cushdee

Just been loking at flight prices

I cant believe it :

Single Journey from LGW to Calgary £1030 In may

but a return journey is £430 to Calgary and £430 Return To LGW?! thats crazy!!

Basically because I only need a single i have to pay an Extra £600? surely that cant be right? am i missing something?

Surely i could book a Return and just not use it? Or is that a big NO NO

Almost Canadian

That is fine

cheeky_monkey

who are you looking to book with?..and if you buy a return they hardly going to hunt you down and make you get on the return flight.

cushdee

Great! The reason is I am trying to take over my dog with me will this be a problem by booking a return then not using it?

cushdee

THis is with BA the reason im using them is due to Air transat wont take pets on their planes anymore its either air canada or BA .
Now im thinking what if i was to book a retun date like 7 months down the line can i do this as we will be coming home for xmas anyway?!

Bucks_Family

What class are you looking to travel in!?! :-)
I've just checked on canadian affair for a single LGW -> YYC on 10th May (a random date) and it pulled up 4 flights around that date, ranging between £469 and £569.
I think you just missed the latest CA promotion, it finished yesterday, but it wasn't really worth bothering with anyway, it was £30 off an instant-purchase return flight.

Bucks_Family

I'm afraid this is piffle, who told you that? I've just booked my two dogs to fly with my family and I in August on our Air Transat flight. It's MAN to YYC but I'm sure they'd carry pets from LGW in May. £180 per pet, by the way. Have a look at this thread about flying pets to Canada http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=782352

cushdee

Really?! When i rung up Canadain Affair they said they dont take them?! i called them yesterday? The girl said "hold on let me ask my supervisor" and then came back and said no?

Bucks_Family

In a nutshell, you need to book your own flight with Air Transat (either directly through the AT website or through Canadian Affair - we booked through the CA website) then you ring AT in Montreal and speak to a nice human being. You give them your flight booking ref, the breed of dog (no naughty breeds allowed) and you swear blind that you'll have the right paperwork and Fido will be in the correct type of travel crate, and they ask for your credit card number. 24-48 hours later you get an email confirming your dog's booking. This does depend on them not having used up all the pet-spaces on that particular flight (the limit is 5 per flight, I think).
Check this link about AT and pets.

boybiskit

I had a similar issue with 1 way flights before. I just ended up booking an open return. it costs more but you know you'll use the return leg at some point. I used it for a surprise family Christmas visit. Many brownie points!

cheeky_monkey

actually a 400 notes return to Calgary with BA seems a pretty sweet deal to me

cushdee

Just rung up Air Transat you right they do take dogs! The only problem we face is they dont fly them back home? As we're probably gonna be coming home for xmas The plan was to Book a Return ticket with me and the dog but now Im stuck as to what to do!!

Bucks_Family

If your return home for Christmas is just a short holiday trip, why bring your dog back? Kennel him in Calgary, that seems fairer than two more transatlantic flights (unless you can get frequent flyer miles for him/her? :-) )?
And I agree with cheeky_monkey, if you can get a BA return for May/December for £430, you're doing well! I see those flights starting at £700 and that's with American, not BA. With BA though you will have to use a 3rd-party company to arrange your dog transportation, and they don't come cheap, you'll be talking thousands for a return trip, depending on the dog's weight.

cushdee

Yeah i see what your saying! It would only be a short trip so maybe kennels would be a better option! The BA flight is £430 each way.. I have seen a AT flight at £350 Plus the £180 for the dog so think this is the best option! Thanks for your help though seriously would not know they took dogs otherwise!! Im gonna book my flights through Canadian Affair and then ring AT and tell them the details and then RELAX lol its been a hectic few days!

Bucks_Family

No problem, that's what BE is for :-) The thread I linked to earlier saved us over £500, as we assumed we'd need to send our larger dog as cargo, but we don't, he just goes as excess baggage for £180 too. Bargain.