ExceptionalNonstop · 2.5h
SHA to CANChina
Guangzhou
$120
usually $270
−56%
Most monthly lows $163–$394. Cheaper than every other month on record (10).
Flights · SHA → CPT
Shanghai to Cape Town
Best fare, round trip
$1,143
−6%
below its usual $1,220
you keep $77
Found
- Depart
- Mon 25 Jan
- Return
- Sun 7 Feb
- Stay
- 13 nights
- Flight
- 1 stop · 23h
- Airline
Turkish Airlines
Most of this route’s monthly lows fall between $1,150 and $1,364. The drop beats 8% of measured fares on the board, over 6 observed months.
Cached fare — the booking search re-prices live before you pay.
South AfricaCape TownTable Mountain, two oceans and winelands 40 minutes out — the long-haul that overdelivers.Best windowNov–MarAirportsCape Town (CPT)Every route into Cape TownFare seasonality
When this route gets cheap.
Fares bottom out in January around $1,143 and peak in December near $1,448, 27% dearer, across the 6 months we track. The cheapest itinerary we are tracking makes one stop and takes about 23 hours outbound, on a 13-night trip — ticketed under Turkish Airlines, which on a connecting fare need not operate every leg. At $1,143 for 12,978 km each way, that works out to about $44 per 1,000 km flown. That is about the $42 per 1,000 km typical of ultra-long-haul fares here. Across the 22 departure cities we track at a similar distance from Cape Town, this fare ranks 12th — 2.2× the $516 we hold from Toronto. That puts it in the cheaper half of the 24 routes of similar length we watch out of Shanghai, where the middle fare is $1,252. The best time to be in Cape Town: Nov–Mar.
Day-level prices for the next 4 months
Press a day to compare its fares
The median cached fare across this calendar is 24% higher than when tracking began on 8 Aug — $1,137 then versus $1,412 now, across 18 recorded snapshots. This is a calendar-level trend, so an individual deal above can be lower. The lowest single day we have seen here is $983, on 17 Nov.
Cached day-level data for this route is sparse — 15 of 109 days priced, from 85 tracked fares. The days below are shown as found, with no cheapest-day or below-median call.
October 2026
November 2026
12345678910Wednesday 11 November: $1.2k. Compare fares from this day.Thursday 12 November: $1.1k. Compare fares from this day.Friday 13 November: $1.2k. Compare fares from this day.1415161718192021222324252627282930
December 2026
12345678910Friday 11 December: $1.5k. Compare fares from this day.1213141516Thursday 17 December: $1.8k. Compare fares from this day.Friday 18 December: $1.4k. Compare fares from this day.192021222324Friday 25 December: $1.5k. Compare fares from this day.26272829Wednesday 30 December: $1.5k. Compare fares from this day.31
January 2027
Cached fares · checked 15 Oct 2026
Cheapest in Jan, around $1,143
6% below the $1,220 typical fare
$1364Oct, above the usual price. Compare October fares.$1150Nov, below the usual price. Compare November fares.$1448Dec, above the usual price. Compare December fares.$1143Jan ’27, the cheapest month. Compare January fares.$1150Feb, below the usual price. Compare February fares.$1220Mar, around the usual price. Compare March fares.
CheapestBelow usualUsualAbove usualPress a month to compare its fares
Cheapest round-trip fare found each month, Shanghai to Cape Town, from cached prices.
Route facts
- Airports
- Pudong (PVG) · Hongqiao (SHA) ↔ Cape Town (CPT)
- Flight time
- ≈23 hours outbound
- Distance
- ≈12,978 km each way
- Typical price
- $1,220 round-trip (seasonal median)
- Airlines on the board
- Turkish Airlines
- Itineraries
- Connections on current fares
- Best months to visit
- Nov–Mar
Good to know
SHA → CPT, answered.
Is $1,143 a good price for Shanghai to Cape Town?
Only slightly. The seasonal median is around $1,220 round-trip and this fare is 6% under it. We do not call a drop notable until 20%, so this is an ordinary price for the route rather than a reason to hurry.
What is the cheapest month to fly from Shanghai to Cape Town?
Across 6 months of cached-fare history, Jan comes out cheapest on this route. The best months to actually be in Cape Town are Nov–Mar — when those overlap, that's your window.
How far in advance should I book SHA → Cape Town?
We do not publish a number for this, because we cannot measure it yet. Answering it honestly means watching the same departure date on this route over many weeks as it approaches, and that archive is still filling up — so any "book N days ahead" figure here would be borrowed from somewhere else rather than measured. What we can measure is which month is cheap: across 6 months of cached fares, Jan comes out lowest on this route. Our guide Why flight prices change covers what does move a fare.
Are there nonstop flights from Shanghai to Cape Town?
The current cheapest fares involve a connection, ticketed under Turkish Airlines. We hold no nonstop fare on this route right now, which does not mean none flies — search your exact dates to see what does.
Are these prices guaranteed?
No — these are cached fares found on real searches (this one on 17 October). Airlines reprice constantly, so the booking search re-checks the live price before you pay. Fresher finds are far more likely to still be available.
Next step
Sleeping in Cape Town?
Lock the flight first — then compare stays for 25 Jan '27 – 7 Feb '27 · 13 nights.
Browse hotelsMissed it?
Cached fares expire. This route has a feed of its own — follow it and the next SHA → CPT drop reaches you as soon as we find it.
Follow this route’s feedKeep browsing
Related routes on the board.
ExceptionalNonstop · 2.5h
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usually $430
−56%
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$1,116
usually $1,520
−27%
Most monthly lows $1,121–$1,520. Cheaper than every other month on record (3).
- Travel dates
- 26 Feb '27 – 11 Mar '27 · 13 nights
- Airline
Kenya Airways· $44 per 1,000 km
Good1 stop · 24.5h
SYD to CPTAustralia
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$1,368
usually $1,845
−26%
Most monthly lows $1,434–$1,847. Cheaper than every other month on record (3).
