I got lucky and was able to get a free RT ticket from Seattle to Joberg. I used my Delta Miles but have to Fly Air France on the way there.
Is there any pit falls I should know about flying with a rifle on Air France? I only have an 1.5 hours to connect to the Joberg flight segment. Delta says this is ok
Any info would be greatly appreciated

Donato

Both Adam and I have flown with guns on Air France plus all our Cameroon and CAR clients use them. We've had very little problems and all you have to do is notify them 72 hours ahead that you are bringing guns.

Mark

quote:

I only have an 1.5 hours to connect to the Joberg flight segment. Delta says this is ok

So you have one hop in the States before the Air France flight? Will you be able to check your rifles thru to Joburg? (or is it different carriers w/o baggage agreements?) Going to be close under the best circumstances, and downright impossible if you have to retrieve your luggage/firearms and re-check.

Does your flights end in Joburg, or are you going elsewhere?

quote:

Originally posted by Bill C:

quote:

I only have an 1.5 hours to connect to the Joberg flight segment. Delta says this is ok

So you have one hop in the States before the Air France flight? Will you be able to check your rifles thru to Joburg? (or is it different carriers w/o baggage agreements?) Going to be close under the best circumstances, and downright impossible if you have to retrieve your luggage/firearms and re-check.

Does your flights end in Joburg, or are you going elsewhere?

I had the same connection and Delta told me it was tight but makeable if all worked perfect, they said bags where 50/50 of making it with me. I had a NW flight from Detroit and watching Flight Tracker they usually depart late even on good weather days. If you are going NW then they do arrive/leave from the same terminal and NW KLM have baggage arrangements which is good. If you have to change terminals or recheck bags it is almost impossible. I would bet if your flight is late and you can just make you connections your bags will not make it.

I kept calling back until I could get seats on the Delta direct from ATL to JBG paid the change fee and switched.

Good Luck, I hope you make it.

Thanks guys for the info.
Bill,
I fly direct from Seattle to France no stops. It looks like I can check my bags through to Joberg. Gettin the free ticket will cause me to stay one extra day in Joberg which could be good if my guns don't make the flight.

Tradewinds,
I will keep checking the flights to see if I can fly delta from Seattle to Joberg. I hope your right about the planes leaving late. 1.5 hr is little time to change planes in a strange airport.

Robert, I misunderstood, you mean you only have 1.5hrs in Paris. That is still a problem, depending on where the gates are, Paris is a big airport. And it takes time to get from one end to the other, and things move sort of slow. Check your gate numbers and look at the airport map, and don't be afraid to tell the various people that you need to move to the front of the line. If you cannot get your bags checked thru, as TW said, there is zero chance of making the Joburg flight. Also see if there is a later flight, just in case.

Why don't you overnight in Paris? Tour the day/evening if possible.

quote:

Why don't you overnight in Paris? Tour the day/evening if possible.

We did that in AMS last year. The Delta Rep recommended it because there was no way to get 3 BE tickets to Cape Town unless we spent a day in AMS on the way home. Worked great and we had a good time.

quote:

Tradewinds,
I will keep checking the flights to see if I can fly delta from Seattle to Joberg. I hope your right about the planes leaving late. 1.5 hr is little time to change planes in a strange airport.

I meant they where leaving late out of Detroit which meant I would have a tough time making the connection and the bags would not make it.