SAA...anyway to make sure luggage makes connection??

[Supercat]

I'll be flying SAA from New York to Jo'Berg then on to Bulawayo after a 2 hour layover. Is there any way that I can make sure, or to even check to see if my luggage and Pelican Case make it on to my connecting flight to Bulawayo??

What do you think?

 

[Royal27]

Wing and a prayer....

Nice that you can check guns all the way through to Bulawayo. I've only had that luxury on the way back as I've always had to overnight in Joberg.

Lost luggage certainly happens but not as often as we all think it does. Enjoy the trip!

 

[BRICKBURN]

If you do not have to clear your firearm in RSA and then check it again I'm amazed.
That would be your closest guarantee.

SAA baggage guarantee? Not likely. You just get to wait for the surprise with the rest of the crowd.

 

[Supercat]

That’s what I figured ugh!

The video makes me feel SO MUCH better lol

 

[cpr0312]

Good news is the luggage is checked all the way through on SAA. Cant comfort you kn knowing it makes it on the connection!

 

[JimP]

Once you get to Joberg and are at the gate waiting for your next flight just ask the gate agent if your luggage is on the plane.

When I flew over I went from Denver, to Salt Lake, to NYC, to Joberg and at both plane transfers at Salt Lake, and NYC we just asked the gate attendant and they checked for us.

 

[Bushpig4Ever]

I’m flying SAA since decades, never lost anything, except one bottle of wine. In Cape Town customs officials opened a carton which contained three bottles of German Riesling. Obviously they knew that stuff is delicious.

 

[Mekaniks]

You can pray to the luggage gods, but its been my experience that Murphy and his Law have more to do with the actual luggage handling....

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

I'll be flying SAA from New York to Jo'Berg then on to Bulawayo after a 2 hour layover. Is there any way that I can make sure, or to even check to see if my luggage and Pelican Case make it on to my connecting flight to Bulawayo??

What do you think?

I would advise against attempting this. You might miss this connecting flight altogether, let alone your bags not making it. I flew from JFK last July on SAA and had a 3 hour connection to Luanda, Angola. I barely made it and my checked bag did not. It took 7 days for them to get me my bag. When the plane lands at JNB, it parks out on the tarmac and you have to wait for a bus to take you to a terminal. Even though you are "in transit" to another international destination, you still clear through passport control, an abbreviated version of immigration. It can be a slow process.

 

[wesheltonj]

I'll be flying SAA from New York to Jo'Berg then on to Bulawayo after a 2 hour layover. Is there any way that I can make sure, or to even check to see if my luggage and Pelican Case make it on to my connecting flight to Bulawayo??

What do you think?

Nothing that a "tip" cannot cure in Southern Africa.

 

[sestoppelman]

I would advise against attempting this. You might miss this connecting flight altogether, let alone your bags not making it. I flew from JFK last July on SAA and had a 3 hour connection to Luanda, Angola. I barely made it and my checked bag did not. It took 7 days for them to get me my bag. When the plane lands at JNB, it parks out on the tarmac and you have to wait for a bus to take you to a terminal. Even though you are "in transit" to another international destination, you still clear through passport control, an abbreviated version of immigration. It can be a slow process.

Two hours is cutting it close but the only other option is a different flight or going thru SAPS. I would risk the quick flight change before doing that. In the case of being late and having to layover, the one time it happened to me at JO, they held our guns in bond and didn't make us do SAPS at all, loaded our stuff on the plane next morning and gone. This was over 10 years ago however.

You can as suggested earlier ask about your bags at the gate with your tags. They will check.

 

[sestoppelman]

Nothing that a "tip" cannot cure in Southern Africa.

A tip is no guarantee of better service anywhere. The other word for tip is gratuity, means gift.

 

[JimP]

The problem with a tip, gratuity, gift, or greasing the palm who are you going to give the money to?

All those responsible to get your luggage from one spot to another are in a area where you are not allowed to access.

 

[Supercat]

Nothing that a "tip" cannot cure in Southern Africa.

I was thinking about that but I won't have any contact with the people who actually load the gun onto the connecting flight

 

[Hank2211]

If you do not have to clear your firearm in RSA and then check it again I'm amazed.
That would be your closest guarantee.

SAA baggage guarantee? Not likely. You just get to wait for the surprise with the rest of the crowd.

I've done this a number of times, and the luggage does not have to be picked up or cleared in South Africa. If it's checked through to Zimbabwe (I've done this through Bulawayo as well as Victoria Falls), it will simply show up at your final destination.

As for ensuring it's on the flight to Zimbabwe, there's no guarantee, but if you take your luggage tags to Customer Service (I was travelling business class so used the person in the lounge), they can scan them to see where they are. I say they can - that doesn't guarantee that the system will work properly, that the person will know what they're doing, or that they will be willing to make the (small) effort to look. Having said that, they do tend to take better care of firearms than other luggage in my experience - only in terms of keeping track of it - so it may work.

I've lost a bunch of bags flying to Africa, but never this way.

Good luck.

 

[wesheltonj]

I was thinking about that but I won't have any contact with the people who actually load the gun onto the connecting flight

"Tip" the Gate Agent.

 

[Supercat]

"Tip" the Gate Agent.

They are usually only at the gate just before boarding begins, so I would think that at that point, my stuff is either on the plane or it isn’t.

What good would a tip do at that point?