I’m leaving DFW in a few days to Harare for a hunt. Ticketing was made several months ago on Qatar, and business class air was about $3500. I started looking again a few days ago for flights back to Harare next year (10-11 months out),and found that Qatar and Emirates business class airfares have more than doubled in pricing ($8k-$9k +). It seems that the pricing impact is in business class only, not economy. There are a few other airline options in the mid-$5k range, but the routing is horrendous. Does anyone have any insight as to what’s going on?

I usually fly QA from ATL to JNB, then regional carrier onward. Tickets were always about $4500. Last February I checked on QA flights and they were $7500, so booked on Turkish for $5500. I needed 4 tickets. Just for the hell of it I checked QA 3 weeks before my late August departure. Price had dropped to $4000. My advice is hold off until much nearer departure.

Jet fuel costs are higher than last year.

I flew United this year to Joberg from Durango CO in business for $4500. Out of curiosity I checked a few months later and same ticket was around $12k. Just checked yesterday and back around $5k. My advice- check often and when you see it low, buy it.