JNB Airport & Comair Flight To Mauritius

I have already blogged a bit about the facilities available in the domestic terminal and we were in business class so had access to a lounge.  In this case, we were simply in economy so no lounge access from the ticket.  I had planned to use Priority Pass to get us into the lounge but by the time we got through the security line, there was no time.  I changed what was left of the Rand to Mauritius Rupees, then wandered into a few shops to kill time.

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High fashion in the airport!

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It was Nov 8 but they already had Christmas decorations up.  I gave into temptation and bought that pink cushion cover and another similar one in black because the had birds on them.

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When we got to the gate, people were already in line so we let the line proceed and jumped in when it slowed down.  We had decent seats and only carry-on backpacks so I wasn’t very worried.

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Comair is a subsidiary of British Airways and has their livery.  Space is easily searchable on either BA.com or AA.com.

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I grabbed a quick shot of the “business class” cabin as we went to our seats.  Identical to economy (Euro-business) with a blocked middle seat.  Not worth wasting Avios on.  The flight wasn’t full and we got an empty middle seat anyway!  The 1908 mile flight falls into the 3rd band and costs 10,000 Avios economy and 20,000 business.

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Airline Review: Comair (British Airways), South Africa

Considering what a bargain these flights are with Avios, I was very pleasantly surprised at what a great airline South Africa’s Comair is!

Business class is basically Euro-business, a normal economy row with the middle seat blocked.  You do get better food though.  Since these flights are never more than a few hours, unless you really want to burn some Avios, I would stick with economy which is also very comfortable and has decent meal service.

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In most cases, you will be boarding and dis-embarking via staircases so plan your carry-ons accordingly.  We use backpacks so this was no problem.IMG_3577

Bargain Flights Around Southern Africa With Avios

If you are heading to South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia or Mauritius, Avios are your best friend!  British Airway’s subsidiary, Comair has a good network in the region.

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Use GC Mapper to find out the mileage on each route.

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Use the Avios Award Chart to see how many Avios for each segment.  In the example above, you can see that Jo-burg to Durban, Port Elizabeth, Victoria Falls and Harare are in the 1st zone and cost 4500 Avios.  Jo-burg to Windhoek or Cape Town cost 7500 Avios and Mauritius costs 10,000 Avios.  All flights are easily booked online.

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Slow Lounge JNB Transit & Comair Flight: Johannesburg – Port Elizabeth

One more flight would end the epic journey from Brisbane to Port Elizabeth in South Africa.  Theoretically, I should have been able to tag a domestic JNB-PLZ segment onto our award ticket but there was no availability in either Y or J the day we needed it.  Thankfully since I can easily get British Airways Avios via my Chase Ultimate Rewards, this wasn’t a huge problem.

Even with the Avios, we would have been fine in economy as it was only a short hop but this wasn’t available so we booked business.  This entitled us to visit the Slow Lounge in the domestic terminal which was pretty nice and had a wide variety of food.  Not that we were that hungry after the breakfast on South African Airways!

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We left the lounge after a quick bite and checking my emails and wandered through the airport to the gate.IMG_2592 IMG_2593

 

Unfortunately the seats were Euro-style business class – economy seats with a blocked middle seat but they did serve us a good lunch and it was less than 2 hours.  Economy would have been fine for this segment if it had been available.IMG_2594 IMG_2595

Finally Port Elizabeth came into view and our epic air journey was over!  All we needed now was a 3 hour drive to King William’s Town and we could finally see the Cape Parrots!IMG_2596 IMG_2597

I only snapped this pic because I liked the bird on the tail fin!IMG_2598 IMG_2599