has been able to save you money. You are paying for the convenience. I enjoy the process of researching and saving money, so I have never used a travel agency for personal travel. On the rare occasion that I have had to for work, I have had bad experiences. When the travel agency makes a mistake (which we all do) you are stuck somewhere with no real way to resolve the situation until the travel agent comes to work. I tend to travel domestically either before they go to work or after they have gone home.

I was able to save over $750 on my flight to Africa over the best price that the safari travel agency was able to get ... and I was able to play with the dates and times in real time instead of sending a series of e-mails back and forth to the travel agency.

 

[adgunner]

Enysee, I always book my own flights both for business and vacation. I have used travel agents before, but in the end it is always cheaper to do it yourself. I probably travel internationally 7-10 times a year and occasionally things go wrong, stick with reputable airlines and they will fix it if something goes wrong. I like to use flightnetwork.com and set up a price alert as it is incredible how much ticket prices can vary, best of luck!

 

[wesheltonj]

Easy to book your own flight. To check fares use: ITA Matrix, it will have all the info to provide the travel agent of the cheapest flights that you found, and they can book the flight for you; or you can do it yourself either on the airlines site that you found with the cheap flight or a site like KAYAK or Hipmunk.

 

[buck wild]

I've also done my own, but only for the easier trips like Delta from Atl to Joberg. Not sure I'd do my own if things got a little more complicated.

 

[sierraone]

I would advise buy your own ticket through an individual airline web site, especially if you are flying from ATL to S.A. Straight shot, can't get much easier. If you choose to go through London on American connecting with BA, you may want some help there, especially with guns. I would not go through London with guns, mainly because it is not necessary. It's more expensive and complicated. Nothing wrong with London, been there many times, just not carrying guns. Phoenix Phil did so last summer I believe. He was happy with the trip, so he can give you another perspective!

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Nothing wrong with going through London IF AND ONLY IF you leave the U.S. on British Airways, fly through Heathrow and continue on British Airways to Jo'burg. There is a bit more of a paperwork hassle and a fee for carrying your rifles. But the extra attention they give to your firearms for me was a bit of a comfort that they would make it to Jo'burg. Now if I wasn't saving signficant money over going through Atlanta on Delta I wouldn't do it. But that would due to the layover in London. Too short to go into the city and too long to stay occupied.

Of my trips to Africa I did use Lori at Travel Express for one of these trips, last years on BA through London. I'm sure I could have left everything to her, but my control freak nature doesn't allow that. So I did all my research on what flights I wanted and then called her to handle the booking.

For trips to RSA, it's not real difficult to do your own especially if you're doing the Delta through Atlanta route. But if traveling to Zim or Moz or Zambia after arriving in Jo'burg, that to me is when the travel agents specializing in Africa really come into play. Things start to get a bit more dicy with those regional flights.

 

[gillettehunter]

I have also booked almost all of my flights. I try to give 2 hrs layover to make sure rifles get transferred. Little room for delays. Coming back I want at least 3 and preferably 4 hrs for customs with a rifle. Especially Dulles...... Had to claim and clear customs like normal. Then to recheck my rifle it took close to a hour to get it to the proper concourse. Then the local PD and TSA have to check it. It's a PITA, but will need to be done whether or not you use a travel agent. To RSA or Namibia do it on your own. Zim or Moz you might consider a travel agent. Bruce

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

Travelers should not have to go through this: Bad Experience with South African Airways: http://www.africahunting.com/threads/bad-experience-with-south-african-airways.11419/.

As information, I had to cancel once a hotel reservation that I had made not knowingly through tripadvisor.com by calling the number of the hotel listed on their website, my mistake there but never again, more than 3 hours wasted during my trip. A truly frustrating experience but certainly easier to deal with when you have a cell phone and you are in the States with 24 hour customer service….

When you are in another country dealing with an issue and someone who's English is not their first language and who does not care, with limited phone access, no customer service on Saturday and Sunday and limited during the work week then the experience becomes a whole different...

 

[BWH]

I booked my own.... However, I think it all depends on your situation. Complicated, multi-city, firearms, knowledge of travel, destination, etc.

 

[Jeffro]

Do it yourself. Last year, I traveled to Africa with a first-timer who wanted to have the so-called security of a travel agent in case anything happened. I relented, and we booked with a prominent company, paying our fares eleven months before the trip in US dollars, about a 20% premium at the time (we are from Canada). We specifically requested certain seats as we both have bad backs; indeed, my buddy had sufficient back trouble that he skipped out on a couple days' hunting. When we boarded the trans-Atlantic flight, we discovered to our horror that our seats were not what we had requested and paid for, but were in the very last row of an over-booked plane...no ability to recline the seats, no choice of meal, because the first choice was gone by the time the stewardesses reached us, and so on. We tried to do something about it for the return flight during the long layover in Frankfurt, but were told to look into it ourselves once we were in South Africa. To make a long story short, it ended up being the same on the flight back to Canada. We took it up with the agent who had booked the flights, then her superior, and they more or less just blamed the airline and said there was nothing they could do, and offered no compensation, or even an apology. So, we paid the 20% USD premium plus the travel agencies fees in order to get the worst seats on the plane. DO IT YOURSELF. I have done it successfully since, and had been doing it for years previously and have never had an issue.

 

[Philip Glass]

For my current trip (in airport now!) there is no website of any kind that will sell you a ticket (all on one ticket important!!!) from SJT to HRE. So it's hard to even check costs online to compare.
The last time I used miles to get a ticket it could not be attached to my international ticket which I paid for. First flight was cancelled and I missed the second flight and since it wd two separate tickets I got to start all over and buy last minute international tickets. Saved $300 and it cost me $3000.
Point is crap happens and having a travel agent can save you big bucks instead of costing you.
Something to think about!
Regards
Philip