Flight ticket buying advice to South Africa

[seven]

Me and the missus(don't tell her I put it like that) are off to South Africa in October for a couple of weeks.
My question is this: buy flight tickets now or wait a while and gamble on them coming down(or not). At the moment return flights to Johannesburg with Lufthansa are £500 which I don't think is too bad. I would quite like to fly with Qatar as I am a frequent flyer with them and can use the lounges and build up my mileage. At the moment,however they are at £660.
What do you guys think?
BTW I have ruled out the Ireland trip!

 

[swannymere]

In my experience tickets only ever go up unless you're prepared to risk a last minute deal. My flights to Brisbane last Christmas almost doubled in price from when they went on sale to the flight taking off.

 

[Igurisu]

I agree with swannymere, I've never seen ticket prices come down.

 

[whitenemesis]

The earlier you buy the cheaper, usually. Price tends to increase as seats get fewer.

 

[Mr. B]

I hear Bin Laden airlines are very reasonable.

 

[davidjpowell]

I'd expect prices to go up also, although travel is a weird market.

We are looking at holidays, and I just reduced one holiday by £500 by adding a second room. Odd.

 

[SavMan]

+5 they normally go up

 

[whitenemesis]

I hear Bin Laden airlines are very reasonable.

They only do one-way tickets ....

 

[davidjpowell]

Have you used Skyscanner? There are some at £464 depending on where and when you want to go.

 

[StevenN]

We try to go to Goa a few times a year and find that the ticket prices change with the seasons.
Most carriers have monthly offers that are on a first come basis.
You know what you could pay so keep checking for deals and jump in when you find the right deal.
Expedia have come up with a few good offers for us even though we have yet to book.
Even with this we have seen the prices go up by nearly £100 in the time we have been looking.
I am sure in our case the price will come down prior to the monsoon ending.
Don't know if SA has seasonal changes though?

 

[swannymere]

I always use www.southalltravel.co.uk , great website which displays a grid with dates flying out against dates coming back, you can save a lot of money by either changing dates or length of trip and airline. Used them 4 or 5 times now and they've always given good service and usually the cheapest fares. They also let you put a deposit down and then pay the balance a month before you fly. Highly recommended and were a Sunday Times top 100 company.

 

[StevenN]

I have used Southall but they are not always the cheapest.
Tickets to India are good too.
As I said I have been looking on Expedia as their search engine looks at different routes.
Sometimes cheaper if you can split the journey between countries like France or Belgium

 

[seven]

Have you used Skyscanner? There are some at £464 depending on where and when you want to go.

Yes, skyscanner is who I use. I am yet to find a site that compares as many flights as them. I don't think that SA is as seasonal as some destinations such as India with the Monsoon and the heat. All places are subject to half term/holidays though and I am trying to go outside of these times.
StevenN - where in Goa do you go? I spend time in Kashmir and Benaulim every Sept/Oct.

 

[StevenN]

Hi Seven
We have a friend in Candolim with property.
We generally stay with there.
Have thought about seeing more on India but with limited time, money and courage we have yet to venture far from airports.
For us the benefits are the cultures, sights, sounds and the 5.1/2hr time difference.
We can really get away from work when we go.

Good luck with you search

Steve

 

[s88]

South Africa is totally stitched up, you will struggle to find much difference in price between BA, Virgin and SAA.

Yes you can get cheaper going via Dubia or the Gulf with Emirates and Qatar,Etihad?, we found this had a long stopover, very long.

Cheapest way is almost a full package deal.
We booked the holiday through Virgin and I have no complaints.

 

[s88]

Another room

I'd expect prices to go up also, although travel is a weird market.

We are looking at holidays, and I just reduced one holiday by £500 by adding a second room. Odd.

David, fancy booking another room and we will tag along?

 

[Mr. B]

David, fancy booking another room and we will tag along?

Need someone to carry your luggage ???

 

[neilz]

Late reply but just to add my input - ticket prices go up incredible amounts if you book late. Last minute deals are often with charter airlines or cheaper ones. I use KAYAK - Cheap Flights, Hotels, Airline Tickets, Cheap Tickets, Cheap Travel Deals - Compare Hundreds of Travel Sites At Once to check prices

 

[seven]

How prices change!
The Lufthansa flights that were so readily available yesterday at around £500 have now disappeared apart from on a couple of days. However the Qatar flight on the days I want to travel has come down from £662 to £587. What to do now? Keep checking and see if they drop a bit more or book now?! Think I'll have a glass of wine and peruse my options.

 

[davidjpowell]

hmm.

Good luck!

I'm feeling done, as I've been told that Florida is not on for a week, so we are off to Bulgaria for a week in July.