Business Class, Melbourne to Kigali, Rwanda for $1652 AUD return.
Lie flat the whole way. Includes layover in Bangkok.
Fly between December 2023 to May 2024. Plenty of availability over New Year and Easter.
Book at your own risk. Always a chance the airlines could cancel your ticket.
@Ilikecars: Good to hear!
Please do share trip plans and affordable things to do.
I do have a similar trip towards the end of year.
How did you access the Plaza Premium Lounge in Nairobi, do you have priority pass or similar, or did you pay?
@stpirate, thanks for this. Who did you hire the car through?
Fabrice Car Rental
+250 783 044 172
Hey guys. We just got back from a 10 day trip to Bangkok and Kigali. As long as your flight status is still 'Open' you're all good to fly out.
Great trip, and blessed with good weather at VNP (though lots of websites state its wet season there). For those yet to book anything in Rwanda, last-minute gorilla permits are easy to get as its low season.
Happy to answer any questions about Rwanda.
Good luck to all! And thanks Ozbargain for this amazing opportunity!
Which safari did you pick in rwanda?
We didn't do a safari, but most people go to Akagera. If you're looking for a driver and guide, I would highly recommend the one we went with - Emile, from Lion Safaris based in Kigali.
Did you do gorillas? Solo travelling so im looking at the 1660 usd 4 day tour into uganda to see some gorillas, will probably have a couple days in kigali to spare, is there much to do?
@Legobo: 1 day is more than enough in Kigali, Genocide Memorial is a highlight, and will take you 2 hours if you take your time and read everything. You can walk around the city too, it's pretty safe, but not much to see.
Yes we did the gorilla's, golden monkey and Dian Fossey hike in Rwanda. We were very fortunate and also saw a wild Silverback on the Dian Fossey hike, but if you don't see one, the hike is rather dull. Not much of a view, and a very muddy trail.
@Legobo: Biryogo Food street is good for a couple of hours - car-free street at night turns into open air food area. Restaurants spill out onto the street, heaps of people walking around and eating street food.
If you’re interested in the genocide history, the Ntarama and Nyamata churches about 40 min outside of Kigali are very moving and informative. Google them to decide whether it’s right for you - the government attendants there walk you around and tell you the story of the places, I’m very glad I went. And you’ll see a bit of the countryside outside of Kigali.
Book a car and drive around Kigali yourself - things are too spread out to walk and everything is either uphill or downhill, so you’ll be in taxis a lot if you don’t drive. WhatsApp these guys for cheap cars by the day - $40 USD for a RAV4, they have other options too.
+250 781 435 060
Fusion Restaurant if you want to treat yourself to a fancy meal - top notch, with prices to match though. But worth it!
Enjoy and good luck!
@stpirate: +250 783 044 172 for Fabrice Car Rental - the number above will do the same but I didn’t end up using them cos these guys were closer to my hotel!
Nice work, dancubed…
And on flight home - China Southern the best of the lot! Thanks to OP for an amazing experience - here’s hoping for another one soon. Safe travels everyone and good luck to those still to go. Closing this window now for the first time in four months lol.
Glad you had a good experience. I'll be flying CSA too with a layover. Hoping it sticks.
Been watching this thread almost daily lol.
Hey everyone, like a few of the others we also just got back from our trip - and what a trip it was! We did a 4 day Rwanda/Uganda tour and an 8 day safari in Kenya - happy to help if anyone has questions.
Kenya Airways was great, but Thai Airways was definitely a leg up. The Air France/KLM lounge was very average at BKK but we had no choice on the way there as the China Airlines lounge was closed. Much better experience on the way back - recommend KrisFlyer and Eva Air lounges for the food and Thai Royal Orchid for the seats/atmosphere.
Pearl Lounge at KGL was pretty decent. Pride and Simba lounges at NBO were just okay. Couldn't access Plaza Premium as we were told we needed to pay extra, but it looked really nice.
Thank you Ozbargain for this once in a lifetime opportunity! Good luck to all those who are yet to travel.
Sounds like you had a fantastic trip! Glad it all worked out 👍
Hey @qiqw12, mind if I ask you a couple of questions about the tours you did? I was going to PM but you have it turned off. Feel free to message if you don't want to drop the information here
Which travel company did you use in both Kenya and Rwanda/Uganda?
Is there anywhere you visited on the Safari you wouldn't recommend? Looks like most in the 7 day range go to Maasai Mara, Amboseli and Lake Nakuru?
Would you do the tour again in Rwanda/Uganda or do it yourself?
Cheers!
Just sent you a PM!
Where did everyone credit SC's and miles? SQ?
I have the same question.
My thoughts are that I'll credit my Thai Airways flights to Singapore Krisflyer miles because I already have a stash there. I note that there's a 3-year hard expiry for the miles but at the very least you could transfer them to Virgin Velocity miles.
For the Kenya Airways flights I'm less certain what to do. I don't fly with SkyTeam airlines pretty much at all, so even if the miles accured can get me some status it won't really benefit me. I did have a look at various SkyTeam airlines and most of their member airlines have either (or both) hard expiry of miles or a have-to-fly-on-their-airlines-a-number-of-times-a-year requirement. I might just credit the flight to Delta (which I don't currently have an account) as it doesn't expire so at least it's something.
Interested in hearing other people's thoughts.
My plan was SQ for the Thai flights. On the Kenya Airways flights, I may have to look at Delta as well since they dont' expire. I do have a Delta account with a small amount of miles. I may look at Vietnam airlines and potentially credit there as I also have some miles there.
I got back from my trip Tues 30/4 after leaving Tues 23/4. The Thai airways flights were very good overall. Kenya airways flights were okay, service a bit mixed and communication of delays not immediately forthcoming however I expect they will get better over time (the Pride of Africa!). If travelling by yourself, on the BKK-NBO flights, take a middle seat so you have direct isle access. Due to flight timings, I only had 3 hotel nights, 2 in Bangkok and 1 in Kigali, basically 3 days in Bangkok and 2 days Kigali. The Kigali Marriot is a very good hotel, seems to be a lot going on there event wise, staff all very friendly, everyone liked to ask if it was my first time in Kigali. The immigration guy at Kigali airport was a bit shocked I was staying one night in Kigali, thought I was going to get pulled in for some questioning however I was let through after he seemingly thought it all through asked what I did etc. As I only transited through Nairobi, so didn't leave the airport and stopover was less than 24 hours (needs to be 12 hours or les for some places) I didn't get the yellow fever shot and had no issues passing back through Bangkok, where I did leave the airport again, nor through customs in Melbourne.
@captainarabiia: I made it my friend. I went to Kenya, Rwanda and am currently in Zanzibar. I return on the 27th and will do a post update upon returning. China Southern business was great..Kenya was very average in comparison, but to be expected. Such an amazing trip so far