Is R10,000 a bargain or a rip-off? For a return trip to London it would be an outright steal. For Mauritius, it barely scrapes average. New fare data from South African travel platform Travelstart puts real numbers on that question, benchmarking typical return fares from Johannesburg to ten popular destinations — and showing exactly what counts as a genuinely good deal.
The benchmarks break each route into three tiers: average, great and exceptional. Zanzibar is the cheapest on the list, with an average return fare of about R9,300 — a great fare sits under R8,700 and an exceptional one under R8,300. Mauritius averages R11,500, with exceptional fares falling below R9,500. Dubai averages R10,300, and anything under R8,900 is worth grabbing.
Southeast Asia is affordable too. Bangkok averages R10,700 return (exceptional under R9,700), while Phuket runs a bit higher at R12,000. Over in Europe, Istanbul is the value pick at an average R11,400 — and it's worth noting those figures are for the main IST airport; fares into Sabiha Gokcen (SAW) can be cheaper still. London is the priciest route tracked, averaging R16,100, though a fare under R13,500 counts as great. Paris and Amsterdam sit in between at R15,000 and R14,300 on average, with exceptional fares in the R12,400–R12,900 range. Singapore rounds out the list at R14,700 average, exceptional below R13,100.
Patterns emerge fast. February and November come up again and again as the best-value months across multiple routes — Mauritius, Zanzibar, Istanbul, London, Paris, Amsterdam and Singapore all favour one or both. For Dubai, February is the sweet spot while December means peak-season pricing. Christmas and New Year travel is reliably expensive everywhere, and school holidays push fares up too.
On timing, the data punctures a persistent myth: there is no magic booking day that unlocks cheap flights. Prices move because of seat availability, demand, season and competition, so the fare you saw last week may be gone today. The practical advice is to start searching a few months out, book early for December and school holidays, compare dates either side of your ideal departure, and — crucially — book when a fare hits the great range rather than holding out forever. The less flexible your dates, the earlier you should look.
Other tips worth following: compare nearby months as well as nearby dates, check what baggage is included before comparing on price alone, and look across airlines rather than defaulting to one. And if you're wondering whether to wait for a further drop — if the fare is already inside the great range and your dates work, waiting will probably cost you more.
For South African travellers planning 2026 trips, this is the kind of cheat sheet worth saving: it turns vague price anxiety into a concrete number you can act on. If you see Joburg–Mauritius under R9,500 or London under R12,800, you know it's time to pull the trigger. Treat the figures as moving targets rather than permanent price tags, but as benchmarks go, they're a solid place to start.
