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I could post this in the travel forum I guess but I was hoping those familiar with a lot of credit cards would be able to help...
I've never been to Africa before and am looking at South Africa (Cape Town, Johannesburg). Potentially Seychelles as well. Looking to go one year from now (Feb 2019).
I reallly want to plan this trip as frugally as possible meaning...use as many points/rewards to get my flights and potentially accommodations for as close to free as I can.
I live in Atlanta and prefer to fly out of Miami because I believe I will be there for a few days prior to leaving for Africa. But I'm open to leaving out of Atlanta as well as other east coast cities if needed. I'm experiencing a bit of sticker shock in regards to the pricing, but then again I've been looking at business class flights...I've been seeing like 250,000 miles needed for I think a one way flight via Emirates to Cape Town. That is a lot. I really don't want to spend like 23 hours one way in Economy going and coming back to be honest.
I'm seeing that the layovers look to be in Dubai if that's helpful at all. I'm totally all for spending a day there to "break up the trip" prior to going to Cape Town.
Any suggestions on cards with the best options for miles/points to acquire specifically for going from the East Coast to Dubai or Africa? Airlines I should look into? Routes I should consider? For example, right now the East coast>Dubai>South Africa route seems to make sense.
Last time we went to Cape Town it was indeed with frugality in mind, spent 12 hours sleeping overnight in Nairboi airport then to Joburg to switch to Mango Airlines for final leg to Cape Town. If I remember correctly saved us $300/each versus best option for more direct to Cape Town. Then again we had plenty of time so it wasn't as much of an issue.
Frugality challenges were far greater once we got there, there aren't many cheap options to see big game in Africa.
Funny you mention that. We're going in late April for two weeks, flying into Durban, going on safari, flying to Cape Town and heading home via Amsterdam. So it was a little more complex than simply flying there and flying home. Here are my thoughts:
1) You're already on the right track with a travel rewards card. I'd run every possible expense through it. I have a Hilton Honors card and have accrued enough points to pay for all our hotel bills while there. Obviously, you have to stay at a Hilton property, but if it's free it's free. And it's easier to get free hotel stays than it is to get free flights.
2) Put your money back right now. There are a ton of ways you can put back a hundred here and two hundred there just by cutting out minor expenses, using new mobile phone plans, etc. etc. There are already threads on this subject.
3) Get a travel agent and book months out. We actually saved a couple of thousand each going through a travel agent rather than through online booking sites. Instead of making a commission on the flights, ours instead charged a fee for doing the legwork. It was worth every dime.
Last time we went to Capetown it was indeed with frugality in mind, spent 12 hours sleeping overnight in Nairboi airport then to Joburg to switch to Mango Airlines for final leg to Capetown. If I remember correctly saved us $300/each versus best option for more direct to Capetown. Then again we had plenty of time so it wasn't as much of an issue.
Frugality challenges were far greater once we got there, there aren't many cheap options to see big game in Africa.
Ok so I'm actually not doing any safari's.
I think I mainly want to see some beautiful beaches, eat a ton of great food, do a few touristy sight-seeing, experience some nightlife and take a ton of great photos and video.
I will likely have something like 13 total days of vacation time (give or take 1-2 days).
Did you pay for all of your flights out of pocket? If I have to do this I won't be able to go. I use points for the majority of my flights these days. It has worked for Europe, Hawaii, Mexico, etc. etc. However, I don't know if it's even feasible to try to cover all of my flight costs with points; my initial research is showing it's going to take a LOT of points/miles to do this. I don't want to get too overwhelmed though; I'm just trying to figure out a strategy - which route I should take and thus which cards I should consider to get now to accumulate points to help pay for the flights.
I think I mainly want to see some beautiful beaches, eat a ton of great food, do a few touristy sight-seeing, experience some nightlife and take a ton of great photos and video.
I will likely have something like 13 total days of vacation time (give or take 1-2 days).
Did you pay for all of your flights out of pocket? If I have to do this I won't be able to go. I use points for the majority of my flights these days. It has worked for Europe, Hawaii, Mexico, etc. etc. However, I don't know if it's even feasible to try to cover all of my flight costs with points; my initial research is showing it's going to take a LOT of points/miles to do this. I don't want to get too overwhelmed though; I'm just trying to figure out a strategy - which route I should take and thus which cards I should consider to get now to accumulate points to help pay for the flights.
Well, if you start saving now, it will be a lot easier to cover.
Funny you mention that. We're going in late April for two weeks, flying into Durban, going on safari, flying to Cape Town and heading home via Amsterdam. So it was a little more complex than simply flying there and flying home. Here are my thoughts:
1) You're already on the right track with a travel rewards card. I'd run every possible expense through it. I have a Hilton Honors card and have accrued enough points to pay for all our hotel bills while there. Obviously, you have to stay at a Hilton property, but if it's free it's free. And it's easier to get free hotel stays than it is to get free flights. I am doing this right now. Currently I've got about 120,000 Southwest points. That will get me a Southwest companion pass. Did this for potential BFF's birthday this July which I will likely go on (location to be deteremined-likely Caribbean), and my mom's 60th birthday this November which I am planning. She wants to do Hawaii or...Orlando. So I need to have these 2 trips covered with points because in Feb 2019 I'm looking at Africa for my own 40th birthday. With that said, I just wrapped up with the "Southwest churning" last month (again, plan to use for domestic trips in July and November of this year) and moved on to a Delta card that will give me 70,000 points...I will get that next month. So basically next month I'll need to now plan on what cards to do next for this Feb 2019 trip to Africa. I *might* be able to use the Delta points for some of that-haven't looked into their routes/points required quite yet. I just need to think about how best to strategize all of this and make sure I'm getting the exact cards I need to pay for where I'm flying into.
2) Put your money back right now. There are a ton of ways you can put back a hundred here and two hundred there just by cutting out minor expenses, using new mobile phone plans, etc. etc. There are already threads on this subject. I save between 40-50% of my net at the moment; I honestly don't want to put much of that to travel because the savings is currently going to more important things (i.e. 401k, potential house downpayment, emergency fund padding, etc.). So basically I think there isn't a whole lot more of optimizing to do, and even if there is more to do I prefer not to put the extra savings to travel *if* I can travel for close to free.
3) Get a travel agent and book months out. We actually saved a couple of thousand each going through a travel agent rather than through online booking sites. Instead of making a commission on the flights, ours instead charged a fee for doing the legwork. It was worth every dime. I have never thought about doing this honestly; I am so used to doing all of the legwork myself. But I can look into this.
Thanks for your input! I have included some comments above.
Did you pay for all of your fights out of pocket for your upcoming April trip?
Thanks for your input! I have included some comments above.
Did you pay for all of your fights out of pocket for your upcoming April trip?
Yep. Wrote a check for the safari back last May and then wrote a check for the airfare in November. I'm about to book hotels at the end of the month.
One thing to realize is how cheap hotels are in South Africa.
And, another thing to consider is staying at a Youth Hostel. You crash in more of a dormitory style setting, but you get to meet all kinds of people. I did that backpacking through New Zealand once and it was amazingly fun.
Yep. Wrote a check for the safari back last May and then wrote a check for the airfare in November. I'm about to book hotels at the end of the month.
One thing to realize is how cheap hotels are in South Africa.
And, another thing to consider is staying at a Youth Hostel. You crash in more of a dormitory style setting, but you get to meet all kinds of people. I did that backpacking through New Zealand once and it was amazingly fun.
I always look at the hostels but never try them out.
Usually the ones I am open to trying (where you can have a private room still) are booked by the time I look into them. Guess I'd better start looking into that now.
Ok so that is good to hear that the hotels in South Africa are cheap; but still need to get on these flights.....
Wave a flag around Samolia, the pirates will give you a tour of the country for free as they drag you around and show you the inside of dank rooms making films titled "$5 ransom" or "Tourist: The last adventure". Free meals provided occasionally.
Quote:
I think I mainly want to see some beautiful beaches, eat a ton of great food, do a few touristy sight-seeing, experience some nightlife and take a ton of great photos and video.
Wave a flag around Samolia, the pirates will give you a tour of the country for free as they drag you around and show you the inside of dank rooms making films titled "$5 ransom" or "Tourist: The last adventure". Free meals provided occasionally.
go about 5000 miles north to the Greek island Ios
Thanks for contributing absolutely nothing to this thread.
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