ethiopean airlines

Hi all! (and thanks for great info)
We are looking at summer 2015 and would fly most easily from Dulles, likely would go through Ethiopian airlines, based on what I've read.

My question is: could someone tell me what econoflex (full and semi) is. One way pricing appears to be ~900 regular economy and ~1000 -1200 for semi and full econoflex.
Compared with ~$5000 for business class one way for two of us this would be no brainer upgrade depending on difference.

Another question- for those of you who are prior Tauck trippers, are they still giving an extra day free on African safari expeditions?

Thanks again
Barry

Edit= on further review it appears the semi and full flex are just ability to cancel /change reservations :(

Comments

  • edited July 2014
    And the answer to your second question is yes...we're doing the safari in January and have confirmed an extra (free) night in Arusha. There is some cut-off date to encourage early booking (sometime in September???...can't find that info).
  • Barry- nvdb is on Safari now and will be returning to Dulles on ET in two weeks. He promised a review.

    We aren't scheduled to go until June 2015, so I am waiting for his report before I make any decision. One or two folks who post here have flown them and had no problems. They are supposedly the #1 African airline, and in cooperation with Boeing, actually provide flight and maintenance crew training and aircraft maintenance to the other African airlines. Customer satisfaction is spotty though, but most problems seem to have been with ground personnel. That being said here are few other things to consider-

    When you make the reservation with ET or directly with any airline, you pay immediately- with Tauck you pay 60 days before departure.

    Ethiopians like to travel home, which according to what I've read, can make for a packed and noisy coach section with a lot of small children. I would definitely not consider ET unless flying in Business Class.

    On the flight to Arusha, TZ you stop/switch planes in Bole Airport in Addis Ababa, there is no stop in Amsterdam, Paris, etc. or Nairobi- so it is mostly one long flight- ideal for sleeping in Business Class- with a quick connection to Arusha. I haven't fully researched it, but recent reports say the Addis Ababa airport can be as dirty and more hectic than the Nairobi airport, with people being bumped because ET changed aircraft. Please read the recent (2014 and older) Skytraxx reviews of Bole Airport here. It is hard to tell on sites like Skytraxx, etc. which reviews are truly based on bad experiences, which reviewers have an ax to grind, or which reviews were posted by shills. There are at least two shill reviewers in this batch of [url=hthttp://www.airlinequality.com/Forum/ethiopian.htmtp://]Skytraxx reviews of ET Airlines..[/url]

    Everyone will fly out of Nairobi, but on ET you'll fly to Addis Ababa again on a smaller jet before switching to the long haul plane (777-200LR/300LR or possibly 787 Dreamliner) for the trip to Dulles. The flight makes a quick (1 hr. +/-) fuel stop (no de-planing) in Rome. Most other carriers fly from Nairobi to Amsterdam (not my favorite either, but different), then to the US.

    At my last check several months ago, round trip Business Class seats for two on ET was several thousands less than Tauck and other carriers, but I'll check this again before I decide.
  • Thank you both!

    Alan, that's what I am seeing price wise- from Dulles about 3400 using a sample May 15 date as opposed to 5000+ on all other airlines (with less convenient routes, i.e. Amsterdam, 2 plane changes).

    Does Tauck try to put you on Ethiopian, and is there any price protection should we choose them through Tauck with later payment?
  • edited July 2014
    doctorbj wrote:
    Thank you both!

    Alan, that's what I am seeing price wise- from Dulles about 3400 using a sample May 15 date as opposed to 5000+ on all other airlines (with less convenient routes, i.e. Amsterdam, 2 plane changes).

    Does Tauck try to put you on Ethiopian, and is there any price protection should we choose them through Tauck with later payment?

    Tauck has a limited number of contracted airlines- Delta, AirFrance-KLM, Kenyan Airlines, and maybe a few others, and as far as I know, doesn't make arrangements outside of those. So, as far as I know it doesn't deal with ET.

    One other thing to look at with ET- one of ET's flight combos has less than a 1 hr layover at Bole Airport, Addis Ababa. After reading about Bole, I wouldn't take a chance with such a short layover- take the flights with a little more (2+35) layover on the return leg. For $1300 more than the current quoted ET price you can fly Delta/KLM (RT Business- $5578 vs $6800*), it just may not be worth the risk flying ET. Again, I'm still going to wait to see what ndvb has to say.

    *Edit: I don't know what Tauck is advertising or whether they have price protection. I just did a constructive search on Travelocity for similar flights May 2015. If you are willing to accept a 7 hour layover in Amsterdam on the way home- a Delta/KLM Business Class RT flight is listed for only $5906 and a Delta branded (KLM) flight for the same. The AirFrance flights (AirFrance/KLM/Kenyan) take a little longer getting there, have two stops coming home- but the layover/return flight is shorter- for about $1200 more.

    For me, the biggest benefit of ET is the longer legs, fewer layovers, and shorter duration. On the other hand- getting off and really stretching my legs in Amsterdam or Paris, might actually be better, before another flight snooze. The biggest disadvantage of ET I already mentioned is flying through Bole.

    Of course, most fares (except maybe ET) will go up after the first of the year and continue to increase the closer you get to your departure month. I'll talk to Tauck once fares are released for my departure (13 June 2015) in a few weeks (usually 350 days prior).
  • Having put information on ET on a couple of sites here, I won't do it again here.

    As to Tauck and covering flights made outside of their agents, I had to cancel the Grand Alaska trip twice (once, for the death of my mother and next for the death of my wife...I am not rescheduling it...I think I am not supposed to take this trip). I made my own flight arrangements for both trips and Tauck insurance covered the cost, unless the airlines reimbursed you for the trip. I didn't anticipate it, but it happened.

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