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    Nat Quinn
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    Bad news for people who travel by airplane in South Africa By Myles Illidge

     

    Discovery Bank has released its SpendTrend report for the 2024/25 festive season, revealing that its Vitality Travel offering was hugely popular between 8 December 2024 and 14 January 2025.

    It also revealed that average flight prices across all but one popular route increased, with some increasing as much as 20% year-on-year.

    During the 2024/25 festive season, 79,000 Vitality Travel customers booked 158,000 seats, equivalent to filling 900 planes. Discovery Bank added that customers travelled to 90 countries and travelled 320 million kilometres.

    This is equivalent to travelling to the moon and back 420 times.

    Through Discovery’s Vitality Travel rewards, customers can earn up to 75% off local and international flights booked through Discovery’s platforms.

    Customers qualify for discounts based on their spending behaviour and account tier. Customers can also pay for flights using Discovery Miles.

    “Our clients are highly engaged in managing their finances and adopting behaviours that assist with building financial resilience,” says Discovery Bank CEO Hylton Kallner.

    “Travel is an essential part of holidays, and in 2024, flight prices on the most popular local routes increased by up to 16% and on popular international routes by up to 20% compared to the same period in 2023.”

    According to Discovery Bank’s data, flight prices between Johannesburg and Cape Town increased the most between the 2023/24 and 2024/25 festive seasons.

    This route had an average price of R2,100 in 2023/24 and increased by 16% to R2,400 during the 2024/25 festive season.

    The route between Johannesburg and Durban saw the next-highest increase at 14%, with flight prices between Durban and Cape Town only increasing by 2% between the two festive periods.

    Looking at international routes, flights between South Africa and the US saw the highest increase.

    On average, customers flying this route in the previous year paid R32,100. The price increased by roughly 20% to R38,350 on average.

    Travellers between South Africa and Mauritius this past festive season were the next hardest hit, with prices increasing by 15% on average. Travellers between South Africa and the UK paid 10% more on average.

    Prices for flights between South Africa and the UAE also increased by 8% between the two festive seasons.

    Only one route saw flight prices drop on average. Those travelling between South Africa and Australia paid roughly 16% less for flights in the 2024/25 festive season than they did in 2023/24.

    Interestingly, the decrease coincided with SAA’s relaunch of its route between Johannesburg and Perth. It also announced increased capacity on the route in mid-December.

    The table below compares average domestic and international flight prices during the 2023/24 and 2024/25 festive seasons.

    Route 2023/24 price 2024/25 price Difference
    Domestic
    Johannesburg <-> Cape Town R2,100 R2,400 16%
    Johannesburg <-> Durban R1,200 R1,400 14%
    Cape Town <-> Durban R2,550 R2,600 2%
    International
    South Africa <-> United Kingdom R21,750 R23,900 10%
    South Africa <-> Mauritius R13,300 R15,250 15%
    South Africa <-> United Arab Emirates R19,450 R21,050 8%
    South Africa <-> Australia R42,300 R35,550 16%
    South Africa <-> United States R32,100 R38,350 20%

     

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