Planning a trip from San Francisco (SFO) to Cape Town, South Africa, requires careful consideration, especially when traveling with elderly family members. Here's a comprehensive guide to help you find the best flights, focusing on comfort, business class options, and airline recommendations.
Direct Flights and Connecting Options
The first question often asked by those planning a trip to Africa is - are there flights to Africa from the USA? Well the easy answer is yes - there are direct flights to Kenya as well as South Africa from the USA. While direct flights offer the most convenience, they may not always be the most economical or readily available option.
Direct flights to South Africa from the USA are available from Atlanta with Delta Airlines, who serve Johannesburg & Cape Town non-stop whilst United Airlines are the only carrier to offer a direct service between Washington Dulles and Cape Town, perfect for those on the East Coast planning a trip to South Africa. New York has non-stop links to Nairobi in Kenya, (with Kenya Airways, who operate a daily direct 13½ hour flight from JFK, and who have a vast onward network to all areas of Africa), and to both Johannesburg & Cape Town in South Africa, (operated by United from Newark, with the journey taking a little over 14hrs).
Domestic connections to New York, Atlanta & Washington will allow the American traveller heading for Kenya or South Africa the chance to hop onto one of the direct services, but for those bound for other parts of Africa, the options are many!
The massive benefits of flying directly from the USA to Africa - less journey time, less stress, less hanging around, less chance of missed connections or lost luggage - should never be dismissed, but with relatively few non-stop options, for many it will mean taking at least a one-stop trip.
Read also: Flights to Cape Town from New York
Alternative Routes via Europe and the Middle East
Flights to Africa from the USA can follow many routes - Europe has always been a great drawcard for the American traveller, and those travelling to Africa can make an easy stop there on the way, creating a truly memorable two-continent adventure.
Lovers of Paris who are planning a trip to Africa should plump for the services of Air France. Flying from most major US cities, plus a number of smaller ones such as Denver & Raleigh Durham, the canny traveller can spend time in the City of Light before continuing onward to South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Mauritius or even Madagascar. Just imagine combining the Moulin Rouge with the Masai Mara!
Vacation time can also be enjoyed in Amsterdam for those flying with the Dutch national carrier KLM. Serving a number of secondary US cities including Portland, Salt Lake City, Austin, Minneapolis and Las Vegas, the airline is known for their extensive network of African routes, particularly in the east, with Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda & Rwanda all served. Why not follow Van Gogh with the Volcanoes National Park?
Finally we have the UK & its capital city London which, thanks to the joint One World operations of British Airways & American Airlines, is linked to pretty much every major city stateside. Those opting to break their African trip with some downtime in London can then fly onwards from Heathrow airport directly to South Africa, Kenya & Mauritius.
Middle East Options: While initially dismissed due to the added travel time, airlines like Qatar Airways and Emirates offer excellent service and connections through Doha and Dubai, respectively. Qatar Airways connects US destinations as varied as Seattle, San Francisco & Los Angeles on the West Coast, Dallas Fort Worth, Houston & Miami in the south, and Washington, Boston & JFK on the East Coast, with African hotspots as varied as Rwanda, Uganda, Zanzibar and Mozambique. This is a one-stop journey from the US to Africa with no added drama.
Read also: JFK to Nigeria Flight Options
Running Qatar Airways a very close second are Emirates, whose simple-to-use Dubai base is linked to 14 major US cities, as well as a myriad of African destinations, from Kenya & Tanzania in the east, to Zimbabwe & Zambia further south, and the Indian Ocean hotspots of Mauritius and the Seychelles. Flying with Emirates also allows the intrepid the chance to spend a few days en-route enjoying the many attractions of Dubai - from dune-bashing in the desert to world-class dining and shopping.
With thoughts of making the most of an en-route stopover, consider travelling with Turkish Airlines and breaking your journey where east meet west, in exotic Istanbul. Turkey’s national carrier links major American cities such as Chicago, New York, LA, Dallas, Atlanta & Washington with African destinations spread far and wide - from South Africa & Mozambique down south right up to Tanzania & Kenya. The Grand Bazaar together with the Great Migration would make for a mighty vacation!
Choosing Business Class for Comfort
Given the long journey and your mother's chronic pain, investing in business class is a wise decision. Business class offers lie-flat seats, better food options, and a more comfortable travel experience. When we did a google search for some flights I was shocked to see a $13-15000 price tag for flights. How can that be possible? 15 hours in business could be doable, but my Aunt is talking economy so I don't know about her. My mother doesn't need constant assistance. She uses a cane. In economy, she sometimes holds onto the seats to walk the aisle. She said length of flight and layover are not important.
Airlines to Consider:
- United Airlines: If you’re alliance-agnostic and looking to use United miles, consider flying United.
- Qatar Airways: If you can convince your mother to take a longer flight, you should check out QR via DOH. If you have the UA miles (around 180K miles per passenger round trip). Considered by many to be one of the best business class products.
- Ethiopian Airlines: Except I would book one of the red eyes between SFO and IAD and get award flights on ET. You will have 1 flight IAD-ADD and then one flight ADD-CPT. Both ET flights will have lie flat seats and there will be a relatively short connection (about 1 hour) in ADD.
- Lufthansa: On LH you can get a connection under 2 hours in business class SFO-MUC-CPT and have a total flight time of around 25 hours.
Airlines to Avoid:
Read also: Flying LAX to Lagos
- British Airways via LHR: I would avoid BA flights in business via LHR if possible. The taxes and carrier-imposed surcharges will be hundreds of dollars more than your options.
Tips for Booking and Managing Your Flight
- Mobile Boarding Pass: Get your mobile boarding pass, reserve your preferred seat, or book additional flights - all conveniently from your smartphone.
- Inflight Entertainment: Prefer to watch the latest movies or series? Then look forward to hours of entertainment with our inflight entertainment program.
- Lufthansa eJournals: For entertainment on board, enjoy our selection of newspapers and magazines from around the world. Simply download our Lufthansa eJournals to your mobile device before your Lufthansa flight and enjoy your reading.
- Digital Menu: Take a look at the digital menu for your outbound or return flight in advance to see what awaits you.
Using Miles and Awards:
If you are booking using UA miles, a single coach round trip USA-Africa is 80k miles. Business is around 160k miles for all UA award itineraries and between 175k and 190k for partner airline award itineraries. UA PE awards are 150K miles round trip. My experience has been that multiple business award seats on the same EWR-JNB flight are virtually impossible to book.
Stopovers and Layovers:
Stopovers (connections > 24 hours) are not bookable on awards. All connections must be < 24 hours. You can book stopovers on most carriers between the US and South Africa for little or no charge. I have booked overnight award flight connections in ADD on ET business class award flights and was given a free visa and free hotel accomodations at the Ethiopian Starlight Hotel (owned by ET). It was very nice.
COVID-19 Entry Requirements:
In any event, if you are going to leave an airport during a transit connection, you need to make sure you meet that country's Covid entry requirements. Not that this will be terribly difficult. But you need to me aware of what the specific requirements are.
What is the best airline to fly to South Africa?
Additional Tips
- Flexibility: Honestly OP assuming you're looking for award tickets then youre being way (way) too picky at this point. Trying to find 2 or 3 seats in business on the same flights from the US to South Africa will be a very tough task.
- Award Availability: If you have 225k AA miles American has award availability for early next year from what I saw. If you do it right you can do SFO- DOH - JNB for 75k per person plus $42, and as others said Qatar will probably be a much better time for your mom.
- Consider Premium Economy: Perhaps, we should consider Premium Economy? The goal was to for her to lie down.
By carefully considering these factors, you can plan a memorable and comfortable trip from San Francisco to Cape Town for you and your family.
