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Find cheap flights from the United States to South Africa from R8 859

This is the cheapest one-way flight price found by a KAYAK user in the last 72 hours by searching for a flight from the United States to South Africa departing on 19/9. Fares are subject to change and may not be available on all flights or dates of travel. Click the price to replicate the search for this deal.
1 adult
0 bags
Mon 17/6
Mon 24/6

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Low season

January

High season

December

Cheapest flight

R8 859
Best time to beat the crowds (12% less expensive on average)
Most popular time to fly (19% more expensive on average)
Flight from New York John F Kennedy Airport to Cape Town

FAQs for booking flights from the United States to South Africa

  • Are there nonstop flights to South Africa?

    Although there are flights from the United States available to over a dozen different small and large cities throughout South Africa, the only nonstop flights from the US to South Africa arrive in Johannesburg. Some of the nonstop flights to Johannesburg are available from Atlanta and Washington, DC.

  • Do I need a visa to enter South Africa?

    To visit South Africa for a duration of up to 90 days, United States nationals are not required to acquire a visa in advance. Instead, a visitor’s visa can be obtained at the port of entry on arrival. Official visa rules can be found on South Africa’s government immigration website and are subject to change without notice.

  • Where should I fly to if I want to visit Kruger National Park?

    If you’re one of the many tourists heading to South Africa to visit the Kruger National Park, it can be handy to fly into Mpumalanga International Airport (MQP). Although there are no direct routes, this airport gives direct access to the southern section of Kruger National Park. One of the most common layovers is in Johannesburg and you can find that more than one airline operates the route. Some of the companies are South Africa and jetBlue.

  • I want to visit Table Mountain in South Africa, which city should I fly to?

    Table Mountain is another extremely popular tourist destination in South Africa, and it lies just outside of the city of Cape Town. To get there, you can fly into Cape Town then take one of the many available buses or taxis to the base of Table Mountain, where you can either hike or take a cable car the rest of the way.

  • How does KAYAK find such low prices on flights from the United States to South Africa?

    KAYAK is a travel search engine. That means we look across the web to find the best prices we can find for our users. With over 2 billion flight queries processed yearly, we are able to display a variety of prices and options on flights from the United States to South Africa.

  • How does KAYAK's flight Price Forecast tool help me choose the right time to buy my flight ticket from the United States to South Africa?

    KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool uses historical data to determine whether the price for a flight to South Africa from the United States is likely to change within 7 days, so travelers know whether to wait or book now.

  • What is the Hacker Fare option on flights from the United States to South Africa?

    Hacker Fares allow you to combine one-way tickets in order to save you money over a traditional return ticket. You could then fly to South Africa with an airline and back to the United States with another airline.

  • What is KAYAK's "flexible dates" feature and why should I care when looking for a flight from the United States to South Africa?

    Sometimes travel dates aren't set in stone. If your preferred travel dates have some wiggle room, flexible dates will show you all the options when flying to South Africa from the United States up to 3 days before/after your preferred dates. You can then pick the flights that suit you best.

See more FAQs

Top tips for finding a cheap flight out of the United States

  • Getting to South Africa will almost certainly involve a layover, which commonly also includes a change in airline. One of the most common (and most affordable) routes to South Africa from the United States is from New York City (JFK Airport) to Johannesburg. This route is nonstop and is operated by South Africa Airways.
  • When booking your flight to South Africa, you’ll have no shortage of airports to choose from. There are more than 15 international airports in South Africa that you can fly to from the United States, with the airports in Johannesburg and Cape Town seeing the most international air traffic.
  • Heading to the Valley of 1,000 hills? This popular attraction is located in the Durban area. To get there, you’ll have to fly into Durban King Shaka International Airport (DUR). Located in the city of La Mercy, the airport is reachable via a layover in Johannesburg.
  • If you’re one of the many tourists heading to South Africa to hike up to Lion’s Head, you’ll have to fly into Cape Town for convenient access. Common layovers between the US and Cape Town include Madrid and Johannesburg.
  • To reach Ballito (nicknamed the Dolphin Coast), your best option is to fly into Durban King Shaka International Airport. Direct flights to this airport aren’t available from the US, with most involving a layover in Johannesburg.
See more tips

Top 5 airlines serving from the United States to South Africa

 
Need help choosing which airline to fly with from the United States to South Africa? KAYAK airline reviews give an overall score for each airline based on loads of factors, including comfort, boarding, in-flight entertainment and more, to make your decision easier. See airline scores according to verified KAYAK customer reviews.
7,8
KLMOverall score based on 1561 reviews
8,4Crew
7,3Food
7,7Comfort
7,2Entertainment
7,8Boarding
Airline reviews

We left one hour late because of technical difficulties. The economy comfort seats are great for the price. The crew was mediocre, they do not provide a pleasant experience, they just deliver food and drinks and give orders, not very amicable, no service and hospitality focus.

8,0 ExcellentAnonymous, Feb 2024AMS - ATL
Read more about KLM reviews

We left one hour late because of technical difficulties. The economy comfort seats are great for the price. The crew was mediocre, they do not provide a pleasant experience, they just deliver food and drinks and give orders, not very amicable, no service and hospitality focus.

Booked connecting flights with KlM. My serving flight was the furthest part of the airport. On arrival in Zurich. My two cases arrived but only one carry on belong to my son. His three suitcase didn't arrive. After enquiring we discovered they were still in Amsterdam. We landed at 11.12. We eventually left the airport just after one.

Seats are fair enough for medium tall people. Good food all the trip. Fight attendances are warm

The food was ok. The crew seemed like they were cranky. I had one guy get mad at me for passing in between the storage area to get to the other toilet. I can understand if it's not allowed but reprimanding me like I'm a student saying "This is the last time!" was not appropriate. During my meal time, there was a French family around me. No problems there but when we usually have meals, they are supposed to put their chair in the upright position. These people did not do it and the steward did not tell them to raise their seat in the upright position. However, I was told to do so! So, me and another person next to me had to eat with the monitor almost touching our faces. Furthermore, a lady in front of me was putting her feet up and preventing another elder passenger from putting her seat back. To make it worse, she was continuously hitting her back into her seat, shaking my monitor while I was watching a movie. A crew member did speak to her about it but then she accused me of pushing her seat forward! The crew member gave me a death stare and told me to stop pushing the seat forward. I did not even touch her seat at all, if I did, she would know it. Her boyfriend also stood up and tried to push her seat even further past the maximum decline to no avail. None of these people were reprimanded but the steward, some bald guy, was extremely friendly with them and did not even try to instruct them to do anything until it was time to land. I resisted the urge to really argue with them because I would have obviously been seen as the aggressor (I have no idea why). I hardly said anything on this flight except "more wine please" and "sorry" if I bumped into someone accidentally. Overall, it was an annoying flight and I had to resist the urge to yell at the steward and the people he was overly friendly with. The happiest moment of this flight was leaving it.

Overall a good experience. We were disappointed when we had to check our carry on due to the plane being full. KLM hadn’t notified us and we had valuable items in the carry on but they still made us check it. Some of the food was great and some was mediocre. Crew is really kind and funny.

It was nice to be on a legacy airline, people try at least.

The flight itself it was great nice food the crew were very nice and helpful, Checking in from Birmingham wasn't great long queues for bag dropped, And I had my hand luggage case taken away from me even though I requested to have it with me as I had breakables items. I was told I can not because of the length of the flight with no explanation at all no options was given for me to take my fragile items out of my case it was taken away with hold buggage I find the staff member who was checking me in very unpleasant !! Can we please be advise if the rules have changed about the the carry on hand luggage it will be easier to be advise on booking your tickect if we not allowed to take the hand luggage with me. Overall I had a good flight .

The plane was clean and the staff was friendly. Food and drinks as expected on international flights. The entertainment system was old style, with a pullout controller, and selections not as extensive as on other flights.

I requested wheel chair assistance , it was confirmed via email that inwoood get it but I didn’t get it . The last leg of my trip to Nigeria was the worst.

One of their staff was so rude with discriminative. Such a reputed airline shouldn't hire such kind of arrogant attendants.

I was in business class, without the business class amenities. Large seat with lots of legroom, but no TV or bed. Food was okay, but I did enjoy the Turkish red wine.

Excellent service and comfort from the moment you check in. Flight crew is hyper focused on making passengers comfortable and at ease. It’s like a flying hotel!

Only chicken as a meat dish through out the flight

Nothing really was great as such. Seen other no name airlines perform better.

Quality of service on board was very inconsistent. FA service primarily seemed robotic and they barely engaged with passengers

I’m unclear why I had to pay extra for assigned seats as Turkish airlines did not honor the seating. We were placed across the aisle from each other on TK 34, and were seated behind one another on TK 694. Because my name was misspelled on e-ticket (Klawiter, instead of Klawitter) I could not log onto website to get the connection gate number in Istanbul. The monitors in the airport were a jumbled mess 1/2 Arabic and 1/2 English.

On line check in needs a lot of improvement. I tried and gave up.

Food not good, flight attendants not the best, not accommodating very ruff

the female flight attendant was racist towards me. I could tell she treated the two other passengers next to me with more softness.

Oh my god! For an13 hour flight they serve you food just one time. Also don’t be thirsty they give you a little small cup of soda to drink. They seem like their goal is to feed you one so they don’t have to be bothered with you. It quite surprise for such a long flight there are several times to eat at least three and the food was well lackluster. The food and lack of offering drinks which were always hot no ice provided.

Food wasn’t very good, old business seating configuration on an old A340

An hour and a half late is UNACCEPTABLE. The negative impact to our family is unconscionable. And for the price we were forced to pay...

Standard flight experience, but there is only power at the seat to row 20 on the aircraft, on my initial check in it did not say that was the case

Not a fan of the diagonal partially enclosed business class seats or how they have to be converted to beds manually by crew. I prefer more isolation and user control for switching to lie flat.

No lounge access with “United First” ticket. False alarm about late flight, jeopardizing connection. Wrong meal. Loose power socket would not hold plug, could not charge device. In-flight access to text messaging did not work. Toilet seat on plane would not stay up.

We ended up with seats in the very back. So they did not recline. Have no idea why, we reserved and checked in very early. The isles were very narrow and the seats had very little leg room. But they did give us water, and a snack.

Energetic crew - flight full of swiftied going to Taylor's opening show in Paris! Long lines for bathroom made out kind of suck though

Check in etc was very good. As for on the plane, it was like flying in a freezer. It was so cold, i have flown for years and never been so cold on a plane. Staff on board said its always cold when flying which is a load of rubbish. They wouldnt put any heating on and now i have the flu because of this .

I’ve had a couple flights this week on United that were delayed by an hour or more

Flight was delayed 2.5 hours - a big deal on an overnight when you plan to sleep.

My entertainment screen wasn't working and they couldn't fix it.

I was a good, but long trip. The airline did a good job. I would use them again.

Choice of Vegetarian Food in Economy class needs overhaul improvement

The food could be better, the beef was quite tough. The crew were friendly and helpful on this flight, which has not being my experience on other Ethiopian flights.

Seat in front of my wife was broken so it reclined further than normal and without having to push the recline button so my wife had absolutely no room the entire 17 hour flight. My seat was broken and wouldn't recline at all. Also.. my tray table was sticky and dirty right away before I even used it. Also...the floor in the back of the plane from our row of seats on back was totally soaked and both times we landed water came rushing out of the food/servant area like a flood onto the same already wet carpet. It got everything wet that was placed around our feet...including our shoes and socks.

Flight was smooth but unnecessary long because we had to refuel at FCO Rome. Air hostesses service and response to call light could be better. Both planes were old with broken seat arms and toilets. Why Africans had to be given the farthest Gates is what baffles me and why we have to pay for Aisle seats I found really strange. Is there ever an end to ripping people off even after paying over $2300 for one seat.

On my return flight the TV did not work the entire flight! They knew it wasn’t working but they let me sit there. The guy sitting nièce to me told me he was ok the previous flight and it wasn’t working. This is business class by the way!

The entertainment (movies) blockbuster and classics never change. I am a frequent Ethiopian flyer and this should be addressed. Not much changed from my summer flight and my December flight. It is annoying - surely you can update the selections more often. Same with food options. It becomes extremely boring to be offered the same exact meals from Washington to Addis to Maputo every trip, each time. AS

Entertainment was very poor. Couldn’t watch anything. Ear pieces were the wrong type .

Food was horrible. Our flight was not comfortable due to turbulence, seats was not comfortable, Very tight barely can not move anywhere.

It was very good. We got a late start by about an hour and a half. However I worked rather have that than crash. It was purely mechanical. They had our tickets ready when we came off the plane in London for the next leg. The only mishap was when we got to Lisbon my husbands luggage made or bit mine didn't. All was not lost because I did finally get it 2 days later. I was really pleased that they c made the effort.

Leg space was not enough. The meal was not satisfactory.

Liked that my American Airlines status seamlessly transferred to BA so luggage check was free. Flights were on time, boarding quick. Wish they didn’t assign connecting gate so late at Heathrow.

The entire process was flawless and as expected flying first class. The only thing that I have a complaint on...when first boarding, the plane was EXTREMELY cold; then when we were trying to sleep, it was way too hot - just better regulating (especially trying to sleep) would have made it perfect.

- OK plane. Basic accommodations. OK food. The digital window shade wasn't working.

- OK plane. Basic accommodations. OK food. The digital window shade wasn't working. - Expect to be woken up more than an hour before landing when they start dinging the bell and making announcements and turning on all cabin lights to serve a snack. I would prefer they remain quiet and only serve people who want to wake up.

Better food and more space in the seats. Also when doing the web check in both times I was going in to your site the minute you open it and there is not really many seats to choose only to buy!!!

It was ok, not as good as it used to be. The Heathrow connection was a disaster - complete anarchy, unknowledgable and skimpy assistance and signage. Gate crew at next flight was great, held the flight while my wife struggled through security.

It was great! The seats were comfortable, and they fed me during the transatlantic flight, something which I have been missing out on for the past 3 years as I travel to and from school.

This flight was cancelled at the last minute. We were rebooked on another flight but a day later. We lost a day of our vacation and paid for a night in a hotel we couldn’t use. The flights we were rebooked on (both American) messed up our seating on both flights-we didn’t get the seats we had paid for. All in all, a terrible experience.

Book cheap flights from the United States to South Africa

Recent return flight deals

3/11Sun
2 stopsEthiopian Air
34h 35mJFK-CPT
12/11Tue
2 stopsEthiopian Air
36h 05mCPT-JFK
R14 481
10/11Sun
2 stopsEthiopian Air
33h 05mJFK-CPT
24/11Sun
2 stopsEthiopian Air
36h 05mCPT-JFK
R14 826
21/9Sat
1 stopTurkish Airlines
28h 00mJFK-JNB
7/10Mon
1 stopTurkish Airlines
40h 35mJNB-JFK
R15 299
12/11Tue
1 stopTurkish Airlines
26h 40mJFK-JNB
20/11Wed
1 stopTurkish Airlines
34h 10mJNB-JFK
R16 336
9/11Sat
1 stopBritish Airways
29h 30mEWR-JNB
30/11Sat
1 stopBritish Airways
25h 15mJNB-EWR
R23 194
11/8Sun
1 stopBritish Airways
30h 10mIAD-CPT
18/8Sun
2 stopsBritish Airways
30h 15mCPT-IAD
R23 194
12/9Thu
1 stopUnited Airlines
26h 50mEWR-CPT
19/9Thu
directUnited Airlines
15h 40mCPT-EWR
R23 958
6/10Sun
1 stopUnited Airlines
33h 50mEWR-CPT
24/10Thu
directUnited Airlines
15h 40mCPT-EWR
R24 031
4/9Wed
2 stopsKLM
24h 20mLGA-JNB
18/9Wed
2 stopsKLM
27h 16mJNB-LGA
R24 195
2/9Mon
2 stopsKLM
23h 25mLGA-CPT
11/9Wed
2 stopsKLM
25h 17mCPT-LGA
R24 722

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Recent one-way flight deals

19/9Thu
1 stopKenya Airways
34h 45mJFK-CPT
R8 859
14/10Mon
1 stopKenya Airways
25h 55mJFK-CPT
R9 223
19/9Thu
2 stopsEthiopian Air
24h 10mEWR-JNB
R12 716
8/8Thu
2 stopsEthiopian Air
24h 10mEWR-JNB
R12 807
29/5Wed
1 stopBritish Airways
30h 15mIAD-CPT
R15 608
29/5Wed
1 stopBritish Airways
35h 20mEWR-CPT
R17 500
11/9Wed
directUnited Airlines
14h 55mEWR-JNB
R20 320
18/10Fri
directUnited Airlines
14h 55mEWR-CPT
R20 338
27/6Thu
2 stopsKLM
24h 20mEWR-JNB
R21 539
1/11Fri
2 stopsKLM
24h 45mLGA-CPT
R140 931

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Last minute flights to South Africa

Last minute flight, train and bus deals

22/5Wed
multi-stopEthiopian Air
23h 55mJFK-JNB
31/5Fri
multi-stopEthiopian Air
27h 25mJNB-JFK
R20 011
23/5Thu
multi-stopEthiopian Air
33h 20mEWR-JNB
31/5Fri
multi-stopEthiopian Air
21h 45mJNB-EWR
R20 229
21/5Tue
multi-stopTurkish Airlines
37h 10mIAD-CPT
18/6Tue
multi-stopTurkish Airlines
28h 10mCPT-IAD
R25 778
20/5Mon
multi-stopTurkish Airlines
32h 00mIAD-CPT
24/5Fri
multi-stopTurkish Airlines
28h 10mCPT-IAD
R26 050
23/5Thu
multi-stopBritish Airways
32h 55mJFK-CPT
22/6Sat
multi-stopBritish Airways
32h 10mCPT-JFK
R27 579
23/5Thu
multi-stopBritish Airways
32h 55mJFK-CPT
22/6Sat
multi-stopBritish Airways
29h 10mCPT-JFK
R28 706
23/5Thu
directUnited Airlines
14h 45mIAD-CPT
18/6Tue
directUnited Airlines
15h 45mCPT-IAD
R29 325
23/5Thu
multi-stopUnited Airlines
21h 21mEWR-CPT
20/6Thu
directUnited Airlines
15h 30mCPT-EWR
R29 398
23/5Thu
multi-stopKLM
19h 55mJFK-CPT
17/6Mon
multi-stopKLM
22h 25mCPT-JFK
R30 198
23/5Thu
multi-stopKLM
23h 25mLGA-CPT
17/6Mon
multi-stopKLM
24h 30mCPT-LGA
R30 453

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Flights to South Africa

Return flight deals:

South Africa - United States

Cabin classes:

R142 131
R119 374
R78 970
R27 542

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