hey, been working on getting bags packed for next Wed departure. I know we tend to take to much "stuff" but man is this hard to sort out. Hafe packed and re-packed (cut 10 lbs on the repack) but it looks like I still might be over, tho I guess that depends on "whose" scale the bag is weighed on. here at home I'm right at the 51 lb limit, tho I haven't checked the weight of the gun case yet. I "KNOW" SAA will probably get me for excess weight no matter what I do since my ticket with them is NOT part of an international flight package starting in the USA and is a separate ticket for jsut within Africa (to/from Windhoek from Joberg).
I could change suitcase I suppose, but the one I'm using has the wheels for ease of transport while moving baggage.

Maybe with luck if the airline scales show me only a bit over (say under 5 lbs) they might let me slide on that. Anyone had any recent experience and do the airlines automatically have one stick the bags on the scales?

If I have to pay, so be it. And yes the weight includes my allotted 11 lbs of ammo.

Willi

We were in Zimbabwe, and the airline rep was charging for everything over 20Kgs! Even 1 Kg got you charged.

Walter, bless his heart, had one of his inspirations.

He walked out of the airport, got himself a small rock, and put it under the scale.

It was one of those large scales with a round dial on it.

That rock stopped the scale going any lower than about 18Kgs.

So we passed through without any payment, and so did the rest of the passengers

I have been known to slip my toe under the scales.... You can't do it with most modern scales at airports, but in less developed countries, and troop flights courtesy of the RAF it worked OK.....

Willi

Look closely at the rules on the different airlines you will be flying.

You might be better off having only one bag overweight as it is better to be charged for one bag that weighs 70 lbs that 2 bags that weigh 51 lbs.

Also it might be better to pay for an extra bag.

Also they do not usually weigh carry on bags. My carry on bag usually weighs around 45 to 48 lbs.

Jeez guys, what gives - 13 kilos for a 14 day Safari in Namibia - Rifle case weighed a further 12kg.

While over there I managed to fill a small duffel with the clothes and kit I DIDN'T end up needing.

Everything required was there - and stayed fresh, comfortable and in clean clothes every day.Three complete changes of hunting clothes was plenty.

Just what are you taking? You do realise that there will be daily laundry?

Rgds Ian

The toe-under-the-scale method is what I use. Never been charged for extra weight yet, and I have no remorse.

Namibiahunter

I wear one of those tactical vests with alot of pockets. I put as much heavy stuff in the vest as I can and wear it on the plane then stick it in the overhead. The rest of the heavy stuff in my carry on. Didn't have any problems meeting weight requirements this way on my recent trip to Zim.

quote:

Originally posted by namibiahunter:
The toe-under-the-scale method is what I use. Never been charged for extra weight yet, and I have no remorse.

Namibiahunter

No remorse until the plane is overloaded and the captain has to land in a place other than the airport. There are weight limits for a reason. Try to abide by them. If you have to pay $25 for a couple of pounds-- tell me you can't afford it as you're enroute to a $20,000 hunt trip where you don't get the meat. Sheesh.

Trophyman

Trophyman, I might buy that if they weighed passengers and carryons, but other than one float plane trip into a caribou camp I've never experienced that.

I might buy that the overweight fee was for the extra trouble to handle heavier bags, if the baggage handlers saw a penny of it.

All of the extra baggage charges are just another way for airlines (who have the most illogical fee structure of any service industry anywhere) to nickel-and-dime their captive audience, which they do because they can.

The airlines have absolutely no remorse and feel no obligation toward the passenger when THEY cancel a flight or otherwise inconvenience YOU.

Weight limits... LMFAO

You pay extra it still gets on the plane, its not like they upgraged the plane to handle the extra 4 pounds...

The wieght limit used to be 70 pounds IIRC and you could bring 2 bags for free. Now its 50 and one bag and they charge you extra. The plane still managed to get in the air before...

I pack pretty light for a safair. They wash your cloths every day, so how much do you really need? Take long pants that zip off to shorts to save packing both. Take a larger carry on with one days cloths incase your bag goes missing.

Well, I'm currently trying to determine how many boxes of 12 ga shells I can get to Zim in two weeks........

quote:

Originally posted by Trophyman:

quote:

Originally posted by namibiahunter:
The toe-under-the-scale method is what I use. Never been charged for extra weight yet, and I have no remorse.

Namibiahunter

No remorse until the plane is overloaded and the captain has to land in a place other than the airport. There are weight limits for a reason. Try to abide by them. If you have to pay $25 for a couple of pounds-- tell me you can't afford it as you're enroute to a $20,000 hunt trip where you don't get the meat. Sheesh.

Trophyman

Trophyman,
Ummmmmmm, I am pretty sure the A340, 777, 767, 747, etc all can tell what the takeoff weight is after the plane is loaded with all of the bags, bodies, cargo, and fuel. Although I do see yoru point on the money part.

quote:

Originally posted by LRH270:
Trophyman, I might buy that if they weighed passengers and carryons, but other than one float plane trip into a caribou camp I've never experienced that.

I might buy that the overweight fee was for the extra trouble to handle heavier bags, if the baggage handlers saw a penny of it.

All of the extra baggage charges are just another way for airlines (who have the most illogical fee structure of any service industry anywhere) to nickel-and-dime their captive audience, which they do because they can.

The airlines have absolutely no remorse and feel no obligation toward the passenger when THEY cancel a flight or otherwise inconvenience YOU.

AMEN!!!! I weigh 165 lbs. If I am sitting next to a guy( or gal) weighing 250, what difference does it make if my suitcase weighed 55 lbs and his weighed only 50 lbs. I should pay an overweight charge and he should slide by for free?? PURE BULLSHIT! The airlines should weigh passenger AND luggage if they are so concerned with safety, otherwise how do they know safety standards are exceeded. I fully agree with LRH270- this is just a ploy to raise revenue.

Just three days ago, May 20th,2008, I asked Gracy Travel several quetions. One was the cost of an extra bag, such as a seperate ammo case. I was informed that as of the 20th of May an extra checked bag would be $150.00!!!!

I agree with jdollar. Since we're all paying the same $$$ for the same ticket, we should all be paying the same $$$ for the same total poundage. As an example, your body weight added to your luggage weight should be equal to or less than 'X'. If you're under, no problemo. If you're over, than pay the extra $$$. A combined weight alowance for all equals fairness for all. Why should I pay extra for baggage 10 lbs over the baggage allowance if I weigh 10 lbs less than the passenger with bags packed to, but not exceeding, the baggage weight allowance?

Bobby B.

I got hit in 2006 flying QANTAS to Namibia. Paid $630 overweight.........for 13 kilos!!!

The gun case and rifles put me over the 20kilo limit and then my single bag only weighed 13 kilos.......and it'll be worse this year because of the fuel prices, whoa..........

Well just came back from my trip, tho I had to cut it short because of some unexpected back problems which cost me a portion of my hunitng trip.
My biggest baggage issues were with SAA, since I had a seperate ticket for my Joberg-Windhoek-Joberg flight, SAA promptlu charged me for excess baggage to the tune of over $100.00. Also on the flight back to Joberg the ground baggage handlers, and I don't know if they were SAA handlers or generic airport contract handlers, failed to check the entire aircrafts cargo areas for bags and thus my gun case was NOT unloaded from the plane. Thank goodness the Air 2000 rep that met me, was finally able to encourage the SAA agents into checking where my case was, and then it finally dawned on the SAA folks that hey, I wonder if that special cargo hold for guns was checked. Took almost 90 minutes after landing before I had my rifle case. Also besides SAA hitting me for the excess baggage charge, they also forced me to take my ammo OUT of my checked 2nd bag and check it separatley so it would be more secure( yeah like I believe that). Good thing I had read about that potential issue here on Ar and was prepared and had my ammo in a separate small tool box I had bought in the states and locked with a TSA lock. IN short air travel with SAA in re to guns and ammo was TERRIBLE.

On the other hand my US flight was from Seattle-London-Joberg on British Airways and also the return. I had previously declared to BA months in advance that I was traveling with sporting arms and all that I was asked to do at ticket counter check in at the start of the flight was to help the ticket agent fill out 1 extra sheet of paper with some basic gun related info. BA also used manual luggage tags for my gun case and suitcase with ammo and then it was handled like the other planes luggage. At aircraft boarding on the connecting flights in London, also BA flights, during boarding I also politely asked the BA gate agents if they coould check if my bags made the connecting aircraft which they readiloy did for me and confirmed thqat my bags were on the planes and of course upon landing all my bags were where they were supposed to be. I have heard bad things about BA and anti gun stuff about them for years and yet MY experience over the past 2 weeks travelling with them was very positive and no hassle with the guns thing. Whose to say what will happen next time, but this time it was great.

Kudos to BA for fast, effienct no hassle service flying with guns.

SAA on the other hand SUCKED big time, and no wonder its another airline losing money. Sure wasn't the hunter friendly airline Ive heard about.

And that's my view.

The biggest issue on this trip was my decision to cut things short due to the back problems I unexpectedly encountered and that had nothing to do with airline service.

Willi

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
We were in Zimbabwe, and the airline rep was charging for everything over 20Kgs! Even 1 Kg got you charged.

Walter, bless his heart, had one of his inspirations.

He walked out of the airport, got himself a small rock, and put it under the scale.

It was one of those large scales with a round dial on it.

That rock stopped the scale going any lower than about 18Kgs.

So we passed through without any payment, and so did the rest of the passengers

Walter's a hell of a lot smarter than anyone gives him credit for being!

quote:

Originally posted by Labman:
I wear one of those tactical vests with alot of pockets. I put as much heavy stuff in the vest as I can and wear it on the plane then stick it in the overhead. The rest of the heavy stuff in my carry on. Didn't have any problems meeting weight requirements this way on my recent trip to Zim.

Yeah, me, too. Been doing that for years.