Jetsettersblog

If you’re intending to head to the World Cup next year, book very quickly says Ten Lifestyle’s Regional Destination Manager, Gengis Khan.

Now that England has qualified for the World Cup, we’re seeing huge price increases on flights from the UK to South Africa for the key dates.

But there is still availability if you’re willing to take an indirect route. Forget about direct flights with BA, Virgin or South African Airways unless you’re a member of a frequent flyer loyalty scheme and are willing to pay a premium.

You can still get flights going via Dubai with Emirates, who are introducing some bigger A380s to cope with demand. The benchmark price you should expect is about £1,000 for a return ticket. You could also think about going via Nairobi and Johannesburg with Kenya Airways for about the same amount.

Accommodation is also going fast. All the premium hotels have been pre-booked by governments, and Fifa to host the teams. However, there are small numbers of rooms in hotels with four or more stars. At a price, nothing is impossible.

You can currently find four-star rooms for about £375 per night, but this will go up sharply over the next couple of months. Don’t leave it too long if you intend to book in this range.

Hotels with two or three stars and lodges are still available, but again, don’t wait long to book them.

Closer to the tournament I think demand will surge so much that hotels rooms will be sold at up to five times more than regular prices.

We’re also seeing some creative travellers booking nice hotels in neighbouring countries within short travelling distances of Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban and Pretoria.

We’re seeing bookings for Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, all of which are a short hop (less than two hours) from the action by air.

No one’s asked about road trips yet, but I’m sure there’ll be some crazy fans who will attempt it!

Finally, before setting out, make sure you have a ticket for the matches you want to see.

I’m hearing that security will be extremely tight and there are rumours of tickets having the holder’s photo on them, to cut down on the secondary ticketing market.