Flying to Kasane in Botswana & back again...connection flights question?

[Box Brownie]

Hi all

We are going in September to the Pangolin Hotel and I know most of the fellow members here are in the US with some like me in the UK & EU and few others in Australia & New Zealand.

Our outbound and return is Heathrow with BA to Jo'Burg and then Airlink to Kasane with Airlink.

The outbound flight with BA does not offer a 'connecting flight' option unless they do at Check-in. But I know of one person, who on the return at Kasane airport was offered (I don't think they asked about it?) if they wanted to use the 'connecting flight service' which they did and obviously the next time they saw their checked bag was at Heathrow.

IIRC that was seen as beneficial as the time between landing @ Jo'burg and the BA flight though good, was feared to be a bit tight as on the outbound with even more interval time.....the delays with the Airlink queues at checkin rather worried them for the return flight???

However, when I mentioned this to the Pangolin agent I got a distinct impression of a sharp intake of breath!

So, I thought I would just throw the question out there to my fellow BCG forum members for their experience & experiences about, if offered and/or available such connecting flights & the checked baggage???

TIA

 

[Ivan Rothman]

I was with Pangolin in April and flew from Johannesburg to Kasane with Airlink. Then flew back to Johannesburg with Airlink.
Pangolin was well aware of my flight times and made sure we departed in time to collect our luggage in Johannesburg and then get to our international flight back to Heathrow and then to NY.
I did not feel comfortable having my luggage sent by Airlink to British Air in Johannesburg but felt much safer picking up my luggage and then rechecking it.

 

[RichF]

I have flown from Botswana through JNB onto the US and seen it work both ways. Just make sure you have much more time than you think you will need. There is a saying, TIA - This Is Africa. They work on their own schedule

 

[Box Brownie]

I was with Pangolin in April and flew from Johannesburg to Kasane with Airlink. Then flew back to Johannesburg with Airlink.
Pangolin was well aware of my flight times and made sure we departed in time to collect our luggage in Johannesburg and then get to our international flight back to Heathrow and then to NY.
I did not feel comfortable having my luggage sent by Airlink to British Air in Johannesburg but felt much safer picking up my luggage and then rechecking it.

I too view such connections "through" with a tad of scepticism ~ though we have done it twice
....when travelling to Switzerland and the luggage arrived within 20 minutes of our arriving at the hotel.
Also from Heathrow to Reunion that went via a change at Charles de Gaul in Paris. But somehow with them it seemed so much more secure & trustworthy.

I have flown from Botswana through JNB onto the US and seen it work both ways. Just make sure you have much more time than you think you will need. There is a saying, TIA - This Is Africa. They work on their own schedule

Yes, the flight timings are good:-

Heathrow flight lands at 07:15am and the Airlink flight departs at 11:50 am
The return Airlink gets us back to Jo'burg at 3:55pm and the BA flight is at 7:20pm

PS your flights with added distance to the US, oh boy talk about long flights!

 

[SugarDude]

I was at Pangolin in May. On my return trip home, I checked my luggage through to my final destination in Atlanta. It went great and I was glad I didn’t have to deal with it in Johannesburg. One of our travel buddies decided not to check it through and said it was a terrible mistake. He said it was a hassle in JNB and almost missed his flight. I’m sure there was some risk, but I would do it again.

 

[Box Brownie]

I was at Pangolin in May. On my return trip home, I checked my luggage through to my final destination in Atlanta. It went great and I was glad I didn’t have to deal with it in Johannesburg. One of our travel buddies decided not to check it through and said it was a terrible mistake. He said it was a hassle in JNB and almost missed his flight. I’m sure there was some risk, but I would do it again.

Thanks for your insights.

As far as I know, Virgin from Heathrow offer such connection flights to Jo'burg but as BA don't we will have to see how the outbound leg & what it is like going from Arrivals to Departures in Jo'burg? That experience may affect our thinking about staying airside on the return journey!

IIRC the time window to do the Airlink online check-in for the outbound will be available.....so I wonder if Airlink have their equivalent of a "Fast Bag Drop" that might just speed up the experience there?

PS in regard to the questionable/potential risk of checking in "connected" I surmise just best to make sure only personal items in that suitcase........ anything like chargers that may have travelled in that case outbound should be put in the cabin bag! Perhaps pack it that way too on the outbound???

 

[Helo48]

I was travelling with Pangolin in Botswana last October. My Swiss flight from Zurich via Johannesburg and then on with SA Airlink to Kasane went smoothly. I dropped off my luggage in Zurich and picked it up again in Kasane. The return flight from Maun via Johannesburg and then on to Zurich went without any problems.

ZRH from 22:40, JNB to 09:10, JNB from 11:50, BBK to 13:35
MUB from 14:30, JNB at 16:10, JNB from 19:25, ZRH at 06:10

Pangolin guaranteed us that we would reach the flight from maun without any problems

 

[pomkiwi]

BA do sell flights from London to Kasane with the same itinerary that you have. If your flights are on the same ticket then you should be offered the option to check your bags all the way through, if they are separate tickets BA are extremely unlikely to offer this.
If offered i would take it - it is a hassle to have to enter South Africa, collet baggage, check it in and leave South Africa again. If all goes well you will ahve the time but a delay to the incoming BA flight will result in a stressful morning.
I think that baggage security in JNB has improved and I'm not sure luggage is that much more vulnerable on a short connection than on retrieving it and checking in again. Definitely no valuables in your checked luggage and I always take chargers etc in hand luggage - more because of the risk of baggage delay than theft.

 

[RichF]

PS your flights with added distance to the US, oh boy talk about long flights!

15 hours JNB to EWR. Argh! but gets lots of miles

 

[RichF]

BA do sell flights from London to Kasane with the same itinerary that you have. If your flights are on the same ticket then you should be offered the option to check your bags all the way through, if they are separate tickets BA are extremely unlikely to offer this.
If offered i would take it - it is a hassle to have to enter South Africa, collet baggage, check it in and leave South Africa again. If all goes well you will ahve the time but a delay to the incoming BA flight will result in a stressful morning.
I think that baggage security in JNB has improved and I'm not sure luggage is that much more vulnerable on a short connection than on retrieving it and checking in again. Definitely no valuables in your checked luggage and I always take chargers etc in hand luggage - more because of the risk of baggage delay than theft.

a few years ago I had a tix from US to JNB onto Durban. Last segment was on BA. For some reason BA cancelled their reationship with the local carrier and while I could keep my tix (flight changes meant I had a too tight connection) I could not change. I had to buy another tix JNB to Durban and get a refund from the BA fligjht (in form of flight credits). STill have them

 

[Box Brownie]

I was travelling with Pangolin in Botswana last October. My Swiss flight from Zurich via Johannesburg and then on with SA Airlink to Kasane went smoothly. I dropped off my luggage in Zurich and picked it up again in Kasane. The return flight from Maun via Johannesburg and then on to Zurich went without any problems.

ZRH from 22:40, JNB to 09:10, JNB from 11:50, BBK to 13:35
MUB from 14:30, JNB at 16:10, JNB from 19:25, ZRH at 06:10

Pangolin guaranteed us that we would reach the flight from maun without any problems

Thanks for that insight including about the connection process for you.

BA do sell flights from London to Kasane with the same itinerary that you have. If your flights are on the same ticket then you should be offered the option to check your bags all the way through, if they are separate tickets BA are extremely unlikely to offer this.
If offered i would take it - it is a hassle to have to enter South Africa, collet baggage, check it in and leave South Africa again. If all goes well you will ahve the time but a delay to the incoming BA flight will result in a stressful morning.
I think that baggage security in JNB has improved and I'm not sure luggage is that much more vulnerable on a short connection than on retrieving it and checking in again. Definitely no valuables in your checked luggage and I always take chargers etc in hand luggage - more because of the risk of baggage delay than theft.

When I first looked on the BA website (some good many weeks back now.....I did put in Heathrow to Kasane on the specific dates and the timings of the flights they offered were "off" IIRC either because the connection timing being much tighter than what I have ended up with or ??? that I can't recall.

So I booked the Heathrow to Jo'burg return via BA and based on a recommendation by someone I know who went last November, bought the Jo'burg to Kasane returns on booking(dot)com

I will and historically have always done the online check-in and the bag drop......plus as Airlink have online check-in I will do that too. I will (possibly) ask at the bag drop desk if they can provide the "connection" flight travel.

15 hours JNB to EWR. Argh! but gets lots of miles

Phew that is long!

a few years ago I had a tix from US to JNB onto Durban. Last segment was on BA. For some reason BA cancelled their reationship with the local carrier and while I could keep my tix (flight changes meant I had a too tight connection) I could not change. I had to buy another tix JNB to Durban and get a refund from the BA fligjht (in form of flight credits). STill have them

Ah! a bit torturous:(

 

[SugarDude]

BA do sell flights from London to Kasane with the same itinerary that you have. If your flights are on the same ticket then you should be offered the option to check your bags all the way through, if they are separate tickets BA are extremely unlikely to offer this.
If offered i would take it - it is a hassle to have to enter South Africa, collet baggage, check it in and leave South Africa again. If all goes well you will ahve the time but a delay to the incoming BA flight will result in a stressful morning.
I think that baggage security in JNB has improved and I'm not sure luggage is that much more vulnerable on a short connection than on retrieving it and checking in again. Definitely no valuables in your checked luggage and I always take chargers etc in hand luggage - more because of the risk of baggage delay than theft.

When I was there, I had flights from JNB-ATL on Delta. I had totally separate tix with Airlink. Airlink offered to check my bags from Kasane to ATL. They also offered the same service for United customers. I was skeptical at first but checked all the way home. Worked great and I would do it again. Nice not to have to collect in JNB and then recheck.

 

[Sasand]

BA do sell flights from London to Kasane with the same itinerary that you have. If your flights are on the same ticket then you should be offered the option to check your bags all the way through, if they are separate tickets BA are extremely unlikely to offer this.
If offered i would take it - it is a hassle to have to enter South Africa, collet baggage, check it in and leave South Africa again. If all goes well you will ahve the time but a delay to the incoming BA flight will result in a stressful morning.
I think that baggage security in JNB has improved and I'm not sure luggage is that much more vulnerable on a short connection than on retrieving it and checking in again. Definitely no valuables in your checked luggage and I always take chargers etc in hand luggage - more because of the risk of baggage delay than theft.

 

[Sasand]

We've connected from Maun to JNB on Airlink, with bags checked through to Virgin Atlantic. We haven't had a problem with this arrangement and I agree that having to enter SA, collect bags and recheck is a pain. It wasn't possible to get the checked bags wrapped in Maun, but keeping your valuables in carryon luggage is always best.

 

[Sasand]

We've connected from Maun to JNB on Airlink, with bags checked through to Virgin Atlantic. We haven't had a problem with this arrangement and I agree that having to enter SA, collect bags and recheck is a pain. It wasn't possible to get the checked bags wrapped in Maun, but keeping your valuables in carryon luggage is always best.

 

[E Rogers]

I made a huge mistake when returning to the US from Kasane. I did NOT check my luggage thru and chose to pick it up in J-Berg. Unfortunately then you have to enter the country, claim your bag and then leave the country to get to your connection. The line to enter the country was 2 hours. Then I could not find my bag and no one would help. Finally found the bag then took another hour to exit the country to get my connecting flight. CHECK YOUR LUGGAGE THRU WHEN LEAVING KASANE.

 

[Ian]

Recently flew from London ( LHR) BA, via J’burgh then on to Maun with Air Link. When we arrived in Maun my bag was missing, my wife’s arrived. I had a tracker in my bag and I knew it was in J’burgh. From Maun we took a Mack air flight into the bush and a 3 hour drive to camp. The Safari company were brilliant, they got my bag to me within 36 hours. I understand it happens regularly.
Return trip was from Victoria Falls. No interline so had to retrieve bags in J’burg and re check in. A PITA, it took about 2 hours all told but we had plenty of time. My advice is no tight connections and assume a bag may go AWOL for a while. What we should have done is pack half my clothes in her bag I take half of hers. So, if your travelling with someone else just split the contents, and keep essential in your carry on. I stupidly had all my spare SD cards for all the camera gear in my checked bags. Yes I know I am a dummy and what’s worse I know better, I won’t do that again!

 

[Box Brownie]

Many thanks again for the personal experiences .

Outbound we land in Jo'burg @ 07:15 and the Kasane flight is at 11:50, so over 4 hours
Homebound we get back to Jo'burg at 15:55 and the BA flight is at 19:20 so is 3 hours 25 mins.

At this stage I surmise that the outbound timings are perfectly(?) fine.....provided we go directly from Arrivals to the Departure hall.
AFAIK based on the timings on the departure date, I should be able to do my online Airlink check-in on the outbound (none too sure about the WiFi / mobile signal to do check-in online at Kasane).

Do Airlink have what I would call a "Quick Bag Drop" at Jo'burg for those that have checked-in online

However, though the homebound with its >3 hours gap looks good it is potentially tight....................so maybe ask about the through connection check-in at Kasane (not check-in onlne) and certainly (as on the outbound) don't leave anything of value in the checked cases!

I know of one lone lady traveller who did check-in at Kasane and took the connection option, she said that it was so much more relaxing & stress free to be able to stay airside. NB on the check-in at Jo'burg outbound it was by all accounts quite stressful but the Airlink staff gave her a pass to their airside lounge which helped her state of mind. She was harassed while in the queue by one of the unofficial 'porters' who insisted he could help her get to the front of the queue. Thankfully she stood her ground even when he actually grabbed her case and started to try to walk off with it !!!

PS talking of the checked cases ~ I read that back in 2005 it was a requirement @ Jo'burg to check them in unlocked :( I have never ever done such a thing, indeed I use secure 'PacSafe' straps on our cases to ensure (as best one can) the cases are 'safe'.

I am aware that for travel to the USA it is required to use only TSA grade locks so that the luggage can be inspected but has anyone ever been advised latterly that for the trip we are doing cases are to be unlocked ~ oh so counter intuitive

PPS I am fairly sure I have seen those plastic wrap stations at Heathrow but do they have one at Kasane?

TIA for any expanded insights on the above