Help! American/British Airways has cancelled my flights

[Tanks]

...
Side note: On arrival in Philly, the economy section looked like a garbage dump. Water bottles, food trays, napkins and any other items given to passengers were strewn all over the floor, under the seats and even in the aisles. The air carrier may be rated highly but some of the passengers were definitely third world.

That might also be the airline's fault for not having the flight attendants make frequent passes to collect garbage. There is not enough room in economy to store empty bottles etc. in the little pocket behind the seat in front of where one is sitting.

 

[Manny R]

I am booked on Emirates leaving June 27 arriving back July 16. They recently made a change in Dubai instead of layover for 8 hours now it is 14 hours. The sweet spot in that they are paying for my hotel room so I can rest ,sleep and when I get to JNB I am hoping to be over jet lag.

 

[Tanks]

I am booked on Emirates leaving June 27 arriving back July 16. They recently made a change in Dubai instead of layover for 8 hours now it is 14 hours. The sweet spot in that they are paying for my hotel room so I can rest ,sleep and when I get to JNB I am hoping to be over jet lag.

Make sure you have a change of clothes and anything else you need for an overnight stay in your carry on. You will not have access to your luggage.

 

[Manny R]

In my carry on I have a complete change, all my meds, PJ's for the flight from Houston to Dubai and my slippers .

 

[Ridge Runner]

I was surprised at the Qatar flight from Doha to Joberg was at about half but the return Joberg to Doha was almost full. The Doha to Philly leg was packed too.
Side note: On arrival in Philly, the economy section looked like a garbage dump. Water bottles, food trays, napkins and any other items given to passengers were strewn all over the floor, under the seats and even in the aisles. The air carrier may be rated highly but some of the passengers were definitely third world.

The same on Airlink.
Planes were clean and sprayed prior to boarding. Upon landing and disembarking passengers other than in business class left trash all over.
I was invited by my flight attendant staff to photograph the plane in lieu of them, I politely declined their offer as I felt it would not be in the best interest of the airline to have photographed the plane after the flight as opposed to first boarding because of the mess passengers had made of the once pristine aircraft.

Airlink from JNB to Harare was packed. The aircraft I flew on was a 3 seat across: 1 seat on the left side and 2 seats on the right side, 30(?) seats total for passengers. If you use a larger carry-on, that is bigger than a typical soft overnight travel bag, it will be yellow tag and put in the checked baggage/cargo area.

NOTE: I saw only firearms and ammo boxes were carefully hand loaded by the baggage handlers all other baggers was tossed from the ground baggage handler on the ground to the baggage handler in the cargo area.

On my return flight from Harare to JNB we were on a bigger aircraft, with more passengers, approximately 60 seats: 2 seats either side of aircraft, 30 rows total with approximately 6 unoccupied seats. Same baggage loading procedure as the arrival flight.

NOTE: FOR 2 FIREARMS I WAS CHARGED R330 HARARE TO JNB and R450 FROM HARARE TO JNB.

NOTE: BEWARE of overweight charge and ask for the supervisor when paying for firearm surcharge and overweight charge.

I was at weight departing JNB just ounces under the 50 pound weight for checked baggage, .2 kilograms under ammo weight, and at 42 pounds for weapons weight.
Upon departure my checked bag, ammo box, and weapons box were weighed togather putting me at 22 kilos overweight. I fussed about the overweight charges and escorted over to the office to pay the weapons surcharge and overweight charge it was then quickly cleared up by the lady at the payment counter; (she addressed the check-in attendant weapons and ammo weights were not to be weighed with checked baggage, but separately, insuring ammo was at or below 5 kilos (11.2 US pounds)). Thus no overweight charge $380.00USD only $60.00USD for 2 firearms.

NOTE:
FOR FIRST TIMERS TO ZIMBABWE:
MY EXPERIENCE AS a first timer; Zimbabwe uses USD cash! NO!! credit cards, debit/credit cards, checks of any kind are accepted for any kind of payment. I tried to exchange USD for local currency and was told to use/pay in USD as local currency is nearly useless.

If you are planning on carrying over $5000.00 USD When departing Zimbabwe MAKE SURE you declare the amount of USD UP ON ENTRY!!! FAILURE TO DO SO and you are checked any amount of USD OVER $5000.00 will likely be confiscated if you failed to declare your arrival amount of USD.

ZIMBABWE Treasury is hurting for USD and the Zimbabwe economy is using USD as their primary country currency.

This is both good and bad. Good because it helps bolster the value of USD abroad. Bad because Zimbabweans have no idea on the value of the US dollar, be prepared to pay more for purchases than like items in the US unless you live in: DC, New York City, Los Angeles, other big US cities; Where a $1.00 candy bar in normal American cities cost $2.00-$4.00 in these cities and in Zimbabwe. Example: in Zimbabwe fuel costs: $1.34 per liter for (same price) gasoline and diesel thus about $5.36 per US gallon of gas or diesel. As in the US fuel cost vary by station. I saw fuel prices as high as $1.59USD per liter (×4) (1 US gallon is roughly equivalent to 4.5 liters....according to the US version of 2 liter size "soda" bottle that showed the volume as 2 liter 250 milliliter). Another example is pizza: a $5.00 Little Ceasar pizza forget it you have 3 sizes to choose from: 19cm 7.00USD, 25cm 9.00USD, 30cm 11.00USD and also varies by store/ah restaurant.

For those that need their Wifi and/or phone service....Good Luck!.... check with your outfitter on reliability! Not all phones, even those purchased in Zimbabwe work when you want or need them to work.

More on all of this in my upcoming hunting reports.

 

[Ridge Runner]

That might also be the airline's fault for not having the flight attendants make frequent passes to collect garbage. There is not enough room in economy to store empty bottles etc. in the little pocket behind the seat in front of where one is sitting.

On Qatar and Airlink flights the flight attendants on my flights were adamant about going up and down the aisles, respectively, offering drinks, snacks, meals and policing passengers' trash throughout the entire flights.

Airlink: JNB to Harare and Harare to JNB flights do not offer in flight meals. However, they do hand out box meals to passengers upon arrival at Harare and at JNB.

 

[godwincp]

Great info as I will be on the airlink flight in July frI’m JNB to Bulawayo.
does the ammo weight limit include the weight of the container or just the actual ammo weight?
Also we’re you able to check your bags thru to your final destination or did you have to claim and recheck in JNB? Thanks

 

[Sika98k]

That might also be the airline's fault for not having the flight attendants make frequent passes to collect garbage. There is not enough room in economy to store empty bottles etc. in the little pocket behind the seat in front of where one is sitting.

Not enough room to store empty bottles ? What’s this ? I thought one was immediately offered a refill for your glass. I have never regretted flying “up front”.

 

[Ridge Runner]

Great info as I will be on the airlink flight in July frI’m JNB to Bulawayo.
does the ammo weight limit include the weight of the container or just the actual ammo weight?
Also we’re you able to check your bags thru to your final destination or did you have to claim and recheck in JNB? Thanks

My experience:
My ammo weight included the ammo case and ammo, although, according to what most airlines publish is;....5 kilos/11(.2) pounds of ammunition...(what I have not been able to verify, but told by "various" airline personnel if your ammunition weight is over 5 kilos your ammunition will be considered as cargo and a freight/cargo fee will be imposed.)

Passengers traveling with firearms, archery equipment, "weapons" and ammunition will have to claim their checked baggage and process their weapons through SAPS at JNB even though the passenger is transiting through Johannesburg.

YES. passengers traveling with weapons will have to get a weapons permit from SAPS.

NO. your weapons and checked baggage are not going to be checked through Johannesburg.

I was told my checked baggage and weapons would be checked through to Harare by Qatar Airways and my travel agent. Upon arrival to JNB after passing through customs, my next stop was to baggage claim where my checked baggage was on the baggage carousel. That meant my firearms and ammo would be waiting for me at the SAPS office, and it was.

SAPS had already contacted Henry Rifle Premits for a fellow who changed his flight itinerary to arrive earlier than expected.

Thank you shout out to Mauris and Anna of Henry Rifle Premits for their assistance. Instead of getting my firearms permit from 15-27 May for my safaris in South Africa they worked with SAPS and my permit was changed to 04-27 May. Yes. more confusion when I arrived back to JNB from Zimbabwe; 2 things: 1 The SAPS officers remembered me (in a nice way) thus making my processing through SAPS with having my weapons permit already in hand. 2 (these same SAPS officers) were momentarily confused why I already had my weapons permit in hand and now arriving back to JNB.

Once again Maurius and Anna of Henry Rifle Premits were awaiting my arrival and 10-15 minutes later through SAPS.

I hate repeating myself, but this needs to be repeated and people need to remember this check to see that you are picking up your checked luggage and not someone else's.

Three hours later the ladies of Airlink Airlines were able to get my checked baggage to me. Not because it was lost, but because another passenger was in such a hurry "they" didn't bother to check the name tag on the handle, which was missing due to rough baggage handlers, that "they" had mistakenly retrieved the wrong baggage off the carousel. Thus costing Airlink services and me 3 hours locating my luggage and "they" 3 hours locating their luggage.

So Please everyone reading this thread; We are all in a hurry to get to where we are going, but please take time to check that you are getting the correct luggage off the carousel it will save you grief and time and the person whose luggage you mistakenly retrieved grief and time.

 

[Hogpatrol]

re baggage ID: Tie a bright colored ribbon on the hand hold or paint stick your name or other identifying mark on it. When a person grabs it off the carousel, most likely they'll see the ribbon. My bags have the bright orange Gracy Travel hang tags on them and once in seven trips, one bag was temporarily lost.

 

[Philip Glass]

You must use a travel agent. Especially this year. @TRAVEL EXPRESS is a sponsor here and can help you. Don’t be that guy that refuses to use an agent then gives advice to others to NOT take their own guns because “it’s too much trouble”.

 

[godwincp]

Thanks again for the info and follow up. On my return from Bulawayo to the US via JNB Lori at Travel Express advised I would probably have to claim and recheck my bags and firearms in JNB. Working with Henry at Rifle Permits he advised my bags would be checked thru to the US. Based on your experience I’m planning on rechecking in JNB. Good to know Henry is available either way to take care of the SAPS formalities. Been to Africa several times so just pays to be patient and make sure you have plenty of time between flights. I’m flying United July 12 with connecting Airlink flight to Bulawayo on July 22 returning to the US via JNB on August 6. I’ll let the site know how it goes.

 

[Manny R]

Does anyone know how long it takes Emirates to send authorization for approval to check guns on flights once you submit the email.? I know it says to send paperwork within 30 days of departure.

 

[fourfive8]

Use a travel agent who specializes in hunters and Africa! If this is posted enough, year after year and thread after thread it might help prevent many if not most all of the safari travel oops! For local currencies and exchange rates and best locations to get certain foreign currencies, do the research well in advance. Zim lost its currency yeas ago. Unreal how many grimy, nearly black US 2 dollar bills still circulate there USD currency will usually work in most locations and RSA Rand in some places. Your outfitter/ PH will know what works best.