I'm planning a trip to Namibia next year but hope to use Amex points for the ticket. Typically, to find business or first class tickets that work with your dates, you have to start way in advance. Sometimes you end up booking one leg and hoping that your other desired date is going to become available before you leave. Hence the early start...

Do any of the members here do the same thing? I am wondering what SA air business is like? One option for me is PDX to AMS on KLM and AMS to Joburg and onwards with SA. There is also lufthansa from Seattle to Frankfurt. From there I know air Namibia flies to Windhoek. Not sure if they are available with amex points? Anyone try their business class?

I would gladly accept tips of other amex eligible routes from the Pacific NW.

Thanks

Oh yes, I just remembered, there's BA from Seattle to London to Johannesburg. I think I have read here that changing airlines in johannesburg cold be problematic when bringin rifles, is that still the case?

Rick,
I used United points a few years ago for RT on SA to Jo'berg. I understand even fewer seats available now.

I suggest you call Steve Turner at travelwithguns.com. He knows this stuff!

Thanks for the tip, I thought those kinds of services were only available to those bying tickets through them.

I used Amex points for two RT tickets from Anchorage to Windhoek. We went from Anchorage to Salt Lake to Atlanta to JFK on Delta, then JFK to Joburg to Windhoek on SAA. The return was Windhoek to Joburg to Atlanta to Salt Lake to Anchorage. It was a loooong trip!

Rick, I recently returned from Namibia and I was able to book part of my airfare with my American Express points. I booked my business class tickets in early February for my June 12th safari. I flew Delta from Tampa - Atlanta - Frankfurt. The Frankfurt to Windhoek leg was on Air Namibia. I did the reverse on the return. My Delta flights are the one's I was able to purchase with my AMEX points. Air Namibia would not take the AMEX points for their tickets, so I paid for those.
Delta has a baggage agreement with Air Namibia so I was able to check my luggage from Tampa all the way through to Windhoek and back again upon my return to the U.S. Other than a 12 hour lay over in Frankfurt on the flight over it was very convenient and trouble free.

I would recommend looking at either British Airways or Air France if trying to use AMEX points. Both the BA and Air France websites allow you to view frequent flyer seat availability online as well as book on line which is a lot more user friendly than spending hours talking to the airline people. You may need to join their frequent flyer clubs before you are able to see the availability.

Last year I booked the London - Windhoek portion of our trip from Reno to Windhoek using AMEX points. I was able to look at the availability on line, transfer my points from AMEX to British Air, see them show up in my BA account 30 seconds later and then book three tickets in First. BA also often has promotions with AMEX where if you transfer points you will get a 25% or 50% bonus on the number of points transferred. Delta may be another option for you although I've found the number of miles Delta wants, particularly for business class, is a lot more than other airlines charge.

The one suggestion I would give you flying out of an airport with limited international flights is to look at departure points that are easy to get to on Southwest or some other airline to give yourself more options. Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and a host of other cities are a quick flight from Portland and it will increase your chances of finding a ticket. Also, if you want to go all the way through to Windhoek you probably need to use BA. However, you should look at getting to Joburg and then just buying a Joburg - Windhoek return ticket. Once again, that will increase your chances of finding a ticket.

Last year three of us flew from LAX to Windhoek in Business on Air New Zealand and First on BA and all the tickets were relatively easy to book (We booked about three months out).