About Us – Our Wow

“So what's the big deal?” we hear you say. Well, we have a simple goal - to provide the simplest way to find and book the best travel deals.

When you search for flights with us, you'll get results from all the major and low-cost carriers (such as Mango, SAA, 1Time and Kulula) displayed in one place so that you can compare prices. You can refine your results by playing around with various parameters such as 'departure time' or 'preferred number of stops'. Once you’ve decided on the best flight ticket for you, book and pay online in one seamless transaction. It's just like being your own travel agent.

Some background so you know who you're dealing with

Travelstart was started by Stephan Ekbergh in 1999. Although he probably wouldn't like us to say it, he’s a bit of a visionary when it comes to travel. In 1995 he created Sweden's first fully-automated, telephone-based travel booking company called Sistaminutenplatser. The system utilised a tone-dialling menu that was unique at the time. It was crazy and complicated, but he didn't stop there!

In late 1995, the launch of version 1.0 of Netscape Navigator (one of the first web browsers) convinced Stephan that the future of travel booking was online. In 1998 he launched Sweden's first online travel agency, MrJet.

One thing led to another, and after some highs and lows (as invariably happens in the life of an entrepreneur) he eventually launched Travelstart in 1999.

After being wildly successful in Scandinavia, Stephan decided to relocate to the warmer climes of South Africa. Having settled with his family in beautiful Cape Town, Stephan wanted to bring the Scandinavian online travel revolution to South Africa - so here we are!

Online Travel Services

Travelstart’s services are not limited to booking flights online. You can also search and compare:

Why use us

We’re also passionate about service. Whilst we believe that we’ve created a simple and intuitive web site, we recognise that not everybody is comfortable using the Internet to book travel, or would simply prefer to deal with a real person sometimes. That’s why we have a travel desk staffed by friendly and knowledgeable people who will assist you with whatever you need. Just call 0861 TSTART (878278) during office hours and they'll be glad to help.