We are told by our travel agent that we may overnight at a JFK hotel between the late night arrival and the mid morning SAA nonstop departure to JNB.

Must we leave our rifles at the airport as they will be "checked through" or will we be required to claim the rifles and take them to the hotel with us.

Has anyone done this? Taken the rifles out to the hotel? Or left them checked?

Thanks,

Les

Well, if they are checked through to JNB, you cannot get them en route, right? As in they will not appear on the baggage claim in DC no matter how long you wait.

Several years ago I was provided this route to JNB as an option--- I was told that I would have to claim the firearms at baggage check and thence recheck them upon departure --- I cannot verify or deny that this was the case as due to this inconvience I went another route.

Be careful about claiming your rifles and taking them to a hotel. You are in NYC and they are jumpy about that.


Dulcinea

Les,
Back when I would fly on SAA I made this trip and had no problem with my guns. It was a pain in the Ass but I brought them to the airport hotel and then rechecked the next morning.

I am surprised to see tha you will give SAA any of your cash!

So, it appears that no one has actually tried this,recently. [except Roscoe back in the old days!]

I was thinking it would be nice to arrive in the morning in JNB to catch the connections to Vic Falls without the necessity of an overnight in South Africa and the attendant firearms hassle/fees.

But it appears that there isn't much, or any, expense savings,as the JFK hotels are much more expensive than the JNB hotels so the permit fees merely equal it all out.

Some have recommended the overnight in South Africa as a way to recover from the flight.

We plan to spend a few days in Vic Falls "hanging out" too, so we will surely be ready to hunt!

Les

[PS: I know! I know! Yes I'm going back to Zimbabwe. I do love the country there and the people we will hunt and visit with, so I'm going to try it again.]

I agree with LHowell,

Hotels in NYC are expensive, hell everything is expensive, I don't see why you wouldn't just fly delta, much better flight than SAA...just over-night at a guest house in Joburg, and then head out the following morning!

See this link for more info:

http://forums.accuratereloadin...391022051#6391022051

LHowell, I did this exact thing that you want to do last year headed to Namibia. We didn't have a problem. Port Authority does come and check the weapons and your ID's and makes some notes. Wasn't a hassle. Coming back thru NYC was something of a pain. Customs checks your firearms and once at the next ticket counter to get our boarding passes, we had to wait an hour before the Port Authority got around to checking our weapons again.

Hope this helps.

I am flying through JFK the end of this month on my way to Bulawayo... will let you know how it goes. The flight does require an overnight in a hotel near the airport but the direct flight to Jo'burg + quick connection to Bully made it the best option for me. Also $350 cheaper than Delta and no SAPS hassle. To each his own, we all battle the beauracracy at some point or other on the return to the States. From my experience Dulles customs were the best to deal with, Atlanta the worst... they seem to enjoy making you wait. Like I said I will post a hunt report and let everyone know my experience...

quote:

Originally posted by ROSCOE:
Les,
Back when I would fly on SAA I made this trip and had no problem with my guns. It was a pain in the Ass but I brought them to the airport hotel and then rechecked the next morning.

I am surprised to see tha you will give SAA any of your cash!

Here is the problem with what you did:

If the gun fails to make it to JFK, the airline is only obligated to get it to JFK, not JNB. I know it is not likely, but it could happen. Then what do you do?

I agree with others; there are better options.

I did this last May on my way to Namibia. Flew LAX to JFK and spent the night and then left for JNB. My travel agent assured me that my guns were checked all the way through to Windhoek. I didn't want to mess with them in NY. She was wrong. I even called her as I checked in in LA and she spoke to the agent. Due to the overnight or amount of time, I had to get my rifle and then take it to the hotel and recheck the next day.

I stayed at some hotel by the airport that had pickup and delivery and breakfast. No big deal and checking the guns the next day was easy.

The MAJOR ISSUE is to get to the baggage claim area immediately after the plane lands at JFK. Why? because when I went to the baggage claim area, I looked for where to retrieve my rifle and didn't see anyplace. As I was wondering about this, my rifle case came down with the rest of the luggage. Anyone could have grabbed it and been out the door, which was only 20 yards away.

For a town that is supposed to be so strict on firearms, it was too easy.

Cheers, PG

I am trying that route on Monday when I head back over, so I will let you know how it goes. According to my travel agent and the clients we've sent that way, there is no hassle at all. However, she did provide me with a letter from the NRA with a copy of the gun law stating that you can stay in NYC for up to 24 hours with firearms if you are in transit. Please contact me via e-mail if you'd like me to have my assistant scan and e-mail you that doc.

JetBlue doesn't transfer guns for whatever reason, so I'll have to claim mine as I pass through JFK in August. It'll give me something to do during my 6 hour layover and I'll at least know if my gun made the first leg of the trip.

quote:

Originally posted by Sevens:
JetBlue doesn't transfer guns for whatever reason, so I'll have to claim mine as I pass through JFK in August. It'll give me something to do during my 6 hour layover and I'll at least know if my gun made the first leg of the trip.

This is troublesome. Gracy assures me that SAA and JetBlue have a baggage transfer agreement.

Is this firearms transfer issue publicized anywhere?

Les

quote:

Originally posted by LHowell:

quote:

Originally posted by Sevens:
JetBlue doesn't transfer guns for whatever reason, so I'll have to claim mine as I pass through JFK in August. It'll give me something to do during my 6 hour layover and I'll at least know if my gun made the first leg of the trip.

This is troublesome. Gracy assures me that SAA and JetBlue have a baggage transfer agreement.

Is this firearms transfer issue publicized anywhere?

Les, I'm just getting this info through Barbara Wolbrink at Int'l Journeys. I've got my tickets booked through her.

quote:

Originally posted by cjfoster:
LHowell, I did this exact thing that you want to do last year headed to Namibia. We didn't have a problem. Port Authority does come and check the weapons and your ID's and makes some notes. Wasn't a hassle. Coming back thru NYC was something of a pain. Customs checks your firearms and once at the next ticket counter to get our boarding passes, we had to wait an hour before the Port Authority got around to checking our weapons again.

Hope this helps.

I did the same on the way over and it worked with no problems. Our return was through Atlanta and there were no problems there either.

I did this route earlier this week and no problems... Port Authority and Customs could not have been nicer and it took me all of 5 minutes to get through Customs, a record in 16 safaris! The only hassle is, as others have mentioned here, JetBlu luggage needs to be claimed and rechecked rather than just transited through. Cost me an extra 45 minutes in line for boarding pass and security but it wasn't too crowded and made my 3 hour connection with enough time for a great breakfast before boarding for Houston Hobby. No issues with this flight as far as I am concerned. Booked my travel through Steve Turner.