Flying to Nairobi

[square]

Hi

I'm thinking about going on a 8 week safari starting in Nairobi in Jan 16 and was wondering what would be the best way to use my QFF points to do this? thanks david

 

[RooFlyer]

Hi

Welcome to AFF . Need to know some more to give best advice.

Do you have status on OneWorld/Qantas? Also, what do you mean by 'best way'? Least points? Most direct route? Highest cabin?

Prima facie, Qatar (QR) ex MEL or PER would give you the most direct route (1 stop via Doha); Emirates/Qantas probably do the same via Dubai.

You should look at booking ASAP for Jan 16.

 

[juddles]

You want to walk around Kenya at the moment with a gun?

The best thing about using FF points is that it is an optimal way of purchasing one-way fares

 

[MrHyde]

Also consider the Oneworld awards. For about 140,000 points, you can go any 5 stops in the world in any direction. Last time I went to Nairobi, used that to also add in Helsinki, Bahrain, Hong Kong along with Nairobi as my stopover locations. I did take the long way to Nairobi via London on British Airways. At that time, QR was not a OW option.

 

[Gdog]

I flew to nairobi this January. I couldn't really get a classic award flight from Perth on a direct route( I had jetstar to Denpasar then Qatar to nairobi via Doha),
Admittedly I don't know how to do this very well, so I did an any seat award on emirates via Dubai. I would love to have been able to choose Qatar as an ASA, so I could have flown into kilimanjaro from Doha instead of nairobi. I noticed some carriers available as classic awards but not as any seat awards. Enjoy the trip, we only did 3 day safari but climbed kilimanjaro beforehand.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Can't comment on best use of points, but we did Qantas code share to Nairobi in August/September last year. You can travel either Qf or Ek to Dubai and then Emirates to Nairobi. It is about 5 hours from Dubai to Nairobi. If you are not finding flights for points, an alternate could be to use points on Qantas to go Syd-JNB and then pay for a flight to Nairobi.

Obviously things are a bit difficult in Kenya at the moment, but then there are problems in many places. There was good security to the airport ( all cars have to go through a police check and they talk to everyone and open the boot if concerned.)The hotel we stayed in checked under the car for bombs before it was allowed close to the entrance and there was a metal detector (which we set off every time, but they didn't seem worried about us). Also armed soldiers at the entrance. The Kenyans are just lovely and we felt quite bad we were going to Singita in Tanzania rather than the Masai Mara. In fact when I saw the latest massacre, I said to Mr FM that we would definitely include Kenyan game reserves when we go to see the Gorillas, as you can't let the terrorists destroy the economy! So glad to see you going!

 

[JohnM]

I've been to NBO twice in the last couple of years, using QF points to get to JNB on JASAs and then I just bought a whY Fare JNB-NBO on Kenya Airways.

First time was when QF still codeshared on the SA bird PER-JNB; second time it was PER-SYD-JNB on QF.

Most safaris are in the south and away from the latest attack. Kenya gameparks are fabulous places to visit.