First safari - Airline to fly and why?

You can fly Emirates premium economy at a fairly reasonable price. However; if you fly Emirates or Qatar add 8-9 hours flight time after a 14.5 hour flight because you connect through Dubai or Doha. I flew Qatar business last time and it was absolutely fantastic, great food and service.
I’m going back in ‘27 and will probably fly Delta. I’ll suffer through economy or premium economy to avoid the extra 8.5 hours of flight time.

Jennifer booked us ATL to Cape Town then onward to Windhoek our last trip. Airport seemed much nicer than Joburg. We did overnight at Afton House, quite pleasant after the long flight.

Rumrunner said:

You can fly Emirates premium economy at a fairly reasonable price. However; if you fly Emirates or Qatar add 8-9 hours flight time after a 14.5 hour flight because you connect through Dubai or Doha. I flew Qatar business last time and it was absolutely fantastic, great food and service.
I’m going back in ‘27 and will probably fly Delta. I’ll suffer through economy or premium economy to avoid the extra 8.5 hours of flight time.

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Depends on where you live and how far you are from EWR or ATL.

My buddy flew from IAH to EWR - about 3.5 hours. It's 3 from IAH to ATL. So 18 - 19 hours of flight time from IAH to JNB via domestic carrier.

It was 14.5 from IAH to DOH, then 8 from DOH to JNB, so 22 - 23 hours of air time that route.

Where the Qatar flights from IAH get you is on the layover, usually 6 - 10 hours. That's rough, but worth it to me over Delta or UA. Emirates layover seems to be around 3 - 4 hours. YMMV

Call Kathi Klimes or Gracy's and let them do this for you. I have made over 200 trips across the
Atlantic for work and pleasure. I use an agent every time. Why? When things go wrong on a trip, and it will eventually, you need boots on the ground to sort it out. That is why they exist and why you pay a fee for them.

Same for meet and greet at your destination. If it is not Europe or Australia or New Zealand or Canada, you better pay for meet and greet. Or expect delays and problems.

In Africa, you will get bombarded with "your papers are not correct" or "you do not have the right permit" and you will have to pay in dollars and time wasted to get through customs or past police. Meet and greet is the best money you can spend.

The world loves money, especially dollars and euros, so you will get hounded and harassed without the right connection to get past the thieves and coruption.

I have used Travel With Guns for all of my hunting trips ..
I usually fly out of BOS and have flown either Qatar or Emerites
TWG has always handled all of the arrangements both travel and guns at both ends and are a phone call away if you run into trouble

My experience has taught me one inescapable fact.
Newark/EWR airport is a black pit of despair....

sgt_zim said:

Lots of guys have had good luck with Delta and UA, but they are both rather notorious for very late departures and outright cancellations.

I flew Qatar in 2024, will either fly them or Emirates when I go back next year. The one bad thing I'll say about Qatar is there's usually a really long layover in Doha. But the flight attendants, while not Emirates level, were good, and I was notified at all departure points (IAH and DOH going, JNB and DOH coming back) that my rifle case was safely on-board. My best friend flew UA for the same hunt. Woopsie. They forgot his rifle in EWR, along with the rifles of all the other hunters on that flight, about 8 or 10 of them.

I wouldn't fly a European carrier from the US to Africa on a bet, at least not if I were bringing my own guns. Since you aren't, I like KLM the best of that lot. YMMV.

One suggestion I will make - overnight in Jo'burg. Africa Sky (I like that place a lot), Afton, or City (located in the airport at JNB). Probably stay at City since you've got a connecting flight. It'll give you an opportunity at a hot shower, good food, and some much needed rest before the adventure starts.

*IF* you decide to book UA or Delta, because of frequency of cancellations, I'd arrange to leave 3 days before your hunt starts. If you get cancelled, you still have wiggle room and will still get your full hunt. If it doesn't cancel, you'll have to overnight 1 night anyway before your outfitter comes to collect you. Win-win, either way.

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United has a bad history of cancellations because of Newark airport. Delta from Atlanta has a good record.

You got every possible answer .

Personally I’ll like to fly Houston to uk, get out of the airport visit London and then flight to South Africa. Breaking the flight in two has worked nice for me, I’m addition flying through Europe get you some recourse if flights are delayed or cancel. Several hundred dollars refund if delayed/cancelled.

I’m making my 12th trip over this September, flying SFO to JNB on Emirates, then Air Link to Tete/Beira. For me the choice is easy; always Emirates or Qatar if they fly where I need to go with Turkish as my fall back option.

I’ve done it a bunch of ways, like most everyone else who has commented. With and without rifles. For our next trip, we booked through Lufthansa. No guns, and a direct flight from Frankfort to Windhoek, which is our destination. Going through Europe breaks it up into two 10 hour flights with about 8-9 hours in between. Somehow, that seems less painful than the 17.5 hr ATL to JNB flight. Last trip, the JNB to ATL Delta flight was cancelled, and we re-routed through Brazil. What a crazy mess that was……

Flying with rifles isn’t so bad. The airlines always seem to lose something else though……

Thank you all for the great insight and suggestions. I'll make a decision on this pretty quick. It is a great thing to have this much experience on the forum to help out. I've been going down the rabbit hole trying to make this as smooth, comfortable and fun as possible. I said I wouldn't do it, but I very well may wind up spending the extra coin for business class, or premium economy at least. Again, thank you all.

knuckleball said:

I've read a few opinions here about how to get to Africa from the states but I have multiple choices for my itinerary and there haven't been any forum updates in a couple of years that I could find. My son and I are headed to SA in July and will be flying into Joberg from DFW. I have the options of Delta through Atlanta, United through Newark, British Airways through Heathrow, Qatar through Doha, and Emirates through Dubai. Regardless of who we book, it will be 3 flights over and three flights back. We have to catch an RJ from Joberg up to Polokwane for the other leg in both directions. That's a South African Airlink regardless.

I have to say that I can't afford Business or First Class. I'm putting the money into the hunt and time with my son. We're both willing to suffer through the pain of Economy seating (he's young and I used to fly for a living in my previous life). We won't be taking our firearms. We're hiring our outfitters guns.

In terms of airline quality and service, who would you book? I've flown Delta and United many times before. Is their quality and service on par with BA, Qatar or Emirates? Is it worth the extra time in the air to go through London, Doha or Dubai?

Would appreciate any input. Thanks.

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I have to ask you to reconsider taking your own gun. That said I'd likely recommend you opt to go Delta for your DFW itinerary. United has been plagued with delays and I know many who have been frustrated with them. The mid east carriers are good if you can get business.

There is no easy way to get there. I understand you have to use economy because of budget. I’m in the same boat and have to fly international on my budget. Flying has become a pain, international flying a pain X10. My recommendation is to use a travel agent like Gracy. Fly Delta Atlanta to JNB and carefully select economy upgrade seats. Use Gracy’s meet and greet service. Stay overnight at City Lodge at airport. Simplify, relax and worry less.

knuckleball said:

I've read a few opinions here about how to get to Africa from the states but I have multiple choices for my itinerary and there haven't been any forum updates in a couple of years that I could find. My son and I are headed to SA in July and will be flying into Joberg from DFW. I have the options of Delta through Atlanta, United through Newark, British Airways through Heathrow, Qatar through Doha, and Emirates through Dubai. Regardless of who we book, it will be 3 flights over and three flights back. We have to catch an RJ from Joberg up to Polokwane for the other leg in both directions. That's a South African Airlink regardless.

I have to say that I can't afford Business or First Class. I'm putting the money into the hunt and time with my son. We're both willing to suffer through the pain of Economy seating (he's young and I used to fly for a living in my previous life). We won't be taking our firearms. We're hiring our outfitters guns.

In terms of airline quality and service, who would you book? I've flown Delta and United many times before. Is their quality and service on par with BA, Qatar or Emirates? Is it worth the extra time in the air to go through London, Doha or Dubai?

Would appreciate any input. Thanks.

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I love Emirates through Dubai. Get to Jobeg in the morning and not staying in a safe house overnight is a real convenience…

I like Emirates over United and Delta. Bad experience with Delta. I try to avoid Delta…

Do a search and you should find the right combination of flights and exit row seats on Emirates. I did this and it worked out great from SFO.

I took 2 Rifles and ammo through Dubai without issue. Booked my own flights. Got roomy exit row seats on both flights in both directions…

I just for grins, my flight is booked for Sept on Delta for 3357.00 Premium eco plus out of Sioux Falls, SD R.T. this morning I checked Delta and the price for eco is 5700.00 in July for my route unreal price so check Emirates and see what you can get, Delta summer prices are a rip off

I like Emirates (Business) over Qatar.

Heard mixed things about BA. I'm fixin to book Business to Bulawayo Zim via Jo'burg. Either BA or Emirates. Prefer flying on 380s for business.

BA- 9hrs 777 to Heathrow then 11hrs 380 to Jo'burg v. Emirates15hrs 380 to DBX then 777 9hrs to Jo'burg.

Any bad experiences with BA- bow hunting no firearms.

knuckleball said:

I've read a few opinions here about how to get to Africa from the states but I have multiple choices for my itinerary and there haven't been any forum updates in a couple of years that I could find. My son and I are headed to SA in July and will be flying into Joberg from DFW. I have the options of Delta through Atlanta, United through Newark, British Airways through Heathrow, Qatar through Doha, and Emirates through Dubai. Regardless of who we book, it will be 3 flights over and three flights back. We have to catch an RJ from Joberg up to Polokwane for the other leg in both directions. That's a South African Airlink regardless.

I have to say that I can't afford Business or First Class. I'm putting the money into the hunt and time with my son. We're both willing to suffer through the pain of Economy seating (he's young and I used to fly for a living in my previous life). We won't be taking our firearms. We're hiring our outfitters guns.

In terms of airline quality and service, who would you book? I've flown Delta and United many times before. Is their quality and service on par with BA, Qatar or Emirates? Is it worth the extra time in the air to go through London, Doha or Dubai?

Would appreciate any input. Thanks.

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I have not read the thread, it may have been already said

You should bring your own rifle(s)...

It is so easy! Just file for a preapproved permit with the like of Afton Safari Lodge. Some camp rifles are nice, some are not. Some have great optics, some have Coke bottle bottom optics. Some have decent triggers, some have liability insurance lawyers-approved triggers. A few camps provide premium bullet ammo, most camps provide the cheapest ammo locally available. Etc. etc.

If yes, avoid Newark and Heathrow. England and New Jersey are about on par for anti gun sentiments and unless you love complications, just stay out of there.

Doha and Dubai have much less of an anti-gun bias but they still require temporary import paperwork for the rifle(s). It works, but it does complicate things and increase the risk of something not being 100% right on the paperwork.

The easy solution is Delta's Atlanta to Jo'burd.

I do not know if there are service differences in First, Premier, etc. between the various airlines -- like you I put my money on the hunt, not the flight -- but what I know is that Delta provides what they advertise, a decent fair for a decent rate. I am not even comparing fares anymore, I just book Delta.

Yeah, it is a long flight, but it is just one flight, and the huge selection of movies available helps kill the time (bring a good quality headset). Many folks ask their doc for one Ambien for the flight.

I’ve never had a bow on BA, but have taken guns of BA without any problems. I would suggest you call an agent to make they’re no problems with your transfer of the bow to your intra-Africa flight. I use Nicole at Gracy x234.

About premium seats…. If you’re a tall person - I get it. I’m about 5’8” and to me there isn’t any real difference between the various premium economy options. One is as good as another. That said, I’d rather walk than sit in a middle seat, so it does pay to plan a little.

Business class is a different animal altogether, especially with a lie-flat seat.

I've made it to Africa a few different ways over the last 15 years or so. I'm pretty much down to either Delta out of Atlanta or a few different options with Qatar or Emirates. This summer we'll be taking Qatar out of Dallas.

Yes, you have to make a connection in Doha, but at least you avoid Atlanta. The Doha airport is much nicer than Atlanta I think anyone would tell you. Our flight has about a 3 hour layover in Doha. It'll take about an hour to get off the plane and thru security to be back in the air side. That'll give us time to stop in the business class lounge which you pay to get if you go economy. This will give you the opportunity to select from a wide arrange of food choices as well as drinks for one price, albeit it is pricy.

We'll then be back on a flight to JNB that is schedule to arrive at 9am. So no overnight stay in Joburg, we'll get picked up and be on our way to hunting camp. This will hopefully follow a decent nights sleep on the airplane. If you can power thru the next day, you'll be closer to being acclimated to Africa time and should get a good nights rest that first night.

When I go on Delta, it just doesn't work that way for me. You'll have to spend a night either in the airport or hotel or one of the guest houses nearby. Either way, I end up waking up at about 2am every time. This just leads to several days of a screwed up sleep schedule before I finally settle in to Africa time.

As such, I prefer the Qatar and Emirates options. The Emirate schedules are quite similar. There is also another Qatar option out of DFW that leaves earlier both from DFW and Doha that will get you into JNB at about 4am. Yah that's kin of early but it just gets you on the road and to camp that much sooner.