Going on my first trip to South Africa in May. I’m a little frustrated with airlines and the travel arrangements that I’m seeing. Is it the norm that you have to stay overnight in Johannesburg before flying to Port Elizabeth? I’m flying from the East Coast. Has anyone ever used Steve Turner travel with guns. Where you satisfied with them and their flight arrangements. Business class tickets are just too much money and out of my price range, how do you survive a 16 hour flight flying economy? Or really is this just the way it is and I have to suck it up? Any suggestions would be helpful,.

If you are on a 16 hour flight from the U.S. it will probably arrive in the evening and so, yes, you'll have to overnight. If you go through Europe or the Middle-East you can get a flight that arrives at JNB in the morning and fly out to Port Elizabeth a few hours later.

Economy - I'm tall and so I pay to upgrade to a bulkhead or exit row seat.

I haven't used Steve but have heard lots of good reports about him.

If your going Delta, you are stuck overnighting at JNB. As stated above Europe or Middle East flights arrive early morning. Travel with Guns and Gracy are both used a lot. Look at google flights. Sometime Emirates has business class direct cheap to JNB.

Call TravelWithGuns and make your life a lot easier. They are extremely good at what they do.

RS

Hi Grayfox,

If you are flying from the east coast to joberg. you will arrive in the afternoon. you will have to transit checking of your rifle. The time depends on the number of other hunter doing the same. It has taken from 45 minutes to 3.5 hours, some days the lines are out the door.

The last flight that i found is at 6:15PM and you will not make this one or it would be real close if you were the only one doing the rifle service that day.

I would suggest that you stay at the airport, and fly out early the following day.

I am also traveling through Joberg in May and maybe we will get to say hi.

KLM has a flight that arrives around 10pm, so not all flights from Europe arrive early morning.

You get a bit more excited by the privilege of going on safari! What's your reason for going? After ten years we get to go again. There's movies, personal entertainment, eBooks, Ambien, ...

Ambien causes hallucinations in some people. I just take a couple of Nyquil after boarding. Benadryl also works.

For surviving the flight, I asked my Doctor if he could prescribe me something that would put me to sleep but not leave me feeling hung over once I woke up. He said sure, prescribed some muscle relaxers, and they worked like a charm. I slept for the majority of the flight. Woke up right before we were to land, and never felt groggy at all. One little pill was all it took. You might ask your Doc and see what he (or she) says.

Yes it is common to overnight in Johannesburg

Stay at African Sky Guesthouse

Yes I have used Steve Turner......I will never use anyone but him

South African Air has a morning (1115am) flight out of JFK . You'll arrive 3:45 pm , next day in Port Elizabeth with no overnight stay required. I did that trip last April.

I'd (if I ever take a third trip to Africa.....port Elizabeth) not take guns with me....it's common for folks to do that and it can be a real hassle at times.....Borrow a gun from your outfitter.....its just a lot easier to not have to put up with dumb a$$e$ at the airport....and don't forget....even though your luggage is checked all the way to Port Elizabeth, when you enter another country, you have to recheck it again

Considering Delta refuses to carry back the Big 5 and now told the NRA piss off. That's the last airline I would fly to Africa.

I went elephant hunting in Zim this past April. Flew Quatar business class to Doha, had a layover there and then flew Quatar to Joberg. Had a three hour layover in Joberg and then flew SAA to Harare. Trip was hassle free, even though I had my .470 in tow. No overnight in Joberg was necessary with this itinerary. My PH met me at the Meikles Hotel in Harare the next morning and we drove to camp together. I try to avoid Joberg whenever possible. Qatar also flies from Doha to Cape Town. It all depends on where your final destination is. Strongly recommend working with a travel professional who specializes in African hunting.

I'll second the recommendation to take the AM flight out of JFK airport in NY. Gets you into Joberg in time to catch most connecting flights without an overnight in Joberg. I've done this flight several times without any problems making connections to Namibia and Botswana. Check out the available flights on the SAA website.

I took the 11:00 AM flight out of JFK to Joberg on SAA, 15 hour flight, no AC and my monitor for the movie didn't work. I took a sleeping pill and it didn't work (I can't sleep on planes). Arrived in Joberg at 8:30 AM, Afton House lost my gun permit (2 hour delay), they overbooked so we went to Eland House to try and sleep, no dice. You may just have to suck it up. It sounds like it's going to get bad over there, you may want to cancel. Them fuggers in Joberg were looking at us like we were walking ATM's! The hunt was great! Good luck!

I went to PE last May.
Here to Seattle...couple hours.
Seattle to Dubai was like 15 hrs.
Then to JoBerg, another 10.
Then to PE.
Then a van ride of a couple more hours....
I wanted to shoot myself in the head at this point, as I can't sleep on planes.
But the human body is funny......
as I actually went on a game ride THAT evening and started the best adventure of my life.

So, in short,
the flight will suck.
It will be worth it.

Slave

P.S. We rented guns. It's cheap. Damn cheap.