Delta Update

[Dee S]

I just checked my flights, departing Atlanta on Jun 23 and returning July 7, no changes other than the usual moving the flights up or back a few minutes. It still shows the return leg as non-stop from Jo'burg to Atlanta, but we all know that can change.
I'm just glad I got mine when I did at $984, yesterday they went up to $4,788, and that's for economy, from San Antonio to Johannesburg. That is ridiculous and just bad business. I watch the seating and I don't think they have sold one seat on my outgoing flight since it went up above $2000 a couple of months ago. It is still holding at 43% occupancy. I fully expect them to put me on another flight if they don't fill more seats. Drop the price below $1500 and it would fill in a week.
There is some good news, for now, no mask on the flights. Yeah.

I know the US is still requiring a test within 24 hours before departing for your return flight, but since South Africa doesn't require a test for entry if you prove you've been vaccinated, does the airlines still require a test before boarding in Atlanta?
I know, better safe than sorry.


Screen grab from Delta's website.

South Africa - Destination Passport

Entry and Transit restrictions apply:​

Passengers can only land at Cape Town (CPT), Durban (DUR), Nelspruit (MQP) or Johannesburg: Lanseria International (HLA) and OR Tambo International (JNB).
Passengers entering or transiting through South Africa must have:
- a negative COVID-19 PCR test taken at most 72 hours before departure from the first embarkation point; or
- a COVID-19 vaccination certificate showing that they were fully vaccinated at least 14 days before arrival. Vaccines accepted are: AstraZeneca (SK Bioscience), AstraZeneca (Vaxzevria), Covishield, Covovax, Janssen, Moderna (Spikevax), Nuvaxovid (Novavax), Pfizer-BioNTech (Comirnaty), Sinopharm (BIBP) and Sinovac.
- This does not apply to:
- passengers with a COVID-19 recovery certificate and a positive COVID-19 test. They must send a request to porthealth.travel@health.gov.za for a letter of exemption;
- passengers younger than 5 years.

 

[PARA45]

My PH e-mailed me and mentioned that SA had lifted the PCR COVID test requirement, and you could enter the country with your COVID shot record. I'm so confused. I'll probably take the test just in case.

BTW, I paid twice as much as you and I'm flying direct out of Atlanta. Go figure.

 

[Jettech]

My PH e-mailed me and mentioned that SA had lifted the PCR COVID test requirement, and you could enter the country with your COVID shot record. I'm so confused. I'll probably take the test just in case.

BTW, I paid twice as much as you and I'm flying direct out of Atlanta. Go figure.

If you have covid vacine card you can enter with that and no PCR test
but if you are unvacinated you need a PCR test done within 72 hrs of travel.

 

[Dee S]

My PH e-mailed me and mentioned that SA had lifted the PCR COVID test requirement, and you could enter the country with your COVID shot record. I'm so confused. I'll probably take the test just in case.

BTW, I paid twice as much as you and I'm flying direct out of Atlanta. Go figure.

Sorry to hear about the price. This is the first time for me to get to fly out of San Antonio. It usually costs me another $750 to fly out of San Antonio, versus out of Houston, so I always drive three hours to Houston, park the car at a nearby hotel that costs $6 a day, then shuttle to the airport, and then repeat and make the drive back home. For some reason, it was cheaper this trip to depart out of San Antonio, now I have a 45 minute drive and someone can drop me off then pick me up.

My confusion still lies on the US side in Atlanta, will they require a PCR test before I can board? I know SA doesn't require it to enter, if vaccinated, but do I need it to just get on the plane?

 

[Jettech]

Sorry to hear about the price. This is the first time for me to get to fly out of San Antonio. It usually costs me another $750 to fly out of San Antonio, versus out of Houston, so I always drive three hours to Houston, park the car at a nearby hotel that costs $6 a day, then shuttle to the airport, and then repeat and make the drive back home. For some reason, it was cheaper this trip to depart out of San Antonio, now I have a 45 minute drive and someone can drop me off then pick me up.

My confusion still lies on the US side in Atlanta, will they require a PCR test before I can board? I know SA doesn't require it to enter, if vaccinated, but do I need it to just get on the plane?

no you just need to show your Vaccination card to board in Atlanta You also need to fill out the health questionare required by SA to enter

 

[Dee S]

no you just need to show your Vaccination card to board in Atlanta You also need to fill out the health questionare required by SA to enter

Copy that, I have the vac card and the HQ form already printed out. Appreciate the clarification.

 

[gadwallop]

Delta is beginning direct ATL to JNB, DL200, seven days a week on May 24. I couldn't find this online, and FlightAware and trackers just show it on W,F,Su right now and I needed to leave on a Saturday. It had me sweating. I did the long hold with Delta for a rep and got the answer, now I pass it on to y'all. See you in the sky!

 

[Rickmt]

My Sept sat flight looking better!

 

[StickFlicker AZ]

What about taking the Covid test in South Africa before boarding the flight to return to the U.S.? When it was three days prior to the flight in 2021, it was doable. Now that it is one day, I'm not sure how much faith I have in the South African pharmacies to get the test done that quickly. Is taking a test at the JNB airport an option before boarding Delta? What have others been doing to comply with this requirement in 2022?

 

[Mike B.]

You only need a rapid antigen test to get back to the States now. So 15-30 minutes later and you're done. Take it at the airport before you head back.

 

[CoElkHunter]

I just checked my flights, departing Atlanta on Jun 23 and returning July 7, no changes other than the usual moving the flights up or back a few minutes. It still shows the return leg as non-stop from Jo'burg to Atlanta, but we all know that can change.
I'm just glad I got mine when I did at $984, yesterday they went up to $4,788, and that's for economy, from San Antonio to Johannesburg. That is ridiculous and just bad business. I watch the seating and I don't think they have sold one seat on my outgoing flight since it went up above $2000 a couple of months ago. It is still holding at 43% occupancy. I fully expect them to put me on another flight if they don't fill more seats. Drop the price below $1500 and it would fill in a week.
There is some good news, for now, no mask on the flights. Yeah.

I know the US is still requiring a test within 24 hours before departing for your return flight, but since South Africa doesn't require a test for entry if you prove you've been vaccinated, does the airlines still require a test before boarding in Atlanta?
I know, better safe than sorry.


Screen grab from Delta's website.

South Africa - Destination Passport

Entry and Transit restrictions apply:​

Passengers can only land at Cape Town (CPT), Durban (DUR), Nelspruit (MQP) or Johannesburg: Lanseria International (HLA) and OR Tambo International (JNB).
Passengers entering or transiting through South Africa must have:
- a negative COVID-19 PCR test taken at most 72 hours before departure from the first embarkation point; or
- a COVID-19 vaccination certificate showing that they were fully vaccinated at least 14 days before arrival. Vaccines accepted are: AstraZeneca (SK Bioscience), AstraZeneca (Vaxzevria), Covishield, Covovax, Janssen, Moderna (Spikevax), Nuvaxovid (Novavax), Pfizer-BioNTech (Comirnaty), Sinopharm (BIBP) and Sinovac.
- This does not apply to:
- passengers with a COVID-19 recovery certificate and a positive COVID-19 test. They must send a request to porthealth.travel@health.gov.za for a letter of exemption;
- passengers younger than 5 years.

Yes, with these current outrageous airline ticket prices, travelers will be reassessing their vacation plans and my guess is many of these flights will be changed/cancelled?

 

[Vintageguy]

I’m not understanding some of these outrageous ticket quotes. I have been regularly checking Delta, Charlotte to Johannesburg and the prices have been hovering around $1000 for the past several months which is really close to what I paid last year…? I’ve only saw one blip where they jumped to $1400 but it literally dropped back below $1000 the next day. Trophy shipping is the biggest thing I’ve seen to watch out for.

 

[PARA45]

I’m not understanding some of these outrageous ticket quotes. I have been regularly checking Delta, Charlotte to Johannesburg and the prices have been hovering around $1000 for the past several months which is really close to what I paid last year…? I’ve only saw one blip where they jumped to $1400 but it literally dropped back below $1000 the next day. Trophy shipping is the biggest thing I’ve seen to watch out for.

It seems that is cheaper if you are connecting from another state, than if you are flying direct out of Atlanta. I've never seen flights that cheap out of Atlanta on Delta to SA. Maybe I should figure out a way to fly out of another state.

 

[Dee S]

Just took this screen shot from the Delta website. It doesn't include the flight from your originating airport to get to Atlanta.

 

[Dee S]

Adding your airport of Charlotte doesn't add much.

 

[Dee S]

And those are the dates for my trip, so those are what I get alerts for every morning.
The price of my tickets this morning. I paid $984 back in January.

 

[Vintageguy]

Is that economy?
I looked up Charlotte to Atlanta to Johannesburg in September, which has been the time period I’m tracking and it’s $1066 economy. Big difference for sure.

 

[Vintageguy]

This is from Delta website just now. This one was $1046.

 

[Dee S]

Yes, all Economy seats.
September could be the reason. Typically, the prices drop after the summer months. But if you want the most direct, fastest, fewest layovers, the price is still up there. Not knowing your dates, I selected these for a 10 or 11 day hunt in September, from Charlotte to JNB, roundtrip.
Doesn't mean you can't shorten the trip or move it around a few days to get a price drop. There are a lot of factors that affect it.

 

[Dee S]

That's with two stops. The more stops, typically the lower price. I prefer to get there and get back with as few of stops as possible. Less chance of them losing my luggage. My prices all reflect the one stop in Atlanta, for you, Charlotte, for me, San Antonio.