School holiday flights |
3 April 2009 flights |
Well done Kulula Air - that's two in a row for cheapest on our DUR (Durban) to JNB (Johannesburg) flight surveys. But both Mango & 1time have no tickets left at the time we check. The reason is because school holidays for the coastal provinces (Northern Cape, Western Cape, Eastern Cape & KwaZulu-Natal) start on the 4th April 2009.
Flights from DUR to JNB * |
Bus & train trips from Durban to JHB |
||
Kulula.com economy class |
623 |
Shosholoza Meyl train economy class |
100 |
British Airways economy class |
1308 ** |
City to City bus |
130 |
South African Airways economy class |
1080 |
SA Roadlink bus |
150 |
British Airways club class |
1907 |
Intercape bus |
150 |
South African Airways premium class |
1907 |
Shosholoza Meyl train tourist class |
170 |
Mango economy class |
no flights |
Citiliner bus |
180 |
1time Airline economy class |
no flights |
Translux bus |
210 |
Interlink Airline economy class |
no flights |
Greyhound bus |
245 |
Mango Flex |
no flights |
Premier Classe train |
750 |
Mango Plus |
no flights |
Baz Bus |
1250 |
* flights leaving Durban for Johannesburg on the 3rd April 2009, between 1729 and 2031
** R1308 is the cheapest BA flight on the BA website, but BA6212 can be booked for R723 on the Kulula site (see tips for cheap flights to view this and other hints for buying reasonably priced airline tickets).
Records for SAA, Kulula & overall flight prices
Here's a history of SAA & Kulula's one-way flight prices from DUR to JNB. As you can see, today's flight price is a new SAA record (previous record R949 in the 28 Nov 2008 flight survey), Kulula record (previous record was R577 in the 13 Dec 2008 survey) and overall record (previous record was R577 in the 17 May 2008 survey).
Flight date |
Kulula flight price |
SAA flight price |
Cheapest flight price |
Fri 3 Apr 09 |
623 |
1080 |
623 |
Fri 20 Feb 09 |
536 |
941 |
536 |
Fri 9 Jan 09 |
609 |
933 |
548 |
Fri 28 Nov 08 |
559 |
949 |
531 |
Fri 17 Oct 08 |
559 |
862 |
548 |
Fri 5 Sep 08 |
489 |
829 |
489 |
Fri 25 Jul 08 |
529 |
892 |
398 |
Fri 13 Jun 08 |
577 |
678 |
577 |
Fri 2 May 08 |
447 |
516 |
409 |
Fri 21 Mar 08 |
531 |
592 |
395 |
Fri 8 Feb 08 |
431 |
578 |
296 |
Fri 28 Dec 07 |
491 |
873 |
410 |
Fri 16 Nov 07 |
611 |
526 |
426 |
Fri 5 Oct 07 |
374 |
411 |
369 |
Fri 24 Aug 07 |
374 |
509 |
315 |
Fri 13 Jul 07 |
329 |
411 |
329 |
Fri 1 Jun 07 |
329 |
806 |
329 |
SAA uninterrupted?
SAA had the following notice on their website: "South African Airways (SAA) operations remain uninterrupted despite industrial action by the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu). SAA implemented a full contingency plan to minimise disruptions to passengers after Satawu embarked on industrial action, since the 20th of February."
However, we know of at least one person who's delivery of air cargo was delayed en-route from Cape Town to Sydney, purportedly as a result of the strike.
Brett is disturbed by Johannesburg
Brett caught a flight from New York to Johannesburg, and was disturbed by what he saw and heard about the old apartheid regime (he spent 3 hours at the apartheid museum) and the gap between rich and poor - he describes the even distribution of wealth as being central to South Africa's success. He also draws attention to the corruption of the ANC.
It pays to be nice at check-in
"Depending on what computer system the airline uses, check-in staff can talk to one another via simultaneous email. So when check-in staff seem to be taking an age to type your rather short name into their computer, they are probably sending one of their mates a message - usually about you or occassionally about someone else in the queue behind you. These messages range from the basic - 'Have you seen the nose/tits/arse/gut on her?' - to the more malicious - 'I've got a right old c**t here; can anyone suggest a screaming child for him to sit next to? They can also add comments or messages to your ticket that flash up as you arrive at the gate. So the cabin crew are warned in advance that a 'twat' is approaching or a 'difficult bastard' is on his way and that you should be treated accordingly - i.e. given your dinner/drink last, asked to move at the last minute to a seat next to an enormously fat man. You see, it really does pay to be pleasant at check-in." Imogen Edwards-Jones, as quoted in his book Air Babylon (available from Kalahari net).
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