Frequent Miler's latest team challenge, Million Mile Madness, is happening now! Follow us as Greg, Nick, and Stephen compete to earn 1 Million SAS miles by flying 15 airlines before November 23rd. Who will complete the challenge with the most Speed, Affordability, and Style?
The best ways to Africa in economy class are among the cheapest long-haul economy awards to any region in the world. As the second-largest continent in the world by land area, the region is huge and thus many award programs split the continent into multiple regions. That can make for some advantageous opportunities for those who want to connect the dots to visit multiple countries by booking separate sweet spot awards. The flights will be long and in many cases you will need to connect out of your way, but it’s hard to beat the relative value of many of these awards. Still, keep in mind that in many cases you can fly in premium cabins for less of a premium than you might expect (See: Best ways to get to Africa using miles (premium cabins) for more).
Transferable Currencies
If you want to use airline miles, it’s great to have transferable points. Transferable point programs let you transfer your points to any of a number of airline programs. This is great because it gives you the freedom to book many different flights through many different methods, some of which are strikingly cheaper than others. If you’re not familiar with transferable points programs, please check out our guides:
- Amex Membership Rewards Complete Guide
- Bilt Rewards Complete Guide
- Capital One “Rewards miles” Complete Guide
- Chase Ultimate Rewards Complete Guide
- Citi ThankYou Rewards Complete Guide
- Wells Fargo Rewards Complete Guide (coming soon)
Geography: Not a loyalty program strong suit
It’s worth noting here that most airline programs roughly split up North Africa from South or South and Central Africa, offering different prices depending on where you’re going in Africa. However, note that there are some programs that include Morocco in Europe and others that consider Egypt to be part of the Middle East. Those kinds of classifications can sometimes lead to sweet spots for getting to a continent, which you may then leverage with a sweet spot for travel within a single continent or region (especially perhaps with the United Excursionist Perk).
Other posts in this series:
For other similar posts to other regions around the world, see:
Best ways to get to… (Hawaii, Europe, Asia, etc.)
Best ways to get to Africa using airline miles (in economy class)
The deals below are sorted alphabetically. Remember that the lowest price isn’t the entire picture: be sure to consider which airlines levy fuel surcharges and the ease of amassing the miles for your chosen award. See each description for where to search, how to book, and which partners you can use to transfer. It is always best to confirm availability before transferring miles to be sure that the award you seek can be booked with the miles you intend.
Note that most major airline programs charge 40-50K miles each way to Africa. We have included programs below which offer awards for fewer miles (or in a couple of cases programs with awards at 40K that have advantages like no fuel surcharges or additional perks).
Air France / KLM Flying Blue
- The short story: Monthly Flying Blue Promo Awards can sometimes offer excellent value between the US and Europe and Flying Blue considers several countries located in North Africa to be part of its "Europe" pricing model (including Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, and the Canary Islands). Once in Africa, keep Flying Blue in mind for intra-Africa awards on Kenya Airways.
- Miles required: Varies. Economy class awards to Europe (including those North African countries listed above) are often available from as low as 10K-15K one way during Promo Rewards sales from select airports.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at AirFrance.us (you’ll need to create a free Flying Blue frequent flyer account to search)
- How to book awards: Book online at AirFrance.com. Can also book via phone or app.
- Key warnings: Flying Blue does add fuel surcharges, though they are often reasonable.
- Transfer from: Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi Thank You Marriott Bonvoy, Wells Fargo.
Alaska Mileage Plan
- The short story: Alaska Mileage Plan can be good value for travel between the US and Africa in economy when you consider that they allow a stopover even on a one-way award.
- Miles required: Starting at 27.5K - 42.5K each way in economy class, including a stopover.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at AlaskaAir.com.
- How to book awards: Book online at AlaskaAir.com. Some more complicated tickets may have to be booked over the phone with Alaska Mileage Plan at 1-800-252-7522.
- Key warnings: Alaska may have access to one fewer seat than what you see at the British Airways site.
- Transfer from: Bilt, Marriott Bonvoy
American Airlines AAdvantage
- The short story: American charges 40K each way in economy class and allows a routing exception so you can fly on either Qatar or Etihad to get to Africa. Alternatively, fly Royal Air Maroc to Casablanca for 30K one-way since AA has classified Morocco as part of Europe.
- Miles required: 40K miles each way in economy class to Africa (or 30K miles each way in economy class to Morocco).
- How to find awards: Search for available space at AA.com. Alternatively, use the British Airways site to find space on Qatar and Etihad's site to search for "Saver Guest" space on Etihad. Note that to find space from the US to Abu Dhabi, you may need to run a round trip search starting in Abu Dhabi.
- How to book awards: Book online at AA.com or over the phone. Note that Etihad awards must be booked over the phone and many US-based agents have trouble finding the award space. Try calling the Australia call center if you run into difficulty.
- Key warnings: Finding space can be tough and you could save miles with other programs and transferable currencies.
- Transfer from: Marriott
ANA Mileage Club
- The short story: ANA has the hands-down cheapest award pricing between North America and Africa/Middle East on Star Alliance airlines (note that they include almost all of Africa in their definition).
- Miles required: 70K round trip in economy class. Fuel surcharges are passed on, but can be avoided with the right partners. Find partners that do not add fuel surcharges in this post.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at United.com (Note: Do not log in — logging in may show you expanded availability based on your credit card or elite status that is not available for partner bookings) or ANA's website (though ANA requires searches to be round trip, so it is easier to find availability by searching one way at United first).
- How to book awards: Book online at ANA’s website.
- Key warnings: You must book round trip. High fuel surcharges are assessed by some carriers, others have none or low fuel surcharges (avoid Lufthansa-group airlines to avoid high fuel surcharges). The ANA website interface is not particularly user-friendly or modern-looking, so it may take some time to get used to the search features.
- No fuel surcharges on: Air Canada, Scandinavian Airlines, Air China, Air New Zealand, Avianca, Copa Airlines, United
- Low fuel surcharges on: ANA, Asiana, LOT Polish, Turkish (higher than the others but low by comparison to some)
- Transfer from: Amex, Marriott
Avianca LifeMiles
- The short story: Avianca LifeMiles offers competitive pricing for Star Alliance awards with no fuel surcharges.
- Miles required: Officially, 40K each way in economy class to South Africa (which includes most of Africa) or 42.5K each way to North Africa (and the Middle East). Note that there is sometimes variance (See: The secret LifeMiles award chart), though we are not aware of any such pricing anomalies to Africa.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at LifeMiles.com (you’ll need to create a free Avianca LifeMiles frequent flyer account).
- How to book awards: Book online at LifeMiles.com. Can also book via email. Phone bookings are known to be a hassle but also possible.
- Key warnings:
- Availability at LifeMiles.com often doesn't match what you’ll find at United.com or Aeroplan. Phone agents usually do not see better availability than what is shown at LifeMiles.com. While it can be possible to book via E-mail, it is very slow and frustrating. ALWAYS check the LifeMiles site before transferring points.
- LifeMiles expire after 12 months of inactivity. Redeeming Miles does NOT count as activity, but buying miles or transferring from a bank partner does.
- Transfer from: Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Citi, Wells Fargo. Also can transfer from Marriott Bonvoy.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at LifeMiles.com (you’ll need to create a free Avianca LifeMiles frequent flyer account).
- How to book awards: Book online at LifeMiles.com. Can also book via email. Phone bookings are known to be a hassle but also possible.
- Key warnings:
- Availability at LifeMiles.com often doesn't match what you’ll find at United.com or Aeroplan. Phone agents usually do not see better availability than what is shown at LifeMiles.com. While it can be possible to book via E-mail, it is very slow and frustrating. ALWAYS check the LifeMiles site before transferring points.
- LifeMiles expire after 12 months of inactivity. Redeeming Miles does NOT count as activity, but buying miles does.
- Transfer from: Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Citi, Wells Fargo. Also can transfer from Marriott Bonvoy.
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- The short story: Cathay Pacific has reasonable pricing for single-partner oneworld redemptions, particularly those requiring connections since they charge based on cumulative distance. Keep in mind that Royal Air Maroc is now a oneworld carrier and American intends to begin service from Philadelphia to Casablanca in 2021 (delayed from June 2020).
- Miles required: 27K miles one-way for a cumulative distance of 2,751 to 5,000 miles, or 40K one-way for up to 7,500 miles.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at AsiaMiles.com (you’ll need to create a free Asia Miles frequent flyer account to search)
- How to book awards: Book online at AsiaMiles.com. Can also book via phone.
- Key warnings: Fuel surcharges are moderate depending on route and origin.
- Transfer from: Amex Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One Miles, Citi ThankYou Rewards, Marriott Bonvoy
Etihad Guest (for Royal Air Maroc)
- The short story: Etihad Guest offers ok value for flying on Royal Air Maroc between the US and Casablanca.
- Miles required: 28K miles each way in economy class plus about $120 in fuel surcharges one-way between North America and Casablanca.
- How to find awards: Search for award space at RoyalAirMaroc.com or AA.com. (You’ll need to create a free Royal Air Maroc Safar Flyer account to search at the Royal Air Maroc website).
- How to book awards: Call Etihad Guest at 1-877-690-0767.
- Key warnings: Etihad has a highly punitive cancellation policy. You'll pay a cancellation penalty of 25% of the miles used if you cancel 21 days or more in advance, 50% of the miles for cancellations between 7 and 21 days, 75% for cancellations between 24 hours and 7 days, and 100% of the miles for cancellation within 24 hours.
- Transfer from: Amex Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One, Citi Thank You Marriott Bonvoy
Singapore Krisflyer
- The short story: Singapore ok Star Alliance award pricing to the Middle East and North Africa (including Morocco, Libya, Tunisia, and Egypt).
- Miles required: 52K miles each way in economy class to/from the Middle East and North Africa. Central and Southern Africa are less competitive at 60K each way. See the full award chart here.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at United.com (Note: Do not log in — logging in may show you expanded availability based on your credit card or elite status that is not available for partner bookings) or SingaporeAir.com
- How to book awards: Book online at SingaporeAir.com or over the phone with Singapore KrisFlyer.
- Key warnings: Note that transfers to Singapore KrisFlyer are not instant. Transfers typically take 12-24 hours (from all major transferable currencies) and Singapore does not hold award tickets.
- Transfer from: Amex, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Marriott
United Mileage Plus
- The short story: United offers a benefit called the “Excursionist Perk”, which gives you a free one-way within a single region when your travel begins and ends in a different region. See: Leveraging the United Excursionist Perk to save miles for some ideas and Maximizing (and understanding) United Excursionist perks. United partners with Egypt Air, South African, and Ethiopian, as well as a number of European partners that serve Africa, which should give you ample opportunity to take advantage of the Excursionist perk.
- Miles required: 40K miles each way in economy class.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at United.com
- How to book awards: Book online at United.com
- Key warnings: United has eliminated its award chart, but partner flights have thus far mostly remained at previous levels. One exception is that flights within 21 days of departure now cost 3K extra miles for a total of 43K each way in economy class in this case.
- Transfer from: Chase, Marriott
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- The short story: Virgin Atlantic offers excellent economy class pricing on Air France / KLM, particularly from the Eastern US, but since the US is split into two different zones and you'll find African countries in four different zones, it can be very confusing. Premium Economy can also be an excellent deal (see the full chart for Air France on this page).
- Miles required:
- East Coast North America & Caribbean (Zone 6) to:
- Zone 2 (Eastern Europe and North Africa, which includes Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia): 20K miles each way off-peak / 30K peak
- Zone 3 (Middle East and Russia, which includes Egypt): 25K off-peak / 35K peak
- Zone 4 (Central Africa): 24.5K off-peak / 34.5K peak
- Zone 5 (Southern Africa, Indian Ocean & Indian Subcontinent): 28K off-peak / 38K peak
- West & Central North America & Central America (Zone 7) to:
- Zone 2 (Eastern Europe and North Africa, which includes Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia): 23K miles each way off-peak / 33K peak
- Zone 3 (Middle East and Russia, which includes Egypt): 28K off-peak / 38K peak
- Zone 4 (Central Africa): 28K off-peak / 38K peak
- Zone 5 (Southern Africa, Indian Ocean & Indian Subcontinent): 31K off-peak / 41K peak
- East Coast North America & Caribbean (Zone 6) to:
- How to find awards: Search for available space at VirginAtlantic.com
- How to book awards: Book online at VirginAtlantic.com. See: Book Air France & KLM with Virgin Atlantic Miles.
- Key warnings: The zone-based award chart for Air France / KLM flights can be a bit confusing at first, but the nice thing about booking Air France / KLM flights with Virgin Atlantic miles is that Virgin Atlantic does not charge each segment separately as they do with other partners or their own flights. In this case, you'll pay the region prices even if connecting. Keep in mind that Virgin Atlantic is currently facing uncertain financial times, so it may be best to hold off a while on booking any travel that isn't imminent.
- Transfer from: Amex, Bilt, Citi, Chase, Marriott
How to get the miles
The following chart shows the available transferable points programs for each of the above airline frequent flyer programs:
| Rewards Program | Amex Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) | Chase Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) | Citi Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) | Capital One Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) | Bilt Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) | Wells Fargo Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air France KLM Flying Blue | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Unknown) |
| Alaska MileagePlan | 1 to 1 (Instant) | |||||
| ANA Mileage Club | 1 to 1 (~1 day) | |||||
| Avianca LifeMiles | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Unknown) | |
| Cathay Pacific Asia Miles | 1 to 1 (~1 day) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (1 - 2 days) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | ||
| Etihad Guest | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (~1 hour) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | |||
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | 1 to 1 (~1 day) | 1 to 1 (~1 day) | 1 to 1 (~1 day) | 1 to 1 (~12 - 24 hours) | ||
| United MileagePlus | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | ||||
| Virgin Atlantic Flying Club | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Unkown) |
Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.
Nice post. Noticed west Africa was not considered
Particularly Nigeria..the biggest economy in Africa
That’s because I’m not aware of any award programs that distinguish West Africa as a separate region. Most programs split Africa into Northern and Southern or Northern, Southern, and Central. The definition varies by award program, so you’ll have to look at the region definitions of each program separately to see where they classify Nigeria.
Northern is usually just places like Morocco and maybe Algeria / Tunisia / Libya.
[…] Best ways to get to Africa using miles (economy class edition) […]
So, sadly, there really isn’t a good way to get to Africa in economy using miles, right? I usually just try to buy a “crazy fare” that I see on sites like secretflying, preferably one that earns material amount of frequent flyer miles to help off-set the cost. If I can, I use the points-based credit card award programs to pay for it. This tickets can usually be had for under $600 if you wait for a sale. The best I’ve ever done is South Africa for under $300, but that was a mistake fare. I only redeem miles from the airline programs if I can’t find a deeply discounted fare. I do watch for these constantly, though.
I usually find that deeply discounted fares are much harder to find to most parts of Africa than to Europe or Asia.
Actually, I was awfully surprised to see how many programs offer flights for fewer than 30K miles each way. Most programs charge 30K each way to Europe in economy class — I thought that getting from the Eastern US to Central Africa for 24.5K miles each way on Air France or KLM (via Virgin Atlantic) seemed like a solid deal.
Don’t get me wrong — I’ve said many times before that miles aren’t a standout value for economy class travel in general. Would I rather pay 50K Alaska miles for a one-way flight on Cathay Pacific to Africa with a stopover in Hong Kong or pay 62.5K to do that same trip in business or 70K in first? Obviously I’d do it in first if there were availability and in business if not. But for someone who is looking to stretch miles to get as much distance as possible, that’s not a bad deal. 20K to North Africa via Virgin Atlantic for travel on Air France looks good, too.
It somewhat depends on where you want to go. If you’re looking to get to Johannesburg or Cape Town, you’re right that you may find a fare sale (depending on where you originate). If you’re looking to get to Uganda, that fare sale may be harder to find (YMMV – many variables at play).
Fantastic article! To find direct flights between countries consider old colonial ties. Iberia or TAP
with its layover opportunity in Portugal are great airlines new to consider for former Portuguese colonies.
Also, if you can’t find flights to some place like Zanzibar, fly into Tanzania and take an inexpensive hopper. Some countries have budget airlines, but others have pricey flights.
To get to Africa using AA miles, you left out IBeria, BA, and Cathay Pacific and IB associate airlines.
Well yes, you can fly on BA or IB to Africa with AA miles. I didn’t include the full list of partner airlines for most of the programs included in this list. You are right that you could fly BA or IB for 40K (or theoretically Finnair). I specifically noted Qatar and Etihad because being able to transit the Middle East en route to Africa is notable since AA usually doesn’t allow transiting a third region. They have long allowed transiting Europe to get to Africa (since AA doesn’t fly to Africa and doesn’t have any partners that fly directly from the US to Africa), but they only added the exceptions for Qatar and Etihad in recent years.
Unfortunately, you can’t transit Asia to get to Africa with AA miles, so Cathay isn’t possible with AA miles (unless you book one award to Hong Kong and a separate award to Africa, which would be much more expensive).
Incidentally, BA has fees that make it a poor deal relative to everything else on the list given that you pay those fees on top of paying the more “standard” award price of 40K. Even in economy class, the fees are ~$280 one-way leaving the US — versus $15-$20 flying on Qatar. BA is definitely a way to get to Africa, but in my opinion not one of the “best” ways compared to others on the list considering an award price on the high end (40K) and award taxes & fees on the high end.
To get to Africa using AA miles, you left out Iberia, BA, and Cathay Pacific.
You’re the man, Nick!