Zimbabwe hunting - How traveling to Harare Zimbabwe is?

[Philip Glass]

Dont mean to side track here , You and @Doug3006 mentioned twg travel agent,why use them for air booking ?
Would I use them for a direct flight from Newark to jburg (united) ?

I travel all over the world and I do use an agent When flying with guns. Most of my trips involve three airlines. If there is a cancellation it is a nightmare to fix and rebook Without an agent. I want to know all my gun friendly options and this is what Patrick at TWG does for me. They also give me free baggage insurance of $1000/bag. Their advice helps me decide on routes and seats. I try to stay highly informed about all the issues of travel and then when I get ready to book I run my thoughts past Patrick and we proceed from there.
If you are only on one flight it is not that difficult to book yourself provided that it is a gun friendly airline. You must be highly informed of all the latest developments and social media may not help much in getting real information. You will need United’s app on your phone and you must read all docs on travel with guns on United. I advise calling them way ahead of time and inform them that you have a rifle so it can be noted on your ticket. This is one of the things the agent does for you.
Best of luck,
Philip

 

[Tanks]

...They also give me free baggage insurance of $1000/bag....

One thing I wish to emphasize in regard to insurance. My firearms insurance policy for home covers up to $25K per firearm when traveling. One can also extend that if the value of an individual firearm is more. I strongly suggest those who travel with doubles or expensive custom rifles to look into similar insurance for peace of mind.

 

[C.W. Richter]

With the $100Ks people have lost in stock market-based retirement accounts already this year, more people will be managing their own travel affairs (to save $.) I've done it for 7 trips to Africa and never a problem (problems solved by the airline, realtime, in each occurrence.) 'Never paid more than $165/trip in extra baggage fees (had it waived many times when 2 travelers already paid $4K for tickets. Be VERY nice to the people at the baggage check-ins-They have a lot of flexibility in decision-making!!) A taxi ride to sightsee in Namib was $3 USD plus tip. R/t PH pickup/drop-offs are typically $500-$600 and most safaris include this service. These don't add up to $1,000s in additional expenses. Used to fly 1st or business class in my old corporate job (on them,) but those days are over. Some of the best flights have been with SAA (food or beverage at anytime, movies, music, comfy seats, etc.) Other airlines are even higher rated for service in coach/economy. And, if the plane goes in the drink, the funeral is paid for out of the savings! Now, if you cannot help yourself and need to conduct business networking in-flight, business class may (or may not) pay dividends down the road. I have met a lot of nice people sitting in the back with Rosa P.! Q: IF the plane nose-dives, what section impacts first?

 

[Paul G]

Most of the worst airports outside the 3rd world are in the USA. Doha is considered by most people t be the 2nd best airport in the world. if you simply type on DOH into Google you can see pictures and figure out it along with Qatar are 2 of the best in the world

 

[Paul G]

With the $100Ks people have lost in stock market-based retirement accounts already this year, more people will be managing their own travel affairs (to save $.) I've done it for 7 trips to Africa and never a problem (problems solved by the airline, realtime, in each occurrence.) 'Never paid more than $165/trip in extra baggage fees (had it waived many times when 2 travelers already paid $4K for tickets. Be VERY nice to the people at the baggage check-ins-They have a lot of flexibility in decision-making!!) A taxi ride to sightsee in Namib was $3 USD plus tip. R/t PH pickup/drop-offs are typically $500-$600 and most safaris include this service. These don't add up to $1,000s in additional expenses. Used to fly 1st or business class in my old corporate job (on them,) but those days are over. Some of the best flights have been with SAA (food or beverage at anytime, movies, music, comfy seats, etc.) Other airlines are even higher rated for service in coach/economy. And, if the plane goes in the drink, the funeral is paid for out of the savings! Now, if you cannot help yourself and need to conduct business networking in-flight, business class may (or may not) pay dividends down the road. I have met a lot of nice people sitting in the back with Rosa P.! Q: IF the plane nose-dives, what section impacts first?

Never ever paid for a ticket to Africa in 12 or so RT now. Still confused as heck why American buy planet tickets when getting them free is so easy. Never flown coach either.

 

[Paul G]

Not sure. Generally speaking, you’re ill advised to leave the sanitary side of an Arab airport when flying with guns. They don’t like that at all.

Doha is safer than any major US City.

 

[Paul G]

I have not experienced a bit of trouble transiting either airport. But PLEASE use the services of Gracey, TWG or other hunting travel agent. It’s about $300 and worth every penny. They’ll make sure your airline permits are ready and there will be less chance of a hassle. This forum has multiple examples of hunters who booked themselves and had trouble.

Bad advice, never ever ever book your plane ticket with a travel agent. Once you do you have given up complete control over your ticket. You have given up every law put in place to protect you. You can not change the ticket online or direct with the airline and considering change fees are zero right now. Anyone who has made enough money in life to book an African hunt can figure out how simple it is to get a rifle into Africa, it's easier than buying the darn gun. As far as Qatar check it at the gate and get on the plane. If you want to hire a gun agent in RSA for 100 bucks so be it. A Travel agent can charge you whatever fee they want, they do not have 24 hour customer service or websites to change tickets, etc. They do not even have to refund you anything if they don't want to. OTAs are bad news and the travel industries dirty little secret.

 

[Paul G]

One thing I wish to emphasize in regard to insurance. My firearms insurance policy for home covers up to $25K per firearm when traveling. One can also extend that if the value of an individual firearm is more. I strongly suggest those who travel with doubles or expensive custom rifles to look into similar insurance for peace of mind.

100%!!!! Home ins except for a few companies like maybe Chubb will not cover those guns outside the USA and/or on a plane. Buy the SCI or NRA ins to cover them. Same price about 1.00 per $100 of value

 

[Tanks]

Never ever paid for a ticket to Africa in 12 or so RT now. Still confused as heck why American buy planet tickets when getting them free is so easy. Never flown coach either.

Exactly. With all the points from CCs etc. there is no reason. What is even more amazing is one can double dip. Pay with points converted to $$$ then get airline miles on those converted $$$s to boot at business class multiplkiers.

 

[Paul G]

Exactly. With all the points from CCs etc. there is no reason. What is even more amazing is one can double dip. Pay with points converted to $$$ then get airline miles on those converted $$$s to boot at business class multiplkiers.

I have told this to so many people. Grab 2 cards, and you are flying free in biz worst case. Heck little planning you can fly down first on Lufthansa, Emirates, Singapore, Etihad, etc. I would never fly coach to Africa, let alone buy a coach ticket to Africa!

 

[375Fox]

Exactly. With all the points from CCs etc. there is no reason. What is even more amazing is one can double dip. Pay with points converted to $$$ then get airline miles on those converted $$$s to boot at business class multiplkiers.

I’ve never applied for an airline credit card, can you explain what I’m missing and where it would benefit me? My personal credit cards all pay 2%-4% cash back without annual fees depending on the purchase. I have platinum status on United and receive points each time I fly. My business credit card gives me 1.5% cash back without annual fee and I usually spend about $7000-$9000 a year in business flights in addition to personal flights. I haven’t been able to understand the value in paying an annual fee to get airline points limited to a specific airline when there are so many free cash back cards. Am I missing something on my math that would make the airline points beneficial over the cash back cards?

 

[Tanks]

I’ve never applied for an airline credit card, can you explain what I’m missing and where it would benefit me? My personal credit cards all pay 2%-4% cash back without annual fees depending on the purchase. ...

I don't have an airline card. I do however belong to airline points system on various airlines. Here is an example of how it works. Let's say I charge XXX dollars a year for various expenses to a credit card that I get anywhere from 2-5 points per dollar. Let's say I use those points to buy $5K worth of airline tickets. The airline gives me about 20K+ points of miles for those dollars (they are $$$ as far as airline is concerned) as well on their loyalty points system. Rinse and repeat enough times I can just use the airline points for a ticket. Not to mention you also get free upgrades etc. depending on your level of airline loyalty club.

It does get complicated at times. Pre-Covid I was traveling internationally 4-5 times, most times with a companion so a lot of savings if one planned spending their points right.

 

[Doug3006]

Bad advice, never ever ever book your plane ticket with a travel agent. Once you do you have given up complete control over your ticket. You have given up every law put in place to protect you. You can not change the ticket online or direct with the airline and considering change fees are zero right now. Anyone who has made enough money in life to book an African hunt can figure out how simple it is to get a rifle into Africa, it's easier than buying the darn gun. As far as Qatar check it at the gate and get on the plane. If you want to hire a gun agent in RSA for 100 bucks so be it. A Travel agent can charge you whatever fee they want, they do not have 24 hour customer service or websites to change tickets, etc. They do not even have to refund you anything if they don't want to. OTAs are bad news and the travel industries dirty little secret.

Lots to unpack here. I don’t know how using a reputable TA results in losing control of your ticket. I have found it very helpful to call Shawn at Gracy and ask her to make any changes. Rather than calling 3 different airlines, being on hold for hours etc. I gladly let Shawn have that “control.” What consumer protection laws are suspended when I book through a TA? I’ve had to cancel tickets and have received refunds each time. I agree that the gun clearance process can be navigated. If that was the only value of using a TA then I’d get your point. However, I don’t read many reports of pro who used Gracy or TWG having to leave their guns behind or miss a flight due to not having their gun paperwork in order. I have read posts of such from people who did it on their own. Both Gracy and TWG have 24 hour service lines. I know because I’ve had to call them.

The decision to use a TA rests with the traveller. I’ll leave it up to Sivie to decide if my advice is “bad” as you say….or not.

 

[Philip Glass]

Lots to unpack here. I don’t know how using a reputable TA results in losing control of your ticket. I have found it very helpful to call Shawn at Gracy and ask her to make any changes. Rather than calling 3 different airlines, being on hold for hours etc. I gladly let Shawn have that “control.” What consumer protection laws are suspended when I book through a TA? I’ve had to cancel tickets and have received refunds each time. I agree that the gun clearance process can be navigated. If that was the only value of using a TA then I’d get your point. However, I don’t read many reports of pro who used Gracy or TWG having to leave their guns behind or miss a flight due to not having their gun paperwork in order. I have read posts of such from people who did it on their own. Both Gracy and TWG have 24 hour service lines. I know because I’ve had to call them.

The decision to use a TA rests with the traveller. I’ll leave it up to Sivie to decide if my advice is “bad” as you say….or not.

Doug
There is lots of bad advice on here and some outright misrepresentations on the use of a TA. For every one of these guys who is screaming that you are an idiot for using a TA there are 100 reports of bad do-it-yourself travel planning. They wind up on an airline that does not fly guns, they don’t understand what airlines are actually reliable, and some lose their entire ticket. Then they loudly proclaim “It’s too hard to take your own rifle”.
One time I didn’t take my TA’s advice and I got burned badly. I used points and a companion pass to fly my wife and I from SJT-DFW-IAD and then paid for tickets on Austrian to Vienna. DFW got fogged in and we were stuck. Since the tickets were not bought entirely by an agent and attached we lost the Austrian tickets and had to scramble to get new flights for both of us the next day. It cost me about $7000 to try to save a buck. Our luggage didn’t arrive for 3 days and my rifle was on the loose for 16 days!
Those of us who have been around the world can do whatever we choose but for the inexperienced please use a TA. I am sick of your screwed up travel reports!
Regards,
Philip

 

[WAB]

I would concur that it makes good sense to use a TA. I have made well over twenty trips to Africa. Before retiring I flew 150,000 miles per year, much of it international. I have more international travel experience than most. I use a TA when traveling to Africa on Safari. I don’t understand the reluctance to do so. The incremental cost is negligible.

I have used @TRAVEL EXPRESS and Gracy. They are both excellent.

 

[Paul G]

I’ve never applied for an airline credit card, can you explain what I’m missing and where it would benefit me? My personal credit cards all pay 2%-4% cash back without annual fees depending on the purchase. I have platinum status on United and receive points each time I fly. My business credit card gives me 1.5% cash back without annual fee and I usually spend about $7000-$9000 a year in business flights in addition to personal flights. I haven’t been able to understand the value in paying an annual fee to get airline points limited to a specific airline when there are so many free cash back cards. Am I missing something on my math that would make the airline points beneficial over the cash back cards?

For instance you can apply for for the United credit card spend $3000 on it and have enough points for a one way business class ticket for free. The same time you get that card say you grab the American Express card now you have a ticket back. Go spend some time on flyertalk.com boardingarea.com the point guy and start reading through blogs spend a weekend doing it.

 

[Paul G]

I would concur that it makes good sense to use a TA. I have made well over twenty trips to Africa. Before retiring I flew 150,000 miles per year, much of it international. I have more international travel experience than most. I use a TA when traveling to Africa on Safari. I don’t understand the reluctance to do so. The incremental cost is negligible.

I have used @TRAVEL EXPRESS and Gracy. They are both

Lots to unpack here. I don’t know how using a reputable TA results in losing control of your ticket. I have found it very helpful to call Shawn at Gracy and ask her to make any changes. Rather than calling 3 different airlines, being on hold for hours etc. I gladly let Shawn have that “control.” What consumer protection laws are suspended when I book through a TA? I’ve had to cancel tickets and have received refunds each time. I agree that the gun clearance process can be navigated. If that was the only value of using a TA then I’d get your point. However, I don’t read many reports of pro who used Gracy or TWG having to leave their guns behind or miss a flight due to not having their gun paperwork in order. I have read posts of such from people who did it on their own. Both Gracy and TWG have 24 hour service lines. I know because I’ve had to call them.

The decision to use a TA rests with the traveller. I’ll leave it up to Sivie to decide if my advice is “bad” as you say….or not.

Reasons you should book directly with an airline or hotel - The Points Guy

Online travel agencies are all over the place. Should you use one? There are some drawbacks to consider.

thepointsguy.com

 

[Paul G]

Lots to unpack here. I don’t know how using a reputable TA results in losing control of your ticket. I have found it very helpful to call Shawn at Gracy and ask her to make any changes. Rather than calling 3 different airlines, being on hold for hours etc. I gladly let Shawn have that “control.” What consumer protection laws are suspended when I book through a TA? I’ve had to cancel tickets and have received refunds each time. I agree that the gun clearance process can be navigated. If that was the only value of using a TA then I’d get your point. However, I don’t read many reports of pro who used Gracy or TWG having to leave their guns behind or miss a flight due to not having their gun paperwork in order. I have read posts of such from people who did it on their own. Both Gracy and TWG have 24 hour service lines. I know because I’ve had to call them.

The decision to use a TA rests with the traveller. I’ll leave it up to Sivie to decide if my advice is “bad” as you say….or not.

Why I Generally Avoid Using Travel Agencies For Flight Bookings

For a lot of frequent travelers, there's a very obvious reason why booking hotels through one of the many online travel agencies may not be the best policy (you won't earn hotel loyalty points and your elite status will not be recognized), but because airlines aren't often seen to be treating...

travelingformiles.com

 

[Paul G]

Doug
There is lots of bad advice on here and some outright misrepresentations on the use of a TA. For every one of these guys who is screaming that you are an idiot for using a TA there are 100 reports of bad do-it-yourself travel planning. They wind up on an airline that does not fly guns, they don’t understand what airlines are actually reliable, and some lose their entire ticket. Then they loudly proclaim “It’s too hard to take your own rifle”.
One time I didn’t take my TA’s advice and I got burned badly. I used points and a companion pass to fly my wife and I from SJT-DFW-IAD and then paid for tickets on Austrian to Vienna. DFW got fogged in and we were stuck. Since the tickets were not bought entirely by an agent and attached we lost the Austrian tickets and had to scramble to get new flights for both of us the next day. It cost me about $7000 to try to save a buck. Our luggage didn’t arrive for 3 days and my rifle was on the loose for 16 days!
Those of us who have been around the world can do whatever we choose but for the inexperienced please use a TA. I am sick of your screwed up travel reports!
Regards,
Philip

Also keep in mind nothing travel with guns does can't be done by yourself very simply. Taking a gun to Africa is not complicated. I do at once it twice every single year. 5 minutes for the work. Last time in Africa I changed my ticket to stay an extra couple days with 5 minutes of work online could not and would not have happened with a travel agent. Once you have a travel agent only they can change your ticket you can no longer do it online or call the airline. Every single travel expert will tell you not to use a travel agent. Lastly if you use a travel agent you don't get your status with the hotel and you don't collect points. https://karryon.com.au/community/7-reasons-why-you-should-never-book-with-a-travel-agent/

 

[Paul G]

I’ve never applied for an airline credit card, can you explain what I’m missing and where it would benefit me? My personal credit cards all pay 2%-4% cash back without annual fees depending on the purchase. I have platinum status on United and receive points each time I fly. My business credit card gives me 1.5% cash back without annual fee and I usually spend about $7000-$9000 a year in business flights in addition to personal flights. I haven’t been able to understand the value in paying an annual fee to get airline points limited to a specific airline when there are so many free cash back cards. Am I missing something on my math that would make the airline points beneficial over the cash back cards?

Hey if you want some help send me a message. Little planning little credit card churning and you're flying for free everywhere in the world. It's absolutely insane to buy tickets to Africa it's so easy to go for free.