Month: June 2017

Travel 10 Cities in Africa for Cheap by Plane from Europe for under $1,550 in One Trip

Africa is a majestic continent.  From the vast deserts to the lush jungles, the picturesque coastlines to the craggy mountains; Africa is a place you need to explore and not miss. 

Africa Drakensburg-Mountains
Drakensburg – The main mountain range of Southern Africa

If you’re looking for a cheap multi-stop flight itinerary for Africa (or any continent for that matter), keep reading this blog post on how to save a lot of money on flights.  You’ll learn how to use SkySurf.Travel to build the most cost-effective multi-stop flight itinerary possible.

We’re going to compare prices with multi-stop flight itineraries that we can find on Google using the keywords: “Africa multi stop flights”.

Google search for "Africa multi stop flights"
Screenshot of first 2 Google results for keywords “Africa multi stop flights”

The first two results offer multi-stop flight itineraries for Africa.  The first result is Travel Nation.  You can fly to 4-5 cities in Africa from London for £999- £1,195 ($1,275-$1,525).  https://www.travelnation.co.uk/round-the-world-flights/africa-multi-stop-flights

The second result is KILROY. They offer a flight package to 6 cities in Africa from London, England for €1,400 ($1,565) for youth and students. http://travels.kilroy.net/flights/multi-stop-tickets/multi-stop-africa

At SkySurf.Travel, I was able to build an itinerary to 10 cities in Africa from London, England for $1,548 (£1,215) with taxes included.    That’s twice as many cities I’ll be visiting for about the same price.

Here’s how I did it:  I clicked on the “multi-city” tab, then entered in “London” in the “Traveling From” field.  Since I’m flexible with dates, I selected “August 2017” after clicking on the “Depart Date” field, and finally clicked on the “Search Best Deals!” button.

A list of the cheapest flight options returns.  I see a flight to Hurghada, Egypt (a beautiful place with very clean water, beaches and coral reefs, and wrecks of ships) on August 31, 2017 for $182.  I add this flight to my flight itinerary (BookIt List) by clicking on the “+Add to BookIt List” button. A pop-up then appears such as the one below:

Add Africa to flight itinerary

I decided to stay in Hurghada for 5 nights, so I selected September 5, 2017 and then clicked on the “To another destination” link.  A new list of results returns; this time with the cheapest flights from Hurghada on September 5th.  My cheapest flight option is to Cairo, Egypt for $47.  I add this flight to my BookIt List, and then repeat the above process until my final flight is back to London, England.

Here’s my complete flight itinerary (BookIt List):

Africa flight itinerary

Ten cities in Africa from North to South with a return trip back to London, England for a total of $1,548 (£1,215) with taxes included.   Here’s where I’ll be traveling to starting from London:

  • Hurghada, Egypt – August 31, 2017 ($182)
  • Cairo, Egypt – September 5, 2017 ($47)
  • Johannesburg, South Africa – September 10, 2107 ($163)
  • Harare, Zimbabwe – September 14, 2017 ($103)
  • Dar es Salaam, Tanzania – September 19, 2017 ($100)
  • Zanzibar – September 23, 2017 ($35)
  • Nairobi, Kenya – September 28, 2017 ($150)
  • Addid Ababa, Ethiopia – October 4, 2017 ($141)
  • Kigali, Rwanda – October 10, 2017 ($205)
  • Entebbe, Uganda – October 15, 2017 ($87)
  • Back to London, England – October 20, 2017 ($335)

Here’s my entire flight route (Flight Map):

Africa flight map route

You may need vaccinations, visas, and appropriate clothing before traveling to Africa.  It is highly recommended to do research of the country you will be visiting before booking any flights, such as travel advice, advisories, and warnings.

Africa is amazing and everyone should visit.  It has something for everyone.  If you do visit, make sure to take a ton of photos of Africa’s stunning landscapes, which are as diverse as the animal kingdom.

Safe travels!

Gregory Rzeczko

http://skysurf.travel/

Travel Russia for Cheap by Plane: 9 Cities for Less Than $650 in One Trip

Russia is the world’s largest country by landmass.  It includes nine different time zones and shares land borders with 14 neighboring countries.  Russia offers many natural sights, from the sandy Curonian Split on the Baltic Sea coast to the vast Golden Mountains of Altai in Southern Siberia. Whether you’re exploring the grounds of Moscow’s Kremlin or wandering the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, a visit to Russia will introduce you to the beauty of a land which is rich in culture and history.

Russia largest country map

Many people traveling to Russia are aware of the Trans-Siberian railway.  It is part of the longest railway system in the world running from Moscow to Vladivostok.  The line is known as the route of the tsars, begun in 1891 by Tsar Alexander III and completed by his son, Tsar Nicholas II, in 1916. According to an article from The Telegraph entitled, “Everything you need to know about booking a trip on the Trans-Siberian railway”, the cost for a one-way journey by service train to Vladivostok from Moscow, is about £500 ($644) in second class and £800 ($1,030) for first class, including food. Bedding is supplied in first- and second-class coaches.  If you plan on making stops in between, you’ll need to pay extra.

Trans Siberian railway map

For people who really want to see Russia, the Trans-Siberian Railway is a great way to get a good look at about 6,000 miles of it. But for those who’d rather fly, get to their destinations faster, and spend more time in cities than on a train, purchasing air ticket deals would be the better option.  And for those that like both can mix it around with trains and planes.

In this blog entry, I’ll be giving you an example of how to travel to 9 cities by plane for less than the price of a one-way Trans-Siberian rail ticket from Moscow to Vladivostok using the online flight deal tool SkySurf.Travel.  I’ll be beginning and ending my journey in Moscow, visiting 8 cities in between for the total price of $628 USD (taxes included).

Here’s how I got this super deal:  I first typed in “Moscow” in the “Traveling From” field, and then selected August 2017 in the “Depart Date” field.  Finally, I clicked on the “Search Best Deals!” button and a list of the cheapest flights returned departing from Moscow in August 2017.

My cheapest flight option is to Nizhniy Novgorod for $42 USD on August 9, 2017.  I added this to my itinerary (BookIt List) by clicking on the “+ Add to BookIt List” and a popup appears, such as the one below:

russia added to itinerary

I decided to stay in Nizhniy Novgorod for 4 nights, so I selected my departure date as August 13, 2017.  Then I clicked on the “To another destination” and a new list of results has returned.  You’ll be able to customize your trip anyway you like by repeating the same process as above until you reach your final destination.

Here’s where I’ll be traveling to for $628 USD (taxes included):

  • Moscow, Russia (starting point)
  • Nizhniy Novgorod – August 9, 2017 ($42)
  • St. Petersburg – August 14, 2017 ($62)
  • Rostov-on-Don – August 18, 2017 ($72)
  • Sochi – August 23, 2017 ($52)
  • Krasnodar – August 29, 2017 ($61)
  • Tyumen – September 4, 2017 ($170)
  • Novosibirsk – September 9, 2017 ($54)
  • Surgut – September 13, 2017 ($52)
  • Back to Moscow – September 19, 2017 ($63)

Here’s a screenshot of my Russian itinerary (BookIt List):

Russia cheap flight itinerary

And here’s a screenshot of my entire travel route (Flight Map):

Russia cheap flight map

Before visiting Russia, you will need to obtain a Russian tourist visa. For more information on how to obtain a visa to travel Russia, visit https://russia.travisa.com/.  Here’s a list of countries that do not require a visa to enter the Russian Federation: http://ru.vfsglobal.co.uk/visa_free_regime.html. You’ll also need to get an invitation (also called visa support), which is a special document issued by the party that invites you to Russia. The invitation is required by a Russian consulate to be able to process your visa.  The invitation (visa support) can be issued by a Russian travel agency, or by a company or organization authorized by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).  Here’s an in-depth article on “How to Get a Russian Visa” by The Points Guy, and a “Russian Visa Support Application: Step by Step Guide” by Way to Russia.  If you need help with Russian travel, you can message our friendly live online support at SkySurf.Travel.  You do not have to buy air tickets in order to get a visa but you should take the following into account:

  • If you apply for a visa before buying your tickets, it’s possible that you won’t be able to find flights for the exact dates for which you applied or they may be more expensive. Most often, the earlier you book your flights the cheaper they will be.
  • It is possible that you will purchase tickets in advance (if you’ve found a great deal or good price) and then not receive your visa. If you’re going as a tourist, have no criminal issues, have an invite and travel insurance, there’s very little chance of you being denied; however, it is not 100% guaranteed you’ll get a visa.
  • If you need to get a visa, you should begin the process at least 5 weeks ahead of time.

Privyet!

Gregory Rzeczko

http://skysurf.travel/

How to Book the Cheapest Flights

In this blog entry, you’ll learn how to find the cheapest flight deals possible to anywhere in the world using the flight deal website SkySurf.Travel.  This is an innovative online service for anyone who wants to go somewhere on a budget, but doesn’t know where exactly. It can also be used for finding the most economical flight path to multiple cities. For example, if your overall flight ticket budget is $500, you can view all your one-way, round-trip, or multi-city flight options for under $500.

One-way flights

Let’s say you’re looking to travel around the world, and looking for flight ticket deals whenever you are ready to depart a city.  For this example, I’ll be looking for flight deals under $100 departing from Beijing, China sometime in August 2017.  I enter in “Beijing” in the “Traveling From” input field, and select “August 2017” in the “Depart Date” field, and finally click on the “Search Best Deals!” button to retrieve a list of results of the cheapest flight deals for the month of August 2017.

Here are the results:

If I plan on staying in China, I can choose from 19 cities that I can fly to for under $100.

If I plan on leaving China, there are 4 countries I can fly to for under $100 (Malaysia, Hong Kong, Philippines, and South Korea).

You can also choose the exact date, and if you’re flexible, you can subtract or add days to your departure date by clicking on the left or right arrow buttons after your results appear, such as the ones below:

Change departure date by left or right arrows

Round-trip flights

There are a couple ways of finding the cheapest round-trip flight deals.  First, click on the “Roundtrip” tab, type in where you’ll be traveling from as well as your departure and return dates.  For this example, I’ll be traveling from New York, NY, USA, for one week, so I’ve selected August 16-23, 2017.  A list of flights returned that are sorted by cheapest to most expensive.  There are 17 countries I can travel to round-trip from NYC for under $500. Four of them are to Europe (Scotland, Ireland, Denmark, and Finland).

Another way of finding cheap round-trip flight deals is by repeating the above steps, but this time clicking on the “Show me two one-way tickets that I can book separately” option. You’ll be able to choose your return flight once you choose your departure flight. (This can at times be cheaper).  For this option, you’ll be able to see if booking two separate one-way flight deals is cheaper than purchasing a round-trip flight ticket.

If you’re flexible, you can also search by month to view the cheapest airfare for any month, or click the “anytime” option to see what the current cheapest destinations are for anytime.

In the top navigation, you can also click on the “Flight Map” button to view a world map of all the destinations you can fly to.  There’s a price range slider to select your max airfare price, and see where you can fly to on a world map.

Airport destination flight map

Multi-city flights

I’ve written a few blog entries on how to travel around the world or a continent to multiple cities in the most economical way. Here are a few:

The options are endless on finding your ideal and most cost-effective travel itinerary.  Whether you’re planning a cheap one-way, round-trip, or multi-city trip, SkySurf.Travel is the tool you’ll need to build the most economical flight itinerary to anywhere around the world.  If you need help with building your travel itinerary, there’s live online help at SkySurf.Travel.

Safe travels!

Gregory Rzeczko

http://skysurf.travel/