That was Heather's (my boss) reaction when I told her that I was going to spend most of the summer in South Africa. I had meant to break it to her gently but when she wanted to talk about planing everyone's summer vacations so that they wouldn't overlap......................well, I didn't really have a choice, did I? Not sure if my job will be here for me when I get back, but that's ok.
If you were to take a globe and shove a knitting needle straight through Alaska it would come out somewhere close to South Africa; and several time over the last three month I've thought that it might be cheaper to just dig our way to Africa. I love living in Alaska, but it sure makes traveling to anywhere (besides Russia: ) expensive. I mean just getting to the states is like going to another country. In three months we will literally be on the other side of the world. What's interesting is the price of a plane ticket to Johannesburg, SA compared to the price of a ticket from Johannesburg to Francistown, Botswana. One is half way around the globe and the other is just a little jump in comparison and it's still a quarter of the price. $2,000.00 to get to Johannesburg, $500.00 to get from Johannesburg to Francistown. That's frustrating.
I'm sitting in my apartment with Jane laying on my shoulder snoring in my ear while Tobi looks for plane tickets. Should we go through Paris??? Amsterdam??? Frankfurt?? What's cheapest??? How long is that flight? Should we drive to Anchorage first??? Does that flight go through Dubai??? Wait that's not right, we're leaving Frankfurt before we get there???!!!! Wow, on the way back we get into Anchorage before we leave Frankfurt!!! : ) We're going to time travel!!!!! This is so exciting!!! A little scary but very exciting!!
If you were to take a globe and shove a knitting needle straight through Alaska it would come out somewhere close to South Africa; and several time over the last three month I've thought that it might be cheaper to just dig our way to Africa. I love living in Alaska, but it sure makes traveling to anywhere (besides Russia: ) expensive. I mean just getting to the states is like going to another country. In three months we will literally be on the other side of the world. What's interesting is the price of a plane ticket to Johannesburg, SA compared to the price of a ticket from Johannesburg to Francistown, Botswana. One is half way around the globe and the other is just a little jump in comparison and it's still a quarter of the price. $2,000.00 to get to Johannesburg, $500.00 to get from Johannesburg to Francistown. That's frustrating.
I'm sitting in my apartment with Jane laying on my shoulder snoring in my ear while Tobi looks for plane tickets. Should we go through Paris??? Amsterdam??? Frankfurt?? What's cheapest??? How long is that flight? Should we drive to Anchorage first??? Does that flight go through Dubai??? Wait that's not right, we're leaving Frankfurt before we get there???!!!! Wow, on the way back we get into Anchorage before we leave Frankfurt!!! : ) We're going to time travel!!!!! This is so exciting!!! A little scary but very exciting!!
12 comments:
Um, that doesn't sound right. $500 is WAY too much money... you should be paying $150 at the most. Did it have an R next to it? That means the price is in rands, which is South African currency. Divide by six to get a rough idea of the price in US dollars, or lookup the current exchange rate.
I AM SO EXCITED!!! Glad you started a blog... love the background... can't wait to see you all. ;)
I think you're right. Tobi found the best tickets ever last night. We can't actually purchase them until tonight but I'm praying that it will all go through the way we have it planned tonight so that I can tell you all about it. I was so excited last night I had trouble sleeping. : )
Hmm, even with the good deal I found, the tickets from Joburg to Francistown are $423 and I can't find them cheaper than that anywhere online. Rachel, are you sure we can get them for cheaper than that? Maybe we should just wait and buy them when we get to Joburg. If we could get them for $150, like you said, that would bring our total down to under $1,800 each.
Are you checking on Air Botswana? You will want to book those tickets separately, rather than make them part of your full itinerary. I just put in the broad dates of June 1-July 29, and it was coming up with options of 485-615 Rand each way per person. There are two days a week that are cheaper to fly between Joburg and Ftown... I think it's Tuesday and Thursday. It might be a little early to book that flight, but I wouldn't wait until you get to Joburg to book it... that might be risky. :)
yep I'm still stuck on the plug thing.....
Ms. all knowing travel expert(aka Rachel), I have another question. Mom is worried that if we buy tickets from separate airlines we won't get through all the flights with our luggage. For example, if we arrive through condor at Frankfurt and then 2:15 hours later have to jump on the next plane through Ethiopian Airlines, we won't have time to get though with our luggage? Should we be concerned about that, or is our mom just being a mom.
It's okay if you have no idea how it would work in that type of a situation, but I thought I'd ask anyway.
Are you booking the flights together or separately? If you are booking them separately, then you might have an issue, just because you would have to exit the terminal, claim your luggage, go through customs, then recheck your luggage and go back through security. IF you book the flights together, even if they are on separate airlines, they will take care of all that for you. Also, if there is a problem and your first flight is late, they will work with you to rearrange the second flight - if you book separately, then you are on your own if the first flight is delayed/cancelled.
And I'm not really all-knowing about travel, I've just done this, um, seven times?? six times?? And that's just to Africa. ;)
We are booking them separately, and so we are aware now that there might be an issue. We've kind of decided just to risk it because the other options aren't as appealing, but we'll think about it some more. I found these interesting Yahoo answers regarding this issue:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090916185506AAZaSDq
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090117181228AAMtMUx
http://ask.metafilter.com/39620/How-will-ticketing-baggage-and-customs-work-flying-through-Frankfurt
I think we can risk it, but it will certainly be stressful. Delaying the flight out of Frankfurt for a day would cost us more money though.
And I know you're not all-knowing. I was just being sarcastic because we are giving you questions that are impossible for you to really answer. We appreciate the help though. We've never stepped foot outside of America.
What? A sarcastic Humphrey? Never. :)
You might be okay. When you check in for your first flights, let them know you are going all the way to Francistown (or at least Joburg) and they might be able to check your bags the whole way through. Since you aren't leaving the airport, they might do it for you. I think a lot of it just depends on who you get when you check in. It's a little risky since you aren't booking the flights together (as one complete itinerary), but it might work out okay.
Okay, after looking into it, I don't think we should risk it.
To get a good deal on tickets, we might have to stay for almost 24 hours in Joburg, both ways. Is this a really bad idea? I personally don't mind it, but you've made the trip before and I was wondering what you thought about it.
I'm guessing from the latest post that you already bought the tickets, but 24 hours in Joburg is a bad idea. :) There is a possibility that you could catch a bus, or you could catch a flight to Gaborone and then up to Francistown to shorten your time in Joburg. However, traipsing around Joburg with your sisters would not be smart. Of course, you could just hang out at the airport, but after 20+ hours of traveling, sitting in an airport that long does not sound pleasant at all.
What did you decide to do?
Our longest layover will be 17 hours in the Joburg airport on the way down. I forget how long it is on the way back but remember it was relatively short. Don't worry about us though. We can handle it on the streets of Joburg...
Are you joking? I wasn't planning on leaving the airport, but Krista and Bekah wouldn't let me if I was. They'll be clinging to both my arms, hiding behind my back the minute we're off the plane. I mean, they're afraid to walk down Cushman Street, Fairbanks in the dark. *rolls eyes*
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