I just received an email stating that Northwest Airlines, United Airlines and KLM will limit the weight of checked luggage to 50 pounds on their International Flights - down from the 70 pounds previously allowed. The email went on to say that this is being done in order to be consistant with weight allowances on both domestic and international flights. This impacts anyone purchasing tickets after Sept.1, 2005.

Conserative... figure two rifles at 9 lbs each, ammo at 10 lbs... thats 28 lbs.... that gives your 22 lbs for the weight of your luggage and contents. Thank God for daily laundry.

Wear your boots, tote your jacket in your hand, pack lots of stuff in the carry on (binoculars, cameras, books, etc.).. and good luck on making the weight.

quote:

Originally posted by JudgeG:
Conserative... figure two rifles at 9 lbs each, ammo at 10 lbs... thats 28 lbs.... that gives your 22 lbs for the weight of your luggage and contents. Thank God for daily laundry.

Wear your boots, tote your jacket in your hand, pack lots of stuff in the carry on (binoculars, cameras, books, etc.).. and good luck on making the weight.

Don't forget the weight of the gun case.

quote:

Originally posted by mikeh416Rigby:

quote:

Originally posted by JudgeG:
Conserative... figure two rifles at 9 lbs each, ammo at 10 lbs... thats 28 lbs.... that gives your 22 lbs for the weight of your luggage and contents. Thank God for daily laundry.

Wear your boots, tote your jacket in your hand, pack lots of stuff in the carry on (binoculars, cameras, books, etc.).. and good luck on making the weight.

Don't forget the weight of the gun case.

Tuffpack = 17lbs

That leaves 11 lbs for your other checked bag.

Hog Killer

Until they clean up the people bringing 3 carry ons it will still be a mess.

Why not just fly Lufthansa or BA instead?

You might have to wear ALL of your extra clothes.

You still get to check two pieces of luggage.


United's New Rules

It's 50 pounds per bag! And you still have two bags to check, that's not to bad. Not good but - - - - -

From United website per Terry's post above:

Two pieces of free checked baggage up to a maximum weight of 50 lbs. (23 kg) each

Checked baggage over 50 lbs. (23 kg) and not exceeding 70 lbs. (32 kg) will be charged at the rate of $25.00 per piece

So one gun case plus a suitcase which would cost another $25 if over 50 but no more then 70lbs, that's good to know, but no big deal compared to a cost of a safari.

should continue to read where it states overweight baggage will be transported when possible....I see no reason to need more than 100# of luggage to begin with

I have two questions concerning Northwest/KLM:

Can you transport your ammo in the guncase (Tuffpak), or must your ammo be in a seperate checked bag?

Is it feasible to use a Filson wheeled carry-on and pack as much clothing, plus binos, camera, etc. into it as you can to beat the weight issue?

Thanks!

AD

From Northwest's website:

Firearms, Handguns, and Ammunition
Passengers should check with Northwest for current policies, requirements, and restrictions on traveling with firearms and related items.

Northwest Airlines does not accept guns or firearms of any kind in carry-on luggage.

Northwest accepts handguns, BB guns, rifles, and shotguns as checked luggage, with certain limitations and requirements. Northwest accepts one of the following in lieu of one piece of luggage included in the free luggage allowance:


One (1) rifle case containing no more than two (2) rifles, one (1)shooting mat, one (1) noise suppressor and tools.

Two (2) shotguns in two (2) cases considered as one (1) item.

One (1) pistol case containing no more than five (5) handguns, one (1) scope, one (1) noise supressor and tools.


In addition to one (1) of the above items, Northwest accepts small arms ammunition up to a maximum of 11 pounds (5 kg). Guns and ammunition may be in the same piece of luggage. However, ammunition must be within its own packaging.

Northwest accepts firearm, handguns, and ammunition under the following conditions:

All firearms must be packed in a crush-proof container manufactured specifically for firearms or in a hard-sided suitcase. Hard-shell gun cases can be purchased at domestic airports.

Ammunition must be in the manufacturer's original packaging or a container specifically designed for ammunition. Ammunition with explosive or incendiary projectiles will not be accepted.

Passengers must verbally declare the firearm is unloaded. Northwest requires a passenger to sign a firearm unloaded tag and include it inside of luggage containing a firearm. No exterior tag or notice of firearm may appear on the case.

Luggage containing firearms must be locked and only the passenger may retain the key or combination. Airline personnel will not unload or handle firearms.


Northwest does not accept liability for loss, damage, or delay of firearms, handguns, and ammunition. Excess valuation insurance may not be purchased for transport of firearms, handguns, and ammunition.


Regards,

Terry

Remeber guys this weight limit thing is simply a profit add on item to the airlines. You can still bring the extra weight only you have to pay for it now.

Good luck and if you can't pack it all in with a 100 lb two bag limit 50lbs a peice, then I think you may possibly be opver packing just a tad.

I have flown into Quebec/Alaskan caribou camps where the baggage allowance was 60# total and stayed 10 days with no laundry service at all

Flying to Tanzania July 06..tuffpak 17pounds,
375 9.5 pounds, 450#2 11.5 pounds 11pounds of ammo 49 pounds...
Looks like I 'm going to pay over weight charges
oops forgot soft cases for rifles

Mike

quote:

Originally posted by surestrike:
Remeber guys this weight limit thing is simply a profit add on item to the airlines.

With gasoline over $3/gal do you really believe that's all it is? In my opinion, I think it's directly related to fuel costs.
Dave

quote:

Originally posted by surestrike:
Remeber guys this weight limit thing is simply a profit add on item to the airlines. You can still bring the extra weight only you have to pay for it now.

Oh yeah, it's all about "profit"...

Collectively, the major US carriers have lost something along the lines of 30 BILLION dollars the past few years.

And now guys are pissed that they can't take unlimited gear with them?

Have you checked the trucking companies, UPS or Fed Ex lately? Yep, their prices are up. Can you walk in with a box of unlimited size and weight, and pay one flat fee? Would you expect to? So why with the airlines? It costs more to ship heavier things. But when an airline that's losing money (basically all of them) tries to cut some of that loss, guys complain.

Nothing is free folks...

Cold Bore...Thank you for a reality check. People will complain about a extra $50.00 on a hunt that will cost over $12k! Armbar.

I've never carried 100 lbs of gear anywhere I've gone. What is the problem here? You're going to carry three changes of safari clothes and a maximum of two changes of travel wear. Your guns&case weigh around 50 lbs max and I don't carry light firearms. Where's the rest coming from? Even if you're carrying a bundle of "tip" clothes for the staff, 100 lbs of gear is a Hell of a lot. Whaddya doin'?

Just a quick note for those of you that jumped on Surestrike for saying it’s a profit thing: I think he ought to know. He’s employed in a senior position with one of the largest carriers in the world. I’ll trust his judgment on this one.

The new guidelines came out about 2 years ago initially through IATA, when the airlines were NOT suffering from high fuel costs. Since then nearly every airline, one at a time, has quietly changed their baggage allowance to the new 50lb limit.

Northwest Airlines is on my Sh!^ list. My wife is in the Army and we are stationed in Hawaii currently and I fly back to the mainland quite a bit and the las t couple of years there service has gone down hill fast. This past summer my wife, my son, and myself have all had major delays, reroutes and have had to purchase additional tickets due to their screw ups. And don't beleive anything their reps tell you. I had to delay a flight back to HI and was told there would be a $100 change fee which I agreed to. Went to reschedule and was told that was not true and I would have to purchase another ticket. Two years ago I purchased a ticket and had to cancell to to a death in the family and was never refunded any of it.
Needless to say I am returning to HI on a different airline. The bad thing is I have 80,000 frequent flier miles with NW. I'll use them if they don't go bankrupt. A good friend of mine is on of their mechanics and he states it is one of the worst places to work.
Keith

Regarding loading up your carry-on to avoid excess weight charges on checked luggage: on my trip to South Africa via Frankfurt on Lufthansa, I was told that carry-ons are subject to an 18 kilo weight limit. I had binocs, digital still and video cameras, spare scope, rangefinder, reading material and all the necessities they recommend you carry on in my carry-on and had to unload some of it back into the checked luggage at the check-in counter.

I really don't see the problem. If your taking over 100 lbs of stuff to africa, I think you may want to read some suggestions on what to take as posted by others on this site. I am not even thinking about the fact you can carry on many of the items you would need (binoc's cameras, 1 of your sets of hunting clothes, etc) And I think someone already said this, these rules went into effect a couple of years ago... so not a fuel issue, although they may benefit from it as fuel prices are high.

surestrike I hear where you're coming from but FIRST the airlines need to police themselves. I use a small carryon and keep total luggage under 70#. I try to place the carryon above my seat but I can't 'cause there are huge carryons that some slob placed there and his/her laptop and coat, an let's not forget the knitting sachel,strollers,etc. ALL this stuff went right past YOUR checkin and boarding staff.
Are you actually going to tell me you've never seen this happen? Christ I see carryons coming down the isle larger than my checked suitcase!!