I spoke with Sharon today at Golden Rule Travel. She is the lovely lady that books the plane tickets for the Gentrys and most of their visitors. She warned me that I needed to buy my plane ticket by the 30th of April or I would be facing a much higher price. She was not kidding! I bought my plane ticket on the 23rd of April. On the 30th of April the tickets went from $2300 to $5600. Yikes! There are multiple reasons for the increase. 1)Summer travel is more expensive. 2)There are 8 price rates within the economy section of the plane. First come first serve. 3)Blantyre, Malawi is no longer on the travel route for the US, so you have to book an additional ticket to go from South Africa to Malawi. Before this was just a layover and not a separate ticket. 4)South African Airways only flies to Malawi twice a week, so there are only 8 or 9 possible dates you can travel in a month, making it more competitive.
For those of you planning to go to Malawi in September, it would be a good idea to check with Sharon and keep an eye on the cheaper ticket availability. She said that if you are firm on your dates, book now. If you aren't sure about your dates, check back every couple weeks.
Update: As of 5/23/07, plane tickets to Malawi in September but before the 17th are approximately $2500. If you can leave after the 17th of September the tickets maybe a bit cheaper. These are discounted tickets, once they run out you will have to purchase "published" prices which are over $5000. Prices according to Golden Rule Travel 1-800-950-3599.
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