British airways experience?

[Elkeater]

Looking at flights and trying to sort options. Does anyone have any experience flying British airways through Heathrow to Johannesburg? The flight Options would be either delta from Phoenix to Atlanta to Johannesburg or British airways from Phoenix to London to Johannesburg. Cost isn’t really the concern it’s more that BA puts us into Jo-burg at 1000am versus 530pm for delta.

any issues with flying through London with guns provided they are checked all the way to the final destination with the same carrier?

 

[sierraone]

Looking at flights and trying to sort options. Does anyone have any experience flying British airways through Heathrow to Johannesburg? The flight Options would be either delta from Phoenix to Atlanta to Johannesburg or British airways from Phoenix to London to Johannesburg. Cost isn’t really the concern it’s more that BA puts us into Jo-burg at 1000am versus 530pm for delta.

any issues with flying through London with guns provided they are checked all the way to the final destination with the same carrier?

The short answer is to not fly through London with guns. Leave your guns at home and rent them from your outfitter. Flying through Atlanta with guns is a non-issue.

 

[Elkeater]

The short answer is to not fly through London with guns. Leave your guns at home and rent them from your outfitter. Flying through Atlanta with guns is a non-issue.

Thanks for the heads up. Would leave the guns at home but need to take a youth model rifle for my kid. So figured if I have to take one rifle already I might as well take two.

 

[sierraone]

Thanks for the heads up. Would leave the guns at home but need to take a youth model rifle for my kid. So figured if I have to take one rifle already I might as well take two.

Contact @PHOENIX PHIL , He has made the journey from Phoenix to London and then to Africa previously I believe.

 

[gordon kings langley]

Hi
For gods sake do not fly with British Airways. I will never take guns with them again.

 

[BRICKBURN]

I have never had an issue using BA while flying with firearms. Pay the fee, advise them as per policy and pick up my firearm in JNB.

 

[ILDRHNTR]

Glad to see the responses here, but making me nervous. My son and I are booked from Ohare to London to Jburg in June. We are taking two guns. We are booked through Gracy Travel. I heard similar comments recently from SA Outfitters/agents at an outdoor show and I became a bit paranoid. I contacted Gracy as well as our agent and both assured us it was a non issue. Why such a discrepancy? Sorry, first time SA trip and depended on agent and travel agency to do what was right. @Elkeater, thanks for posting the question.

 

[ILDRHNTR]

Glad to see the responses here, but making me nervous. My son and I are booked from Ohare to London to Jburg in June. We are taking two guns. We are booked through Gracy Travel. I heard similar comments recently from SA Outfitters/agents at an outdoor show and I became a bit paranoid. I contacted Gracy as well as our agent and both assured us it was a non issue. Why such a discrepancy? Sorry, first time SA trip and depended on agent and travel agency to do what was right. @Elkeater, thanks for posting the question.

Forgot to add, this is with BA also.

 

[wesheltonj]

The problem with London is or was folks would fly over on AA metal and transfer to BA metal. AA would not transfer the gun at London and BA and Heathrow get blamed. It was clear on AA website that they would not transfer guns to another carrier. I don’t know if this is still the case or not as the AA website is silent now.

You are fine if it’s BA to BA metal, other then the cost of transporting the gun. Like any thing else make sure your layover time is adequate. If you are changing Terminals T3 to T5 or visa versa, I would want 2 hours minimum. Now if you are transferring from Gatwick to Heathrow that’s another story. Possible but requires a very long layover.

 

[uplander01]

The worst experience I've ever had flying anywhere was with British Airways, lost a bag and was delayed 5 days on the fly through Heathrow to Africa. They also stole a pair of Leica binos and even though I provided the correct complaint channel and all necessary receipts and proof---their response.....bummer, too bad for you. I will never fly with them again, and quite frankly will never fly through anywhere in Europe again.

 

[Elkeater]

Well sounds simpler to roll through Atlanta on Delta. Any issues getting through SAPS at 6pm with rifles?

 

[autofire]

Well sounds simpler to roll through Atlanta on Delta. Any issues getting through SAPS at 6pm with rifles?

It will depend on number of hunters trying to clear SAPS when you arrive. If you use Henry's Rifle permit service you get bumped to front of line at SAPS. 1st trip I didn't use Henry's and SAPS made us wait until everyone else cleared and then wait another 30 minutes while the 3 SAPS agent sat doing nothing.

 

[ILDRHNTR]

Good luck @Elkeater! Thanks everyone for the insight on BA.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Contact @PHOENIX PHIL , He has made the journey from Phoenix to London and then to Africa previously I believe.

@Elkeater, as mentioned I’ve done the flight from PHX - LHR - JNB in the past on British Airways. And I stress only British Airways. Back at the time, flying BA wasn’t that popular and for good reasons. But as I researched it more if you flew on BA only and only if you also stop at Heathrow and then be on your way to JNB still on BA, it was fine.

But if you land in Gatwick on either leg and then transfer to Heathrow, you start to have problems. Furthermore, if you try to change airlines, you could have more trouble. And yes, there was a fee for the firearms, it wasn’t too bad at the time (2015), but it has gone up from what I understand.

I won’t go so far as to say I’d never use BA again, but they’re down the list for certain now.

 

[Elkeater]

So I think we are just gonna do delta. PHX to ATL to JNB. Puts us in later so we will just fly in the day before and stay at the City lodge.

 

[steve white]

fuhgettaboudit!

 

[steve white]

BTW, anyone ever go to Africa through Rio De Janeiro?

 

[rookhawk]

Looking at flights and trying to sort options. Does anyone have any experience flying British airways through Heathrow to Johannesburg? The flight Options would be either delta from Phoenix to Atlanta to Johannesburg or British airways from Phoenix to London to Johannesburg. Cost isn’t really the concern it’s more that BA puts us into Jo-burg at 1000am versus 530pm for delta.

any issues with flying through London with guns provided they are checked all the way to the final destination with the same carrier?

I've never flown BA with guns before, but out of the starting gates I can tell you that sticking with Delta end to end while avoiding further complications with any officials is strongly advised.

I've just started using Delta for frequent travel and I've been impressed as far as domestic carriers go. I flew BA internationally on business a few times over the past five years and I found their "fully remodeled" international business seats to be an overpriced joke, just barely larger than an Emirates economy seat or a Cathay Pacific economy plus seat. I believe I was on a 747 for those BA runs.

 

[Hyde Hunter]

Looking at flights and trying to sort options. Does anyone have any experience flying British airways through Heathrow to Johannesburg? The flight Options would be either delta from Phoenix to Atlanta to Johannesburg or British airways from Phoenix to London to Johannesburg. Cost isn’t really the concern it’s more that BA puts us into Jo-burg at 1000am versus 530pm for delta.

any issues with flying through London with guns provided they are checked all the way to the final destination with the same carrier?

make sure you get someone like Mr X or TWG for your rifle permits, you pay for this service but it is worth it along with a meet and greet service thru them

 

[Mtn_Infantry]

@Elkeater, as mentioned I’ve done the flight from PHX - LHR - JNB in the past on British Airways. And I stress only British Airways. Back at the time, flying BA wasn’t that popular and for good reasons. But as I researched it more if you flew on BA only and only if you also stop at Heathrow and then be on your way to JNB still on BA, it was fine.

But if you land in Gatwick on either leg and then transfer to Heathrow, you start to have problems. Furthermore, if you try to change airlines, you could have more trouble. And yes, there was a fee for the firearms, it wasn’t too bad at the time (2015), but it has gone up from what I understand.

I won’t go so far as to say I’d never use BA again, but they’re down the list for certain now.

I’m considering this same BA/BA trip through London, but departing from either DFW or IAH instead. I’ve heard bad things before about London with guns and because of that I’ve taken Qatar or Delta on my other trips. Unfortunately Qatar is blacked out at this time so I can’t use miles for the two flights and their tickets are 2x the price of a BA flight. I’m probably going to travel through London and see if the guns get through. I’ve been told if they don’t, they sit in a safe and get put back on your return flight.

Between having miles to burn, the best status with OneWorld, and having a bunch of system wide upgrades it should let me book the two round trip Business Class tickets for just the cost of taxes/fees. This is basically a savings of $8-10k a person on comparable tickets and $4500 cash in my pocket towards other aspects of the tip. I figure if the guns don’t make it, I rent rifles from the PH/Outfitter.

My question for you @PHOENIX PHIL or anyone who’s flow LHR is how long have your layovers been and did it give you enough time to leave the airport for a bit or did you just go to one of the Lounges?