BA cheaper than Translux

2 Oct 2009 flights surveyed on 5 Sep 2009 South Africa Travel Online

Amazing, but true. Flying a full service British Airways 2 hour flight from Durban to Cape Town is cheaper than taking a 23 hour Translux bus trip on the same route. Not that BA were cheapest - Mango set a record low flight price of R470 for our Friday afternoon flight survey (previous low was R477 on 30 Jun 2007), but I personally would pay the extra R57 and book a flight with British Airways (leaves at the more reasonable hour of 18h00, free meals, more legroom and flight miles) - see our writeup on SAA vs BA.

one-way flights from Durban to Cape Town *		bus trips from Durban to Cape Town
BA - British Airways : economy class flight BA6306 departs DUR 1800 arrives CPT 2005	527**	Shosholoza Meyl economy class leaves on Wednesdays	280
Kulula Air : economy class flight MN6312 departs DUR 1430 arrives CPT 1640	1149***	SA Roadlink bus coach departs DUR 0630 arrives CPT 0730	299³
Mango: economy class flight JE387 departs DUR 2115 arrives CPT 2325	470	City to City bus coach departs DUR 1745 arrives CPT 1830	410
1time Airline : economy class flight 1T647 departs DUR 1800 arrives CPT 2000	538	Citiliner bus coach via Port Elizabeth departs DUR 1645 arrives CPT 1900	420
SAA - South African Airways : economy class flight SA627 departs DUR 1945 arrives CPT 2155	538²	Intercape bus coach via Bloemfontein departs DUR 1030 arrives CPT 1035	510
Mango Plus flight JE387 departs DUR 2115 arrives CPT 2325	999	Greyhound bus coach via Bloemfontein departs DUR 1130 arrives CPT 0915	520
South African Airways business class flight SA627 departs DUR 1945 arrives CPT 2155	2545	Translux bus coach departs DUR 1700 arrives CPT 1745	540
Mango Flex flight JE387 departs DUR 2115 arrives CPT 2325	879	Shosholoza Meyl tourist class	560
BA - British Airways : business class/club flight BA6306 departs DUR 1800 arrives CPT 2005	2885	Baz Bus 7 day pass	1350

* one-way flights from Durban to Cape Town, leaving Durban between 1349 & 2146 on the 2nd Oct 2009. Prices will change.
** British Airways' record lowest price from Durban to Cape Town (previous lowest was in our last Durban to Cape Town flight survey, for flights on 21 Aug 2009).
*** After running the Kulula spring special last week, I'm amazed at how expenssive their flight price in this survey is. And MN6312 is actually British Airways flight BA6312, which can be booked for R527 on the British Airways site - a saving of R622 (see our tips for cheap flights in South Africa to see this and other ways of reducing your flight prices).
² This is the cheapest one-way SAA flight we have surveyed on this route (but not cheap enough to beat BA British Airways) - the previous cheapest Durban to- Cape Town flight was R649 on 30 June 2007.
³ Equal to SA Roadlink's record cheapest price of R299 on 15 Dec 2007.

Lanseria - Cape Town flight report

Flymad stepped out of his SAA & Voyager comfort zone and reviewed his Lanseria-Cape Town flight on Kulula, taking tons of photos in the process. He pointed out the long walk to the drop-off and go at Cape Town International [Ed: Cant wait for the construction to end!]. No peanuts were served on the return flight from Cape Town to Lanseria Airport, due to a child on board the plane having a severe peanut allergy [Ed: first time I've heard of that happening].

Cabin crew at the Kruger

"Sure enough dawn broke and it was a truly amazing sight down at the watering hole, watching all the wildlife in their natural surroundings. After about 2 hours we had literally seen everything, a cheetah, elephant, lion, buffalo, and wildebeest, everything except leopards. A quick bit of brunch and it was back onto the jeeps for the afternoon stint, we were kept amused, in between sightings of animals which were now becoming rare (Ed: as you move on from dawn there aren't as many beasts out and about), by Kate, a really thick brummie hostess who kept asking ridiculous questions; for example, 'As the park is 7000 feet above sea level, would we get turbulence in the jeeps?' she asked. When she was told how many animals there were in the park, she wanted to know who had counted them. I told her in jest 'Its' Colin the counter who does it'. 'Ugh, is that really his name? What a boring job colin has' (straight over her head). 'What type of lion is that?' 'Oh that's a 4.2 litre V 8 Lion' and also various other ridiculous questions about elephants and why they attack and rape rhino and that someone should keep an eye on them and stop them doing it." extract from a book by Gary May "If it's not the Trolley, you cant have it". Buy your books at Exclusive Books online.

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