A Free RT Flight to Durban en Route to Mauritius

The Flight to Durban is part of the Trip Report: The $77,000 Trip Heard Round the World which covers 5 Continents, 13 Countries, and 17 Cities.

• Tokyo, Japan
• Melbourne, Australia
• Wellington, New Zealand
• Sydney, Australia
• Colombo, Sri Lanka
• Maldives
• Saigon, Vietnam
• Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
• Hong Kong
• Cape Town, South Africa
• Knysna, South Africa
• Durban, South Africa
• Mauritius
• Johannesburg, South Africa
• Doha, Qatar
• New York, New York
• Helsinki, Finland

Find the nerdy planning here. Find the picture preview here.

A crafty man, TPOL, needed to get from the Western Cape to Mauritius in business. At the same time, he wanted to visit Durban. The problem is that he only had one day to visit and couldn’t justify paying or using points for a flight there when he ultimately had to fly out of Joburg.

What’s a points traveler to do? Simple. I called United and fed them the following route:

PLZ-JNB

JNB-DUR

DUR-JNB

JNB-MRU

For the visual learners, let’s consult my favorite tool, the Great Circle Mapper:

The agent had no clue about the geography of South Africa and didn’t find a violation with the routing. As a result, I was able to enjoy business class from Port Elizabeth to Joburg on South African Airways, spend a night in Durban, connect back in Joburg, and then make my way to Mauritius in comfort.

What may seem like a hassle for some was a fun experience for me, especially because of the food in Durban.