For a limited time, South African Airways and American Express have teamed up to offer a fantastic 2 for 1 deal to South Africa. Pay with your American Express card and take advantage. THIS OFFER NOT AVAILABLE ONLINE.
The World Cup is coming! An interesting article on the increased airport security implemented in South Africa as part of the World Cup preparation:
By Joshua Howat Berger (AFP)
JOHANNESBURG — South Africa’s international airports have a notorious reputation for baggage theft, but officials say they have cracked down on pilfering and boosted security ahead of the World Cup.
Airports Company South Africa has spent 165 million rands (21 million dollars, 17 million euros) upgrading security ahead of the June 11 kick-off, including electronic bag scanners meant to cut down on luggage theft.
That will be put to the test this week as 300,000 World Cup fans begin arriving in South Africa, with about one third of them landing just on Wednesday and Thursday, according to South African football officials.
“Three years ago, we used to have about 40 cases of theft reported per day,” said Tebogo Mekgoe, the assistant general manager at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport, the busiest in the country.
He acknowledged the airport had acquired a “pretty bad” reputation for theft, with international travellers often warned of baggage handlers’ sticky fingers. The US embassy website calls theft at OR Tambo a “serious problem” and encourages travellers to secure their luggage with locks approved by the air safety agency. Britain’s embassy recommends vacuum-wrapping checked bags in plastic when travelling to South Africa — a service offered in most departure terminals.
But Mekgoe said the airport authority has reduced luggage theft to “almost nothing” by hiring all new baggage handlers, creating a “baggage reaction team” and switching to electronic scanners that track bags from check-in to loading on the plane.
“This new technology has remarkably reduced cases of pilferage,” Mekgoe told reporters.
He said OR Tambo had not received a single baggage theft complaint during last year’s Confederations Cup, a warm-up tournament for the World Cup.
Read the full article at: Google Hosted News
Coming soon: Turn your smartphone into a hotel room key
Posted by: Sean O’Neill, Thursday, May 27, 2010, 1:08 PM
A new application will let travelers use their iPhones and other smartphones as room keys at Holiday Inns.
The Open Ways app makes it possible for guests to skip the front desk and go straight to their room, says a scoop by USA Today’s Hotel Check-In blog.
It’ll work like this: After you book a room, the hotel chain will zap an encrypted, unique audio code to your phone. You’ll get a text message, too, telling you what room you’ve been assigned to. Once at the door, click the app on your phone, and a signal will unlock your room’s door. A similar technology is already used as the key for rent-by-the-hour Zipcars.
The technology is still being tested in parts of Chicago and Houston and is not yet widely available.
Meanwhile, Apple recently filed for a patent for iTravel, a new app that will allow travelers to use paperless ticketing at airports, car rentals, and concerts.
One trick Apple would like to pull off is display on an iPhone’s screen a barcode-like graphic. Once you make reservations for your trip, airlines, hotels, and other companies can send you a code by e-mail or text message. You can have this code scanned by attendants at airport gates, concert turnstiles, or other shops. Already, Starbucks now lets you pay for your coffee via an iPhone app tied to the Starbucks debit card.
Apple’s other trick may be to add a “near-field communication chip” to each phone, which would make it easier and more common to use an iPhone as a hotel room key.
Do you like the idea of skipping the front desk by using your cell phone as a room key? Or does this new technology sound like it’ll create new problems?
Read the full article at Budget Travel
A nice article by TravelPulse.com’s David Cogswell about the new infrastructure in place for the World Cup and the greater meaning:
Published May 18, 2010
As I arrived at the newly renovated O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa, on my way to the Indaba travel trade show in early May, I encountered local people standing to greet and assist visitors. I suddenly realized that I was seeing the final dress rehearsal for South Africa as it prepares to meet the world for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
This year’s Indaba was the climax of the six-year build up to the World Cup, scheduled to take place only June 11 through July 11, only a month after the trade show. Ever since 2004, when South Africa won its bid to host the world soccer (football) championship, its tourism industry has been preparing diligently for the event. The World Cup has been the main theme of every Indaba, and now that the anticipated tournament is practically here, the emphasis of Indaba, South Africa Tourism and the country itself was “We are ready.”
I flew to South Africa for the first time on South African Airways’ newly scheduled nonstop flight from New York JFK to Johannesburg. It leaves in the morning, instead of early evening as before. That schedule allows the flight to arrive in Johannesburg in the morning instead of the evening, and opens many more connections without a stay over in Johannesburg. Equally important for me was the fact that the New York-Johannesburg route no longer stops at Dakar on the west coast of Africa, as it did before, which greatly eases the trip. The whole flight took roughly 15 hours.
The return flight from Johannesburg to New York JFK still stops in Dakar, but South African Airways (SAA) says it is working on a way to provide nonstop service on that leg as well. SAA’s new CEO, Siza Mzimela, told attendees at Indaba that the airline has taken substantial steps to prepare for the challenges of moving the lion’s share of the estimated 300,000 visitors to the World Cup. “We are more than ready for the World Cup,” she said. “We’ve geared up so we’re able to run a 24-hour operation on certain days. We’ve improved our aircraft availability and made sure we have better aircraft.” SAA has added staff in its cabin crews, check-in desks, baggage handling and call centers.
Indeed, there is new infrastructure throughout South Africa. New airports and many stadiums have been built. I landed in Durban at its brand new King Shaka Airport, which still smelled of fresh paint and freshly poured concrete. During the conference I was able to visit the new Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban, an architectural marvel with a dramatic spine over the top that supports the sides with cables similar to a suspension bridge.
The energy in the air at Indaba seemed to audibly crackle as I walked through its several pavilions, each packed with travel exhibitors. With Durban, South Africa’s version of Miami Beach, as its tropically festive setting, the show brings together a wide diversity of people and businesses gathered for a common purpose. And the cumulative energy it produces is almost startling.
Read the full article at TravelPulse.com
Whenever the government gets involved in micromanaging a business, there’s the risk of unintended consequences for the public.
That’s what I’m worried about with this new three-hour tarmac rule, which goes into effect Thursday.
The rule says that any plane sitting on the tarmac for three hours without giving passengers a chance to get off will face heavy fines.
That seems right. Nobody wants passengers stranded on planes with overflowing toilets, crying babies and a wait with no end in sight.
On the other hand, most airlines would never choose to let a plane sit for hours. So if it does, there’s usually some kind of problem, probably weather-related or traffic delays. Problems at airports are like dominoes — they cascade. Pretty soon the whole thing’s a mess.
Nightmare onboard
We all know that the airlines did this to themselves. Mesaba Airlines ruined it for all carriers when its ground crew in Rochester, Minn., refused a Continental Express jet’s plea to disembark passengers on a dark and gloomy night last August, forcing passengers and crew to sit overnight onboard. That was the last straw for the Department of Transportation, which laid down the new regulations in December.
If airlines and airports can’t behave with common sense, there has to be a law. The regulation is 81 pages long.
It’s too bad the law can’t be one sentence: Common sense should rule.
Now, it’s likely airlines will use the law as an excuse to cancel most bad-weather flights in advance to avoid possible penalties, which run $27,500 per passenger if the plane isn’t off the tarmac in three hours.
With fewer flights overall, more passengers will find they can’t rebook anytime soon.
I’m also afraid the airlines will cancel instead of delay any flight that goes back to the gate.
And who knows what will happen to checked luggage in the cargo hold if some passengers want to get off a flight and others do not?
Food, water, toilets
The rule does have loopholes that could still leave planes stranded in the next blizzard. There are exemptions for “safety or security or if air traffic control advises the pilot in command that returning to the terminal would disrupt airport operations,” DOT regulations say.
That’s kind of a large loophole.
About 900 flights last year sat on the tarmac for three hours or more, according to the DOT.
All my worries aside, the new regulations do have some great provisions in it for, um, provisions. It says airlines must provide adequate food and drinking water within two hours of a tarmac delay — plus keep bathrooms operable and have medical attention available.
In addition, starting on June 29 airlines will have to post flight delay information on their Web sites.
Let’s hope the three-hour tarmac delay regulation turns out to be one of those good, consumer-friendly government rules and not a dud.
Just a reminder to all our friends that 2010 fares will take effect on Thursday April 1st, meaning increases of up to $285 on some roundtrip fares to South Africa. Give us a call at 800 327 0373 and get the best price.
