QF or SA to Joburg?

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grant32

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Travelling to JNB next month, and obviously there are several options. I am QF WP, and *A Gold (UA). Are there any advantages to flying on the QF flight numbers with QF FF number, as opposed to the SA flights with *A FF number attached to booking (or vice-versa)?

Have also been thinking about Cathay via HKG, travel time not really an issue... Any comments on this routing?

Thanks.
 
What class of service? If economy I would be taking the shortest flight time. If business class I would go with the program that will provide you best points/miles/status earn rate. If First Class then CX via HKG is the only way to travel :cool:.
 
In Y I am afraid. Via PER also looks appealing (stop and see family on the way).
 
grant32 said:
In Y I am afraid. Via PER also looks appealing (stop and see family on the way).
And at least that cuts a few hours off the long part of the trip!

I don't know anything about SA's IFE, but at least QF has a half decent IFE in Y (and a very good one when the AVOD works).
 
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NM said:
And at least that cuts a few hours off the long part of the trip!

I don't know anything about SA's IFE, but at least QF has a half decent IFE in Y (and a very good one when the AVOD works).

At the moment, SAA's IFE on the PER-JNB flight is close to non-existant. The Sydney office of SAA has been promised the A340-600 on this route for some time, but as yet, they are still stuck with the older A340's.

When I flew SYD-JNB-PER-SYD last year, there was a massive service level difference between the QF and SAA legs.

D P G
 
I have done the SYD-JBERG-PER-SYD trip before.
Qantas direct to JBERG is fine, same as any other long haul with Qantas.
The same cannot be said for SA leg back to PER. Ordinary in flight entertainment, grumpy FA's and bad food. The domestic leg from PER back to SYD was actually the best part on the return journey.
 
Back to the original question, as you can get the same outcome either using the QF or SA flight options.

As either a *A Gold or OW Emerald, you will have lounge access in Sydney, Perth and Johannesburg, so that won't make any difference. There will be a marginal advantage being on a SA flight number as their fuel fines are slightly less. So I would base the decision on which FF Program more needs the points and credits, and if there is no difference, then probably book the SA flight numbers due to better earn and burn rates on UA.

Personally, I would avoid the CX option, as it makes a long flight, particularly long. The only advantages I would consider regarding the CX option, is that in both directions there is an overnight flight, and as a QF WP, the chances of an operational upgrade are comparatively high! I have been upgraded on 3 out of 5 sectors from whY to J on CX (and many others have similarly high results!)

I have found that the SYD-JNB direct flight is nasty, as it is 14 hours in the day time (what I mean is depart SYD and arrive JNB in the day) and makes it a very long day with the time zone changes.

I hope this helps a little.

D P G
 
DPG said:
I have found that the SYD-JNB direct flight is nasty, as it is 14 hours in the day time (what I mean is depart SYD and arrive JNB in the day) and makes it a very long day with the time zone changes.
I would actually prefer the daytime flight to an overnight flight.
 
NM said:
I would actually prefer the daytime flight to an overnight flight.

I agree,

The Syd-Johasnnesburg flight is one of the few Qantas flights with an ideal departure arrival time. Flown it many times. Arrive Joburg feeling lousy, but a full night´s sleep to recover is only a few hoursaway afterarrival.
 
Thanks for all the replies.

Regarding the CX option, was only considering this with a stopover in HKG as have not been before. The frequency of op-ups for Emeralds on CX certainly appears a lot higher on CX than other carriers from what I have read, but that alone would probably not be enough to sway me if it wasn't for the stopover.

Just found an SQ option too. Jeez, is it just me, or do other people spend more time researching a trip than actual time spent on the trip! :shock:

Thanks everyone.
 
grant32 said:
Just found an SQ option too. Jeez, is it just me, or do other people spend more time researching a trip than actual time spent on the trip! :shock:

It gets faster with experience. :)
 
Re: QF to Joburg?

Planing another trip to Joburg this October, have been a number of times and go Syd-Jnb routing. all the times I have flown it it has Y J and F 747 planes.

When I key in on expertflyer for Oct 12, it comes up with only J and Y and seatplanner on thier shows 747 with J in the nose and up stairs. The return flight on 21st has the normal 3 class. [ I also randomly check some other dates and it shows 3 class]

Question. Has any one been on this 2 class 747 lately ? Does it have full J Sky bed seating ? Does it AVOD ?
 
Re: QF to Joburg?

garyjohn951 said:
Planing another trip to Joburg this October, have been a number of times and go Syd-Jnb routing. all the times I have flown it it has Y J and F 747 planes.

When I key in on expertflyer for Oct 12, it comes up with only J and Y and seatplanner on thier shows 747 with J in the nose and up stairs. The return flight on 21st has the normal 3 class. [ I also randomly check some other dates and it shows 3 class]

Question. Has any one been on this 2 class 747 lately ? Does it have full J Sky bed seating ? Does it AVOD ?
Hello garyjohn951,

Friday QF63/64 SYD-JNB-SYD services are generally always operated by 2-class 747-400s. F is not normally for sale on FRI services unless of course a 3-class 744 is planned in advance to operate the service (very unlikely). All other SYD-JNB-SYD services are operated by 3-class 747-400s.

I flew on QF176 during late June on VH-OJD (2-class 744) and was seated in 01A. It's a nice seat, but not to everyone's taste. All Qantas 747-400s feature Skybed and AVOD. Business Class (Skybed) is featured in Zone A on the 2-class 747-400s, or what is commonly referred to as the "nose" and is also featured on the upper deck.

Regards :)
 
Re: QF to Joburg?

Wunala Dreaming said:
Hello garyjohn951,

Friday QF63/64 SYD-JNB-SYD services are generally always operated by 2-class 747-400s. F is not normally for sale on FRI services unless of course a 3-class 744 is planned in advance to operate the service (very unlikely). All other SYD-JNB-SYD services are operated by 3-class 747-400s.

Not relevant to the time in quetsion here, but 63/64 will be opertaed once a week by a 743 over summer.
 
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