Purchasing Airline Tickets - Advice Wanted

[MarkinMI]

My son and I will be heading to SA in late August of next year for our first safari.
As a newbie, I'm looking for some advice from seasoned "professionals" as to how soon/late I should purchase our airline tickets.
I've heard everything from well-in-advance is best, to wait until the last minute.
I intend to use a well-known travel agency and am getting quotes starting at ~$2100 for coach, from Detroit, MI to Jo-burg.
Do I purchase now, thinking 10 months in advance would be the best bet, or roll the dice and hope prices go down as the date gets closer?
Any advice/suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Mark

 

[Rare Breed]

It is a crap shoot. I have done it both ways. Far out and close in. In my opinion not much different. Given length of flight I want my perfect seat on Delta so I purchase way out.

 

[JimP]

If that well known travel agency isn't Travel Express or Gracy, I'd look into either one of them.

Any more from what I have seen the flights are booked solid so waiting my cost you quite a bit more.

A couple years ago when I booked my flights I could of gotten business class for a thousand dollars more than economy when I first looked at them. I waited and paid for it.

 

[wesheltonj]

Not a fan of using travel agent, but I have more travel experience then most and even with that ran into a problem this trip. I’ve used Travel Express and Gracy. I know Debbie (been to her house a couple of times and my daughter stayed at her VF house this Summer) and hired her to help me out with a Qatar/Airlink problem, this trip. Debbie has agents available 24/7 in different locations worldwide, plus on the ground person at JNB to help you with your firearms.

 

[sgt_zim]

I booked about a month ago through Gracy for an RSA trip next August. I booked with Qatar even though it's quite a bit longer than flying through EWR or ATL because I paid 2100 each for upgraded coach seats. I'm 6'6", and 15 hours in UA/Delta in regular coach seats just isn't doable, and upgrading with them was quite a bit more expensive than upgrading with Qatar. Plus, my experience with UA and Delta is the crews often treat you like they're doing you a favor. Won't say all foreign carriers are great, but I've never had a bad experience with one.

Seat selection wasn't great with UA or Delta, even 315+ days out from planned departure date.

Who are you hunting with? We depart IAH on 17 August and arrive at JNB on the 19th, then headed up to Limpopo with @Limcroma Safaris

 

[migrabill]

I go to RSA in June. I just booked my flight (Delta) last month. I just didn't want to take a chance that the flight got full or my preferred aisle seat would not be available. My seat was a tad under $2100 and I booked it myself. Delta's newly announced frequent flyer program will not give you the points starting in 2024 if you book thru a travel agency.

 

[Tanks]

@TRAVEL EXPRESS is who I recommend. I have been using them happily for over a decade now.

 

[firehuntfish]

Booking with a reputable travel agency is never a bad idea. They can offer you services that you would not get booking on your own. For the nominal fee they charge it is often worth the peace of mind for most folks.

That being said, it's been my experience that booking as far in advance as possible is always better in terms of both price and seat selection. Most airlines will only allow you to book no more than 10 months in advance. May 15 through August 15 is typically considered peak of season for South Africa and the airfares will be at their highest. The $2,100 price you stated for main cabin seems about right for mid-August for United or Delta which are the only USA to Jo'burg non-stop options currently. If you are willing to tolerate some stops and more travel time, you can likely find fares starting as low as $1,200. I definitely do not recommend booking last minute especially for that time of year. You will most assuredly pay more.

 

[mdwest]

$2100 seems a bit high... but.. admittedly I've never traveled to SA from Detroit before, so I dont know what "normal" looks like from that location..

I can tell you that Ive paid as little as $1300 for a coach class seat and as much as $1800.. prices vary quite a bit year over year and do rise and fall quite a bit through the year.. Last year I think I finally got seats in coach class on Qatar for about $1600...

I typically start looking for seats around this time of year and buy sometime between now and about mid Feb depending on when I see tickets drop and just guess at when I think they are at their lowest..

For 2024 I bought earlier than normal.. we knew our dates for July 2024.. and just by chance I was watching flight prices as early as mid August.. we saw a nice dip in prices happen around the first of September.. (again about $1600 this time).. so I went on and grabbed 3x seats..

 

[migrabill]

Booking with a reputable travel agency is never a bad idea. They can offer you services that you would not get booking on your own. For the nominal fee they charge it is often worth the peace of mind for most folks.

That being said, it's been my experience that booking as far in advance as possible is always better in terms of both price and seat selection. Most airlines will only allow you to book no more than 10 months in advance. May 15 through August 15 is typically considered peak of season for South Africa and the airfares will be at their highest. The $2,100 price you stated for main cabin seems about right for mid-August for United or Delta which are the only USA to Jo'burg non-stop options currently. If you are willing to tolerate some stops and more travel time, you can likely find fares starting as low as $1,200. I definitely do not recommend booking last minute especially for that time of year. You will most assuredly pay more.

I think "back in the day" that was more true than it is now. For example, did you know that the majority of airlines (Delta most recently), are NOT giving the traveler frequent flyer miles if he or she books thru a travel agency? That is absolutely horrible for us frequent flyers who collect our points.

 

[JimP]

The huge advantage that using a agent is piece of mind. If you are a seasoned international traveler and no problem booking your own flights then it may not be a problem. However all it takes is for a single problem to creep up if you have a connecting flight or if something happens to a flight while you are out in the boonies and don't learn about the problem until you hit the airport or the night before your flight. This is where a agent will earn that little bit extra that you paid.

One thing on cost, I thought about doing it myself on my first trip but after talking to Travel Express I saw where I was getting into problems even before I booked the flights. Even after I booked the flights through them Jennifer caught a problem with a connecting flight on my return before we even left. As it was I watched that flight take off just as I cleared customs, I never would of made it and thanks to Jennifer the problem was avoided.

 

[CoElkHunter]

Maybe things have changed now, but when I bought my airline ticket through a travel agency six months out for my June 2022 PG hunt, I paid $2500 for cattle class. Others that bought their tickets when first available paid $1800 for the same class seat. For any future hunt I'll get my ticket as soon as possible and again through a reputable Safari familiar travel agency.

 

[Hogpatrol]

Except for first or business, seat selection on Delta is a crapshoot. If you're not in the "club" or one of their special flyers, your seat can be changed at the gate, BTDT. I had a bulkhead seat I purchased through Gracy ten months in advance and got bumped back in steerage at check-in. Haven't flown Delta internationally since.

 

[uplander01]

Sooner rather than later. I am from MI as well and I fly from Grand Rapids to Atlanta, takes a couple hours off the flight to JoBurg, but 14 vs 16 hours a big deal, for some maybe not.

 

[JimP]

Sooner rather than later. I am from MI as well and I fly from Grand Rapids to Atlanta, takes a couple hours off the flight to JoBurg, but 14 vs 16 hours a big deal, for some maybe not.

My last trip last year I flew Qatar. That extra 8 hour leg from Doha to Joberg wasn't bad, but coming home that 8 hours added 8 hours of misery to the trip. Plus I was bumped out of my aisle seat on Qatar to a center seat for that 8 hours. It wouldn't of been so bad but I am 6'4" and 240 lbs.

And trips in the future will be direct flights to Joberg.

 

[CoElkHunter]

My last trip last year I flew Qatar. That extra 8 hour leg from Doha to Joberg wasn't bad, but coming home that 8 hours added 8 hours of misery to the trip. Plus I was bumped out of my aisle seat on Qatar to a center seat for that 8 hours. It wouldn't of been so bad but I am 6'4" and 240 lbs.

And trips in the future will be direct flights to Joberg.

I too got bumped to a middle seat on the same flight. I could hear the cattle mooing. LOL

 

[Hogpatrol]

Except for first or business, seat selection on Delta is a crapshoot. If you're not in the "club" or one of their special flyers, your seat can be changed at the gate, BTDT. I had a bulkhead seat I purchased through Gracy ten months in advance and got bumped back in steerage at check-in. Haven't flown Delta internationally since.

Forgot to mention, my buddy @markm decided a few weeks before departure that he was going with me and got a bulkhead seat in the middle. From that point on, it's fk Delta and the wings they fly on.

 

[Altitude sickness]

I’m sure your travel agent knows to look at prices leaving Flint Bishop, Midland etc with a stop in Detroit with Delta. Or Flint to Chicago then change to a Qatar jet. It’s usually cheaper and much more convenient starting at a smaller city.

What ever you do, DO NOT book with a third party company. The airline will not help with any issues. You must call Kayak, or travelocity or whoever you booked through. And they will be T:;s on a boar helping you out.

Prices going down closer to your travel dates during peak safari months is a thing of the past.
When airlines had more routes, planes, pilots and crews. Those days are gone. Every plane will not only be full. But usually over booked.

Book early and choose your seat.

 

[JimP]

I’m sure your travel agent knows to look at prices leaving Flint Bishop, Midland etc with a stop in Detroit with Delta. Or Flint to Chicago then change to a Qatar jet. It’s usually cheaper and much more convenient starting at a smaller city.



Book early and choose your seat.

I live 2 miles from a regional airport that has direct flights into and out of Dallas where I caught my connector with Qatar Airlines. I chose to drive 2 1/2 hours to Denver to catch a flight out of DIA. The flight from DIA was cheaper than the one out of my regional airport, and enough so that it paid for a hotel room the night before. Then when I checked on my return flight that would of flown from Dallas to my close regional airport I found that they had canceled it due to low passenger numbers and I would of needed to sat in Dallas overnight.

Regional airports are nice but they are not really cheaper and at times not very convenient. In the long run all the flights that I have ever checked out of it are cheaper if I drive to Denver.

 

[kesha]

I have usually booked 200+ days in advance most airlines will book 270 days out but some are different I prefer the Delta non stop out of Atlanta. Its a crap shoot to try and save a buck, I bought a Comfort + ticket for my son 3 weeks out and paid $1500 in June before but I prefer seat selection early over cost longer you wait you run the risk of splitting up or stuck in the middle.. Aisle and window seats go first only leaving middle seats . I will not sit in a middle seat, I always have bad luck with them.