Flashback Friday - Africa 2021

Everyone struggled at lot during the pandemic, I certainly had some tough stuff.  In the grand scheme I managed well, with a steady job. But one of my biggest blows was I had a flight booked to Africa for March 21th 2020. I cancelled it on the 16th.  I was lucky to get a fair amount of money back, and some generous airline credits.  So about a year and a half later I planned to go again.  The pandemic was in a downswing, and my sister was still working there and happy to host.

My sister was working in Mozambique for several years, and I have cousins in South Africa so I was very excited for this long planned trip.   I was very lucky to start when booking my flight. Travelling with Ethiopian Airlines I got a business class ticket for about what the European airlines would have charged for economy! They had a really great deal on for Johannesburg which helped a lot as it was 13 hours to Addis Ababa and then five more to Cape Town.

I landed in Cape Town in the evening and checked into the lovely Cape Heritage Hotel.  I was absolutely exhausted, as I sleep badly on planes.  Even in a lie flat seat.  I was just looking forward to falling into bed.  I did have a peak at the mini bar, though I know it’s never worth it.  A quick bit of mental math with the conversion rate and I realized a bottle of beer was $3 Canadian.  So I popped the top and crawled into bed to wind down for an early night. 

In the morning I had booked a private tour with a local photographer guide.  We started early enough to watch sunrise over Table Mountain. He had some fun tips about looking for different angle. Next we drove up to a lovely beach, which I later realized was where some of my family lived!  It was a beautiful spot, with a large tidal pool for swimmers. 

We continued driving up the coast to Boulder Beach and the penguin sanctuary, where I got some amazing photos, before going to Cape Point and the Old Cape Point lighthouse.  Driving around the Cape Point Nature reserve, and the Cape of Good Hope was just stunning.  My guide was very knowledgeable about the local flora as well as photography.

We then stopped for lunch, saw an ostrich farm and then drove back along a coast road with lots of stops for stunning landscapes.  Back in Cape Town he gave me some tips for safer areas to explore near my hotel.  He recommended walking a few blocks of the Bo Kaap neighbourhood.  The houses are all painted bright and beautiful colours.

I had dinner by the hotel that night, and an early evening.  I wasn’t too keen about wandering Cape Town alone after dark.  As well I still pretty tired from the trip out! So I had a local gin and tonic at the bar before heading back to bed.  At least in the morning I didn’t have to be up before sunrise!

Alex’s Advice - Is Business Class Worth It?

Short answer no.  Long answer, sometimes.

I really can’t justify business class, it is so expensive for what is.  The roomier seats are nicer, especially if you get a lay flat bed.  The food is better, the lounge is nice.  But it is ridiculously expensive.  I definitely love it when I have travelled that way, but I am a champagne woman travelling on beer budget.   There are times though, where I decided I was on a long enough flight it was worth trying to work the system of upgrades.

My first time flying business was paying full fare.  I was super lucky though, travelling to Southern Africa I found a deal with Ethiopian Airlines where the business class was actually cheaper than economy with the European Airlines.  So definitely shop the airlines and look for deals.  At the time the economy flight was $500 Toronto to Johannesburg.  It was definitely worth it as one leg going there was 13 hours, and coming home it was 20 hours. 

The other way to upgrade is bidding.  Usually in cash, sometimes with airline points, if you buy an economy ticket you can put in a bid for business.  I find with flights just around Canada or across the Atlantic, business is still over priced.  There is an option for premium economy that is worth it for transatlantic flights, but I wouldn’t bother just crossing North America.  It’s pretty much the same seat as economy plus. 

For a 13 hour flight home from Australia I tried the bid.  It was a bit of a gamble of course, but I bought the cheapest ticket I could, and then put in the max bid.  I have the most experience with Air Canada which gives you a range to bid.  If I don’t care as much I’ll do a low bid.  For this flight I really wanted the upgrade so I did the maximum amount.  I happily won and spent the long flight with the relatively comfortable lay flat bed.

My credit card also has eupgrade options, which are cheaper but harder to use than just the usual bid.  I have used them a few times, and an instance recently where I retracted by bid.  It can be important to pay attention to the fine details of your flight.  Heading to England, my plane was empty.  I could see I would have an entire row to myself, I could tell I wasn’t going to get Business.  The waitlist was longer than there were seats.  I was going to get the upgrade to premium economy.  Which was going to be completely full, as well as the hard arm rests.  Despite some fancier food I knew I would be much more comfortable in economy.  So I cancelled my offer and stayed put and probably got more rest that way.

There are things I love about Business Class, and let me give one warning, once you go fancy it is soooo hard to go back.   As my sister says though - if you spend money on the upgrade that is less money we can spend on the trip itself! Until I win the lottery, it’ll be mostly economy in my future.  With maybe a few bids for the long hauls.