Travelblog » Travel

BA Gets green light

admin — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 09:53:29 +0000

British Airways, American Airlines and Iberia have received the regulatory green light to operate a joint business on transatlantic flights. Following European Union approval on July 14, the airlines have now been granted anti-trust immunity from the US Department of Transportation.

British Airways chief executive, Willie Walsh, said: “This final approval is fantastic news for all three airlines and the oneworld alliance. We’ve waited 14 years to bring the benefits of the transatlantic joint business to our customers and level the playing field with the other two global alliances. As we have argued all along, the EU-US market is highly competitive and Heathrow’s liberalisation in 2008 opened it up even further. We are delighted that the US and EU authorities have recognised this.

SAA Voyager changes

admin — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 08:57:46 +0000

Here are some changes to the SAA voyager program:

BENEFITS

COMPANION CARDS

As a Lifetime Platinum member, we would like to reward you for your ongoing support. You can now nominate a companion – who will automatically achieve Gold status, on condition that you maintain at least the equivalent of Gold Card status yourself, in terms of miles & sectors flown. This will mean that you and your companion can fly together, both have access to Voyager lounges & enjoy other special benefits for a whole year.

CHAUFFEUR SERVICE

The chauffeur service is still available to all Lifetime Platinum members. Platinum members will now only be able to call for a car when flying on First Class, Business Class or upgradeable Y, B, M and K Economy classes.

LOUNGE ACCESS

Silver Voyager members will in future only have full access to South African Airways operated lounges.

MILEAGE PURCHASE OPTIONS

If you don’t have enough Voyager miles banked, you can now buy up to half of the total miles needed to redeem a flight.

BOOK BY MILES

As a further enhancement on our website functionality, all members will be able to redeem awards, make Voyager award reservations and issue Voyager redemption tickets online. This is just another way we are making your award request process easier.

EARNING MILES

SECTOR TIERING

Sector tiering has been reviewed. This enhancement will benefit our members and will now also enable members travelling on regional routes to obtain a higher tier status.

THRESHOLD BONUS MILES

To allow our valued elite members to obtain additional bonus miles, every time you up-tier you will receive increased bonus miles.

SPENDING MILES

UPGRADING FROM ECONOMY TO BUSINESS CLASS

To improve seat availability for all Voyager members, only Y, B, M & K classes of Economy ticket can now be upgraded to Business Class.

USING VOYAGER MILES FOR VOYAGER SERVICES

All members can now use Voyager miles to pay for more than just a plane ticket. You can use your miles to redeem for car hire, health spa treatments or for a stay at Sabi Sabi Lodge.

UPGRADE AT THE AIRPORT

As a further benefit for our Lifetime Platinum & Platinum members, airport upgrades for Business Class can be done at the airport prior to departure, depending on space availability. This is valid for regional & international flights out of OR Tambo International Airport on a one-way basis only.

CHARITY DONATIONS

For those times when you’re feeling generous towards your fellow man, you can now donate Voyager miles to certain charity organisations.

BOOKING FEES

Members are advised to plan their trips and book earlier, as the expediting fees for Voyager late bookings have been adjusted. For bookings within 14 days of departure, R175 will be charged; within seven days R300, and within 24 hours R500. If you book online or do a telephonic award ticket there is no charge. Note: These charges are waived for Lifetime Platinum & Platinum members.

ONE-WAY AWARDS

To ensure that your miles can be used more easily, we will be implementing one-way awards.

SAA AWARD CHART

Certain changes have been effected on SAA awards with regard to the Miles required for redemption. Details of this will be available on www.flysaa.com and will be included in the Member Programme Guide.

COMPANION AWARDS

As this award has not generated significant interest, it has now been discontinued.

COMPANION TICKETS

This benefit is allowed to Voyager credit cardholders who reach the prescribed annual threshold of R80 000 and R60 000 on their Gold and Premium credit card respectively. Although this is a Voyager benefit it does not have any link with the above “companion award”. Visit www.flysaa.com and click on the Voyager Credit Card for more info on this benefit and classes that qualify for such bookings.

King shaka – “Too busy”

admin — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 04:46:58 +0000

Johannesburg – Five plane-loads of football fans headed for the World Cup semifinal between Spain and Germany suffered severe delays on Wednesday at Durban’s King Shaka International Airport, forcing some fans to miss the match.

Source

This seriously is shocking news to hear for the WC – surely the airport were aware when the slots and schedules were booked? This really smacks of incompetence.

The comments below the article sum up what I am sure the fans are feeling:

first you greedy profiteers charge us R 5000-00 for a return ticket to DBN, you let us take off knowing full well that you have no parking space for the flight in DBN ,you then take us all the way back to JHB misplace our luggage. we not only loose the opportunity of a lifetime to watch our match, the loss of our accomodation , car hire , gautrain ,taxi’s . you don’t posses the common decency to appologise and even to reimburse us our direct cost!

Johannesburg at night

admin — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 18:01:37 +0000

Is this just not the best image ever of Johannesburg:

PRECAUTIONARY HEWA BORA

admin — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 07:07:55 +0000

An MD 82 of Hewa Bora Airways experienced a tyre blow out on one of the 6 tyres when taking off from Kinshasa yesterday. The Pilot correctly orbited the airport to dump fuel as the fully fuelled aircraft was above its maximum allowed landing weight.

He then made a normal landing at Kinshasa

Source – email 23 June 2010

10 REASONS WHY A CRUISE IS BEST

admin — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 09:59:54 +0000

10 REASONS WHY A CRUISE HOLIDAY IS WAY BETTER THAN A LAND-BASED VACATION

The price is almost fully inclusive. The cost of your cruise includes your accommodation, transportation, all meals, activities and entertainment. In some cases it will include the gratuities too.This takes away the stress of paying for surprise expenses like extra meals, taxis, buses, room service, incidentals etc.
The floating resorts offer you a different destination each day. Every morning you wake up with a new country or island waiting to be explored. The ship offers optional organized excursions or you may go out on your own.
You enjoy some of the best dining and entertainment in the world. Every day on board ship is different. Different theme days, menus and shows offer you a unique experience every night. You never have to do the same thing twice.
You only unpack and pack once! You can visit different destinations without living out of a suitcase, or spending most of your holiday running from one airport to the next, catching buses and taxis.
On board ship the whole family can enjoy a proper holiday. Married or single, with or without children, the modern floating resorts offer facilities and entertainment for different people of different backgrounds and with different needs.
Modern cruise ships offer a very safe environment. There are no incidents of crime on board!
You can visit the most exotic places without sacrificing any of the conveniences you are accustomed to. You can visit the Far East, Alaska, Russia,Chile, Argentina, the Amazon and the rain forests but every evening you will come home to your modern and comfortable resort and exchange experiences with your fellow guests over a sundowner followed by a lavish 5 course dinner and a broadway show!
Cruising is not only for the rich. It is cheaper to enjoy a cruise holiday than a similar land based one. With prices starting from as little as US$ 75.00 per person per day, cruising offers unbeatable value for money!
Cruising is not only for the old . No matter what lifestyle you lead our floating resorts offer you so many different activities and entertainment that it is certain you will be offered to do what you enjoy doing. No matter how active or inactive you want your holiday to be, our resorts will offer you exactly that!. Tennis, mini golf, video arcade, basket ball, skid shooting, libraries, video libraries, card games, aerobics, fully equipped gyms, health spas, massage,facials and much more are on offer daily.
Cruising is guaranteed to be the most relaxed and enjoyable holiday of your life.

Source: email from Cruises international

Voyager – more disgrunteld passengers

admin — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 20:49:25 +0000

So is SAA misleading the public in cahoots with the banks? A nice deal a voyager sweetener – well in the past we have seen articles flaming SAA on their scruples along with their disregard to run a mileage program that is fair, attainable and actually rewarding. The latest flaming comes from Carol Lazar a well know travel columnist, catch the article here:

IOLTravel

I think it is dishonest, misleading and SAA needs to get its ducks in a row and treat its passengers with respect.

Well done SAA – is it not time you revamped this offer?

World Cup Stadium

admin — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 11:02:51 +0000

Got this fantastic map in the email this week – click on the image below to view in and around the stadiums for the World Cup 2010:

More BA flights cancelled

admin — Fri, 28 May 2010 12:28:51 +0000

Please be aware that our north and southbound South African scheduled services have had minimal disruption due to cabin crew strikes.
Below is a breakdown of flights that have been cancelled for the dates above.

No flights have been cancelled to or from Cape Town

The following flights from JNB to LHR have been cancelled.
BA034/ 30 May
BA034/ 02 June
BA034/ 03 June

The follwing flighs from LHR to JNB have been cancelled
BA033/ 30 May
BA055/ 30 May
BA033/ 01 June
BA033/ 03June

GAUTRAIN – fares

admin — Thu, 27 May 2010 14:55:17 +0000

GAUTRAIN CONFIRMS TICKET FARES Gautrain today released ticket fare prices for those services that will be operational from 08 June 2010. These services include a train service linking stations at Sandton, Marlboro, Rhodesfield and the O.R. Tambo International Airport as well as bus routes from Sandton and Rhodesfield stations. Initial fare estimates were made in 2002 by the Gauteng Provincial Government and incorporated into the Gautrain Concession Agreement signed in 2006. These fares have now been adjusted to account for inflation and also to ensure that the original fare policy is maintained. This fare policy is aimed at making the Gautrain attractive and affordable to broad sectors of the population without competing with existing modes of public transport. As a consequence, Gautrain commuter fares are typically lower than the cost of using a private vehicle for the same journey, but more expensive than those of existing minibus taxis, Metrobus and Metrorail fares. Various travel options are available to commuters using trains, buses and parking or a combination of these features. Commuters who combine a bus trip or parking usage with a train journey will enjoy reduced rates on the bus and parking components. Special weekly and monthly packages are also available for regular users. The system will open with two train services: • The “Airport Service” will link Sandton to the O.R. Tambo International Airport. Airport passengers can board at any station and will pay R100 for a single train trip to the airport. All airport trains go via Sandton station. • The “Commuter Service” links all the stations with the exception of the airport. A single train trip from Sandton to Marlboro will cost R16.50, from Sandton to Rhodesfield R21.00; and from Marlboro to Rhodesfield R18.50. Integrated single train plus single bus trips will cost R22.50 from Sandton to Marlboro, R27.00 from Sandton to Rhodesfield; and R24.50 from Marlboro to Rhodesfield. Parking at any station will cost R9.50 for the first 24hrs or part thereof as long as you also use the train. If you park and do not use the train, the parking fee is substantially increased. Commuters will access all services by means of a contactless smart card – the Gautrain Gold Card. Cash will not be accepted for passage on the buses or trains or at the parking exit gates. The Gautrain Gold Card allows seamless transfer between Gautrain’s train, bus and parking services. Gautrain Gold Cards will be available at a once-off cost of R10 from ticket offices and ticket vending machines at all stations as well as at selected retailers. Value can then be loaded onto the cards on an as-required basis and the cards can be re-used over and over again to pay for Gautrain services. Passengers also have the opportunity of registering their Gautrain Gold Cards at a ticket office which will enable the blacklisting of a card should it be lost or stolen. Un-used value on the card can then be transferred to a new card. The train and bus services will operate from Monday to Sunday between 05:30 to 20:30. Trains and buses will be available every 12 minutes during peak times (05:30 to 08:30 and 16:00 to 19:00), and every 20 minutes during off-peak times. On weekends the train service will be available every 30 minutes.