R7 998 Find Cheap Flights from the United States to South Africa – Compare and Save

This is the cheapest one-way flight price found by a KAYAK user in the last 72 hours by searching for a flight from the United States to South Africa departing on 11/10. Fares are subject to change and may not be available on all flights or dates of travel. Click the price to replicate the search for this deal.
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Booking Insights

KAYAK's insights & trends for flights to South Africa

Get data-powered insights and trends into flights to South Africa to help you find the cheapest flights, the best time to fly and much more.

What is the cheapest flight to South Africa?

These are the best return prices found by users searching on KAYAK in the last 72 hours.

The cheapest ticket to South Africa from the United States found in the last 72 hours was to Cape Town, at R27 210 return. The most popular route is Atlanta (ATL) to Cape Town (CPT) and the cheapest return airline ticket found on this route in the last 72 hours was R27 210.

What is the cheapest month to fly from the United States to South Africa?

To calculate monthly average prices, KAYAK takes all prices for each month over the last year for flights from the United States to South Africa, removes the top 0.1% to account for outliers, and then takes the median of all values for each month.

The cheapest month for flights from the United States to South Africa is August, when tickets cost R12 538 (return) on average. On the other hand, the most expensive months are June and November, when the average cost of round-trip tickets is R20 570 and R17 849 respectively.

How far in advance should I book a flight from the United States to South Africa?

To calculate weekly average prices, KAYAK takes all prices for each week before departure over the last year for round-trip flights to South Africa, removes the top 0.1% to account for outliers, and then takes the average of all the values for each week.

To get a below-average price on a flight from the United States to South Africa, you should book around 2 weeks before departure, which saves you about 12% compared to booking last-minute. For the absolute cheapest price, our data suggests you should book 25 weeks before departure.

Which is the cheapest airport to fly into in South Africa?

Prices will differ depending on the departure airport, but generally, the cheapest airport to fly to in South Africa is Johannesburg OR Tambo Airport (JNB), with an average flight price of R21 856.

Good to know

Low seasonFebruary
Cheapest flightR7 998
Best time to beat the crowds (15% less expensive on average)
Most popular time to fly (19% more expensive on average)
Flight from New York John F Kennedy Airport to Cape Town

FAQs for booking flights from the United States to South Africa

  • Are there nonstop flights to South Africa?

    Although there are flights from the United States available to over a dozen different small and large cities throughout South Africa, the only nonstop flights from the US to South Africa arrive in Johannesburg. Some of the nonstop flights to Johannesburg are available from Atlanta and Washington, DC.

  • Do I need a visa to enter South Africa?

    To visit South Africa for a duration of up to 90 days, United States nationals are not required to acquire a visa in advance. Instead, a visitor’s visa can be obtained at the port of entry on arrival. Official visa rules can be found on South Africa’s government immigration website and are subject to change without notice.

  • Where should I fly to if I want to visit Kruger National Park?

    If you’re one of the many tourists heading to South Africa to visit the Kruger National Park, it can be handy to fly into Mpumalanga International Airport (MQP). Although there are no direct routes, this airport gives direct access to the southern section of Kruger National Park. One of the most common layovers is in Johannesburg and you can find that more than one airline operates the route. Some of the companies are South Africa and jetBlue.

  • I want to visit Table Mountain in South Africa, which city should I fly to?

    Table Mountain is another extremely popular tourist destination in South Africa, and it lies just outside of the city of Cape Town. To get there, you can fly into Cape Town then take one of the many available buses or taxis to the base of Table Mountain, where you can either hike or take a cable car the rest of the way.

  • How does KAYAK find such low prices on flights from the United States to South Africa?

    KAYAK is a travel search engine. That means we look across the web to find the best prices we can find for our users. With over 2 billion flight queries processed yearly, we are able to display a variety of prices and options on flights from the United States to South Africa.

  • How does KAYAK's flight Price Forecast tool help me choose the right time to buy my flight ticket from the United States to South Africa?

    KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool uses historical data to determine whether the price for a flight from the United States to South Africa is likely to change within 7 days, so travellers know whether to wait or book now.

  • What is the Hacker Fare option on flights from the United States to South Africa?

    Hacker Fares allow you to combine one-way tickets in order to save you money over a traditional return ticket. You could then fly from the United States to South Africa with an airline and back with another airline.

  • What is KAYAK's "flexible dates" feature and why should I care when looking for a flight from the United States to South Africa?

    Sometimes travel dates aren't set in stone. If your preferred travel dates have some wiggle room, flexible dates will show you all the options when flying from the United States to South Africa up to 3 days before/after your preferred dates. You can then pick the flights that suit you best.

  • What is the cheapest day to fly to South Africa?

    Based on KAYAK data, the cheapest day to fly to South Africa is Wednesday when return tickets can be as cheap as R26 281. On the other hand, the most expensive day to fly is Thursday, when return prices are R36 636 on average.

Top tips for finding a cheap flight out of the United States

  • Getting to South Africa will almost certainly involve a layover, which commonly also includes a change in airline. One of the most common (and most affordable) routes to South Africa from the United States is from New York City (JFK Airport) to Johannesburg. This route is nonstop and is operated by South Africa Airways.
  • When booking your flight to South Africa, you’ll have no shortage of airports to choose from. There are more than 15 international airports in South Africa that you can fly to from the United States, with the airports in Johannesburg and Cape Town seeing the most international air traffic.
  • Heading to the Valley of 1,000 hills? This popular attraction is located in the Durban area. To get there, you’ll have to fly into Durban King Shaka International Airport (DUR). Located in the city of La Mercy, the airport is reachable via a layover in Johannesburg.
  • If you’re one of the many tourists heading to South Africa to hike up to Lion’s Head, you’ll have to fly into Cape Town for convenient access. Common layovers between the US and Cape Town include Madrid and Johannesburg.
  • To reach Ballito (nicknamed the Dolphin Coast), your best option is to fly into Durban King Shaka International Airport. Direct flights to this airport aren’t available from the US, with most involving a layover in Johannesburg.

Reviews of the top 5 airlines flying from the United States to South Africa

 
Need help choosing which airline to fly with from the United States to South Africa? KAYAK airline reviews give an overall score for each airline based on loads of factors, including comfort, boarding, in-flight entertainment and more, to make your decision easier. See airline scores according to verified KAYAK customer reviews.
7,8
KLMOverall score based on 1530 reviews
7,8Boarding
7,3Food
7,2Entertainment
7,7Comfort
8,4Crew
Airline reviews

The flight was 45 mins late leaving, we sat without a/c for some of this, 2nd Meal was a slice of pizza. Movies were good.

8,0 ExcellentAnonymous, Jun 2026
LHR - AMS
Read more KLM reviews

The flight was 45 mins late leaving, we sat without a/c for some of this, 2nd Meal was a slice of pizza. Movies were good.

Outstanding even though the 330 was one of the oldest in the fleet. The difference was the attentiveness and responsiveness of a really experienced flight attendant. For airline food great variety of interesting choices and good tastes supported by a good wine selection.

Brand new plane lots of room the snack was very flavourful and enjoyable

The crew were unprofessional with a racist element. I was physically abused as well from one of the crew members

Crew is not the cheerful type. very slow meal service (this is their style as have flown this many times)

Flight was on time, staff are friendly and helpful onboard.

Terrible last row seats many seats available but no offer to move to better seat

Delay on my previous leg, had to run to catch my flight. But that happens. Overall ok.

Flight was ok but lack of communication cost me to literally beg to be put on another flight as connecting flight had departed

They forgot to serve food and the crew was very unfriendly. Never experienced such a bad KLM flight. Usually fly from Toronto. New York was different.

They delayed the flight 3 hours because it wasn't full they moved us to 5 different gates probably the worst airline ever not even spirit is this bad.

Very easy ! Use the kiosk and bag drop and right to security within 10 min

Checking bag at terminal was horrible. No agents to check us in and only 1 kiosk working. Boarding went ok. Crew onboard was very scattered rained. Missed our row while serving and then didn’t see them hardly again.

Crew was amazing, takeoff wonderful. The bathroom was disgusting from before takeoff the odor made the flight uncomfortable as you could smell the bathroom from the center of the plane where we were sitting. Smelled like raw sewage. My daughter was throwing up as we landed due to the smell and horrible turbulence as we approached Newark.

Airline tickets are not cheap. You expect reliable competent service. Thanks to canceled flights and botched transfers we arrived at our destination two days late. This is not acceptable

Horrible! Several delays and then was cancelled! I spent over 24 hours in the airport and was unable to get a hotel or food voucher.

The entertainment they offer could use some games, and maybe they could add some cookies to the snack menu. And the automated messages are a bit repetitive. But it was comfortable temperature wise and the seats were comfortable. The crew is very polite and helpful

The entertainment is a bit limited, it would be better if they added some games to play besides the movies and tv shows. But the seats are comfortable and the crew is polite

This planes staff was top tier. Everything went great and had a great flight home.

Food was great. Staff was phenomenal. Seats were a bit hard and could use a lot more entertainment options as far as movies to choose from. WiFi was good. Overall great trip.

Really good food and service. Qatar Airways is again and again provided an exceptional experience.

Extremely uncomfortable seats with very little cushioning, unable to recline enough to sleep comfortably on this 13 hour overnight flight. My body was in pain by the end.

When we checked in at the Siem Reap Airport in Cambodia, we were only given three boarding passes and told that we would have to check in with American when we arrived in Boston. This was a source of stress for us. After we landed in Boston, we had a long passage from Terminal E to Terminal B (American Airline ticketing counter). Because the electronic ticketing kiosks for check-in would not recognize our Confirmation Code, we had to wait for an hour in a long line where only two AA reps were taking care of Special Services passengers. In many years of both business and recreational travel, I have never had this experience. I would expect more from AA being in partnership with other airlines to do a better job with this.

Our experience on the Doha to Hyderabad segment was extremely stressful due to prolonged delays and a lack of clear communication from the airline. We were traveling as a family, including children, and the uncertainty around timing and next steps caused significant distress. There was very little proactive information provided during the delay, and we were not given clear written explanations about what was happening or how long it might take. This made it difficult to manage the situation, especially while caring for children in a transit environment. In addition, one member of our party was ultimately unable to continue travel, which added to the emotional strain and disruption of the trip. Overall, the experience highlighted gaps in communication, customer care, and handling of unexpected situations. We are sharing this feedback so that future passengers, especially families, are supported with clearer communication and better assistance during irregular operations.

The seat cushions are absolutely lacking, not sure if they know the passengers are traveling for 14 hours straight, but the padding made our back and butt ache like crazy. The entertainment console had its own problems, either the headphone jack wasn't working or the power outlet via usb or ac outlet was not working. Not to mention the seat handles were not adjustable in some planes in the middle or on the aisle. Qatar/Indigo may be operating a very old fleet of planes to make as much profit as possible, but passengers may not be following them for long, should this treatment of its customers continue. Qatar/Indigo, wake up and do it right by your customers, or they may not be your customers anymore.

It would help id flight crew were not rude and showed some courtesy. They were shouting at passengers and yelling instructions as if we were school children at lunch cafeteria!!

I am a big person and have back pain and swelling in my legs, so this was a challenging flight due to confined space. I didn't find the crew very friendly either. I will think twice before flying long distances with Qatar again, due to the lack of legroom.

All good. Over four hours flight if provided snacks like Qatar Airways would be better

Lobster starter in business class was not good, tough, served cold, and without butter. Movie selection was missing latest releases, did not offer older classic, high quality movies

Food was absolutely pathetic. I wasted so much food which I thought was inedible. I also loathe the inflight entertainment system which has very little content

The following is a review for a flight from Johannesburg to Washington, DC with a connection at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and refueling landing at Rome, Italy. The flight was provided by Ethiopian Airlines. There were two of us: me and my wife on this flight. Everything was on time. Enough legroom between the seats, I was able to stretch my legs and sleep for at least some time during the 14 hour second flight (19 hours in total for both flights). Very decent meals that included two lunches and one breakfast on the flight from Addis Ababa to Washington and one lunch on the flight from Johannesburg to Addis Ababa. The lunch choices were beef, chicken and fish, I think the vegetarian option was available as well, accompanied with beans. The breakfast was a choice between egg and pancake, accompanied with a fruit salad. The egg breakfast was awesome, it came with a scrambled egg and a sausage. However, my wife mentioned unusual taste of the pancake breakfast meal, by all means those were not pancakes. What wasn't good: Externally initiated commercials on the infosystem screens, you couldn't turn the screen off. These commercials were accompanied by loud and annoying music, transmitted through the entire cabin. Obviously, there was no escape from this music as well. Additional moment: on the flight from Addis Ababa to Washington, DC, we landed at Rome for refueling. This was totally fine and it was in the flight itinerary. But, the flight attendant asked me to straighten the seat while we were at the steady position during the refueling. I can't rationalize this order except that some people just like to be a boss of some kind. Keeping the light lit in the economy cabin while keeping it dimmed in the first class also didn't improve my and my wife's feelings. Overall, the services were very good and the flight, despite its longevity, went on very smoothly.

The flight was very smooth, however, the quality of food was mediocre.

The TV wasn't working No music for the whole flight from JFK to LOS It was too burring.

Flight was delayed by two hours. This really messed things up because I missed my connecting flight in Addis. I had a meeting in Entebbe which was scrapped because my flight from Addis landed later in the day.

I paid for internet that did not work and had to pay more to have it

We had a good flight experience with this airline despite reading many negative comments

The crew were amazing. They should improve the inflight entertainment

The crew was unfriendly and very rude to name a few (Helina). I felt unsafe due to most of the cabinets were open while on flight. All in all the flight was ok, but the crew needed more training on customer service most of all for international flights.

Delay not posted, only departure time listed- not boarding time. We left an hour late and arrived 45 min late. Restrooms had backed up sinks and toilets not flushed ) passenger error). Lots of screen for entertainment didn’t work. But we arrived with our luggage

The plane was old and the luggage racks above us were visibly shaking during turbulence. Water was dripping on our heads during landing. Our flight was over 2 hours late departing but we were not updated or told what to expect as the screen at the gate continued to read “on time”

Thanks to a delay of an hour of my flight to Philadelphia on American Airlines I missed my connecting flight to Amsterdam. On arrival at Philadelphia he crew on the delayed flight did not ask the passengers to let connecting passengers get off first and I arrived a few minutes after boarding was closed at the original time for the flight to AMS, this despite the fact that I had received a message from American Airlines that departure was delayed by 25 minutes. Overall very poor service, no effort from the part of American Airlines to accommodate the passenger, just rebook the flight for the next day.

It's hard to tell where to plug in electronics, and the port on my seat didn't work. Their entertainment system was down. Vegetarian food options were tasty. Friendly, helpful flight attendants.

Boarding process was chaotic. Confusion over Boarding gates: gate 55 or gate 56 ???. Unnecessary standing in long lines to board. Better to call out Boarding groups one at a time and everyone else to sit. Airline only has 2 Boarding groups 1-3 and 4-9. That causes over crowding and chaos

Lady next to me was coughing profusely the entire flight, other lady moved seats because of it, 8 hours of that during an overnight flight is a bit much.

The flight was ok. The seats are so small. The free wifi for members was not an option on this flight. The one flight attendant, older woman with straight white/grey hair, was very rude. The gentleman next to me asked about the wifi since he was a member as well. He stated, accurately, that the option to enter the idea number was not available. Her response was, "I don't know what to tell you" and walked away from him. The rest of the staff was wonderful. I asked another flight attendant about the wifi, she said the free wifi was not enabled on that flight (true or not- at least she was friendly). It was also pretty dirty. When I opened the tray table it had mushed crumbs and there was a dirty used pair of ear buds in my seat pocket. Lastly the air vent above my head was working but stuck so I was unable to move it to face me when it got warm. I fly American often but this really was not a great flight.

My luggage was lost at the airport but American Airlines contacted me and got it to me the next day.

24 hour delays aren’t even heard in 3rd world countries with archaic transportation systems. I’m never flying American Airlines again.

3.5 hr delay leaving Pittsburgh, notifications for which were incomplete and untimely. Connecting flight was automatically switched to one requiring more than a 30 hour layover! After waiting in a long queue, customer service reduced layover to 11 hours and also set up an earlier standby. The standby had empty seats, but the gate agent couldn't change our tickets! On top of all that my luggage was lost and has yet to even be located, much less returned 5 (FIVE!) days later. Too bad there's no rating below poor.

Canceled flight late London to Florence. Help at airport very poor. Treated poorly. Had to sleep in the airport. Lost bags- still do not have them. Horrible. I should be reimbursed!

The seats are extra cramped if you are taller than 5’8! Spring for the extra legroom seats for sure if you have a long flight!

Everything you need to know for your flight to South Africa

Cabin class types available on flights to South Africa

Cabin classes available on flights to South Africa. Prices are the lowest found on KAYAK over the last 7 days. Price and availability is not guaranteed.