chloe

I thought that might interest others thinking about bringing a dog. Although everything else is the same as far as vets and quarrantine, it's far cheaper to have the dog accompany you that shipping as unaccompanied cargo.

We won't actually be doing it for four or five months, but if we go that route it'll be cheaper to return to France and get the pup than to have him shipped. We checked with the Oz authorties and they say it's OK as long as he doesn't leave the cage in Mauritius.

We'll probably talk to an animal shipper about the cage, though, and maybe have them set it up for us. We know we need things like double-ball water bottles, but 24 hours, on an airplane and tarmac, is a bit long to chance doing it without some experienced advice.

Another tip for anyone travelling with a dog (if you do it this way, you're travelling together) - always ask before you board on if your dog is on the plane already. They can call down to the cargo people and be sure. It's very important - that's one piece of baggage you don't want to have to go missing for five days.

It almost happened to us once - the reply from cargo came back, "What dog?" In the end, the pup got on, but the rest of the bags didn't, and were lost for a while.

I think they told me 300 euro for the excess baggage fee for the cage dimensions.

wintersgills

Ime Understood That Quantas Are The Only Airline Allowed To Transport Live Animals In To Australia Mite Be Worth Asking About I Shipped My Boxer To Sydney

Tiggs+Graz

i had not even thought of this as an option- does the dog go in the cabin or is it still carried as cargo?

i have to admit that the thought of my dog on the flight is more worrying than the thought of moving my family to oz!
tiggs

Pollyana

It won't travel in the cabin - think of 24 hours sitting next to someone's slobbering dog...... (I know they don't all slobber, but you can see what I mean!)

mumomonty

Wise words. Ask before you get on and don't lodge your luggage before they tell you the dog is on.
i've done this twice now and it works. They will check because they want you on the flight!

Tiggs+Graz

i am pretty sure that some airlines flying to/from certain countries will let you take the dog in the cabin - unless i have been imagining things again!!

Pollyana

I think some will, but not for 24 hours plus..... UK-Germany is one thing, but UK- Aus.... :scared:

Tiggs+Graz

yes of course you are right - how would you persuade your pooch that you are not stopping for a toilet break?!!

i wonder if i could do the trip in stages?!! only joking!!

Pollyana

I have this image of people in transit somewhere like Hong Kong, roaming the airport with their dogs and cats....perhaps ther could be a "doggy room" like the smoking room........ only instead of being full of smoke, the air is full of :scared:

chloe

Full of...

What is she trying to say? What happened that she wasn't able to finish her sentence?

Well, I guess she didn't just because it's so obvious. "... the air full of the sounds of happy dogs, full of tails zipping back and forth as devoted pups are overcome with joy at being freed from their cages and reuniting with their noble owners."

Wow.

I mean, I just couldn't have said it better myself.

I just - I'm sorry - just a moment while we wipe wipe the tears. Such a... sniff... such a touching scene, such a beautiful, beautiful sentiment.

marvinc

alipally

I'm quite pleased that this has been posted, we got an airpets quote today £2500 it did include all the form fillng.... but I downloaded all the costs from the Aussie gov. site and the forms, quarantine, kennel fees, vets fees all came to just under £600..... Surely £1900 can't be the cost of the flight and cage????? She's a big dog (weimaraner) but still... it's cheaper to take the kids!!
Has anyone got a quote just for the crate hire/purchase and the flight?
Ali Jon and Sasha (woof!!)

rugbymatt

Im I'mre someone else will tell you this but i seam to remember a similar thread to this in which someone said that the airlines wont take bookings for animals from individuals, but i may be wrong!

Humphrey Seamen

I've heard taking your dog Air Korea is the cheapest option.

Just don't eat the on board stew.

chloe

This is going to be a bit long. It's for people really looking into this, so don't anybody get crazy about the length. I'm going to tell you what we know, only because it seems we might have some worthwhile information to share.

First to answer a general question - you usually can take a dog with you on a plane (but not a snake, at least not in the cabin, at least not unless you bring Sam Jackson to swear at it). Small dogs, up to maybe a small Westie, can go in a little cage that fits under the seat in front of you. You pay a little for this and only one allowed per section, to book early.

Most dogs go in the cargo hold, at a charge of 50 to 300 dollars, from what we've seen.

A very long flight is different. I can understand the reluctance to take dogs as accompanied baggage, since it they're not packaged right, they'll have a hard time making the trip. They need special water bottles (with ample water - a lot more than they'd normally need for that period), etc.

As far as this Air Mauritius deal, we can't believe it either. We called many airlines before finding them - which is why I thought I'd share it with others. We've double checked and contacted Australia quarantine. They say seals have to be on the cage and arrive unbroken - a vet puts them on at the departure airport - and it has to be an IATA accepted cage. That's from Paris. I don't know about London. Mauritius is a higher (safer) category than France, as is the UK, so I think it's not a worry about the dog picking up an illness there.

It does seem too good to be true, especially after all the checking into the pet shipping company prices. I'm just afraid the shippers or whoever will rush to shut it down. (What!? You can't get away with that. You have to pay thousands to bring your dog!) Or maybe we just misunderstood something. But so far it seems for real.

I stress that I've only talked to the airline twice and emailed Aus. quarantine. I would not trust them with my pup tomorrow. I still want to be very sure before I go that route: I'll talk to the airline again, actually speak with someone at Aus. quarrantine and make very sure. The pup will stay in France until we're ready to bring him over.

As far as the cost, the difference is excess baggage accompanying you (a much lower fee) vs. shipping an animal as cargo, which is something like ten times the price - as if you were trying to ship a crate or suitcase same-day-air all the way to Australia. That's why it's so expensive. There's also exras, including a bit of profit for the shipping company (but I'm not maligning them - a good one will do a lot to keep your pup alive and comfortable). If you've ever tried to send a dog without you, you find it's usually cheaper to going along for the ride. (Imagine it was your dog is taking you to Australia for free, instead of the other way around. Always knew he'd come in useful for something.)

Lots of other stuff for anyone really bored or really interested in flying with dog info:

Crate purchase gets weird. A few years ago, OH was taking his pup from Paris. All the crates from the shops along Quai de la Megisserie were over 200 euro, and didn't look all that sturdy. He called up Air France, who sold him a large crate for about 50 euro, which he could, conveniently, pick up at the airport. And it was much sturdier, officially approved airline crate.

So contacting the airline about crates is a good start. And then I want to see if I can find an experienced shipper who will help me set up the cage properly.

OH has two friends who work in baggage, and they told him little things to do like put a note on the outside saying your dog's name and such - because the crate might sit around for a while, and if the handlers know the name, it's more real and they'll try to be nice to it. They also suggested taping some treats to the cage - the bored handlers will usually push some through the grill and that, they say, can help calm a nervous dog. It'll also make the handlers more friendly towards him.

We also put a little background on the outside of the, so if it's a hot day or something else, like the cage somehow does get lost, it won't just be a parcel sitting there, but a crazy bouncy dog that makes woo-woo noises when he sees people he loves and is kind to children and adores tangerines and brocolli.

Just a couple little quirky things. Maybe it's silly, but we haven't had a cage battered about since we did it. If there's a delay and they're sitting there on the tarmac waiting for the flight and the cage is roasting in the sun, or freezing in the cold, a couple personality notes might help make them a little more inclined to do what they can. Ideally, the dog's relationship with the bag handlers shouldn't last more than a few minutes. But ideally doesn't always happen in air travel, and should the cage and dog miss a connection...


Also, once I had no cash leaving the US with the dog. Our bag handler friend, who'd driven me to the airport, slipped me five dollars to tip the man who came to collect the cage.

Since he is one of the stingiest people on the planet - he takes back used socks - I assume it's important to tip that person.


We do check our bags without the pup being on the plane, but we would ask and wait at the gate until we hear it come back over the walkie talkie that the dog's on. It's not a selfish or demanding thing to do - it's a regular part of the ramp agent's job and I've never had them seem bothered by it at all. If the dog's not on yet, we wait to board. Again, they never have been bothered by this, even when they were frustrated because they couldn't find the dog.

Sometimes you can actually see the dog cage on the luggage cart. On Air France, we watched them load everything but our dog. Just as we were getting concerned, they finished all the other bags and we realized why she was last - the wanted to put her on last so she'd be comfortable and not stressed by a hundred bags thrown around her cage. They all three took parts of the crate, very gently lifted it together, and then one rode up the conveyor with her while another waved to her and and smiled as she went up. You could say were were impressed.

(The other end of the scale we found was Air Europa. This was just the OH, but he collected his precious pup from the baggage carousel, going around and around shaking, and the heavy, nearly indestructable plastic cage badly damaged. I could go on and on - I later met a woman who worked for AE who said, unprompted, that the hardest part of her job was watching how they treat the dogs - but it's probably not relevant to this forumn, is it?)

Also, be aware of the temperature. If you're changing international flights in Mauritius the cage could be sitting on a baggage cart on the tarmac for a while. (Hence the little notes on the outside of the cage - if anyone gets to actually flying with AM, feel free to ask us for help with the translation.)

We'll make sure it won't be a particularly roasty time in Mauritius when we go. Also, OH has an aquaintance who worked for Air France and was living in Mauritius last he heard, so when we're actually scheduling the flight, he'll see if he can use that contact to ask someone in baggage there to keeping an eye out for that flight and and make sure the transfer goes smoothly, that pup isn't left out to roast in the sunshine, etc.

In the US, you may know, they don't take dogs at all in for about six months of the year, due to too many dying from the heat of the hot sun on the baggage cart if there's a delay. So, it's important.


That's most of what I know for the moment. I hope anyone who checks into it further will post back and let us know. We would like some reassurance we didn't just hallucinate this to cheer ourselves up during an attack of date-fast-approaching jitters.