I think I should write a bit about airline tickets. Perhaps more for posterity than any other reason. Also because I've been very surprised how amazingly difficult it has been to purchase airline tickets for the family.
Some of the difficulty originates with our many requirements. But I think that the airline industry bears much of the blame. They don't seem to be very customer-focused. And, industry policies are neither accommodating to our needs nor flexible.
Here's a summary of our requirements:
1) Be in South Africa for 366 days or more. There are significant tax advantages if Matt stays more than 1 year.
2) Round-trip tickets. The South African government requires proof of a return ticket before issuing a visa for longer duration than 3 months.
3) Minimum cost. We don't want to go broke just to have a sabbatical.
4) Travel together as a family.
We have found that we can't meet all these requirements. First, we have to return home within 364 days of our departure. Both SAA and NWA have this restriction on all tickets in all classes of service. This restriction means we can't meet our 366 day requirement.
Also, I have found that the worldwide airline ticketing system does not allow agents to book any segment of any flight 330 days (or so) from the day the flight is booked. So, we could not (today) book our return flight from Cape Town to Grand Rapids in January 2010. (An agent told me that this restriction arises because the worldwide airline ticketing system does not have a year field, if you can believe that!) The best we could do (as of July 2008) is book tickets to depart in January 2009 and return in June 2009. Then, in February 2009, we will have to change our return date from June 2009 to January 2010, at a price of $175 (on SAA) to $250 (on NWA) per ticket. This restriction means that we can't meet our "minimum cost" requirement.
We thought we had a solution with Northwest Airlines. It looked like we could travel as a family to South Africa in January 2009. Tracy, Mark, and Catherine would travel on a low-cost Q fare ticket (and be required to return to the U.S. within 364 days of their departure). I was told by a Northwest agent in early July 2008 that a more-expensive B14 fare ticket would allow me (at least) to return after 366 days. We would violate our "travel together" requirement, but Catherine would be almost 4 when we return, so it wouldn't be too painful for Tracy to travel with the children alone.
But, yesterday, I was told the B14 fare also carries the "return within one year" restriction, even if the fare's rules don't explicitly state it. So, the B14 fare option is a dead end.
That leaves us with the option of buying five tickets. Tracy, Mark, and Catherine will use one ticket each and return to the U.S. within 364 days. I will buy two tickets and use the first half of each so that I can return to the U.S. after 366 days. This approach is still less expensive overall, because of the savings on U.S. taxes.
Then, the question becomes from which airline and/or agency should we purchase the tickets?
For several of our previous trips to South African and Zimbabwe, Tracy and I have purchased flights from Esplanade Tours in Boston. Esplanade has great prices on travel to many parts of the world, especially Africa. I've been talking to Jill at Esplanade for the last two months, checking their prices and getting advice on how to get the best deal from Esplanade or directly from an airline. She was honest with me when she thought we'd do better purchasing directly from an airline, which is why I was talking to Northwest.
Esplanade's prices are significantly lower than Northwest's, so it now appears that we'll purchase five tickets from Esplanade. I can't say enough good things about Jill and Esplanade Tours. If you need to buy tickets for travel to South African originating in the U.S., you need to give them a call. They'll do you right.
--Matt