is it worth 15 extra hours to fly Qatar vs Delta?

[Mtn_Infantry]

What do you value your time at?

Like @mdwest i regularly fly Qatar from DFW and/or IAH due to being able to use my Executive Platinum status for extra bags/upgrades/early boarding/seat choice or being able to use reward miles for the tickets. I have a layover regardless so me this adds about 4-7 hours of additional flight time making it worth it. If I was paying for the ticket and not using reward miles/status I’d need to see about a $1000 savings to justify the extra 8-10 hours travel time.

That said, I’m presently looking at taking either Turkish Airways or Air France on one of my next trips (not bringing firearms) to intentionally take a longer layover and spend a day/night there sightseeing before flying into JNB. I’d save well over $1000 per ticket and get to spend a day plus touring another city.

 

[Mtn_Infantry]

Based on that logic we should all fly Turkish Air thru Istanbul since they are the only ones carrying DG trophies to the US currently

Exactly, none of the big carriers frequented by US Citizens takes Big 5 Trophies from Africa

 

[Altitude sickness]

If I could quickly drive to a Qatar hub. Without the additional firearm hassle of checking into American 1st then Qatar.

And check in wasn’t so long because huge families have 20 suitcases and 5 kids to check in


And the Doha terminal gate bussing situation was better

And it didn’t add another half day of travel each way.

We booked the hotel in Doha for our long layover. Which made it tolerable. It’s my second time going through Doha. It’s gotten too busy.

Too many travelers for the gates

If you chose Qatar air don’t arrive or depart in the morning. Or late at night. 10:00 Pm through 2:00 Am is swarming with packed terminals.

 

[revturbo9967]

I’m not going to say it was my worst flight because it was fine, but I made the same observations with the large Indian families and kids. Delta is primarily adult American tourists and definitely easier to check in with a firearm.

Similar observation but the flight wasn’t completely full. It’s not worth the extra travel time in my opinion either.

 

[jpr9954]

I just got from Limpopo on Wednesday and flew Delta both ways. I was flying on a "buddy pass" or standby thanks to my brother-in-law who is a retired Delta captain. He and his son joined me on the hunt.

Going I ended up in Comfort Class in a middle seat as did my nephew. Larry who had higher seniority was in Premium Select.

Coming back is where we ran into issues. We returned from Thabazimbi to Jo'burg on Sunday afternoon and we got my nephew on a flight home that night.

Larry and I had planned to leave on Monday as it was looking better for good seats. He could check what was available in every class plus how many were ahead of us as "non-rev" passengers. We did a late check-out from the CitiLodge on Barbara Rd and got to the airport with plenty of time to go. We had to wait to check our bags as Delta forces standby passengers to wait until 8:30pm to check-in. There were five of us flying standby. We both were assigned Premium Select seats. It looked great until it didn't. Thanks to load optimization, the weather, and a possible issue with one fuel gauge, all standby passengers got bumped. We had to go through immigration again and it took over an hour to get our bags. The only good thing was that we made friends with a fellow standby passenger who happened to be a former South African Olympic athlete. His dad who picked him up also graciously gave us a ride to a local hotel.

We did get out on Tuesday night along with a total of 12 standby passengers. It was in Main Cabin or economy. I had a row seat with an empty seat next to me. That was just as comfortable to me as Comfort Class middle seat.

This is a long winded way of answering your question on Qatar v Delta. I saved about $1500 flying standby over my June trip. The downside was that I couldn't take my own rifle (for good reason in retrospect!), I had an extra night in a hotel, and I didn't have a choice of seats. Would I fly to Jo'burg on a buddy pass again? Probably not given that the altitude and weather will always make load optimization an issue. I might going to Cape Town but not with a rifle.

Take the Delta flight. You will be in better shape when you arrive in South Africa and will suffer less jet lag.