Best Cards For Airfare Within Africa

ThankYou Points are a lot like Capital One Miles. You can search and book tickets on JamboJet, Kulula, Fastjet or even that tiny little no-brand plane that’s going to fly you right into the middle of your safari with your card. You can then use the points to pay your bill. Something uniquely great about ThankYou Points are the transfer partners. Citi transfers to some awesome international partners like Avianca, Cathay, Etihad, Air France, Singapore KrisFlyer and Virgin Atlantic. And they retain great value when transferring. So even though normally we throw a Chase card front and center when we’re talking about any kind of travel partners, we love this particular Citi card for traveling inside of Africa.

Chase Sapphire should be on everyone's list of cards for pretty much everything. The main reason is the flexibility -- and flying throughout Africa is no exception. Chase has a good selection of transfer partners that fly all over the continent. For example, Eithiopian Airlines and South African Airlines, which are both part of Star Alliance, can be booked through United Miles. Or Royal Air Maroc can be booked with Avios. With all the transfer partners that are available using Ultimate Rewards, you can fly through any alliance, big or small. Another great option is to book flights directly through the Chase portal, where each point is worth 50% more. If you have a tight itinerary and know your travel dates and destinations, it’s a great time to check availability in the portal and see what kind of routes they’re offering.

Capital One is great because their miles can be used for anything. For example, if you decide to take advantage of a flash sale through Mango to get from Johannesburg to Zanzibar, or you’re looking on Fly540 to go from the desert outpost of Lodwar to Nairobi, you can use your points to erase the charges on your statement. Points are also transferrable to airlines like Etihad Guest and Qatar, both with decent value retained. With this particular card, you get a credit for Global Entry or TSA. Add that to the ease of either erasing your travel expenses with your points or transferring them out, and getting around Africa just got that much easier.