Marmalade

Hi everyone,

I had originally planned to take my two cats back home with me to Scotland using BMI, Chicago to Manchester. But, unfortunately BMI has cancelled that route on the 14th of January.

I'm now looking into flying my pets from Chicago to Heathrow via either Virgin Airways or British Airways. I know that many of you say that Virgin has excellent service, but I have noticed that the price of my ticket would be a lot more using Virgin than on British Airways (I plan to fly in June/July).

So, does anyone have any recent experience using British Airways in moving their pets from US to UK, or even UK to US? Would love to hear any experiences you can share.

Thanks.

dunroving

Not recently, but Suzy flew with BA in 2000 (unaccompanied), 2001 (accompanied) and 2006 (accompanied). Every time, she was treated like royalty and came out the other end with her tail wagging. From similar threads over the years, BA gets a pretty good report re: transporting pets. When/if I ever head back, I wouldn't hesitate to use BA again.

Re: Virgin vs. BA animal flight costs, I think that BA includes costs of the paperwork at the UK end in the "ticket" charge, whereas with Virgin it's tacked on separately (so Virgin may look cheapest for animals but I think all in all both cost about the same for animals). I think if you fly animals with Virgin you simply have a separate contract with the processors at the UK end and pay them separately (I think when you pick up the animal at the Animal Reception Area).

Big D

we used Continental last week for our cat and they were very good (stupid prices though) but going out we used BA and they were very good

Scout

We used British Airways a little over 3 years ago from Atlanta to Gatwick. They were great. I have no complaints.

Marmalade

Thanks everyone. Puts my mind at rest that BA is a decent airline to travel with pets. Won't know who I pick until closer to the time, though. Thanks again.

Although it would be much easier if at least one airline was authorized to ship the pets to a Scottish airport, it would make life a lot easier. Oh well, can't have everything

Marmalade

When you say "stupid prices," do you mean they were very expensive?

dunroving

Back in 2000, I think Suzy flew to Glasgow via LHR (unaccompanied). They took care of her at LHR Animal Reception Centre, put her in a kennel between flights, cleaned the crate, etc. .... not sure if this is still possible, or even a feasible option for you.

Maybe better to fly to an English Airport and catch the train home ... ?

Marmalade

Why was she unaccompanied if you don't mind me asking? Did you only go to Glasgow, and she did the round about flight and you met her in Glasgow?

I will definitely have to look into how I can accomplish my trip with two cats - Cunard sounds better every day

dunroving

For several reasons, it was not feasible for Suzy to fly at the same time as me. I left her with Pat (the woman who ran the rescue agency from where I got Suzy), who kept her for a couple of weeks. She then drove Suzy to Atlanta Airport and took her to BA Cargo, etc. Pat had lots of experience shipping dogs all over so she knew the score. She was an angel.

When Suzy was at the LHR Animal Reception Centre, I gave them a call and they told me she had arrived, was in a kennel waiting on her next flight, was in good shape, etc. They were great.

Marmalade

Thanks for the info. I will have to do a lot of calling around to get the right information on connecting flights etc, to see what they do now. If I can get the cat's connecting flights to Scotland it will be a lot easier, hopefully.

johnh009

I seems it is going to cost me more to ship my cat than it is my wife. Oh well, I suppose it is a question of priorities.

Marmalade

Isn't that the truth. Pet travel is very expensive

Scout

It cost more for us to ship our dog Scout than it did for both of us to fly. We could have bought 3 tickets for what we paid to fly her. Personally, at those prices she should have at least been able to fly in business class.