I'm going to Tanzania in August. Flying Chicago to Amsterdam to Arusha. I'm applying for gun travel permits in the Netherlands. Can someone tell me how this works? Will my baggage be checked straight through from Chicago or will I have to retrieve it in Amsterdam, clear customs and recheck. I'm growing concerned about timing as I only have a few hours in Amsterdam.

I went through Amsterdam on the way to Norway last summer. I had no guns and still had to go through customs so I suppose you will as well. It seemed to go fairly fast though; about 1.5 to 2 hours from getting off the plane, transiting customs and getting to the departure area for the next flight.

My guns traveled right through Amsterdam after filing the form with the Netherlands several weeks in advance. No rechecking, no request to see my forms, no problems.

If you check your baggage, incl your rifles to destination TZ you dont have to worry in Amsterdam.
I always asked the clerk to check that they are indeed loaded prior to departure.They are very helpful and confirm this by computer check.

Ditto here too. Never had a problem when following directions...also explained here.

I was told that I'd have to claim my rifles in AMS and have KLM hold them in 'secured storage. I did that. Some other folks had simply checked their stuff thru to Africa, and didn't have any problems, as shown above. I'd check with my travel agent or simply ask the Netherland office where you fax your Consent form application.

Not sure who you folks are using for travel agents but when I contacted Shawn Brigance at Gracy Travel, she knew the anwers to these questions instantly. She does it all the time.
You might want to give her a call. Just thought you'd want to know.

Last November, I went Minn to Amersterdam to Arusha. I used Shawn at Gracy Travel, also, but you can do it on your own. You need to get the Netherlands form for transit. You can get that on line, then fax it. Give yourself at least three weeks to get the permit. Very, very important--make certain that you fill out two forms--one for the trip to Tanzania, the other on the way back from Tanzania.

In addition, KLM will hold your guns for 72 hours in their safe, if you want to hang around Amersterdam for several days. Take your time and do it right and it will work. If you have further questions, feel free to e-mail.

One other note. Sheephunter has it a little wrong. You must have a written form from Netherlands for your guns to go through Netherlands. Northwest can bar you from checking your guns in, here in the USA if you don't have the forms. This requirement is fairly new, so a lot of people don't know about it. In addition, before you fax your application to the Netherlands, you have to obtain and fax along with your application, your federal custom forms. You obtain that by taking your gun down to a federal custom office and getting it registered. You have to do that anyway to assure that you can get your rifle back into the USA. I staple the US Custom form in my Passport. Hope this helps a little.

quote:

You must have a written form from Netherlands for your guns to go through Netherlands

Ooops...missed that but that is indeed correct.If you go to Gracy's travel web site I think you can down load the forms and information on how it is to be done.Ifaxed my completed forms to the Neitherlands and had the permit/forms back in a couple of days. Showed them to NW at check in and that was that.