Flying to Tanzania – Kenya the only avios option?

[SBX]

Hey all,

Not usually one to ask for help but…

I have around 250k avios along with a companion voucher and i’m looking at a spontaneous trip to Tanzania at the end of November for 2 weeks. I’m preferably wanting to use my avios/voucher to fly as it’ll be the first time taking business and this is exactly why i’ve been saving…

I’m looking to get to Arusha in northern Tanzania but the closest BA fly is Nairobi and then it looks like i’ll probably have to stay in Nairobi for a day and then get a 5 hour bus down to Arusha. Good thing is I can get J out (A350 Club suites) but only premium back – Looking at about 68k avios. Qatar look to fly to Dar el Asam but want a whopping 130k each way.

Has anyone else traveled to Northern Tanzania and done it any differently?

Cheers

[Pebbles]

I went to a conference in Arusha last year. I flew with Qatar; Birmingham to Doha, stopover in Doha, then Doha to Kilimanjaro. The Kilimanjaro flight landed in Dar es Saalam before continuing onwards and quite a few people got off there. I paid cash so can’t comment on the avios unfortunately. Kilimanjaro is definitely the most convenient airport to fly into though!

[zio]

I don’t think you can get all the way on avios.
As you have identified Nairobi is the best option for using your voucher. However, you don’t need to go onward by bus as Arusha (ARK) now has some international flights. When checking departures don’t limit yourself to Nairobi international (NBO); also check Wilson (WIL) which is about half an hour away by taxi.
Depending on your final destination you may also want to check flights to Kili (JRO) as there will be more options.
If you have Virgin points you can consider KLM from AMS-JRO.

[binotsen]

I have been looking into this for next summer.

The only downside of landing in Nairobi that I can see is that if you leave the airport (ie. don’t just transit) you will need a yellow fever vaccine to then subsequently enter Tanzania so some additional cost and an extra step to jump through.

[zio]

Good point about Kenya counting as a country with risk of yellow fever transmission. YF certificates no longer expire (WHO decided no booster is required after 10 years) so if you have an old immunisation booklet it will still be valid.