How I Flew to One of the World’s Most Remote Islands with Points

Until 2017, the only way to get to Saint Helena was by cargo ship from Cape Town. That journey over the South Atlantic Ocean took five days, and the ship only sailed around once per month.

That all changed with the construction of the first ever airport on the tiny British Overseas Territory where Napoleon Bonaparte was famously exiled and died in 1821. It’s now been a decade since the first plane landed on the island, and eight years since Airlink began operating weekly Embraer E190 flights between Johannesburg and Saint Helena.

Saint Helena Airport has been an absolute game-changer for the remote island, situated almost halfway between Africa and South America.

It’s a challenging airport to fly into, as it essentially sits on a rock face. There’s a cliff at both ends of the runway, and it’s highly susceptible to wind shear. Nonetheless, as the Wendover Productions documentary of the same name points out, it’s arguably The World’s Most Useful Airport (as well as being one of the most remote, after Easter Island).

I’ve wanted to visit Saint Helena for years

The opening of Saint Helena’s new airport definitely piqued my interest. I had never been anywhere that remote, and I was fascinated to find out what life would be like on an English island that had been virtually cut off from the rest of the world for centuries – bar the occasional ship.

I really wanted to visit, but there was still one problem: those weekly flights are not cheap!

When these flights first launched, a return ticket from Johannesburg to Saint Helena would have cost around AUD2,000 round-trip. Nowadays, you might be able to pick up a ticket from Jo’burg for around AUD1,500 round-trip. But I’ve never seen airfares to the island cheaper than that, so Saint Helena had remained on my bucket list… until now.

Airlink’s new partnership with Qatar Airways

Last year, Qatar Airways purchased a 25% stake in regional South African carrier Airlink. (This is the same level of ownership Qatar Airways now has in Virgin Australia).

Then, in February 2025, things got really interesting. Qatar Airways and Airlink launched a frequent flyer partnership that extends to earning and redeeming Qatar Airways Privilege Club Avios on Airlink flights.

When I first saw this announcement, I was curious to see if Airlink would actually release any award availability on its expensive Johannesburg-St Helena route. I had my doubts because when this route first launched, SA Airlink (as it was known then) was a partner of United Airlines – but there were never any award seats available to book through United MileagePlus.

This time, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Airlink award availability was actually wide open! Back in February, there were multiple seats available on almost every flight. You could book them with Avios on the Qatar Airways website.

I never found availability in Business Class, but I was more than happy with Economy. I mainly just wanted to be on the plane!

Many of those seats have since been snapped up, so award availability is harder to find now than it was back in February. But I just had a quick look, and I can still see award seats available on this route for some dates on the Qatar Airways website.

A round-trip ticket from Johannesburg to Saint Helena costs 36,000 Qatar Airways Avios and around AUD380 in taxes & charges. That’s a pretty good deal!

Getting Qatar Airways Avios

I already happened to have enough Avios in my account to book this because I have an annual British Airways Avios subscription. I’ve also linked my British Airways Club and Qatar Airways Privilege Club accounts. When I booked on the Qatar Airways website, Qatar Airways automatically just pulled the required Avios from my British Airways Club account.

Another way to get Qatar Airways Avios is to simply transfer them from Amex Membership Rewards. Or, you could simply buy Avios directly from Qatar Airways – which could work out to be good value when they’re on sale.

The other challenge: There’s just one flight per week

Ideally, I would have liked to spend around 3-4 days on Saint Helena. Outside of the peak summer season, when Airlink flies between Cape Town and St Helena on Tuesdays, that unfortunately isn’t possible because there’s just one weekly flight.

Airlink always runs its Johannesburg-Saint Helena service on Saturdays. Most of the time, that plane sits on the ground in St Helena for just an hour before returning straight back to Johannesburg. But every second Saturday of the month, that plane instead continues north from Saint Helena to Ascension Island.

On that particular weekend – just once per month – the plane then spends Saturday night on Ascension Island and returns to Saint Helena on Sunday, before flying back to Johannesburg. So, if you plan it right, it is technically possible to spend 25 hours on Saint Helena (rather than staying just one hour or a whole week).

I was lucky to find award availability in both directions on one of those weekends when St Helena-Johannesburg operates on a Sunday. Separately, I also managed to find a Classic Reward seat on Qantas from Sydney to Johannesburg which lined up well with the Airlink flight. The dots all lined up, so I bit the bullet and booked!

For what it’s worth, I wasn’t able to manage my Airlink booking online. However, I could select seats (including an exit row seat at no cost) by calling Qatar Airways. I did check in online on the Airlink website, at which point I could change my seat for free.

The flight to St Helena

My flight from Johannesburg to Saint Helena was on an Airlink Embraer E190 with exactly the same interior that Virgin Australia used to have – even down to the red, purple and silver headrests!

The first part of this journey was a two-hour flight to Walvis Bay, where we stopped to refuel.

No passengers got on or off in Walvis Bay, and we were soon heading out over the South Atlantic Ocean.

Airlink served a snack and drinks on the first sector, followed by a cold meal and more drinks on the second leg. The catering was actually very decent, and everything was included.

There was a nice “atmosphere” on board as many of the passengers seemed to know each other. Lots of people were chatting with each other.

I was sitting beside a friendly local plumber who had just accompanied his father on a weeks-long trip to England for a medical appointment. I can only imagine how grateful his father is that this flight now exists!

Arriving in St Helena

Three hours after departing Walvis Bay, flying over nothing but ocean, a huge rock appeared on the horizon. We were getting close!

The landing into Saint Helena Airport was fairly bumpy. The Embraer’s wheels hit the runway with quite a thud, but we got in on the first attempt. That’s not at all a given, and many passengers applauded in celebration after we touched down.

Airlink does sometimes have to divert or delay its flights to Saint Helena when the weather conditions aren’t suitable. Thankfully, both my flights got in and out without a hitch. Both were early, in fact. But if I would have tried to go a week earlier, that flight was delayed by three days!

This in itself is probably a good reason to get travel insurance. But if you want to visit St Helena, you’ll need it anyway as one of the specific entry requirements is a travel insurance policy with at least GBP175,000 of coverage for medical evacuation.

It seemed like half the island was at the airport to meet the flight. With a population of just 4,500 people, and only one flight per week, the arrival of a plane is quite an exciting community event!

Getting a rental car

Since I only had a day to explore the island, I’d organised a rental car through my hotel. There was no online booking process and it was all very informal – I was simply told the name of a person to find when I arrived, and paid in cash.

There was no car rental desk at the airport, and all I had was the name of the person I needed to meet to collect the key. I thought that might be a problem, but it really wasn’t. All I had to do was ask a random person in the arrivals hall, and they pointed him out. After all, everyone knows everyone on this island.

I was told that I didn’t even need to lock the car. The island is extremely safe. And anyway, if someone would steal the car, they wouldn’t exactly be able to take it very far!

Accommodation in St Helena

There are a few guest houses and hotels on the island. Most of them don’t offer online bookings.

I stayed at Mantis St Helena, which most people regard as the nicest hotel on the island. This one does let you book online – in fact, it’s an Accor hotel so you can even earn and redeem Accor Live Limitless points!

I really liked this hotel and would recommend it. It’s modern, located right in the heart of the “capital” Jamestown, and the staff there were incredibly helpful.

The Mantis hotel is also one of the only places on the island that accepts credit cards.

The cash situation

Nowadays, you can get by in many countries with credit cards – or at the very least, a debit card to withdraw cash from an ATM. Not here.

After landing, the cabin crew made an announcement advising visitors that there are no ATMs on St Helena, and that the bank in Jamestown is closed on weekends. There is a place to change money at the airport, which does open for flights. But it’s strongly recommended to bring cash (the currency is British pounds).

You can also preload money onto a virtual Bank of St Helena Tourist Card, which many businesses on the island accept as a form of payment. There are no fees for this and you can withdraw any leftover funds at the end of your trip.

Exploring the island

What a place! I absolutely loved my time on the island.

Saint Helena is essentially a volcanic rock in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. It’s only 17km long and 10km wide, yet it houses unique microclimates which coexist within just a few kilometres of each other.

Absolutely everyone is friendly. They wave as you pass by in a car and say hello when you pass on the street, even if they don’t know you. Many people assumed (correctly) that I was a tourist because they didn’t recognise me, and seemed genuinely interested to know where I was from. Most were shocked when I said I’m Australian as I don’t think they get many visitors from there – the majority come from the UK or South Africa.

One local I spoke to asked if my flight from Johannesburg had been full that day. I said it wasn’t, and she was excited to hear that because it meant she would probably be able to buy fresh fruit at the supermarket during the coming week. (The fewer the passengers, the more freight the plane can bring in its cargo hold – such as fresh food.)

Most people drive older cars because it’s easier to source parts for those on the island.

In terms of wildlife, you can find some unique birds, the world’s oldest living land mammal (Jonathan the 192-year-old tortoise), crabs, and you can even swim with whale sharks. You can also see actual whales, and there are great diving, snorkelling and fishing opportunities.

Jamestown itself feels like what I imagine England would have been like 60 years ago. Most shops close early on Wednesdays, as well as Saturday afternoons and Sundays – but open on Saturday evenings for a few hours to make up for that.

There are plenty of hiking trails. But if you want a workout and a great view without venturing far from Jamestown, Jacob’s Ladder offers both as you climb its 699 deceptively steep steps.

High Knoll fort is another interesting historical sight, with another great view to boot.

The main thing I wanted to see was Napoleon’s Tomb. Unfortunately, this is only open from Monday to Friday, so I didn’t actually manage to see that! At least the views from the locked gate at the entrance to that site were amazing.

If you get the chance, go!

Trips like this one to Saint Helena are exactly why I collect frequent flyer points. This was truly a bucket list trip for me, and I loved every minute of it.

Without points, I probably wouldn’t have done this trip. The flights are very expensive – and that’s just from Johannesburg! So, I’m grateful that I could get there from Australia using a mix of Qantas Points and Avios.

If you ever have the chance to visit Saint Helena, I would highly encourage you to do it. It’s a truly unique and fascinating destination that isn’t at all burdened by over-tourism. And I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say it’s one of the friendliest places I’ve ever encountered on this planet.