British Airways increases gun fee

[Aegis]

Taking first hunting trip outside the states this August. Just found out BA flight from Jo'burg to Port Elizabeth operated by Comair and regardless of British Airways name on ticket, will not ship firearms period. Already bought tickets bc of what BA told me over the phone (which was what is mentioned above). This bites

What johnnyblues said in the prior post...take SAA from Joburg to PE.

 

[JOHN WATERS]

BA Tickets not refundable. Will remember this for next time. Our agent from Dallas is telling me he takes South African Air out of Dulles all the way there. Hindsight is 20-20, will pay more attention next time.

 

[Aegis]

BA Tickets not refundable. Will remember this for next time. Our agent from Dallas is telling me he takes South African Air out of Dulles all the way there. Hindsight is 20-20, will pay more attention next time.

Yeah, definitely sucks that you can't get a refund on the BA tix.

 

[sierraone]

Taking first hunting trip outside the states this August. Just found out BA flight from Jo'burg to Port Elizabeth operated by Comair and regardless of British Airways name on ticket, will not ship firearms period. Already bought tickets bc of what BA told me over the phone (which was what is mentioned above). This bites

Sorry about this man. But Comair has not carried guns for a long long time. More reason to keep up with the AH forum, hopefully you would have already known this. How much will it cost you to buy a separate r/t ticket from Jo'burg to Port Elizabeth on SAA?

 

[Hank2211]

Have to agree with @sierraone on this one. There are two lessons here:

1. Use a travel agent who knows something about travelling with firearms, and

2. Keep up to date on the forums - the Comair thing has been around for a while.

Please understand @JOHN WATERS, I'm not trying to blame you for the problem. Just trying to draw something out of a crappy situation that might help the next guy. I do hope it works out for you, one way or the other.

One idea might be for people to post a question before finalizing the itinerary, asking if anyone sees any problems. Lots of people on the forum flying through all sorts of airports all the time, on all sorts of airlines. Just need to tap into that wealth of knowledge. In fact, I'm going to do that right now myself.

 

[sierraone]

IMO, the following holds true. If you are traveling overseas for the first time, or you are traveling with guns for the first time, you should read this forum inside out before you spend a single dollar or Euro or whatever.
Many forum members have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars (and possibly more) on travel and hunting during their lives. Even if you don't think you like one of these members, he probably has a base of knowledge that you cannot find anywhere else even if you are paying for it! I know many of our members have flown BA in the past and made it to an African country to hunt with their own guns. Also many not so good stories where guns are involved. For me, BA is for going to London to shop and sight see, not for just a leg on a trip to hunt in Africa.
Again if you are new to international travel and/or carrying guns, read this forum in great detail!
OK, I'm done!

 

[James Sexton]

Remember if using SAA and you have to use their Mango partner they do not let firearms fly also.

 

[wesheltonj]

See if BA for a fee of course will either change carriers for your Comair flight to either SAA and/or Airlink or cancel out the JNB to Port E flight. FYI, if you don't take the JNB to Port Elizabeth

 

[jeff]

BA Tickets not refundable. Will remember this for next time. Our agent from Dallas is telling me he takes South African Air out of Dulles all the way there. Hindsight is 20-20, will pay more attention next time.

Keep your tickets and use the outfitters guns.

 

[Hallgeir Gravråk]

Don`t fly with BA

 

[BRICKBURN]

BA Tickets not refundable. Will remember this for next time. Our agent from Dallas is telling me he takes South African Air out of Dulles all the way there. Hindsight is 20-20, will pay more attention next time.

I would be taking it up with who sold you the tickets. Certainly if they knew you had firearms.
Inside RSA now, as far as firearms carriage is concerned: SAA

 

[Hutch01]

Another reason to fly Emirates.

 

[DmacD]

I just flew with KLM and had absolutely no issues whatsoever. We travel to the U.K. at least once a year with them and so decided to give them a try for our Namibia flights. The price was good ($1300 CAD), they let us take one carry-on, and two checked pieces of luggage each at no extra charge. One of those was my rifle case, and it was considered as just another piece of luggage, no extra firearms charge. The people at the check-in counters were very polite, efficient and gave me absolutely no grief. Our luggage was sent straight on through to Windhoek and waiting for me upon arrival. I don't know if they offer any flights from the U.S.A., but if they do it may be a solid option.

 

[jeff]

Another reason to fly Emirates.

My brother and I on two different trips had weapon issues with Emirates even though we had filled out the online paper work and jumped through their hoops and it was still a hassle!