Hi, I am on gatwick to vancouver on 9th april

dog booked and paid for

not looked into the details yet, but will post details when i get a chance

I flew from Gatwick last Saturday. You just turn up, go straight to check in and they handle it all for you. Really easy

That's good to know - thanks. What size dog do you have and how was he/ she after the journey?where did you have to go to to collect him/her?

Did you take your dog to the cargo bay?

How far is it from dropping the dog off to check in?

I am on my own with lots of bags and need to pre-plan it

how far in advance timewise did you check the dog in before your flight time?

thanks

We flew Air Transat, Glasgow to Toronto ten days ago with our dog Hemi. He is a retriever/husky cross so quite a big guy and generally he's quite a chilled out dog and not nervy. We had got him the largest size vari kennel.

We just took him to the check in desk with us, they didn't really know what to do and we ended up walking back and forward through the terminal building following one of the check in staff as the tried to figure it out, clearly they don't handle a lot of pets! Once they figured it out we got to the right door and two guys appeared. We shoved Hemi in his kennel and away they took him.

By this point it was quite close to the flight time and we had to make our way quickly through security and onto the plane. The ground staff spoke to us just before we boarded and assured us he was on the plane and he was fine. They told us he was the only pet on board and to make sure the captain had the hold heating on for him. This ofcourse had me panicking that we'd be picking up a dogsicle at the other end!

Once on the plane we got one of the cabin crew to check about the heating and were assured that the pilot knew and the heating was on.

At the other end it was a bit weird to be honest. We had to sort out the kids visitor permits at the border, so going through immigration took a bit longer than normal. By the time we got to the luggage area most people had gone and our cases were just going around the carousel. We then went to find Hemi and were directed to excess baggage and there he was, just sat quietly in his kennel on his own beside the golf bags and push chairs!!

So we just took him from there. We then got directed to customs where they stamped our goods to follow list and said hello to Hemi, but no vet check, no-one asked for his paper work or anything, despite us being very meticulous about making sure we had everything in order!

Then that was it we just walked out of the exit doors and let him out of his kennel! He was fine, hadn't been sick or anything and was VERY pleased to see us and be free again.

didnt you have to pay at customs ? when we came (nov 2011) from gatwick-toronto we had to take our dog to freight terminal with all the paperwork and then had a real run around to pick him up at toronto. we had to go to freight terminal, then customs to pay a fee then back to freight to get him. he had been in his kennel 15 hours but didnt wet his bed,although he did have yellow eyes when i picked him up and stood at the tree outside for 10 mins

A very helpful post, thanks, and it's great your dog was fine after his adventure. Your post throws up several questions from us..:

It sounds like your dog would be about the same size, if not bigger, than one of ours (we're taking two in August from Manchester to Calgary). Our dog, at 23kg, plus his extra-large sky kennel (15kg) would be well over what we thought was the single-item limit for excess baggage, of 32kg. That seems to be the limit put in place as the maximum weight of one item that the baggage handlers will lift.
So we've booked our larger dog to go as cargo, still on the same flight as us, and so we will take him to the cargo area 3 or 4 hours before the flight, and leave him there, we wouldn't be taking him to the check in desk. A space has been reserved on the flight for him, they are allowed to take 4 dogs as cargo on that particular flight, our dog is the first one booked in. The cost will be around £760.

Our smaller dog is only 10kg, and with his sky kennel he'll still be below the 32kg weight limit for excess baggage, so we'll be taking him on the same flight. We had to call Air Transat in Canada to book him a place on the flight, and pay $275. We'll take him to the check-in desk with us on the day and he'll be taken from there.

So, I think our questions are:

• Did your dog go as cargo or as excess baggage?
• Was the combined weight of dog and kennel over 32kg?
• Did you book a place for him in advance, by calling Air Transat in Canada at least 72 hours before the flight, as per this page on their website, or just turn up with him on the day?

Thanks!

Hi,

I paid $275 but my kennel is 14kg and my dog 34kg

We go 9th April

(or not if I have got this wrong with the weights!)

Hey,

Just spotted this.

We used http://www.worldcarepet.com/home.html

Can't comment on cost, as it was all done via my work.

However, they were excellent. Picked up our cat from wherever we wanted. We lived in Glasgow (so they could have picked her up there), but we were actually heading to London for a few days before we went, and they were happy to pick her up from there too.

Took her to get her a fitness to fly certificate, and checked we had all the vaccinations required. They also built her a crate suitable for flying, so no need for us to provide one.

They booked her on a flight the same day as us. We didn't arrive till quite late, and couldn't guarantee when we'd get to our house in Toronto. So they boarded her for a night and then delivered her to us in the morning.

They completed the full customs process, so nothing for us to do at all. We did note down we were bringing a cat on our customs form, but they were just confused because we didn't have a cat with us at the time, lol. We explained the moving company had her and would clear customs. That was fine, no problem. Sounded like we didn't need to declare because they were doing it, but wanted to be safe.

All in all, great experience, no complaints whatsoever and our little cat was great when she got to us. Very happy to see us, and no problems from the flight.

Highly recommended. We dealt with a gentleman called Brian Hahn. He was very responsive before, during and after the move, dealing with our questions and keeping us up to date.

As I said, I have no idea about the cost as it was organized through my work. However, if you can afford it, it was great!

Hope this helps.

Graham.

We have a medium sized springer/collie cross. Just as we were about to take off he started barking and we could hear him below in the hold but not much we could have done at that point, when we collected him from outsize baggage next to the suitcase carousel he was hyper, barking and whining but when we got him into the car he soon fell asleep and seemed pretty exhausted....to be expected. He just needed some extra TLC for a few days lol

You check in first then someone will walk round with you to where he/she will be dropped off. We were given priority check in which was helpful so dont worry, they really looked after us at Gatwick. Just plonk him in his box onto the luggage trolley and head for check in. Really simple

No - we expected we would have to, but we were never asked to pay.

We booked him in on the same day as we booked out own tickets, which was a couple of months before the flight. They asked the weight and breed, I don't know the combined weight, but he's about 5 stone (32 kg) without his kennel if that helps! It was $275 for his ticket. I don't recall anything about cargo being mentioned, he just went in the dog bit of the hold.

Hope that helps!

Hey Guys

Wow, many Eurovisionphobes out there.

So you are there.

How are things so far?

Rob x

I agree, Ladyhaye was very good for our pets, they had no problems at all. They picked them up three days prior to leaving and they were at the airport when we arrived.