Well, you asked for good or bad - so here goes.
I've made 4 trips to Africa in the last 5 years, 3 traveling with rifles and ammunition, for the purpose of hunting.
The first of those trips was on Delta/Lufthansa, SFO - Amsterdam - Arusha; booked by Gracie Travel. I have never used either of those airlines or Gracie again. Service on the airlines was horrible, and although Gracie did get all of my paperwork in order, she completely ignored my request for airline choice and routing - citing. "It's too long" or, "That's not the way we do it." She does get the job done, so the choice is yours. Firearms and ammo went all the way without a hitch.
Second trip was with my wife, on Emirates, SFO - Dubai - Nairobi; booked by Patrick Wright while he was still at TWG - Travel With Guns. We traveled First Class on the A380 and it was fantastic.
Third trip was on QATAR, simply because Emirates was not an option. SFO - Doha - Jo'berg - Maun (Botswana); booked by Patrick Wright, now on his own - PWP.
QATAR does not have a dedicated First Class, they offer a Business Class advertised as comparable to First - it's not, but it's OK.
Patrick handled all the paperwork, arranged for transfer assistance, interim lodging, and made all necessary changes to my return when I extended my hunt. All done with email or text. In honesty - I think his mother does all the work and he takes the credit.
Firearms and ammo were checked through to Maun and the transfer in Jo'berg was painless. A prearranged agent was there to assist me through Customs.
There were no issues anytime during the flight with either firearms or ammo.
Fourth trip was a different story. Wife came along for the first 2 weeks, so - Emirates A380 First Class, SFO - Dubai - Jo'berg - overnight then Fast Jet to Vic Falls. Once again, the Emirates portion was fantastic. Jo'berg is where it got complicated.
Apparently, SA now requires firearms and ammo to be inspected - even if only transiting. This requires all baggage to be checked only as far as JNB, because you are now looking at an overnight stay in Jo'berg.
Firearms and ammo are pulled by police and taken for inspection - if and when they find the right guy. This part was fairly straight forward - it just took time.
From here you go to the hotel, then back to the airport the next day to clear Customs, and go through the firearms and ammo inspection all over again. Only this time it's with Fast Jet, and there's nothing fast about Fast Jet. Their counter people have absolutely no grasp of the rules regarding ammo weight. The 5kg limit applies to the ammno, and ONLY the ammo - the weight of the ammo container is not included. I had the counter personnel tell me the ammo case could go, but NOT the ammo, because if they put the ammo in the case it was more than 5kg; and of course, the ammo couldn't go without the required case. It took 2 supervisors, the transfer agent, and a policeman to convince them of the rule.
After a month of hunting in Zim, I attempted to fly to Lusaka on QATAR, I experienced the exact same issue as with Fast Jet. It seems in-country personnel are completely unaware of the proper interpretation of the rule. In this case I ended up chartering a flight from Harare to Lusaka.
I have vowed to never fly QATAR or Fast Jet; I will try to avoid country to country transfers, and never transfer through SA. If I do need to transfer - I will charter a flight.
If you want to contact Patrick or his mom, the number is 210-686-0766. He will have a booth at DSC.
There was one slight delay clearing in Lusaka; Customs people were really friendly and nice, as were the police doing the firearms inspection - then I was told I had to wait for a supervisor.
After about 5 minutes the supervisor appeared, apologized for making me wait - and asked it if would be OK to get his picture taken with my double rifle.
Have a good trip.
