Gracy travel MIA?

When we started planning our first safari Last winter, we heard to book gracy travel agency to make things easy. So we decided to book them and at first our contact Gio at was very responsive. He got our flight and gun arrangements put together but we can't even get a call back now. We leave for our trip at the end of September and just have random questions. For the last couple weeks my girlfriend has tried multiple times with no call back and I tried a couple days ago with no call back. Anybody else have this kind of experience with them? I'm trying to give him the benefit of doubt but my patience is wearing thin. Thanks

I am also using Gracy and Gio for my upcoming mid September trip. I have not called him but he responds to emails pretty quick. As we were booking my flights he was working pretty late in the evenings. This is my second trip working with Gio. I am not trying to defend him not calling you back but he may be pretty busy.

I also had a lot of random questions on my first trip that got answered when I got my travel packet. This may also be a good place to ask some of those questions. I would be happy to answer any questions.

Stranger things have happened than people to leave abruptly and may be under a non compete that allows no contact; or something as innocent as accidentally blocking you.

I will say Nicole at Gracy has been excellent thus far.

Allow me to guess...You're going to RSA.? A PH nearly throttled me 25+ yrs ago by hiring such people (i could elaborate-there were more unnecessaries!) Anyway, read up on Africa (including current events where you're going.); have your PH meet you at the Airport; fill out your SAP 520 in advance; Get a Visa in advance (if required); buy plane tickets; go to the airport, arrive at the other airport.; have your PH take you to the Police office to collect your precious cargo; and Be Nice to EVERYONE. Don't wear Camo. LOL It's no different than flying to TX with guns, other than the length of time and the quality of everything else on your flight! DIY. Give the $ you saved to the local economy where it's a real necessity.

This will be my third time using Gracy Travel to book my flights and VIP gun service in Johannesburg with Bruce. I’ve used Shawn Kennedy the last two times I booked with Gracy and she is absolutely wonderful, extremely competent and responsive. I used Gio the first time I booked with Gracy and I agree, best to email him with questions, he could be on vacation but should still respond.

Nicole has left Gracy and will start PWP October. Hannah's at PWP now.

I used Gracy for my recent trip. It was a mixed bag. Gio was very helpful when Emirates changed their scheduling and we had to cancel and rebook on Qatar.

However, he definitely prefers to respond to email so try that. He also did some staff e things like not replying all to the other hunter and I so sometimes I was getting and email and he wasn’t to vice versa. When he sent the final travel packets before our departure and day before we started home it only went to the other hunter and not myself. He also entered my phone number incorrectly with Qatar which wasn’t a huge deal but had to be corrected.

Overall I would say it was good not great. I may try Travel Express or PWP for my next trip as I’ve heard good things.

Bottom line for your question is try email instead of calling.

wesheltonj said:

Nicole has left Gracy and will start PWP October. Hannah's at PWP now.

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What is PWP?

WAB said:

What is PWP?

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PWP Travel a competitor to Gracy.

Call and ask for Shawn Kennedy or Debbie Gracy. They have access to all files. Shawn's extension is 222. Her day off is Thursday.

Scott CWO said:

Call and ask for Shawn Kennedy or Debbie Gracy. They have access to all files. Shawn's extension is 222. Her day off is Thursday.

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Shawn was extremely on the ball and helpful for my trip in April.

Russ16 said:

I used Gracy for my recent trip. It was a mixed bag. Gio was very helpful when Emirates changed their scheduling and we had to cancel and rebook on Qatar.

However, he definitely prefers to respond to email so try that. He also did some staff e things like not replying all to the other hunter and I so sometimes I was getting and email and he wasn’t to vice versa. When he sent the final travel packets before our departure and day before we started home it only went to the other hunter and not myself. He also entered my phone number incorrectly with Qatar which wasn’t a huge deal but had to be corrected.

Overall I would say it was good not great. I may try Travel Express or PWP for my next trip as I’ve heard good things.

Bottom line for your question is try email instead of calling.

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I trust @TRAVEL EXPRESS on my 10 safaris. I have had several problems come up nothing due to them and it is incredible I can contact them and Jenifer is always right there to fix the problem caused by airlines or just Africa. The best money I spend

WAB said:

What is PWP?

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The people who had my birthdate wrong on my gun paperwork and had my scope serial# down as my rifle serial# on my trip to Zim in 24; thankgod I checked the approved paperwork, there was enough time to get it resolved but I hate to think of the shit storm that would have cause to land in Johannesburg with a rifle for which the serial# was nowhere to be found on the paperwork and my birthdate on the paperwork not matching my passport.

Hence why I decided to go Gracy for my 2027 trip.

wesheltonj said:

Nicole has left Gracy and will start PWP October. Hannah's at PWP now.

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Well that’s news to me, was expecting a call soon about me and my friends travel plans for Zim 2027; I’ll wait and see for now but if I don’t get contacted either way that will definitely lower my opinion….. you can change companies but you need to hand off pre existing or at least contact, so we’ll see how this plays out as we have time.

johnnybow said:

When we started planning our first safari Last winter, we heard to book gracy travel agency to make things easy. So we decided to book them and at first our contact Gio at was very responsive. He got our flight and gun arrangements put together but we can't even get a call back now. We leave for our trip at the end of September and just have random questions. For the last couple weeks my girlfriend has tried multiple times with no call back and I tried a couple days ago with no call back. Anybody else have this kind of experience with them? I'm trying to give him the benefit of doubt but my patience is wearing thin. Thanks

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You will get a packet a couple weeks before your trip. In the meantime, call Shawn at ext 222 on Friday. She is off on Thursdays.

deewayne2003 said:

The people who had my birthdate wrong on my gun paperwork and had my scope serial# down as my rifle serial# on my trip to Zim in 24; thankgod I checked the approved paperwork, there was enough time to get it resolved but I hate to think of the shit storm that would have cause to land in Johannesburg with a rifle for which the serial# was nowhere to be found on the paperwork and my birthdate on the paperwork not matching my passport.

Hence why I decided to go Gracy for my 2027 trip.

Well that’s news to me, was expecting a call soon about me and my friends travel plans for Zim 2027; I’ll wait and see for now but if I don’t get contacted either way that will definitely lower my opinion….. you can change companies but you need to hand off pre existing or at least contact, so we’ll see how this plays out as we have time.

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If you had good success with Nicole at Gracy. I’ll continue to utilize her services, regardless of the agency she works for. The service you get is reflective of her and her work ethic not the agency. I wouldn’t let your previous bad experience with PWP alter your opinion of her and her work.

A couple example of how Nicole’s been great to work
1) She’s handled several of my more multi country safaris like 2025 (RSA -> Zambia -> Zimbabwe -> Botswana -> Namibia -> Zimbabwe -> RSA -> Germany -> USA).
2) She’s one of the only people who’s knowledgeable about flying through London with Firearms.
3) She’s made flights and changes for me while on PTO herself (Vic Falls).
4) The biggest thing she did was helping when a friend’s father had a heart attack/stroke in Africa on his 1st African hunt and required open heart surgery. They didn’t book flights with her or an agent but she immediately stepped in to help get info about emergency same day emergency passports for his mom/brother, provided travel options, numbers for emergency flight changes, potential medevac, travel insurance, etc and did so out of the goodness of her heart so the stateside family could worry about the finances and getting everything prepaid for them to wheel him into surgery.

I know my travel is in good hands with Nichole and will continue giving her my business. If anyone wants or needs her info, feel free to PM me. She doesn’t officially start with PWP for about a month and a half but that won’t stop me from reaching out if I need.

Nicole is gone. A lady named Helen is who I’ve been corresponding with. She has been very responsive.

BJH65 said:

This will be my third time using Gracy Travel to book my flights and VIP gun service in Johannesburg with Bruce. I’ve used Shawn Kennedy the last two times I booked with Gracy and she is absolutely wonderful, extremely competent and responsive. I used Gio the first time I booked with Gracy and I agree, best to email him with questions, he could be on vacation but should still respond.

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Shawn rocks!!!! She is helpful, proactive and she and her family go to Africa often so she knows what’s involved.

deewayne2003 said:

The people who had my birthdate wrong on my gun paperwork and had my scope serial# down as my rifle serial# on my trip to Zim in 24; thankgod I checked the approved paperwork, there was enough time to get it resolved but I hate to think of the shit storm that would have cause to land in Johannesburg with a rifle for which the serial# was nowhere to be found on the paperwork and my birthdate on the paperwork not matching my passport.

Hence why I decided to go Gracy for my 2027 trip.

Well that’s news to me, was expecting a call soon about me and my friends travel plans for Zim 2027; I’ll wait and see for now but if I don’t get contacted either way that will definitely lower my opinion….. you can change companies but you need to hand off pre existing or at least contact, so we’ll see how this plays out as we have time.

Click to expand...

I stopped using Gracy in large part because of their US permitting rep at that time. I’ll withhold name. I got tired of her not sending the approval and in one case refusing to send approval. Then I saw the South African side had sent it to her weeks before. That combined with incorrect airline loyalty numbers and extremely poor seat assignments I had to check myself. They will all make mistakes, but I use Travel express combined with Africa Sky for the consistency. I also know they care. I do think I’d use PWP though if flying a complex itinerary or particular difficult African country because I know they send more clients there.

As @DLSJR and @Red Leg and I have shared on this site from personal experience, when the crap hits the fan and you are traveling with complex itineraries to wild and remote locations, a long-term experienced agency with extensive contacts, like Gracy, can fix things that others cannot. I haven't heard of any nightmare stories about Gracy. A slow phone call back or having to double check seat assignments or a transposed serial number that you always need to verify anyway just doesn't stack up to the major problems that some of us have experienced. @DLSJR has shared his story of being trapped in Tanzania and Gracy came to the rescue.

I was told by another agency just three days before departure for a 21-day full bag safari in Tanzania, even though the change happened months earlier, that I should just leave my guns at home when Qatar farmed out the flight from Doha to Arusha to Oman Airlines. It is illegal to borrow firearms in Tanzania and it is a Lacey Act Felony to import animals into the USA that are taken illegally. The other alternative we were given was to switch airlines from Qatar to Ethiopian and change up our whole itinerary, costing us thousands of dollars and the loss of the Qatar Q-Suite seats with a short layover in Addis Abba on Ethiopian, which makes for a stressful firearms check in Addis. We had no choice but to change airlines and four of us barely made the connection in Addis by running through the airport with our wives.

I called Debbie Gracy about this issue and she told me that she had recognized the Qatar/Oman gun problem months earlier and that through her long-term contacts, she had solved the problem for Gracy customers while the agency I used (just this one time) did not even try until just a week before we departed. The agency tried to fix our gun issue and get the guns approved but could not get it done and we were forced to completely change our itinerary and airline while Gracy clients had no trouble on the Qatar/Oman flights with guns.

If you are just going to South Africa, I think you can use other agencies but if you are going to wilderness locales or have a complicated itinerary, I would suggest Gracy. Shawn at Gracy has organized complicated, multi-city, international hunts for me and European trips for me and my family with a driver in each city and a personal guide in each city with three choices of hotels in each city, train tickets, airline tickets, venue tickets, etc... without any problems. I believe Shawn has done the same for @Red Leg several times.

Gracy has a 24/7 phone service so not sure how they are not answering. Gio is who I’m currently working with and he is very responsive via email. I would email him and ask for a phone call or call their main number and someone is going to answer. I was going to use PWP but they closed for 4 days during July 4th and I couldn’t get my flights booked. I called Gracy and had them booked that evening.