Low-cost Joburg

March 8, 2010 6:58 AM

Which low-cost airline has the best fares from Bangkok to Johannesburg around Late June / early July?

This may involve using multiple airlines/airports to get to my destination, but I'm searching for tips on finding the best fare. Best I've found is flying with Qatar Airways for USD$554. I know Kayak.com doesn't always have the best deals (I'm flying with AirAsia to get from Australia to Thailand, and they're not listed) so which which airlines should I look into?

Appreciate it!

posted by simplesharps to travel & transportation (7 answers total)

One of my favorite web travel resource is whichbudget.com, which helps you find all available budget airlines from [this destination] to [that destination].
posted by nitsuj at 7:02 AM on March 8, 2010

One thing to keep in mind is those dates are in the middle of the Soccer World Cup in South Africa, so expect prices to be higher than normal. (is that why you're going?)
posted by Gomez_in_the_South at 7:25 AM on March 8, 2010

Oh yeah - I totally forgot about that. It's not the reason why I'm going, maybe I should extend my stay in Thailand for a bit longer. Thanks for the tips!
posted by simplesharps at 7:48 AM on March 8, 2010

I checked on travelstart.co.za but the cheapest flight there was US$ 825. To be honest US$ 554 sounds quite cheap to me for that flight.

In terms of the timing, I'll leave that up to you. Being here for the World Cup will be special for sure, whether you want to compete with all the other football fans for accommodation, transport etc. is debatable.
posted by Gomez_in_the_South at 7:59 AM on March 8, 2010

There was this post in the NYTimes recently about how to find cheap international flights on the internet. It was written from the perspective of flying from the US, but perhaps some of the sites mentioned can help you.
posted by bluefly at 8:36 AM on March 8, 2010

If you're not going during the World Cup and will have a few weeks - you should wait until you land in Bangkok and book from there. Bangkok is one of the cheapest places to buy tickets anywhere in the world. You should be able to find a Cathay Pacific one way for $500 tops.
posted by gman at 9:19 AM on March 8, 2010

OP: is this a one-way or round-trip?

Go to the Bangkok and Johannesburg airport Wikipedia pages and look for any cities in common, then price out separate tickets on airlines' own websites. You may find a good deal through the Middle East, which is all about connecting flights.

Other than nonstop on Thai Airways (aside: is this that much more expensive?) and without going all the way to Europe, you could theoretically (no promises with regards to convenient schedules, bookability, or costs!) go via these cities on the same airline:

• Dubai on Emirates
• Doha, Qatar on Qatar Airways
• Abu Dhabi on Etihad
• Reunion on Air Austral
• Antananarivo, Madagascar on Air Madagascar
• Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific
• Cairo on Egyptair
• Tel Aviv on El Al
• Addis Ababa on Ethiopian Airlines
• Mumbai on Jet Airways
• Nairobi on Kenya Airways
• Kuala Lumpur on Malaysia Airlines
• Singapore on Singapore Airlines
• Istanbul on Turkish Airlines

None are outright low-cost carriers, but they won't all be top-dollar - and if you delay your trip until after the World Cup, you'd probably save heaps. Also, the Qatar deal you found seems pretty good - I can't find anything lower by a good $100.

Finally - check out Skyscanner.
posted by mdonley at 4:09 PM on March 8, 2010