I just made a trip to hunt in Namibia and booked the flights through Frosch Travel. I booked my flight for July 18 and booked flights for my son and some friends to join me on August 15. Thes flights were booked almost a year ago.

Nine months ago my son and his lovely fiancee decided to get married in May and she let me know that no newly-wed bride should be left alone at home so I contacted Frosch and ask that she be booked on the trip as well.

Flash forward to the first of August.I look at the itenarary of my son and daughter-in-law to see what time they will be arriving.To my horror I see that my daughter-in-law has been booked to travel with me.I send an e-mail to my wife and she is able to get the flight re-booked.

When the crew finally gets to Namibia I find that they had been scattered all over the plane and not seated together.Not just my son and his wife, but the other two guys as well. Same situation on the return flight.Because there were quite a few open seats on the return flight we were able to arrange for my son and his wife to sit together.

When we got home I saw that my Visa card had been billed a tad over $600 to re-book the flights.I sent Frosch an e-mail asking for some consideration on these charges since it was there mistake that led to the charges in the first place. They did not bother to reply to my e-mail.

Now I realize that their policy is that if there is a mistake on a booking you are to notify them within twenty-four hours and I failed to notice the problem and as such did not notify them within that time frame. I am sure that relieves Frosch of any legal responsibility for their error. I am also sure that I will be going back to Gracy Travel for the booking of all my future trips.

Gosh, I don't like to hear this. Frosch Travel is now being recommended by my Safari outfit instead of Gracy, because of some problems a couple of their groups have had with Gracy.
I had nothing but great service from Gracy last year and I was not too excited about changing agents. Now I don't know who I am going to use for booking my flight for next year.

John,

If you've had good luck with Gracy, why would you switch?

What problems did your outfitters clients have with Gracy? [They might not have been problems for you!]

Who/Where is Frosch - I've never heard of them.

Les

Frosch is a fairly large outfit with several offices.They attend the safari shows and are courting the safari business.Google them for more details if you like.

Perhaps I was at fault for not telling them specifically that my son and his wife would like to travel together and that our group would appreciate sitting together.I also failed to notice that they had booked my daughter-in-law on the wrong dates.

All of these errors have been pointed out to me by others from this site and also at bowsite. I just did not seem to have these issues before when booking with Gracy.

John-I can't imagine why your outfit would care who you are booking flights through, unless they are getting some sort of kick-back for steering you in a certain direction. And yes, that does happen.

I use Falcon Travel, Stacey Gibson at 210 491 6933. She also serves several of the agents clients out there. No problems on two trips with large groups.

quote:

Perhaps I was at fault for not telling them specifically that my son and his wife would like to travel together and that our group would appreciate sitting together.I also failed to notice that they had booked my daughter-in-law on the wrong dates.

And it is your fault because BS. When I book flights for my family, we are always seated together.

Wrong dates are your fault how? Quit beating yourself up and book with with a real agency.

Maybe because I spend so much time with documents, drafting them, proofing them, checking them for accuracy, etc. - but I have learned never to assume that anything in writing is accurate or correct until I have checked and re-checked it.

Anyone can screw up, but no one can fix a problem unless they are informed of the screw up and given a fair opportunity to fix it.

I believe that it would be common sense for any travel agent with any brains to understand that your son and his new wife wanted to travel and sit together. I don't buy their excuses.

Les,
My outfitter said that the last couple of groups that came thru - no one was at the airport to meet them and help them as promised.
Don't know what happened but I guess they did not like the response and so they switched recommended travel agents.
I used Annelise at Gracy Travel last year and had a great experience and I'll most likely ignore the recommendations of my outfitter and use Annelise again. I hate to change when everything went just fine last time.

John,

Thanks for the response. Gracy's "meet and greet" service is a nice "perk" but on busy days I can see how he might get outnumbered!

If the oufitter REALLY cared he could arrange "meet and greet" from one of the other providers!

Gracy has worked well for me, and there is usually someone available when you call too!

Les

Les,
I agree with you - my outfitter said they were now recommending Frosch and using Riflepermits for the SAPS forms and to help the hunters thru the permit process. But Gracy was always there for me either on the phone or email and we were met at the airport, etc. I just hate changing something when it worked so well last time. I guess I'll find out next year, with which ever I end up using.

In todays climate, my sggestion is to book with a reputable, and knowledgeable travel agent.

You should also make sure you have the 24 hour emergency phone number most seem to have with you at all times.

You might be paying a bit more money than booking through the Internet, but, I can assure you that extra money will seem like a small price to pay should a problem arises.

I was one of the "scattered hunters" on the flight to Namibia. I had to ask for seat assignments several times by e-mail before I found out we were all over the place and eyedoc's daughter in law wasn't even on our flight. We all know it is a rough trip,, but being next to your hunting buddy to visit makes the trip a little easier. It was very diappointing. I received no info from Frosch prior to the trip like what was required, visa, passport etc...Like Gracy and otheres have always sent prior to departure. I gave them all my frequent flier numbers which they failed to utilize or post. I had to submit them post trip,, over 19,000 miles to get credit for them. We met them [Frosch] at the Dallas Safari Convention. You know what we say,,,, shame on me next time,,, there won't be one though! Fortunately the hunt was good. drwes

I used Kathi Klimes...she posts here.....she'd ask me about thinks I hadn't even thought about.

I won't use anyone else for my African trips.

Gary
DRSS
NRA Lifer
SCI
DSC

quote:

Originally posted by drwes:
I was one of the "scattered hunters" on the flight to Namibia. I had to ask for seat assignments several times by e-mail before I found out we were all over the place and eyedoc's daughter in law wasn't even on our flight. We all know it is a rough trip,, but being next to your hunting buddy to visit makes the trip a little easier. It was very diappointing. I received no info from Frosch prior to the trip like what was required, visa, passport etc...Like Gracy and otheres have always sent prior to departure. I gave them all my frequent flier numbers which they failed to utilize or post. I had to submit them post trip,, over 19,000 miles to get credit for them. We met them [Frosch] at the Dallas Safari Convention. You know what we say,,,, shame on me next time,,, there won't be one though! Fortunately the hunt was good. drwes

That is awful service. No way I would use these guys after your and eyedoc's report.

I also use Kathi.

I also used Stacy Gibson for 2 African trips and was very happy. I will continue to go thru her Dave

I also used Kathi twice. In addition to booking the flights and rooms correctly, she provided a wealth of useful information.

I emailed Kathi several months ago about accomodations in the CAR and got no reply. It's Gracy for me, as usual.

As an outfitter and an international booking agent (we specialize in fins and fowl not big game), I hesitated, but eventually used Mr. Doug Gray at Gracy Travel for our recent hunt in Africa, and I was dazzled!

They provided an outstanding level of customer care. There was no question too small or too arcane. Due to my business I am a million miler on Delta, and fly in excess of 125,000 miles per year, and was as impressed with them as I have ever been with anyone in the industry. I'm sure there are other good folks out there as well, but Gracy will have all of my future Africa travel.

I have used both gracy and kathi and they have both been very good for me. I have flown via Delta, SAA, and KLM. First on Delta and KLM and coach on SAA. KLM first was the best for me and Delta was a close second. Delat has improved since first going into JoBurg. They had soem growing pains to go through. Good Luck!

You can read here about the problems Gracy Travel caused me on my recent trip to Namibia. Needless to say, I won't use them again.

After receiving no reply from the Tanz embassy in D.C. to return my passport with their visa stamp and while awaiting that clerk in the Netherlands who was so cavalier about not issuing my firearms permit I called Meliza Solis at Gracy. Had my passport the next day and my firearms permit within 2 hours of her making the calls. Can't ask for anything more.

Leaving Tuesday for Kilombero with Paul Jelonek. Word back that the lionesses are extremely aggressive and the big Tom is in the area. What more could one wish for!

Dutch

Dutch44,

Good luck on your hunt, I KNOW you will have a great time with Paul. My husband and I did our first two safaris with Paul when he had Bundu Safaris in Zimbabwe in 1994 and 1996.

I took my first big game animal with Paul, an impala.

Please give my husband's and my best to Paul. We have some great memories of hunting with him.

Once again, best of luck!!!

Will do, Kathi. Should be a great lion hunt. I understand the "Cane-Breaker" was sighted in the vicinity. I hope to have a wonderful time.


Dutch

I have booked w/ Gracy & Kathi & can recommend both highly. Never a serious problem & anything that did come up was taken care of. JMO, you need to let your travel agent know things like seating assignments. It's not really their responsibility to get you all seated together if you do not ask. If adding a booking, let them know you want that booking to leave at a specific date. Me, I failed mind reading in high school.

Eyedoc and I have traveled and hunted around the world for over 25 years together. I used to have to travel 180 days a year and used travel agents and are familiar with their capabilites and requirements. The information was given and asked for from Frosch. We did ask to be seated together,, and we did ask for my friends wife to be on the same plane! Never again,, we met them at the Dallas Safari convention,,,,,back to Gracy or Kathi for me in the future. I try not to make the same mistake twice, they were local so we thought we would give them a shot....big mistake. I had to ask for any information I received which is not really decent service. They failed to use my frequent flyer numbers that I had given them and had to request them myself after I had returned. Frosch pretty much said nothing and did nothing to help prior, during or after the trip. Beware...