Swiss International charges for firearms

Here is a message that I received from AH member blackshadow998


Please advise all Hunters with firearms passing through Johannesburg International Airport that yesterday I was charged the equivalent of $150.00 in local currency upon departure to UK.

The airline was Swiss International who deny all responsibility for the charge, but also fail to mention it on their Website.

I am complaining and so should everyone else!

Swiss Int'l does mention that there is always a tariff on "sports equipment" and they mention a rifle and case as "sport equipment". They list the chagre at $200 so the $150 charge seems for "over size" baggage fee. What did anyone say the charge was for?

OUCH!

Oh, there are a lot of traps like this:

When we flew from Frankfurt to Jo'berg in 2010, we booked with SAA, and with them sports equipment such as rifle- or bowcases are free.
But, since SAA is member of "star alliance", that particular flight was carried out by Lufthansa, and so, THEIR baggage rules were applied.
Our bowcases were charged as oversize with 75 Euros EACH (first, they wanted 150 Euros EACH, since they say "bow=Kyudo bow", which is much, much larger than the average compound bow).
On our way home, the flight was done by SAA, so we did not pay any extra fees... (and the plane was a lot more convenient and the service way better than with Lufthansa)

That's life...

The airlines are getting away with murder, with all these extra charges. Everyone of them needs to have clear rules.....right next to booking on what the restrictions are and what everything is going to cost. What really sucks is that a lot of countries have stupid laws on ammo and guns and make the whole travel process a lot worse than it should be.

i think theyre extra hidden costs are outragous in september canada air stung me 70bucks for my riffle case and then 50 for my ammo box both ways