Best flight options on East Coast

[dailordasailor]

Still a ways out but trying to ballpark flight costs from east coast. Planning to hunt 2020 in spring time with Limcroma. Live in SC and closest large airport would be Atlanta but if cheaper options we are open to them. Whats everyones suggestions for airlines and airports?

Thanks
Dale

 

[JimP]

Delta out of Atlanta direct flight to Johannesburg or South African Airlines out of Dulles also a direct flight to Johannesburg.

If you can fly in the middle of the week flights are usually cheaper. On my safari trip I left Denver on Tuesday evening and my return flight left South Africa on Tuesday also. There was a marked difference in cost between even Tuesday and Monday.

 

[cpr0312]

Basically your looking at Delta from ATL or South African from JFK. I have take both routes from CLT and both are fine. Delta is usually a little more but you get there more directly from the east coast.

 

[kdiver58]

Call Clark Howard .. he has a radio program, web site and call in show. He used to own a travel agency. Find his web site or call him he will tell you the best way to get there cheap,

 

[dailordasailor]

I’ll definately look him up. Interesting!

 

[greyfox]

Where in SC? I'm in Savannah, GA, flew out of ATL - it's LONG (15 hours there, 16 hours back) Booked through Lori at Travel Express. I booked early because I wanted to ensure my arrival date, and get a good seat; if I'd waited I could have saved some $$ but probably would have gotten a center seat!!

 

[Travis2282]

I’m in sc also. I flew through Atlanta !

 

[WAB]

I’m in Bama, I use Delta out of Atlanta. I always overnight in JoBurg the day of arrival as the flight gets in late afternoon. We stay at Africa Sky guest lodge. It’s over the top. City Lodge at the airport is a lower cost option.

 

[dailordasailor]

I’m on the coast outside Myrtle beach but family is inland about 2 hours from ATL. We will have to drop our pups with family which makes ATL easy but Dulles was about $700 compared to 1000 from ATL for dates I checked.

Africa sky guest house pops up a lot. Never knew of city lodge but I’ll check that! Thanks

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

I am flying to Angola in July for business and will be giving the South African flight from JFK to Joburg a try, then connecting to Luanda. Still working on some details, but trying to put together a little side trip after I am in done in Angola. Will likely do a short PG hunt in RSA.

 

[MMAL]

Delta and saa are the two best options. I do know that the saa out of jfk gets in at 8:00am which means you can hunt that afternoon. Delta gets in at night which means an overnight stay. Both flights are 14-16 hours. I think the saa flight out of Dulles has a stop but you don’t change or get off the plane. I am hunting Limcroma in aug of this year. But I live in nj so it is always saa out of jfk. It will run 2000 in coach during the summer but they run some 900 specials pretty consistently during the nonpeak times. April, May, jun and later in the year. Good luck

 

[JimP]

You will find that after a 15-17 hour flight over to South Africa that all you really want to do is to kick back and relax and unless you really require that African Sky provides City Lodge will do just as well. On my safari we flew out of JFK to Joberg and then had a 5 hour or so layover to fly to Port Elizabeth and once we arrive at City Lodge there all we really wanted to do was to take a shower and relax. The rooms at City Lodge in Port Elizabeth were nice but when all you really plan on doing in it is take a shower and go to bed just about any hotel will do as long as it is clean. Also the breakfast we had the next morning was outstanding at City Lodge.

 

[Graham Hunter]

You will find that after a 15-17 hour flight over to South Africa that all you really want to do is to kick back and relax and unless you really require that African Sky provides City Lodge will do just as well. On my safari we flew out of JFK to Joberg and then had a 5 hour or so layover to fly to Port Elizabeth and once we arrive at City Lodge there all we really wanted to do was to take a shower and relax. The rooms at City Lodge in Port Elizabeth were nice but when all you really plan on doing in it is take a shower and go to bed just about any hotel will do as long as it is clean. Also the breakfast we had the next morning was outstanding at City Lodge.

We stayed at the Presidents Lodge last year. 10 mins from Airport. Very secure very clean and very hospitable.

 

[jeff]

I prefer Delta as I don't like the stop in Dakar that SAA does, it adds another 45 minutes to your flight and gives baggage handlers one more chance to remove your luggage by mistake, and also on the return they spray the interior of the plane when it lands in Dakar with a foul fog. I personally know of someone who had their luggage taken off there by mistake and it was lost for three weeks! That said if it's enough cheaper I will fly SAA with no qualms.

 

[slam8031]

Made the trip three times from SC. All three times flew to Atlanta and straight to JNB. First trip and second trip were columbia SC to ATL to JNB. The third trip I road tripped to Raleigh NC to save 400$ per ticket (took my wife and four children) Which was important. The Dulles trio is interesting in terms of arrival but could never get the flight to Dulles figured out in terms of saving money and time.

 

[JimP]

On our flight over from JFK it was non stop to Joberg, however on our return we stopped in Dakar on our way to Dulles

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

My SAA flights in July, JFK-JNB-JFK, are listed as non-stop. I believe only the flights to/from Dulles make the stop in Dakar to refuel.

 

[gesch]

I like Lori Spears at Travel Express. Saved money. Less worry that I got a good value. My outfitter highly recommended her after a multi multi stop trip to USA last fall. Give them a try.

 

[Hogpatrol]

Where in SC? I'm in Savannah, GA, flew out of ATL - it's LONG (15 hours there, 16 hours back) Booked through Lori at Travel Express. I booked early because I wanted to ensure my arrival date, and get a good seat; if I'd waited I could have saved some $$ but probably would have gotten a center seat!!

Just a heads up, Delta will NOT guarantee you a specific seat, only class. I booked seven months early for a bulkhead seat behind first class so I could stretch out my legs. At check-in, they changed my seat to three rows back. I was originally going solo but two weeks before departure, my regular hunting buddy decides he's going to go with me. He got a bulkhead seat, the one that right up until a few days before was open and where we were going to sit together. That was and will be my last flight on ANY Delta plane. Next time, I took SAA out of Dulles in the middle of the week for less money. The only gotcha there is the stop in Dakar but it does arrive in Joburg, the early morning, so plenty of time to catch another flight and save the overnight in Joburg.

 

[CAustin]

Headed over next month for the 6th time and it has always been on Delta Flight 200 going over and 201 coming back. If your outfitter isn’t far out of Joberg there is no overnight in town. Good luck!