I will be travelling to Zimbabwe next year and with the new SAA fees am thinking about alternatives. I live near Madison, WI and have generally originated my trips to Africa from the airport there. It is a small airport and checking in a rifle case is very quick and easy. However, it does cost quite a bit more to start there than ORD. In fact, if I fly Emirates out of ORD to Harare I can do it for less than $1000-- less than half the cost of flying out of MSN on SAA.

Has anyone recently started their trip with a rifle case at O'Hare? How much of a hassle is it?

I go through ORD on occasion with rifles. It is pretty simple, and I haven't had any issues there. That is how my wife and I will be getting to Zambia next month.

International flights are out of terminal 5. If you fly in, like I do from Indy, you get your rifles at baggage claim, board a tram to terminal 5, re-check your rifles and bags, then go through security. I've yet to have issues and everyone has been easy to deal with.

Coming back home has been easy as well. No flack from anyone, and the customs folks usually take you to a separate line which is way faster. They've always been professional. I have found that the later the flight gets in, the easier everything is to navigate. Just fewer people, and the you tend to deal with the right ones.

Jeremy

Farbedo: The trams at ORD haven’t operated in quite some time. There are frequent shuttle buses operating to and from Terminal 5 and they’re free.

Last time I was through for an international flight was 2017. The tram was in operation then. I went from terminal 2 to 5 on my way to Turkey.

Good to know. I'll be doing that shuffle on Sunday on my way to Zambia via Dubai. I assume the busses are as stuffy as the tram was.

Thanks,

Jeremy