ZA2009 Archive July 2008

Presidential Election

No, not that presidential election. 

I'm talking about South Africa's upcoming presidential election. In April 2009, we will be in country to witness an election in one of the world's newest democracies in action!

It should be very interesting. Because the ANC dominates South African politics, the ANC president is virtually assured to be elected South Africa's leader. The current ANC president, Jacob Zuma, is planning to stand for the presidency in 2009. That is, if he wins an upcoming corruption trial. Yesterday, Zuma lost a constitutional court ruling in which he argued that certain evidence should not be introduced. Not looking good.

It appears that the South African courts will decide whether Zuma will be the next president of South Africa.

--Matt

Airline Tickets

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

Mark Accepted at Rhenish

Yesterday, we received a letter from Rhenish Primary School saying that Mark's application for 2009 has been approved. Yes! Another preparation item to check off the list. Just waiting for the official signed copy to use with his visa application.

IMG_3967

--Matt

Introduction

This is a the first posting using the blogging system we may use during 2009. We're headed to South Africa for Matt's sabbatical at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology and the Centre for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies at Stellenbosch University. Tracy will be doing research. Mark will be at Rhenish Primary School. Catherine will be ... well, she's only two. We'll use this blog should to share our experiences and photos with friends and family back in the United States. Of course, friends and family can email us at any time!

The "ZA" in the title of this blog comes from the two-letter ISO country code for South Africa (ZA). The two-letter code "SA" belongs to Saudi Arabia. "ZA" comes from the Dutch name for South Africa "Zuid Afrika."

I may change the header from time to time. For information about the present and past header graphics, see the album I'm compiling. The first header graphic is a photo I took at Llandudno Beach near Cape Town.

For the technically-minded, we're using Sandvox on Matt's laptop to create this blog.

Also for the technically-minded, you can click on the Subscribe to RSS feed link on the title page to subscribe to this blog in an RSS reader.

Lots more to come!

--Matt