Which airlines are "Firearm Friendly"? And which airlines are not?

[TakeMeLord]

Which airlines are "Firearm Friendly" ? And which airlines are not?

 

[Mark Biggerstaff]

Others will chime in but I have only flew Delta, United and Qatar. All easy to travel on with firearms. At least to me.

 

[sestoppelman]

If traveling overseas, ensure that your domestic airline is partnered with your connection for overseas, otherwise you will have to make a physical transfer of your rifle, they wont do it for you.
This happened to me on my last trip to RSA. Jet Blue was the domestic carrier and they were NOT partnered with SAA so I had to physically drag my rifle and luggage all over the bloody airport in NY, deal with cops, ignorance, "go over there", "no, go over there, that guys a liar", "this guy has a gun call security"... and on and on.
It was a freaking nightmare!

 

[Puddle]

As of last April, Qatar was very attentive to my rifle case. Met me on my arrival in Doha to triple check that I was indeed the individual associated with the aforementioned case, and then boarded for the final leg. Same attention paid on the return trip as well. Probably helped that I flew Qatar all the way there and back.

I can imagine the scenario of them asking themselves "what the heck do we do with an orphaned rifle case??"

Chow wasn't bad either.

 

[JimP]

If traveling overseas, ensure that your domestic airline is partnered with your connection for overseas, otherwise you will have to make a physical transfer of your rifle, they wont do it for you.
This happened to me on my last trip to RSA. Jet Blue was the domestic carrier and they were NOT partnered with SAA so I had to physically drag my rifle and luggage all over the bloody airport in NY, deal with cops, ignorance, "go over there", "no, go over there, that guys a liar", "this guy has a gun call security"... and on and on.
It was a freaking nightmare!

Jet Blue was one airline that Lori at Travel Express told me to stay completely away from when I was looking at booking my own flights to South Africa. I had her take over and flew Delta to NY to connect with SAA. The return trip was SAA and then United.

If you are flying to South Africa your choices are fairly limited if you want a direct flight. Just United and Delta fly there from the US. Qutar flies through Doha before heading to Joberg. Last year I flew American then onto Qutar, the trip home was Qutar and then American.

The easiest way to do it is to just get in touch with Jennifer with Travel Express and let her do it for you, it is well worth the little money that you pay them.

 

[Red Leg]

Use a quality "hunter friendly" travel agent like Gracy Travel or Travel Express and let them sort the airline issues. Neither would put you on a non-affiliated domestic carrier before your overseas flight.

You are saving nothing meaningful by doing it yourself and adding real risk to your trip.

 

[Tgood1]

Travel express, and listen to their advice

 

[Manny R]

Qatar,Emirates ,Alaska, United are excellent to fly with guns

 

[Inline6]

Use a quality "hunter friendly" travel agent like Gracy Travel or Travel Express and let them sort the airline issues. Neither would put you on a non-affiliated domestic carrier before your overseas flight.

You are saving nothing meaningful by doing it yourself and adding real risk to your trip.

We have used Jennifer with @TRAVEL EXPRESS. I do not have personal experience with Gracy Travel I have read a lot of good reports.

The few extra dollars spent (if any Jennifer was able to book better deals than I could find on my own). Was worth the piece of mind when flights were moved around. She called, here is what you need to do with the time followed by an email. That is priceless to me. I appreciate the effort she took to make sure things were smooth. She has earned our business for as long as we Travel.

 

[Safari Dave]

Gracy is excellent as well.

Well worth their commission.


If travel is anymore complicated than flying directly from your home airport to your final destination in Africa, where your safari company should take over, then, by all means use Gracy or Travel Express.


Shawn with Gracy Travel was wonderful to work with in 2021, when I made my last trip.


I was "Doing It Myself" with Delta when Delta cancelled my direct flight from ATL to JNB and rebooked me on a flight through Amsterdam.


I was extremely lucky to be within earshot of an international shotgun coach who started giving me warning signals to cease immediately. I cancelled the Delta flight & Delta gladly gave me a complete refund - Delta is NOT unfriendly to passengers with guns and has always been a pleasure to fly with while transporting firearms, but the customer service representatives are simply not aware of the intricacies of the various airports in regard to firearms.

(He told me that he had once spent a week in Amsterdam trying to work out issues with shotguns and his team).

I called Travel Express first, but no one answered. I tried Gracy next and Shawn answered the phone. Everything worked out perfectly after that.


(Both firms will know more about traveling with firearms than almost any of us could learn in a month AND what your safari company knows combined).

 

[Troubleshooter]

I would be concerned as much about which airports are hunter-friendly as which airlines. Another reason to listen to the advice of one of the travel agencies who specialize in hunting travel.

 

[Philip Glass]

I recommend a TA as this can change from time to time. At present Delta is very easy and Qatar is Ok but you need to know the process. Turkish has always been good with guns. These are my experiences of late.
Domestic SA is tricky as some do not carry firearms. We've been using Airlink.
Ive used many travel agents and they all know who not to fly on.
Side note: don't let the process or the trolls upset you so much that you don't take your own guns. That's BS!

 

[WAB]

Jennifer at Travel Express booked me on Turkish Air for my upcoming trip to Romania. They are apparently good with guns. I will report back post trip.

 

[Flewis]

Any body gone through JFK. The last time through there was over 30 years ago.

 

[Jonathan Kashouty]

Delta is excellent with a direct Atlanta to JNB/OR Tambo. Leverage the services of Mr. X in JNB for rifle clearance.

 

[Houston Bill]

I have traveled to Africa on United, Ethiopian Airlines and Turkish in the last couple of years and they are all very good with guns. Friends of mine of flown Emirates and Qatar to Africa and said they were good with the guns as well. If you are flying to South Africa then United and Delta are probably your best bet as they have non stops from the US to SA. You can fly Emirates or Qatar if you don't mind connecting in Dubai or Doha.

I also flew on New Zealand air a few years ago and they were gun friendly as well.

 

[TRAVEL EXPRESS]

I called Travel Express first, but no one answered.

Sorry we didn't catch you @Safari Dave - when the phones get to ringing around here sometimes it seems like they don't stop! We hope to be able to help on the next one.

Thank you to all of our supporters above, we appreciate each and every one of you!

 

[MarkCZ]

Here in the UK, avoid like the plague British Airways .
Markcz

 

[degoins]

Delta has been great for me but for this last trip, I have yet to receive my rifles after returning home on 7/1/2023.
And a shout out to Debbie Gracy and her team at Gracy Travel. Their service is excellent in every way.

 

[wesheltonj]

Depends on your definition of "friendly." If they accept firearms? The fee they charge? The application process? Personally, I think Emirates is the best everything is on-line and last time I checked no fee too.

I have a Qatar flight soon, will see how smoothly that goes and with the transfer to Airlink at JNB and back. Driving to Dallas, so I don't have to fool with the AA come get your gun and walk it over to Qatar routine.