Hi! I just posted for the first time, but I will become part of the community!
My husband and I are trying to figure out the best route to take with our cat Winston. Would it be best to send home the day before we leave, so we can pick him up on our way home after we land. My girls are very worried about that!
We're landing at Heathrow

That kind of depends on where you are coming from.

Is Pa Palo Alto, Pennsylvania or Paraguay?

Pennsylvania!

Hi and welcome! I am going home in November with my cat and she is flying on the same flight as us (British airways) from Seattle to Heathrow. I employed Pet Relocation Services to assist me and I think the money is well spent. $2400 for me. They will take her from us in Seattle, handle all the tons of paperwork and greet her in London taking her to the pet relocation centre, where we will eventually get her. I am told it takes several hours for her to be released so we will stay in a hotel that night before traveling to Scotland via train the next day.
Hope this helps

Chris

I think a pet relocation company is best for peace of mind. Lots of jet-setting pets these days! Peeps even preferring to cruise across from NYC to Southampton on the QM2 on account of the comfort of their pets! Don't forget your cat will need to be prepared for the 'pet passport.'

First, I can not recommend strongly enough to use a professional pet shipper as one tiny mistake and they may refuse it entry.
Second is I wouldn't send a day before. My advice would be to send it a few hours ahead so it is ready for collection when you arrive. Good pet shippers will usually advise on which flights to book for you and the cat.

Is that the total cost, including airfare?

Yes, her airfare was $1250 (more than ours!) that includes all the paperwork, overnight shipping of documents to USDA in our area, etc.

I have just brought over my dog from Australia using Jetpets. They were in touch all of the way at each stage of my dog's journey. I was only on the last leg of the flight from Dubai to Manchester and I collected him about 2 hours after we landed. He looked at bit dazed at first but then was all excited when he saw us. Highly recommend. He's a Jack Russell cross at 8.4kg and it cost us $2850 plus a extra $489 when I upsized the crate. That was from ACT - SYD - Dubai - Manchester.

I really wish I had a smaller dog after reading that! This is what it cost to fly our 46kg golden retriever from Perth to Manchester with delivery to Liverpool, they had to custom make a crate for him It was worth it though, the service is run by a vet and he came to our home to do Murphy's treatment, and again the day before he flew to do the pre-flight check. Then he picked him up himself at 2am in the morning to take him to the airport

Thank you for your enquiry via our website. I have attached a quote of $4130.00 for Murphy’s veterinary preparation and travel to Liverpool. The quote includes the required Rabies vaccination and parasite treatment, veterinary examination, a travel crate with bedding, transfer to Perth airport from your home, Australian government fees, the flights to Manchester with Emirates, all clearances on arrival and delivery to your home in Liverpool. The quoted cost also includes a rest stop in Dubai which all pets travelling with Emirates are required to have.

LOL Yes they cost a fortune but well worth it! Now the dog has to get used to the English countryside smells (and nettles) LOL and of course the rain, plenty of it. We also flew Emirates and had the rest stop too included in the price. The crate was so big though we couldn't fit it in the car, so donated it to the Pets on Jets at Manchester!

Factor in the weather too, I'm flying a couple of hours ahead of my puppy, and my shipping lady has prepared me to have a contingency plan, because If the temp hits 30, the airline will not ship her!! (Forecast is for 28 😱 Fingers crossed for lower temps!)

30? Is that all. Is was 41 in Dubai when my dog through it. They off load from the flight using an air conditioned van, take them to an air conditioned centre so they can stretch their legs, then back in an air conditioned van to the aircraft. If they applied a 30 rule in Oz, there are some major cities that would never qualify to fly pets!

We just shipped our 4 pets from Texas to Edinburgh in April, before the heat hit and were thrilled with Airpets America. Kelly and Miranda could not have been more helpful and were available to take my calls on a daily basis! I did a lot of the work myself and they were there in an advisory position keeping me right the whole way along.. from memory our dogs flights were around $2000. Different airlines have different rules i.e., some charge for each individual animal others charge per weight of the cargo. Airpets America were the only company to advise us of that and run the options past us. I called several companies and spoke with them all. Cannot say enough good things about them and their pricing. Nobody was more stressed about getting our dogs home than me. They are our babies.

Hi, in 2014 I came back with my cat from Japan. He flew from Tokyo to London and I paid a company to deliver Lucifer (yes) to out house from Heathrow so I didn't pick him up at the airport. I hope this can be of help to you.
Unfortunately he died in 2015 and I will never forget him.