Gracy Travel or Travel Express?

[Tokoloshe Safaris]

A very long time ago I first booked with Steve at Gracy Mars. Service was 101%. Steve left and when he started his own business TWG. Again I was “satisfied”, I always dealt with Patrick. For some reason I moved to Travel Express I had a first class SSA ticket booked. Then SAA finacial troubles and Covid hit, my flights were cancelled. My only recourse was thru Travel Express. I received zero assistance in reclaiming anything from SAA.

I recently booked a flight thru TWG. I asked to speak to Patrick, I was told that he was no longer with TWG. I then asked if Steve was still the owner. I was told yes, but he is starting to take more time off.

Lon

 

[Scott CWO]

Unfortunately I used Gracy Travel agency to book my flights to and from South Africa. We were moved to a different flight in April but Gracy NEVER notified us. The did send a final itinery with the changed flight but sent us tickets with the old flight. I thought the tickets were correct so we missed the flight. Gracy did nothing to help us that day or after we got back. I will NEVER use them again and will tell everyone how sorry their service was. Three months before our flight leaves they received notice of the change and they couldn't spend 1 second informing me? Once they have your money they don't care about you..

Hmmm… all agents send out information stating that you should confirm your international travel arrangements a day or two in advance. Just because you use a travel agent doesn’t release you from still having to check on your arrangements.

 

[revturbo9967]

I am using Jenn at TE and happy thus far. There was a change to my fight ALREADY and she quickly notified me. This was a few weeks ago. I agree with many on here, Unless your extremely seasoned on travailing to Africa don't try and do this on your own to save a few bucks. It is not worth it in the end.

You're^

 

[Fixfire]

I’m planning on using a service for my buff hunt in ‘24. Have not used in the past and have had issues. Sorry if derailed, but how do they charge? Fixed fee, percent of flight cost, etc? Also do they coordinate the rifle permitting process as well?? Met both Gracie and TE in Nashville. Both seemed like great operations. Didn’t think at the time to ask these questions.

 

[Spearhead]

Gracy with Shawn and Bruce. Bruce knows everyone at Joberg. If you’re connecting to Airlink on an Airlink flight out of South Africa to Zim, Bots, Moz, etc… he will take you and your bags and cut the Airlink line and get you to your next flight really fast! The Airlink line moves really slow, partly because the check-in agents cannot accept payment. You wait in line, get an invoice for your rifle case charges, leave the line and go to the payment desk and then back in line. Bruce cuts through all that BS and you’re moving on quickly to your gate. He’s golden.

I second this. I used Gracy in August based on @redleg reports. Shawn could not have been better and even Bruce reached out via email prior. When I landed in Johannesburg for the first time Bruce met me at the gate walked me to get my gun checked and even walked me over to city lodge and made sure I made it to my room. Met me the next morning and expedited checking in, taking me to another security line with zero waiting. Upon my return from Namibia, he met me again to wish me well and make sure everything was ok . I could not have asked for anything else. My seats were booked in advanced (no issues) , Shawn booked my hotel as well. It was such a fantastic experience. Absolutely removed any concern I had as a first time. Shawn and Bruce make it happen.

 

[shootist~]

I’m planning on using a service for my buff hunt in ‘24. Have not used in the past and have had issues. Sorry if derailed, but how do they charge? Fixed fee, percent of flight cost, etc? Also do they coordinate the rifle permitting process as well?? Met both Gracie and TE in Nashville. Both seemed like great operations. Didn’t think at the time to ask these questions.

Without having both agencies book the tickets and comparing, it's a bit of a guess. But:

Gracy charges a flat $300 above the airline ticket. They include vip meet and greet ( and have their own guy in SA) and the rifle permitting as well. I " assume " they get the standard airline commission as well. I'm using Gracy (Shawn) for the first time this year.

Travel Express does not charge any direct fee other than getting the airline commission. They do not have a SA employee but will set you up with your choice of in airport assistance if you want them too. (Several are excellent and we'll worth it.)

I'm using Africa Sky for airport pickup (and an overnight), and also for the rifle permitting - same as I did in 2021. So I'm out a good chunk of Gracy's $300 fee. They charge whether you use their services or not, so poor planning on my part.

Edit to add: I used TE in 2020/2021 and they did a great job including getting refunds from Delra ( twice) when they had covid related flight cancellations.

 

[TRAVEL EXPRESS]

Thanks for the mention @shootist~ we have a flat fee of $150/ person in economy class for long haul international flights And we have a great relationship with several guest houses including Africa Sky for meet and greet or Henry with Rifle Permits for expediting.

 

[mikecatt13]

Odd! I think (no, I smell) there is more to the story. No mention of details other than, "The did send a final itinery with the changed flight but sent us tickets with the old flight". Travel agents don't send out tickets. And it is SOP for agents to forward, via email or other communication, flight changes as sent out by the airline. And those flight changes are very common.

I tried a recommended "hunting" travel agent years ago but found out quickly there are great differences in the service and attitudes. Same for certain trophy import/brokerage services. One in particular has been overwhelmingly recommended over the years but turned out just about worthless for my purposes so found one doing my own due diligent search- never an issue after that. Like others have posted, I've used Gracy Travel over the years and never had any worries other than having to work with the agents who were having to jump through hoops 24-7 during the scamdemic. I did make contact with Travel Express during that time but they dropped the ball in returning my calls so I stayed with Gracy Travel. I don't respond well to phone or message tag by any business- no matter the circumstances. I tend to vote with my feet pretty quickly when experiencing that. Gracy Travel's meet and greet and assistance team led by Bruce at JNB has been second to none.

I had a similar experience with Gracy. The only reason we didnt miss our flight was by pure chance of getting there early enough as it had been moved up and we ended up literally running around the airport. Gracy never told us of that schedule change.

They also provided zero assistance or even knowledge of firearms travel procedures. I had to use this forum and actually another travel agency to get the info I needed, and this was for a country that was quite easy.

They did make a schedule change for our return flights that went smoothly, but overall not impressed to be brutally honest

They came highly recommended. In MY opinion, I gathered that especially the agent we dealt with was burnt out from the stress of changes and refunds that came with covid. This was shortly after things started opening up and schedules were pretty chaotic.

 

[mikecatt13]

Update: My main TA Patrick Wright has left TWG and started his own agency. TWG has now been farmed out to a call center and the owner has moved to Costa Rica. Patrick Wright Personal Travel, pwptravel.com, will be a slightly different model than others. He will only book premium class flights, so no standard economy. This will help him not only differentiate his business but also focus on a select set of clientele.
I appreciate all the hunting TA's out there and firmly believe they are incredibly valuable to the traveling Hunter. With everyone trying to get the best deal and buy everything with a click these days it is nice to have a real person to call and receive personal service.
Regards,
Philip

This answers some questions for me! Steve helped me in 2021 answering firearms questions when I was committed to using another agent and declined my offer to pay for that knowledge. So he was the top of my list to plan my 2022 trip. I broke my wrist shortly before the trip and it was postponed until 2023. I believe my good friend used Patrick and all went went.

When I reached out to TWG this year, it was a very different experience than when I was working with them in 2022. Nothing glaringly poor, just not the same. Maybe this explains it

 

[Philip Glass]

This answers some questions for me! Steve helped me in 2021 answering firearms questions when I was committed to using another agent and declined my offer to pay for that knowledge. So he was the top of my list to plan my 2022 trip. I broke my wrist shortly before the trip and it was postponed until 2023. I believe my good friend used Patrick and all went went.

When I reached out to TWG this year, it was a very different experience than when I was working with them in 2022. Nothing glaringly poor, just not the same. Maybe this explains it

I have three safari groups going with me this year. We leave June 6th (First one to Namibia with Frontier Safaris) and are right in the middle of the SAPS 520 process. Instead of personal service now I get a Bot or a different person each time! I've had some of them just email SAPS direct to Henry Riflepermits.com.
It is embarrassing for me at this point with all these clients. I am having to tie up all kinds of loose ends! I'll be ready this fall to begin booking for next year with Patrick at pwptravel.com