I heard that if your bags don't show up at your US port of entry, US Customs will ask for a copy of your 4457 and a copy of your lock keys. They will inspect your guns when they arrive then ship them.

One more reason to keep gun packing as simple as possible...

I had bags not show up in 2001, but that was due to a short connection in AMS; back then, they just sent the guns to me without inspecting.

Last summer I had a medical emergency on the plane and was let off in PR and my luggage and gun case went onto Atlanta without me. Customs cut the locks off my gun case to inspect, luckily I had a copy of 4457 and passport inside gun case. Then the gun case stayed in with Delta's and that's where the nightmare begins. My suitcase was easy to locate and Delta delivered it to my door. The gun case took a week to locate and it was actually the Customs agent that inspected it that let me know where it was, Delta had no clue. It was at the Delta cargo area. Had to go there and get some paperwork to take to the Customs office to sign off on and actually got to meet that Customs agent face-to-face and thank her. Then back to Delta cargo where they wanted to charge me a $400 storage fee but luckily the guy there after hearing my story waived the fees.

So, basically what I am saying is that the gun case stays with the airline after inspection and does not stay with Customs.

Not sure if it is a "new policy" or not but....

Last year on our return from our annual Namibia trip our rifle case didn't make the Lufthansa flight from J'berg to Frankfurt.

I did my normal check at the LTU gate in J'berg and confirm all the luggage and rifle case were being loaded on our flight. We get to Frankfurt and when we get to our LTU gate for our connecting flight to Charlotte I didn't confirm all our checked bags and rifle case made our connection too - because a)it was LTU and b) it was Frankfurt. We get to Charlotte, collect our checked bags but no rifle case.

We contact the LTU rep that was in the luggage claim hall and he looks up the rifle case via the baggage claim ticket. Tells us the rifles on still in J'berg - not good. Tells us they will be on the next flight(s) and they will be delivered to us in Tampa. I ask the guy how they were going to clear U.S. Customs? He didn't know, but he took us the the US Customs office and it was next door to the TSA office. We had a little meeting with the Watch Supervisors of both offices and explained what happened.

Course of action agreed to by all of us:

1. The LTU luggage rep would personally monitor/track the rifle case and pick it up when it arrived in Charlotte.
2. We left a spare set of keys to the rifle case with the US Customs Watch Supervisor and an extra copy of our 4457, copies of our passports and E-Tickets. I also told them that the same copies of each were inside the rifle case.
3. Both the US Customs and TSA Watch Supervisors briefed their "second" (in front of all of us) what was going on.
4. Everyone exchanged work and cell phone numbers.
5. I filed a lost bag claim with the the LTU office in Charlotte and the US Airways office in Tampa so I could also call and track the progress of the rifle case.

End result:

Turns out the rifle case WAS loaded on the LTU flight from J'berg to Frankfurt but for some reason was pulled off the flight at the last minute. It was placed on a flight to Frankfurt 3-days later.

When it did arrive in Charlotte I got a call from the LTU rep that it was in his hands and he was on his way to the US Customs and TSA offices.

About 30-minutes later I got a call from the US Customs guy that he had the rifle case, he was watching it being unlocked and opened, my paperwork was in the case, the serial numbers confirmed and the case being re-locked with keys and copies of paperwork I had given them being locked inside. Turns out he was retired military too and a gun nut and really liked both of our custom rifles.

The US Customs guy passed his phone to the TSA guy who confirmed everything was fine and cleared the LTU guy to take the case to US Airways to forward to us.

About 30-minutes later the LTU guy called and confirmed US Airways had the case and it would be on the next flight to Tampa and it arrived in Tampa about 11:30 pm, four days after we did.

Lessons Learned/Re-Learned:

1. Always put copies of all your paperwork inside your rifle case - 4457, copy of passports matching names on 4457's and airline tickets. - I also put an extra set of open (keyed alike) padlocks inside the case just in case they get cut along the way.

2. If keyed padlocks are used carry an extra set or two of the keys - my wife and I each carry a set of keys.

3. Always, always confirm your luggage is on the plane when you get to the gate before you board. In this case it wouldn't have mattered since I was told it was on the plane then taken off before the flight wouldn't have mattered much if I had checked in Frankfurt since the big obstacle of having to clear US Customs and would have had to do the same things in Charlotte anyway.

4. Only reason I can figure for the rifle case being removed is I didn't follow LTU's pre-flight notification requirement. We used frequent fliers miles for this trip and ended up using different airlines and different routings going each way and I didn't think to make sure I made the various airline pre-flight with weapons notifications as they required. So, always check each airlines web site or call them to confirm if any weapons pre-flight notification are required, how to make them and get hard copy print outs of confirmations.

This year - I have e-mail confirmations in-hand that confirm the notifications have been done and approved - both ways.

quote:

Originally posted by AnotherAZWriter:
I heard that if your bags don't show up at your US port of entry, US Customs will ask for a copy of your 4457 and a copy of your lock keys. They will inspect your guns when they arrive then ship them.

One more reason to keep gun packing as simple as possible...

I had bags not show up in 2001, but that was due to a short connection in AMS; back then, they just sent the guns to me without inspecting.

This happended to me on my return from my first safari in 2008. My rifle case was not loaded on my plane from Jo'Burg to Washington Dulles, so SAA put it on the next plane flying to the States......that plane went to LaGuardia in New York. The SAA folks at Dulles were not particularly helpful in assisting me locate my bags, but after numerous calls and messages left, my gun case was finally located at LaGuardia. It had been seized by US Customs and placed in a locked storage area at the airport. I finally was able to talk to a Customs offical who located my gun case and told me that SAA had to arrange for a clearing agent to clear my guns through Customs. SAA fianlly contracted with Flora and Fauna to clear my guns. I had to provide them a copy of my 4457, my passport, and my baggage tag. I never had to give them my keys. Once cleared through Customs, I had to send them a copy of an FFL from a local dealer - they would only ship my case to an FFL dealer. So, the gun case finally arrived at my dealer about 5 weeks after this ordeal started. It had impoundment stickers and lead seals plastered all over it. The bottom line is that my guns finally arrived safely no worse for wear.

quote:

Originally posted by subsailor74:

quote:

Originally posted by AnotherAZWriter:
I heard that if your bags don't show up at your US port of entry, US Customs will ask for a copy of your 4457 and a copy of your lock keys. They will inspect your guns when they arrive then ship them.

One more reason to keep gun packing as simple as possible...

I had bags not show up in 2001, but that was due to a short connection in AMS; back then, they just sent the guns to me without inspecting.

This happended to me on my return from my first safari in 2008. My rifle case was not loaded on my plane from Jo'Burg to Washington Dulles, so SAA put it on the next plane flying to the States......that plane went to LaGuardia in New York. The SAA folks at Dulles were not particularly helpful in assisting me locate my bags, but after numerous calls and messages left, my gun case was finally located at LaGuardia. It had been seized by US Customs and placed in a locked storage area at the airport. I finally was able to talk to a Customs offical who located my gun case and told me that SAA had to arrange for a clearing agent to clear my guns through Customs. SAA fianlly contracted with Flora and Fauna to clear my guns. I had to provide them a copy of my 4457, my passport, and my baggage tag. I never had to give them my keys. Once cleared through Customs, I had to send them a copy of an FFL from a local dealer - they would only ship my case to an FFL dealer. So, the gun case finally arrived at my dealer about 5 weeks after this ordeal started. It had impoundment stickers and lead seals plastered all over it. The bottom line is that my guns finally arrived safely no worse for wear.

We need to start complaining to the NRA and our congress members - this is total bullshit. There is no way some guy is going to try and sneak guns in this country by betting the flight is late.

Every story is different shows policy is set my who is in charge.

Returning from Australia last June I was separated from my gun case in LA. It arrived a day late in Anchorage with the non-TSA locks cut off, the case opened with the remaining TSA locks, and the rifle sent on to me within 24 hours.

Cal

quote:

Originally posted by cal pappas:
Every story is different shows policy is set my who is in charge.

Returning from Australia last June I was separated from my gun case in LA. It arrived a day late in Anchorage with the non-TSA locks cut off, the case opened with the remaining TSA locks, and the rifle sent on to me within 24 hours.

Cal

So you had some TSA and some non-TSA locks? That is how I travel, but I do include spare locks as well.

Years ago they never even inspected the damn guns. What is the urgency now???