Sharing rifle and ammo case on BA flight

[sh1kar]

A few of us are heading to Moz in the autumn. After Qatar has messed us about moving and cancelling flights with turnaround time for Airlink too tight we are now inclined to get the refund and go BA as it provides a 4 hour turnaround time at Joberg
But of course the BA firearms charges are expensive

Question. Can a mate and I share my pelicase and ammo box? I can’t recall if the charges are per rifle or per case. Obviously we will need to keep the ammo under 5kg

I think discussed before in here but can’t find the thread

S

 

[stevec]

I am in the same position and I now have both of the rifles we are taking on my certificate, one for my use and one for transport and storage only, so I plan to take them both in one case and take both under my name.

 

[sh1kar]

We tend to use Air2000. We will have 4 hours in way in and c 7 hours on way out at Joberg with BA so all good. Generally we don’t do over nighters in SA but we do stay Pemba overnight with friends on the way home

I don’t have my mates rifle on my fac hence the question. I do have .275 for the ammo although Ltd to 5kg and me taking 40 rounds of 500 NE not sure how many that will leave him

 

[stevec]

40 rounds of .500NE, that sounds exciting!

 

[EMcC]

I was told that it is £125 per case with a £50 handling charge each way so £600.
When speaking to the person I said that works out quite expensive but he told me to secure my ammo in a box and put it in the case with my rifle and that would save me £125.
I told him I did not think this was allowed and he assured me it was.
I was not too happy about that so telephoned the next day to enquire and was told, absolutely not allowed as that was what I thought in the first place.
So there you are. the system is not even understood by the people working for BA.

 

[CAG2011]

Hi , we plan on travelling to SA in late April, myself and husband .

Will be honest won't be using BA. We have used SAA, Swiss Air, Lufthansa and Qatar before and have always used one rifle box and one ammo box sharing our rifles etc, though we have always told the carrier in advance plus Border Force in advance so everyone does know. I appreciate husband and wife may help, though I will check if we did travel before we were married.

Rgds

 

[Sika98k]

Why not fly with Ethiopian airlines via Addis Ababa to Maputo ? I just put a couple of dates in October into their App and return £585. Nothing wrong with that.
With all the grief people experience at Oliver Tambo Jo,burg I’d be inclined to avoid the place. I have ! 6 trips to Namibia and no real inclination to hunt in S. Africa, first reason being the shakedown in Jo,burg.
@Safari Hunter traveled with Ethiopian recently and gave a favourable report on the journey.

 

[Dunwaters]

Sad news is that you’re totally at the mercy of the check in staff, whatever interpretation they put on the regs is what you end up dealing with and a lot of check in staff aren’t trained to deal with firearms.
If you create an issue they’re inclined to ask you to stand aside, then deal with the rest of the queue and leave you to cool your heels until a supervisor is summoned and your flight is boarding, then they leave you with the Super and leg it to the boarding gate. The supervisor tends to agree with whatever the check in staff says, and you end up sweating like a paedophile in a clown costume, Aer Lingus/ BA are particularly creative and obstructive and Aer Lingus wont allow more than one firearm per case.
Read the terms and conditions, email, get a response and print everything off, dont be aggressive or do anything that will let the staff claim that you were aggressive because you’re on camera, and allow far more time than you think reasonable for check in.
At the prices being charged its pretty obvious that most airlines dont want to carry firearms and that Heathrow in particular doesn’t want you on the premises with one, personally I’ve given up, rent or borrow on arrival.
Sometimes the stress and expense just ain’t worth it.

 

[308tikka]

You can share a rifle case. You just need to both be there and present FACs to border force.

Be aware of some peculiar rules in SA - not that Ive seen them enforced - but cant bring in 2 rifles of same (military) calibre.

They dont appear to be able to read chamberings however on the proof marks. They look for serial numbers on action.

 

[308tikka]

I might add that my days of going to SA are probably over. Absolute joke of a place.

 

[devon deer stalker]

Sad news is that you’re totally at the mercy of the check in staff, whatever interpretation they put on the regs is what you end up dealing with and a lot of check in staff aren’t trained to deal with firearms.
If you create an issue they’re inclined to ask you to stand aside, then deal with the rest of the queue and leave you to cool your heels until a supervisor is summoned and your flight is boarding, then they leave you with the Super and leg it to the boarding gate. The supervisor tends to agree with whatever the check in staff says, and you end up sweating like a paedophile in a clown costume, Aer Lingus/ BA are particularly creative and obstructive and Aer Lingus wont allow more than one firearm per case.
Read the terms and conditions, email, get a response and print everything off, dont be aggressive or do anything that will let the staff claim that you were aggressive because you’re on camera, and allow far more time than you think reasonable for check in.
At the prices being charged its pretty obvious that most airlines dont want to carry firearms and that Heathrow in particular doesn’t want you on the premises with one, personally I’ve given up, rent or borrow on arrival.
Sometimes the stress and expense just ain’t worth it.

That was the exact same experience I had with Delta on my second visit to the US, first visit ammo in hold luggage, all fine, then a rule change, ammo in case with rifle, I queried well before I arrived, yes all ok.
Got to check-in and security, no way can you do that.
They just hung around chatting with time ticking away, in the end I said 'get me the police!' that shocked them, but with my stress levels through the roof they did, the police were very helpful, I signed the ammo over to them and I got my flight, the rifle missed the flight, got it sent over the next day.
Taking a rifle/ammo overseas just isn't worth the hassle, if I do it again I will borrow one when I get to the destination.
Cheers
Richard

 

[Mick9abf]

Taking a rifle/ammo overseas just isn't worth the hassle, if I do it again I will borrow one when I get to the destination.
Cheers
Richard

That’s what I’ve done for years now, makes for a far less stressful experience and doesn’t leave you with worries of storage if you go to do stuff before or after the hunting side of things.

 

[Safari Hunter]

Had a talking to afew years ago about a mate and my firearm in the same case. Was told don't do it again in Joburg so now play safe just in case.

 

[Too Deer]

Back when BA introduced their £125 charge, I spent a significant amount of time on the phone confirming precisely what the terms and conditions were so that I could make the most informed choice possible about who myself and 10 others should fly with. I was told that the cost was "per firearm" not "per case". As such, I chose to book with another airline that year as their charges stood to add around £1500 to the cost of return flights.

Fast forward a year or 2 and I was headed to Canada with a similar number of people. BA offered the best value for money, despite their charges so, we flew BA. Both on the way out and on our return, the check-in staff only charged per case resulting in a significant reduction in the overall anticipated cost. Since then, a number of my colleagues have had similar experiences flying with BA.

In short, you may legally share a case. However, BA's policy is that they charge per firearm, not per case...... However, most of the airport staff seem to be unaware of this and charge per case regardless.

Expect to be charged per case but be prepared to be charged per firearm.