R7 708 Find Cheap Flights from the United States to South Africa

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Booking Insights

KAYAK's insights & trends for flights to South Africa

Get data-powered insights and trends for 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 R21 566 return. The most popular route is Atlanta (ATL) to Johannesburg OR Tambo Airport (JNB) and the cheapest return airline ticket found on this route in the last 72 hours was R23 202.

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 February, when tickets cost R21 639 (return) on average. On the other hand, the most expensive months are August and December, when the average cost of round-trip tickets is R28 008 and R27 154 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 5% compared to booking last-minute. For the absolute cheapest price, our data suggests you should book 15 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 Cape Town Intl Airport (CPT), with an average flight price of R19 156.

Good to know

Low seasonJanuary
Cheapest flightR7 708
Best time to beat the crowds (7% less expensive on average)
Most popular time to fly (20% 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 R25 231. On the other hand, the most expensive day to fly is Sunday, when return prices are R33 657 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.
7,4
Qatar AirwaysOverall score based on 3723 reviews
7,4Comfort
7,9Crew
7,4Entertainment
7,5Boarding
7,3Food
Airline reviews

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.

6,0 GoodAnonymous, Jan 2026
BOS - PHL
Read more Qatar Airways reviews

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

My entire row did not have power for the full duration of a 14.5 hour flight. Could not charge any devices such as laptop or phones for the entirety of the long flight. The flight attendants tried to remedy the issue by resetting the power, but were not successful. The only other solution provided was to move me to another seat on the plane which was in the middle row. I had paid for a “preferred” seat that was a window seat. This was a downgrade being offered due to the power issue.

Nothing to complain. The staff and flight was good especially the seats which was better compared than the cloth ones on Qatar airways

Unfortunately weather delayed our flight waiting for our plane to arrive and due to a little snow time was needed to deice the plane so departure was very delayed and I missed the connecting flight

Very good. Because of the delays with my previous flight, I missed my connection, but I was able to book another flight through the United app easily.

I wish there were outlets to charge my iPhone. The crew was great; we had a female pilot who was great with explaining what was happening and delays,

The flight crew where really good. Better then the crew from BNE to SFO

Food should be changed in menu Many muslims travels in this airlime they need to add one Halal meal

Delayed, toilets did not flush, pilot parked to far away from Gate

Was happy we finally got upgraded in 1st class. The seat getting old. The cushiness need some improvement.

Yet another flight in which beverage and snack service was skipped. Other that that, firmly mediocre. Landed early, to gate late due to congestion at the gates. Airline's fault or airports fault: unknown.

Ineffective communication with United resulted in lost baggage. Their Baggage Tracing counter at MUC was shut down from 11:00-14:15 on my arrival. Undertrained, underinformed staff had me Running all over MUC to find someone to help me to no avail. Staff was rude, unhelpful, and unable to effectively use the systems they did have operational. They refused to contact United in any way or provide any accommodation or other resources while I waited for my luggage. This has destroyed my downstream itinerary. If they had even the slightest visibility I may have been able to reschedule/plan, but again, their staff provided nothing, and did nothing more than their website, which doesn’t even work on a standard phone browser. Miserable failure at all levels that weren’t associated with the operation of the aircraft.

Miserable. They moved my seat, but canceled the next leg of my flight. I resolved the issue at my transfer, but that resulted in lost luggage that has taken days off my schedule with no resolution. Worse, they fail to interface effectively with Lufthansa, forcing me to bounce between two equally useless help desks. The apps are unable to handle the situation, the bag dropped off the tracker, and while the call centers are polite, they do not provide written information to assist with cross-airline communication.

Everything about that day was great I was happy with how things went as a first time traveling with the airline thank you for all that you’ve doing by taking us there to our various destinations thanks.

They oversold the tickets by one which was my ticket so I didn’t have a ticket till last second

Not good. I was supposed to be in Mint but got in economy class

Service was slow and checked bag was off last evening when flying business

Turkish Airline canceled our tickets in the very last minute, with our luggage and everything else, all prepared and good to go. It’s clear that they sold the tickets for better money to someone else. Bad, Bad, Bad business!!!

Awful seating. Bad food. Staff only have one bottle of water and no cans.

it was like a banya -so hot... They did provide a great experience with special food. one toilet broke midflight In general it was a peaceful and relaxing flight - for business class it was good.

Chicago to Istanbul was a much better experience than I expected since I’m more accustomed to Qatar Airways business class. The business lounge in the Istanbul airport was amazing - loved the lockers and phone charging stations, and the bathroom was a spa experience in itself. The onward leg from Istanbul to Karachi was utterly disappointing. Terrible plane, and I felt like I was in economy - the seats don’t come near to lying flat and the food was mediocre. What a sad downgrade - it isn’t as though the ticket on that leg was cheaper. So, on that front, there’s no contest with Qatar airways.

Second leg of Turkish Airline with Indigo is disaster for following reason. 1) You have to carry your cabin bags through ladder to boeing 777 because it was parked somewhere in parking lot and was not given a gate to board passengers and this seems to be people traveling to and fro from those flights and is not issue with flight itself. 2) I choose non vegetarian food on Turkish portal way ahead of checkin to entire trip, However the Indigo flight gave me random veg food saying they code veg food code from Turkish. 3) Indigo did not served any alcoholic beverages stating some weird reason which is non nonsensical. 4)Indigo have TV screens in front of you but it displays nothing except "Welcome Onboard" with annoying white black ground in dark flight. This is the most stupidest and annoying part because you are held hostage for 7 hours and only thing you could do is stare back at white screen which does not have entertainment package or even flight tracker. Such a shame.

nice and clean plane but the seats and the comfort was not what i expected. i expected more based on all the ads and reviews that i've read. I guess you get what you pay for in economy.

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”

Check in took over an hour because printer was not working. Attendant did not know how to give free layover Addis Ababa hotel vouchers or update frequent flyer number. After repeated attempts, got voucher emailed. However hotel wanted printed voucher hence more delay. Bus time from hotel back to airport was printed 4:50 hours, but hotel reception called at 3 pm saying bus will leave at 4 pm. Then hotel reception called again saying 4:15 pm. We rushed at 4:15 pm and bus was not ready until 4:40 pm. Many audio outlets were not working in planes.

I had a memorable experience. I dont have any comments at this time regarding waht could be better.

It is nice and great but the houstees crew are all the way back arguing with customers and behavior issues same of the crew i saw that also all the trips were very much butter!

I have my baggage left either in Jeddah or Addis and undelivered to Abuja

They only gave us 30 minutes to make an international connecting flight. We didn’t make the connection but they did do a good job rebooking us despite the chaos. Our bags didn’t make it back and their process for customer support is pretty bad when it comes to luggage.

The Boeing 737 MAX on this route, flown in the middle of the night, is an UTTER FAILURE for business travellers. The whole point of business travel is to arrive alert and recover from travel quickly, and this little aeroplane with its quarter recline uncomfortable business seats does nothing for that. It’s a small step up from economy in that you have decent legroom, but that’s it. Absolute margin at the cost of the traveller.

Good. Crew do seem to be less friendly- management are clearly limiting them or not empowering them as they used to.

The issue was not with BA it was with the link yoiu sent fopr booking the flight

Loved the boarding option from Business class lounge, experience on flight was excellent, plenty of good food choices

Getting the boarding passes between the BA and AA apps was very clunky.

The airline was not clear about a new departure time so we got to the airport early anyway. The flight left early which was great because of weather. The check in process was very easy and staff were friendly and helpful. The crew was great and our flight was very good.

Awful it always is unfortunately is the only way to fly direct to london

I travelled in business class and was disappointed by lack of service, curt and borderline rude time of the crew and to top it off, all of my luggage was delayed. It was like pulling teeth to even report the missing luggage and recover it the next day from the airport.

Plane was extremely delayed, but not all of it was BA fault (some was). Worst part was lack of room - this had as much space as an Allegiant flight. I thought transatlantic usually gave you an extra inch or two, but not this one. Entertainment system sporadically worked and didn’t have great options. Overhead bins are old and tiny, not as good as aunties new planes.

Boarding was poor. All groups called immediately one after the other resulting in a long queue in the jetty/jet bridge. Seats were very hard and and did not recline on a 4.5 hour flight. No food was available. Plane was cold. There was no entertainment.

The cramped seats are cruel and unusual punishment and may violate the Geneva code.

Check in was was and the agent was very friendly and helpful The lounge was nice...boarding was straight from the lounge Everything worked at our seats, and video entertainment was good ..food was mediocre

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.