5 Ways To Get The Lowest Fare When Travelling To South Africa

Whether you’re a frequent traveller to neighboring South Africa or you just down there once every couple of months, an opportunity to lower the bus fare for the trips you make is welcome. Especially in these hard times.

Here are five ways to get the lowest fare when travelling to South Africa by bus below.

1. Book Early

Most of you reading this probably thought this only applied to flying, and you are wrong. Booking early can shave some dollars off your bus ticket too! Use online platforms like National Tickets and you can save as much as 20% of your fare if you book early.

2. Book and pay for your return ticket at the same time.

Most of us usually just book for the trip to South Africa and then we worry about booking the return trip when we’re done with our business in SA. When you do this, you miss out on a possible 10% discount on your total fare. For example, say your Intercape fare is Forty dollars ($40) for the Harare to Jo’burg trip, and another forty dollars ($40) back to Harare; if you book for and pay for a return trip, it’s very possible end up just paying thirty dollars ($30) for each leg for a total of sixty dollars ($60) for the whole trip!

3. Make full use of that Student ID card

If you’re a student at a school or college here in Zimbabwe or South Africa, you can have your bus fare discounted by as much as 10%? All you need to do is produce the student ID card when you book. Contrary to common belief, it doesn’t mater that you’re not travelling for education purposes.

4. Senior citizen and minors

Senior Citizens and minors are entitled to a lower fare too. If you qualify or the person you’re booking for does, ensure that you get this discount when you book.

5. Take advantage of Zimbabwean Holidays

When planning your next trip between the two countries, try to book for days on which it’s a holiday in Zimbabwe but not in SA. For example 18 April Independence day. The fare will certainly be lower on these days than usual.

5. If you’re a frequent traveller, use the same bus always

If you’re a frequent traveller, pick your favorite bus and stick to it. Almost all buses provide a free trip after you reach a certain threshold of trips with them. For most it’s after every 10 trips and a return trip counts as 2 trips.