morgansseeal

Hi,
Probably a bit last minute, flying on Monday from Gatwick to Edmonton with our 2 year old jack Russell. She's had a her jabs, drops tabs etc, she has a pet passport which states her rabies vaccination is up to date. Is this all I need, just seems a bit too easy to me, am I missing something? Any info would be gratefully received

Aviator

Booking the dog in as freight on the flight? You don't just turn up at check in and take them though as carry on (unless you visited a taxidermist before you leave).

Tootlepootle

Who are you flying with? Some airlines won't take them during the summer months. The dog must be booked in ahead of schedule and be in the right sized crate. We also had to have our dog certified fit to fly within 72hours of flying

morgansseeal

Thanks for the replies.
Flying with Air Transat, I've paid $275 for her to fly, got the correct sized crate. Apparently I go to Gatwick, check my baggage in and then they take me to another area at the airport where they will check my dog and paperwork, I.e rabies certificate (pet passport), pay an extra $30 at the airport. This was what the airline told me on the phone anyway.
FYI if flying with Air Canada you can check your dog in as excess baggage and can actually have them in the cabin sitting by your feet, without the need to visit a taxidermist! Lol
I will get my vet to write me a fit to fly letter just in case, but I can't find anywhere where it tells you that you need one. Been onto the government website and says that you just need the rabies certificate.
Just thought I was missing something major as it seems so cheap and easy!
I have someone on standby to collect her from the airport if I have it completely wrong and she can't fly

Tootlepootle

If you have all your paperwork it is very easy, they hardly glanced at my dogs papers, but its always best to get everything you can just in case. I hope it all goes well. Just remember not to feed him/her too soon before you fly.......

christmasoompa

Don't forget to make sure she's on your GTF list!

DandNHill

When our dog flew three years ago we had to take her to the Cargo area in North terminal. You couldn't have done it on public transport after checking in though.
My suggestion would be to make sure that you can get to wherever it is you need to drop the dog off before checking in yourselves.
Once at the cargo place it was very simple although very weird to see my dog, in her crate, being strapped to a pallet and being driven away to somewhere unknown!

pip_is_fab

We just 2 weeks ago brought our rabbit with airtransat from Gatwick. We had to drop her off with the cargo handlers prior to the flight, which is a separate area of the airport, just as the poster above did.
It was all very straightforward and pain free, though quite a bit of waiting around in Vancouver as there was a lot of checks she had to go through prior to being released to us.

morgansseeal

Thank you for your replies and advice. Flying tomorrow!

morgansseeal

Just thought I would write an update to let fellow travellers how it went. It was all so smooth and simple. I booked my flights through air transat, cost $275 for our dog. Made sure she had her rabies jab and purchased a pet passport for her which was 35 pound.
Flew from gatwick, checked my baggage in, then was told to wait for someone to come and collect my dog and me. Walked to a separate area, which took 10 mins,where they looked at her crate and paperwork very briefly,then we waved her off!
Arrived at edmonton airport 9 hours later and my dog was waiting in the baggage area, we could hear her barking as we walked in to collect our cases. Went through immigration with her, where they again checked her pet passport only and very briefly and that was it! Very easy and straight forward!

Siouxie

Perfect!