DH’s 50th - new year

[ShhhhhItsASurprise]

It’s my DH’s 50th at new year and it’s such a crap time to have a birthday that want to take him (and teen DD) somewhere special.

Had been thinking about Cape Town for 10 days ish but flights seem sooooo expensive. We need to fly back on 3rd January. I was thinking of spending £10-12k but flights are coming in at over £7k.

Does anyone have any experience of flights at this time of year? Are they likely to come down? And if not, where else should I be looking to take him?

Did you look at flying into Johannesburg? It's then easy to get a flight down to Cape Town?
Depends what you and your family like to do. That time of year places like Costa Rica are great lots of wildlife zip wires etc.
Singapore is a great place to visit
I also enjoyed Malaysia.
Maybe if you give some idea of what you enjoy it would help with suggestions?
Will be lovely though

The flight prices will not come down. Flights to SA at that time of year are extremely expensive because there is high demand and limited capacity.

Was keen to avoid major jet lag if possible.

Would have wanted to have a few days on a game reserve (have already done Kruger 3 times as a self drive), elephant reserve, some time in Cape Town and some beach drives etc.

When I looked there wasn’t much of a saving doing Joberg and an internal flight but I’ll look again.

If you fly via Niarobi on Kenya Airways the flight is £1,300. There should not be any jet lag. It's just one slightly longer travel day.

Ooh! I’ll take a look! Thanks.

My birthday is around that same time, dreadful. For my 50th we went to Las Vegas for New Year. We didn’t gamble, seeing a show and the themed hotels were great fun. For another significant birthday we went to Australia for New Year, only managed to go to Sydney.

We’ve done Vegas (hated it). And Aus is just too far/too much jet lag for 10-12 days, unfortunately.

I can’t find these flights. 🤔

@ShhhhhItsASurprise That is high season for SA and it's also their main school holidays. So it's higher prices.

I'm with you on LV.

We have been to India at this time of year. 8 hour flight and Rajasthan is very possible. Or what about Egypt? Or Morocco? Or a Tanzania safari? Not cheap but you might enjoy it.

Have you tried playing around with dates in sky scanner to get flights. They sometimes have airlines I wouldn't have thought of.

Plenty of flights available. You have to play around with the dates to get the shortest connections.

@pengwing There's SAA or BA. If you don't have much time then you don't want to fly via Portugal or somewhere random.

Thailand ? Bit of a tour round ?

@ShhhhhItsASurprise The flight quotes a one had 2 stops. That's madness. SA is only around 2 hours time difference. You barely get jet lag. I would go when the flights are cheaper! I went on a big holiday for my 50th but not at the exact date. SA is a great destination and in many ways our Autumn really works as the whales are around. If you can look at dates I would to avoid wasting hours in airports. Going via Nairobi is fairly horrible. You could go to Kenya of course! Similar time difference and worth it for safari, Great Rift Valley and beach.

Thailand is major jet lag though!

From the answers and your requirements I would agree that a destination like Kenya would be better, less flight time, limited jet lag but safari and wildlife tours still on the itinerary.

Or do something completely different seeing a you have had similar holidays before. Maybe sailing type holiday in Croatia? Could get a really luxurious holiday there for your budget.

My last big birthday was at a similar time of year. For logistical reasons we could only do a few days then so initially thought of waiting and doing a trip later on that year. But dh wanted to mark the occasion when it happened so we decided to embrace the season and went to Copenhagen for a few days which I absolutely loved. Layers were needed though!

We went to Prague for my 40th. There's a lot yo do whatever the time of year. Winter is better as there are a lot less tourists around.

Trip needs to be over Xmas and new year due to teenager in GCSE years and that his “0” birthdays happen at the time because it’s such a shit time to have a birthday.

Mine is in the autumn so my 50th will be in the autumn.

We’ve done Prague. And Egypt. And Morocco. And Iceland.

Copenhagen is a good shout, but really don’t want a short trip for this one.

my geography is dreadful. I thought Kenya was landlocked. 🤦🏻‍♀️

@ShhhhhItsASurprise No Kenya has a coast. Lots of people mix safari and beach: it fronts the Indian Ocean.

Mexico? My birthday and my husband's birthdays are both at this time of year. I chose Iceland for my big birthday and he chose Mexico. It is, without doubt, a rubbish time of year to have a birthday.

@FlatStanley50 So is the middle of the school holidays! Finding another time of year for your favourite destination works best.

The main school holidays in SA are December until halfway (plus) into January. So it's expensive then. However going earlier or later is great timing. And much cheaper!

DH moves the date on every other year because of everyone else. Once a decade we celebrate properly on the day.

Due to DD being in GCSE year we are restricted to the school holidays. (Would usually do first 2 weeks of Jan.)

@ShhhhhItsASurprise Actually late August is rather good around Cape Town. Definitely whales to see. Ok not beach weather but safaris are fine. Winelands are fine. Plus it’s cheaper.