Alternatives to Travel With Guns (TWG) in San Antonio, TX?

[CamoManJ]

+1…Travel Express, I couldn’t be happier or in better hands.

 

[Philip Glass]

Hi everyone. I first used Travel With Guns (TWG) of San Antonio, TX in 2016 when going to Namibia. At that time they were great; professional, prompt, and knew their stuff. I used them recently for a trip in October this year which started planning/booking in April. My experience was the exact opposite from 2016. Details I won't bore you with but I just gave them a frank/negative review on their feedback request. Can anyone recommend alternatives to TWG that me and my friends can use in the future? Many thanks.

TWG is basically a call center now without true agents to assist you.

 

[Hunt anything]

Jennifer at Travel Express handled my trip in 2021, I can’t remember how many times she booked and rebooked our trip due to Covid. Openings, cancellations and restrictions were all over the place and she kept me posted and up to date on country requirements on shots, masking and all of the other BS that went along with Covid.

This was the first time I have used a travel agent and it was worth every penny.

 

[Philip Glass]

@Tiger2001 there are many on this forum that extoll the virtues of travel agencies that I respect. Particularly, @Red Leg and @Philip Glass .

I've had bad experiences similar to yours, so I'm in another camp. I'd ask the biggest question for you to consider: Do you even need a travel agent whatsoever?

From my perspective:

1.) It's my problem when things go wrong
2.) I pay less buying the tickets online direct from the carrier who guarantees lowest rates on their own website (e.g. Emirates)
3.) I have to do my own gun permits anyway, so its a "me" problem. (e.g. Emirates. You do it online yourself)
4.) In addition to a higher ticket price, the agent also has a ticketing fee on top of that.
5.) The baggage search services added on to the travel agency as a value-add is largely displaced by the air tags and similar. I was highly suspicious of air tags and equivelant in Africa, but friends on this forum have proven me wrong. There are enough smart phones to triangulate signal even in Africa these days, you can find your bags.
6.) Do you really need a travel agent to find you another flight in the event your return flight is cancelled? Your premium International airline will re-book you on next available auto-magically anyway. It is what it is.

This forum is a fount of wisdom. I'd argue the knowledge on this forum of what airlines and destinations are problematic for travleing with rifles exceeds the knowledge of many gun travel agents. I respect the intel here more than the intel coming from agents.

My agent that was once a sponsor here made $500-$700 off of me. They got paid. When things went wrong, I lost 1/2 a safari worth $10,000 real dollars to me. I paid $500 to mitigate my losses. Their damages? None. They had no skin in the game when the chips were down, they had been paid and had no authority to solve my problems whatsoever.

There some inaccuracies here and one large issue to point out.
1. Wrong
2. First of all TA's can get you the same or lower price than what you can find yourself. It is not going to be higher.
3. Wrong my TA does all of it.
4. True
5. Neutral on extra perks offered
6. If you are flying just Delta just from ATL-JNB and your outfitter is picking you up you certainly don't need a TA. If you are like me and have 3 airlines to deal with to get where you are going it is a different situation.
7. My TA is truly involved in the business and is on the phone and online daily keeping up with everything going on with the airlines.

Finally there is one thing you can't do yourself that all TA's do for you. That is to have your rifle noted on your electronic ticket. This is a "behind the scenes" benefit that can alleviate many problems before they start.

My Main Point in these discussions: Far too often we hear of folks who bought their safari airfare on their phone with no knowledge of anything related to international travel. They have an issue and return as the ambassador of "It's too hard to take a rifle to Africa so just borrow a camp gun". This sickens me, makes me mad, and is totally unnecessary. A trip ruined to save $300!

Rook is right about one thing and that is no matter what you choose to do we all should be savvy travelers and know as much as we can about the travel process.