We have a hunting trip planned next year to Zimbabwe but have not made flight arrangements yet. Any suggestions on who to go through?

I would highly recommend Kathi, who is a member here.

She had arranged all the travels of our hunters from the US and Canada, and she has always done a great job.

Another thumbs up for Kathi

Just a suggestion, do a search. This issue has been addressed at least a dozen times in the last couple of years. Search for Steve Turner (Travel with Guns), Shawn Kennedy (Gracy Travel) and Kathy Klimes for a start.

I have used African Odessies with good results.

Gracy Travel - do a search and you'll see they're recommended by many. I've used them for my last trip to Zim and have recommended to friends who have used them as well.

I can highly recommend Lori Ginn of Travel Express

Highly recommend Elaine Porteous at African Odyssey Travel.

Elaine is a South African expatriate.

African Odyssey is a South African owned and operated company based in Miami.

Call Elaine at 305-342-3744, or by email @ aodyssey@gate.net .

Gracy Travel. Specifically, Shawn Kennedy at Gracy Travel.

Wrenchmaster,

Do exactly what Todd said and you'll be happy.

Mark

I have done most of my own bookings over the past 20 years but have lately been impressed with Steve from Travel With Guns, who I used to book my cameraman's ticket and then made changes to it while we were on the ground in the Caprivi; not so much with Gracy, who lied to me 15 years ago.

Gracy Travel !

quote:

Originally posted by LionHunter:
I have done most of my own bookings over the past 20 years but have lately been impressed with Steve from Travel With Guns, who I used to book my cameraman's ticket and then made changes to it while we were on the ground in the Caprivi; not so much with Gracy, who lied to me 15 years ago.

+1 Just like lionHunter, I did most things myself for years. Steve helped me, not with a camera man, but getting my wife air tickets well after I booked mine to Africa. After Gracy did me wrong, and turned me off on travel agents, Steve has helped with two problems. He is much appreciated.

Tom

I have gotten excellent service from Shawn at Gracy.
Am planning another safari for 2014 & will use Gracy again.
Apparently there is more than just 1 good travel agent available to you.
Choose someone that specializes in African travel & not just your local travel agent that is real good at booking cruises or plane tickets to Hawaii.
IMHO, African travel, especially with firearms needs someone that keeps up with the changes & has contacts on the ground to assist in the event of problems.

I just recently used Steve with Travel With Guns. Once Gracy found out I would be using FF miles and not purchasing a ticket, my emails and phone calls were no longer returned.

So far, no complaints with Steve!

Depart Tues, JB then Windhoek.

Kathi has been great!

Larry Rainwater

On my first safari, Gracy forgot to tell the airline I was travelling with guns so my family and I got stranded 24 hours in Toronto and lost a day's hunting. They also booked us with a connecting flight from Amsterdam to Frankfurt (why add an extra leg?) which resulted in my guns and our bags being lost. Didn't get the guns until the last day of my hunt. Got my luggage back 2 weeks after I got home. It saw more of Africa than I did.

For my trouble, Gracy (through Steve Turner, who was working there at the time) offered me one day's camp rate - $190 at the time. I paid triple that just for the replacement clothes we had to buy when we got to Windhoek. I refused to cash the cheque, simply on principle.

Lots of other agents to choose from.

Not sure how long ago the issues mentioned here concerning Gracy were. Lionhunter said 15 years ago! I'd suggest things must have changed significantly since then. That includes purchasing tickets with FF miles as well.

I attempted to purchase at least one of my tickets for this year's trip with FF miles. Shawn worked with me extensively, attempting to apply my miles in several different ways, on several different routes, with both SAA and Delta in an attempt to get the tickets with miles. Turns out that I was about 10K miles short of a ticket. She then went through numerous scenarios for me whereby I could purchase the extra miles, or purchase one leg with cash and the remainder with miles, etc. Never did I get the feeling she was not giving 100% in her efforts to book my flight. In fact, I have an extensive email file concerning this booking.

I too have booked my own flights many times without issue. However, I've learned that there are times whereby an agent is indispensable. For instance, my lion hunt last year. I was booked for 14 days. By day 12, we had cats feeding but nothing reliable enough to build a blind. At that point, with all my chips into the poker game so to speak, one very scratchy cell phone call from a high point within the Dande Safari Area to the CMS home office, requesting contact with Shawn at Gracy to extend my flights from Harare to DFW was all it took to arrange for the extra days I needed. She had all of my credit card info and no time was wasted on our part attempting to contact both SAA and Delta confirming the change in plans. Everything went smoothly without issue. In addition, on the way over, SAA canceled the connecting flight from JoBerg to Harare about an hour before I boarded the flight to JoBerg. Shawn quickly booked me into the City Lodge for the overnight stay and sent confirmation of my hotel reservation prior to having to switch the cell phone off prior to push back from the gate! Could I have made all the arrangements myself, including the change in flight details, from a remote hunting venue? Of course but the lack of hassle on my part was worth the $200 fee charged for the service. Not to mention, in the unfortunate event that a bag or gun case doesn't make the connection through JoBerg, it's nice to be able to continue on, either to the camp on arrival or home on the return, knowing a representative from Gracy, Bruce, is there to assist in locating the bags and ensure they get on the plane.

But as always, your mileage may vary!

+1 on what Todd said.
We had travel problems on our first safari (used our local travel agent) & could not even get a return phone call or e-mail. Our hostess called Gracy & they fixed our problem & we were not even clients of theirs.
Now, part of planning my safari is working with Shawn.

I used Shawn at Gracy for many years and had no problems. I then tried Steve Turner and have been with him for a number of Safaris.

I've used Shawn at Gracy for four trips. I've been very satisfied with the service.

quote:

Originally posted by Todd Williams:
Not sure how long ago the issues mentioned here concerning Gracy were. Lionhunter said 15 years ago! I'd suggest things must have changed significantly since then. That includes purchasing tickets with FF miles as well.

To answer this question, within the last month.

quote:

Originally posted by graybird:

quote:

Originally posted by Todd Williams:
Not sure how long ago the issues mentioned here concerning Gracy were. Lionhunter said 15 years ago! I'd suggest things must have changed significantly since then. That includes purchasing tickets with FF miles as well.

To answer this question, within the last month.

Strange as my attempt to use FF miles through Shawn at Gracy as described was within the last month as well.

Like I said, your mileage may vary. Literally in this case!

I was pleased with Gracy Travel many years ago. After they got comfortable with themselves I noticed service dropped off: long time to return calls, no return calls, little or no effort to book the best seats or the best dates of travel or to offer suggestions for better routes or prices. I dropped Gracy a long time ago and suggested to numerous friends not to use them.

After trying local agents, a friend turned me on to Steve Turner at Travel With Guns. He and his staff have always been there to answer any questions, no matter how trivial and done excellent bookings for hunting and non hunting flights. I'm with Steve until I give up hunting and join PETA. Oh, I may still need Steve to book me tickets to the PETA conventions.
Cheers, gents,
Cal

Todd Ole' Buddy -

You only get to lie to me once, and Gracy used up their quota 15 years ago at SCI, to my face. They knew it was a lie, as they later admitted to me when I called them on it. They don't get points for 'fessing up after being confronted with hard evidence. Liars work on the assumption that you are stupid enough to believe what they tell you without your confirming the truth of what they say.

My profession brought me into contact with "professional" liars almost daily for 20+ years. I really don't have time for such behavior, especially with service providers who want my money.

I believe Steve at Travel With Guns to be an honest person and will likely ask him to book my next safari travel requirements.

quote:

Originally posted by LionHunter:
Todd Ole' Buddy -

You only get to lie to me once, and Gracy used up their quota 15 years ago at SCI, to my face. They knew it was a lie, as they later admitted to me when I called them on it. They don't get points for 'fessing up after being confronted with hard evidence. Liars work on the assumption that you are stupid enough to believe what they tell you without your confirming the truth of what they say.

My profession brought me into contact with "professional" liars almost daily for 20+ years. I really don't have time for such behavior, especially with service providers who want my money.

I believe Steve at Travel With Guns to be an honest person and will likely ask him to book my next safari travel requirements.

I understand that bit about hating a liar Mike. I do as well. Being lied to is different than someone just screwing the pooch. Lying is deliberate and not excusable. So I'm with you 100% there.

I asked the question of how long ago were the issues cited here in order to determine if it was necessarily "Gracy Travel" who lied as a policy or rather an individual working for "Gracy Travel". If the latter, that person may or may not have moved to another company or profession at this point. And if so, I'd be inclined to hold the grudge against the liar, rather than the company itself. For an example, there seems to be a lot of praise for Steve Turner here. I don't know him, have never used him, but from what I understand, he has a sterling reputation. If I'm not mistaken, didn't he work for Gracy in the past? So if we hold the grudge against the company, and not the individual who lied specifically, wouldn't we have to hold the grudge against everyone who worked at the company during the time the lie was made and everyone who worked for the company since, including Steve Turner since he worked there previously?

I'm really just trying to put some logic to the comments made against Gracy here in this thread. I've booked with them 4 times now and each time I've received very courteous, prompt, and professional service. Each time with Shawn. For some reason, others have had a different experience. That really leaves me scratching my head as I'm no special customer of theirs, so why the different perception of the service experience with them? Really, I don't know. As for the issue with frequent flier miles, based on what Shawn quoted me, their service fee was the same whether I used cash for the tickets or FF miles. $200 for either option. Logically, that begs the question of why they would offer less service when booking with FF miles since they are getting paid an identical fee either way? Is it the customer's perception or a real problem of being treated differently?

Honestly, I don't know the answer and that's why I stated, "Your mileage may vary ... Literally in this case".

Cheers

Our mileage varies greatly. I am sure they do good work for some people.

Tom

quote:

Originally posted by Todd Williams:
As for the issue with frequent flier miles, based on what Shawn quoted me, their service fee was the same whether I used cash for the tickets or FF miles. $200 for either option. Logically, that begs the question of why they would offer less service when booking with FF miles since they are getting paid an identical fee either way? Is it the customer's perception or a real problem of being treated differently?

Honestly, I don't know the answer and that's why I stated, "Your mileage may vary ... Literally in this case".

Cheers

Interesting that you were quoted a $200 service fee from Shawn. Here is a quote from an email I received from her on August 7, 2013 ...

quote:

The fare is 380,000 skymiles on Delta + 81.20 tax and $300.00 service fees for Gracy Travel...

And, an answer to my question regarding the $300 service fee for Gracy Travel on August 9, 2013 ...

quote:

Since you are using miles we make zero money off your tickets we have to charge you to do business.

I guess you were getting a better deal than I was since my charges were $100 more. Needless to say, I asked another set of questions and never received a return email with their answers, which is when I turned to Steve Turner.

I guess not only does our mileage vary, but also our dollars. Just sayin'.

Use Steve Turner once, and you won't even consider using another agency. I have only been to South Africa three times, but the service I got from Steve on each occasion was beyond impressive. He gets my business, period.

quote:

Originally posted by graybird:

quote:

Originally posted by Todd Williams:
As for the issue with frequent flier miles, based on what Shawn quoted me, their service fee was the same whether I used cash for the tickets or FF miles. $200 for either option. Logically, that begs the question of why they would offer less service when booking with FF miles since they are getting paid an identical fee either way? Is it the customer's perception or a real problem of being treated differently?

Honestly, I don't know the answer and that's why I stated, "Your mileage may vary ... Literally in this case".

Cheers

Interesting that you were quoted a $200 service fee from Shawn. Here is a quote from an email I received from her on August 7, 2013 ...

quote:

The fare is 380,000 skymiles on Delta + 81.20 tax and $300.00 service fees for Gracy Travel...

And, an answer to my question regarding the $300 service fee for Gracy Travel on August 9, 2013 ...

quote:

Since you are using miles we make zero money off your tickets we have to charge you to do business.

I guess you were getting a better deal than I was since my charges were $100 more. Needless to say, I asked another set of questions and never received a return email with their answers, which is when I turned to Steve Turner.

I guess not only does our mileage vary, but also our dollars. Just sayin'.

But again, this is what confuses me. If they are charging MORE for booking you with miles, why would that make them LESS interested in doing business with you? That I don't get. And I'm really not sure why using FF miles vs cash is an issue because they make their money from the fee, not the airline ticket price itself.

As for the difference, I suppose it has to do with a percentage of the ticket price? I don't know for sure on that one. Could have something to do with the different prices associated with when you are booking, etc. For instance, your FF miles quote was for 380,000 FF miles. Mine was for 175,000 miles on Delta. I don't know what your travel dates are but mine is November 29 and return on Dec 14. DFW to HRE and back. So I know that is usually an "off season" travel time for Africa as most guys don't want to go and hunt in the heat. Whenever I've booked to go in July, the price has been significantly higher in cash price, so I'm sure FF miles are similar.

Again, not disputing your experience. Just trying to figure out why your experience is so different from mine.

Cheers.

I speak to Shawn at Gracy pretty often concerning my travel and client's travel. In fact she gave me 3 quotes this morning. I've never had anything but great service from her and I honestly don't recall any client saying that they did not receive good service from Shawn. Having said that I do not think all agents are equal in any agency so I won't attempt to speak for all of the Gracy agents.

Mark

Always booked through Gracy Travel and Shawn. Never been let down and will continue to send my business and my associates to her. Great deal of help in many regards.

Just got off the phone with Shawn regarding an upcoming trip. Always helpful, Gracy has given me great service.

Interesting topic.
Always booked everything myself except gun permits ( Afton house ) and never had a problem, but sounds like if there is a problem, I'd be better off to go through one of these guys.
I know one thing, dealing with people, you will never please everyone no matter what or how much you try.
I was actually thinking using one of these agencies for next year.
So thanks everyone for their comments and suggestions and info.

Todd,

My question is why would it matter if we are going to Africa on FF miles and they ask for your password and Delta FF miles, what difference does it make if it is during peak and off season. Hell, I fly enough Delta, which is over 90 flights already this year, to know how to book a Sky Miles ticket. Why else would they need my password if they are not going on the website and posing as me, for $300, really?

And, why is it a $100 difference between peak and off peak when all they are doing is getting into my account and booking a ticket as me?

As far as Delta knows, it is still me doing all the transactions. Is that worth the extra $100?

quote:

Originally posted by graybird:
Todd,

My question is why would it matter if we are going to Africa on FF miles and they ask for your password and Delta FF miles, what difference does it make if it is during peak and off season. Hell, I fly enough Delta, which is over 90 flights already this year, to know how to book a Sky Miles ticket. Why else would they need my password if they are not going on the website and posing as me, for $300, really?

And, why is it a $100 difference between peak and off peak when all they are doing is getting into my account and booking a ticket as me?

As far as Delta knows, it is still me doing all the transactions. Is that worth the extra $100?

Can't say I have the answers for that. My thoughts were that possibly the fee is tied to the cost of the ticket, which certainly does vary by date of travel. For instance, your FF miles quote was significantly higher than mine. Were you flying Business? My quote was for coach. Other than that, I really don't know.

Like I stated, I'm not denying your experience. I'm just wondering why the two of us had such a different experience?

Yes, my tickets were for business class, but does that warrant an extra $100 when booking a business class versus a coach ticket when posing as the client with their FF number and password? It takes them the same amount of time regardless of the ticket class.

quote:

Originally posted by graybird:
Yes, my tickets were for business class, but does that warrant an extra $100 when booking a business class versus a coach ticket when posing as the client with their FF number and password? It takes them the same amount of time regardless of the ticket class.

I don't know GB. But I would say that the services of using a Travel Agent go beyond simply impersonating the client by booking with your FF miles number and password. If that is the sum total of the services provided, why not just book the trip yourself. For me, I use them for the off chance that something goes wrong, or major issues need to be handled while I'm indisposed to do it myself; like I described earlier by having Shawn at Gracy arrange to extend my flights while I was in a remote hunting area, as well as booking the City Lodge upon learning of my connecting flight canceling.

I don't presume to know the structure of their pricing fees but perhaps it could relate to the potential difficulty of obtaining satisfactory seats for you should contingencies become necessary as in my case. In other words, it was relatively easy to rebook me into a coach seat on short notice upon needing to extend. Maybe a late notice business rebooking would take additional effort. Again, I don't know, and again, just trying to understand why your experience was different from mine.

But it surely does seem that if they are going to charge you MORE for using FF miles, they would be LESS likely to provide reduced service to you. That one I still can understand the rational for.

I showed this thread to a friend who runs an Executive Travel Agency, through him we book all our travels and holidays here in Dubai.

He says for existing and repeat customers, they will gladly book any tickets for them, including those dealing only with FF miles, where his agency makes no money at all.


But, if a new customer comes and asks them to book ONLY FF miles travel, they will not do it.

If the use of FF miles includes purchasing additional travel from them, they are happy to do it.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
I showed this thread to a friend who runs an Executive Travel Agency, through him we book all our travels and holidays here in Dubai.

He says for existing and repeat customers, they will gladly book any tickets for them, including those dealing only with FF miles, where his agency makes no money at all.


But, if a new customer comes and asks them to book ONLY FF miles travel, they will not do it.

If the use of FF miles includes purchasing additional travel from them, they are happy to do it.

When you get right down to it, as a "for profit" business, I can't really fault an agency for refusing to work for free if FF miles means no service fee or commission.