From the markets of Marrakesh to the quintessential South African safari, the African continent holds many wonders to behold. Whether you’re hoping to catch a glimpse of penguins in Cape Town or The Great Migration across the Serengeti or you’re just hoping to explore one of the other fiftysomething countries on the continent, there are a number of good options for booking award travel to Africa. This post includes some of your best options in terms of value along with the key details you need to know about how to book and where to get the miles.
What’s new? This guide has been fully updated with associated award chart changes and sweet spots have been added for the use of Asiana miles as well as Virgin Atlantic Flying Club for flying KLM and Air France.
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 | Capital One “Rewards miles” Complete Guide | Chase Ultimate Rewards Complete Guide |
| Citi ThankYou Rewards Complete Guide | Marriott Bonvoy Complete Guide | Bilt Rewards Complete Guide |
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).
Best Mile Deals to Africa
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.
Business Class / First Class
Air Canada Aeroplan
- The short story: Air Canada Aeroplan includes Africa in its "Atlantic" zone, meaning that the award pricing range matches that to Europe and you could even add a stopover in Europe en route to Africa for 5K additional miles one-way. Lap infants are just 2,500 miles.
- Miles required: Ranges from 60K to 110K in business class based on distance (add 5K miles for a stopover). First class ranges from 90K-140K one way. Add 5,000 miles for a stopover on a one-way. See more chart information here.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at AirCanada.com (you’ll need to create a free Aeroplan frequent flyer account to search)
- How to book awards: Book online at AirCanada.com. Can also book via phone. Lap infants must be added to your reservation over the phone.
- Fuel surcharges: Aeroplan no longer adds fuel surcharges to awards.
- Transfer from: Amex, Chase, Bilt Rewards, Capital One, Marriott
Alaska Mileage Plan
- The short story: Alaska Mileage Plan has historically had amazing rates for Cathay Pacific business or first class between the US and Africa and also allows a stopover even on a one-way award.
- Miles required: Historically, 62.5K each way in business or 70K each way in first class, including a stopover in Hong Kong for as long as you like. However, in 2022, Alaska eliminated individual partner award charts and now publishes approximate ranges, so these awards may vary from historical levels.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at AlaskaAir.com.
- How to book awards: Book at AlaskaAir.com.
- Key warnings: Alaska may have access to one fewer seat than what you see through other oneworld programs.
- Transfer from: Marriott Bonvoy
American Airlines AAdvantage
- The short story: American charges just 75K each way in business class and allows a routing exception so you can fly on either Qatar or Etihad to get to Africa. If you can find Qatar QSuites space, that may be a particularly comfortable business class experience.
- Miles required: 75K miles each way in business class.
- 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.
- Key warnings: Finding space can be tough, but if you can find it this can be an excellent use of American Airlines miles.
- Transfer from: Bilt Rewards, Marriott Bonvoy
ANA Mileage Club
- The short story: ANA's round trip business class pricing to Africa is far better than what most programs would charge for the same flights.
- Miles required: 104K round trip in business 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 Business Class Awards To Europe For 88,000 Miles Or Points.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at ANA’s website. (you’ll need to create a free ANA Mileage Club account and log in to search for space). Note that you must search round trip; searching one-way will yield no results. Your best bet is to start at AirCanada.com or United.com to find award space in each direction and then go to ANA with dates when you know availability exists. Note that ANA allows a stopover and/or open jaw.
- 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. 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. Note that transfers to ANA are not instant. Transfers typically take 2-3 days from Amex Membership Rewards or a week or more from Marriott, so there is risk of award space disappearing while you wait for a transfer.
- No fuel surcharges on: Air Canada, Scandinavian Airlines, TAP Air Portugal, Air China, Air New Zealand, Avianca, Copa Airlines, United
- Low fuel surcharges on: siana, LOT Polish. Note that surcharges on Turkish are in the $300's each way.
- Transfer from: Amex, Marriott
Asiana
- The short story: Asiana offers fantastic pricing for Star Alliance awards, though they pass along fuel surcharges and miles are hard to come by.
- Miles required: 60K each way in business class
- How to find awards: Search for available space at United.com or AirCanada.com.
- How to book awards: Call Asiana to book partner awards over the phone at 1-800-227-4262.
- Key warnings: Asiana miles are only available via the Asiana credit cards (no longer available since 2021) or transfers from Marriott Bonvoy, making it hard to accumulate the miles necessary for an award. Note that Asiana is in the process of being taken over by Korean, so it is unclear how much longer they will operate as a separate entity.
- Transfer from: Marriott Bonvoy
Avianca LifeMiles
- The short story: Avianca LifeMiles offers competitive pricing for Star Alliance awards with no fuel surcharges.
- Miles required: Officially, 78K each way in business or 105K each way in first class with no fuel surcharges. Note that there is some variance (See: The secret LifeMiles award chart). Also see: Avianca LifeMiles’ awesome mixed-cabin award pricing: First class for less for ways to fly first class for even fewer miles). In short, it is possible to pair the long-haul flights in business with connecting segments in economy class to pay fewer total miles.
- 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. Finally, it may be possible to email for a manual booking if individual segments are available but don't show up together.
- Key warnings: Availability at LifeMiles.com does not always match what you’ll find at United.com. Phone agents generally do not see better availability than what is shown at LifeMiles.com. Always check the LifeMiles site before transferring points. Keep in mind that the mandatory $25 booking fee (added to all bookings) is the same whether one-way or round trip, so book round trip to save.
- Transfer from: Amex Membership Rewards, Citi ThankYou points, Capital One miles, Marriott Bonvoy
Etihad Guest
While the Royal Air Maroc sweet spot has soured a bit, Etihad still offers a competitive rate to Casablanca.
- The short story: Etihad Guest offers a good value for flying on Royal Air Maroc between the US and Casablanca.
- Miles required: 44K miles each way in business class between North America and Casablanca plus about $170 in fuel surcharges one-way. Additional segments are priced individually.
- How to find awards: Search for award space at RoyalAirMaroc.com. You’ll need to create a free Royal Air Maroc Safar Flyer account to search.
- How to book awards: Call Etihad Guest at 1-877-690-0767.
- Key warnings: Etihad phone agents have historically had trouble booking partner awards, though the new call center in Serbia appears to be quite competent. If your agent appears to be having trouble, you might want to HUCA (hang up, call again). Note also that Etihad Guest does add fuel surcharges. The best way to find the total in taxes & fuel surcharges is to check ITA Matrix.
- Transfer from: Amex Membership Rewards, Capital One, Citi ThankYou Points.
Turkish Miles & Smiles
- The short story: Turkish offers excellent pricing to North Africa on Star Alliance carriers and decent award pricing to Central and Southern Africa.
- Miles required: 60K miles each way in business class to North Africa, 72.5K miles each way in business class to Central Africa, and 85K each way in business class to Southern Africa
- How to find awards: Search for available space at united.com and call Turkish to book or go to turkishairlines.com, log in to your account, go to "Miles transactions" to find the Star Alliance booking tool and click "book now" to go to that search tool (not the tool on the home page at turkishairlines.com). Note that there may be bookable options that do not appear on the site (hence checking United and calling when necessary).
- How to book awards: Book online at turkishairlines.com using the instructions above or over the phone at 1-800-874-8875 or via email
- Key warnings: Turkish is sometimes unable to see Star Alliance availability for no explicable reason. Turkish allows awards to be put on hold, so if you can not see the award you want online, you should get an itinerary on hold via phone or email before transferring points.
- Transfer from: Capital One, Citi ThankYou points, Marriott Bonvoy
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: From ~80K miles each way in business class or 143K in first class (Lufthansa is the only option flying first class and they historically only release first class space to partners within 2 weeks of departure).
- 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 83K each way in business class in this case.
- Transfer from: Bilt Rewards, Chase, Marriott Bonvoy
Virgin Atlantic (for Air France)
- The short story: Virgin Atlantic sometimes offers better pricing for Air France and KLM business class awards than what Flying Blue does for the same flights. See the full Virgin Atlantic award chart for travel on Air France / KLM here.
- Miles required:
- For flying Air France / KLM
- During "standard season" (not peak) dates:
-
- East Coast of the US to North Africa: 66.5K
- East Coast of the US to Central Africa: 98.5K
- East Coast of the US to Southern Africa: 110K
- West & Central North America to North Africa: 110K
- West & Central North America to Central Africa: 110K
- West & Central North America to Southern Africa: 112.5K
- Standard price travel dates dates include:
- 26 April 2022 – 29 May 2022
- 6 June 2022 - 17 June 2022
- 5 September 2022 - 20 October 2022
- 2 November 2022 - 9 December 2022
- 5 January 2023 - 23 March 2023
- 18 April 2023 - 17 June 2023
-
- During Peak Season dates:
-
- East Coast of the US to North Africa: 76.5K
- East Coast of the US to Central Africa: 108.5K
- East Coast of the US to Southern Africa: 120K
- West & Central North America to North Africa: 120K
- West & Central North America to Central Africa: 120K
- West & Central North America to Southern Africa: 132.5K
- Peak price travel dates include:
- 1 April 2022 – 25 April 2022
- 30 May 2022 - 5 June 2022
- 18 June 2022 - 4 September 2022
- 21 October 2022 - 1 November 2022
- 10 - 31 December 2022
- 1 January 20233 - 4 January 2023
- 24 March 2023 - 17 April 2023
- 18 June 2023 - 30 June 2023
-
- 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.
- Transfer from: Amex, Bilt, Citi, Chase, Capital One, Marriott
Other posts in this series:
For other similar posts to other regions around the world, see: Best Ways to Get To Guides.
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air Canada Aeroplan | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (~5 Minutes) | |
| Alaska MileagePlan | 1 to 1 (~5 Minutes) | ||||
| American AAdvantage | 1 to 1 (Ends June) (~ 1 Day) |
||||
| ANA Mileage Club | 1 to 1 (~1 day) | ||||
| Asiana | |||||
| Avianca LifeMiles | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (~5 Minutes) | |
| Etihad Guest | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (~1 hour) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | ||
| Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles | 1 to 1 (~1 day) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (~5 Minutes) | ||
| United MileagePlus | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (~5 Minutes) | |||
| Virgin Atlantic Flying Club | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Unknown) | 1 to 1 (~5 Minutes) |
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Thanks for sharing in detail got to know so many things.
Now we need a post on where to stay using points.
Why has the etihad RAM sweet spot soured and what price is considered the saver space on RAM that’s bookable by partners? Also why not just search on AA? On that note I can’t find more than one seat on RAM for any date when search through AA
Love those photos. Was in Kruger National Park for the first time a few weeks ago. My wife and I are still talking about it. Incredible!
Qsuites via AA miles was a great way to get there and back.
Last month I flew from Washington DC to Casablanca Morocco. I spent 57,500 American airlines miles and flew on Royal Air Maroc in business class with lay flat sleeper seats
Can you guys include economy prices?Large family travelling together does not lend itself to scarce business/first availability.
We do! That post is here: https://frequentmiler.com/best-ways-to-get-to-africa-using-miles-economy-class-edition/
I have not yet updated that one, but I intend to update and combine.
If you click through the link for the other similar guides, you’ll find a variety of other posts that you may find useful as well.
Awesome, you’re the man, Nick.
You left out: pay cash! I’m publishing an e-book by that title. $99 to be told to pay cash for every flight.
Is there a more recent update on this report, being that some programs have changed?
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Is this stopover on Alaska still valid? I thought they removed that
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