Cygnus

My husband and I are moving from the UK to the US in July. We've booked our flight with Continental Airlines. It has been quite difficult trying to find out how to get my cats onto the flight - I was passed from pillar to post - eventually a Continental cargo rep at Manchester airport (where we are flying out from) told us that I had to book the cats on with Animal Airlines.

Anyway, just got my quote from Animal Airlines and it's going to cost almost £500 to fly over 2 small cats (I am providing the pet carriers). Is this a normal price? This certainly costs more than taking on excess luggage onto the flight. Has anyone had to use Animal Airlines when booking pets onto Continental flights?

I would be grateful for any advice or views on this.

Many thanks.
Josie

doctor scrumpy

Hi there. I originally contacted animal airlines about flying my Jack Russell from Warrington to DC. They are sadly very overpriced for the job they do, but I can recommend THE ARK vets that they suggest taking the cats too for a pre-flight fitness to travel certificate.

I ended up flying on BA, and Laddie went for a mere 200 quid extra. I appreciate it is probably too late for you to change your booking to BA, but if you could I would urge you to swap if you can. BA are superb with the care they take with the animals.

Good Luck

sibsie

I'll second the BA thing. I used them when I moved my two cats and dog from London to Spain and they were faultless.

I used Air France when I moved to the US. They were crap as usual but the cats arrived safe and well. The dog was too old to make the trip, so I left her with my parents. She sadly died a couple of weeks ago.

Not all carriers take pets, is there any way you can change flights? I know United, American and Delta take them.

sibsie

This is Continentals policy on pets...

http://www.continental.com/travel/po...ls/default.asp

Cygnus

Hi,

Thanks for the replies - no, not possible to transfer to a different flight now Guess I should have looked into this a bit more when I booked the flight, but I (wrongly) assumed that it was a fairly easy job booking an animal into the cargo hold.

Looks like I am stuck with Animal Airlines then. I contacted Continental at their London base and was told that animals can only board one of their planes if arranged through a 3rd party agent.

I am trying to find out from Skymaster and Jets4pets how much they will charge me. I will post this information as and when I receive it.

So the moral of the tale is, if you have pets and are moving to the US, don't book with Continental!

Josie

USBound

we went with virgin from heathrow and it cost us 700 quid for 3 chihuahuas based upon size and weight. They were checked out for us beforehand (by a vet) and then taken away by handlers whilst we went to board the plane. At the other end when we arrived they were playing around in the customs office leaving deposits a plenty and having lots of fun. I thought it would be a nasty experience for them and was quite worried... I was wrong, the loved it.

hope things go well with continental..

oh... ringing around trying to find out who does what and when its required is like getting blood from a stone. One thing.... ring ahead into the US and check within the state you are moving to for which jabs your pet might need. The intermediary may try to charge you for lots when you only need one or two.

andy

doctor scrumpy

Best bet is to ring DEFRA in Stafford,their number should be avialable. As a rule of thumb, rabies vaccine is not needed prior to travel to continental USA. U should get the animal injected when they are over here.


Also.... Please bear in mind where and when u r moving to, jan in Michigan will tell you about her poor pooch getting over heated last summer, it is currently around 90* in the DC area, poor british pooches cannot cope with the heat to well on a daily basis.

My Jack Russell saw more snow last winter than he has had in his entire life. Lovely thick coat of fur grew on his back, sadly shedding like crazy now though.

Cygnus

Hi,

Yes, my cats need to get rabies shots so I am booking that with my vet for next week - apparently they can't travel for at least 30 days after the shots so it's a good job I am looking into all of this now.

This is quite a useful place to start to see what the individual state requirements for animal import are:

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/sregs/

I have travelled with Continental before and have had no problems with them - so hopefully all will run smoothly.

Josie

cathy22w

I brought my cat with BA last August - no problems, although it did cost nearly 300 pounds. As far as rabies - apparently it is a state by state thing, but Pennsylvania do not require it on entry to the US, as long as the animal has the shot within a month or so afterwards? Can't remember exact details, but I checked and double checked to make sure.

Anyway - my cat doesn't even realise she left the ground. She is probably thinking Dover, England is pretty hot for the time of year, though! It's been 80 or so degrees all week.

Heather142

Thanks for the link Cygnus. It is exactly what I needed to take to the vets here in order to confirm what my cat requires by way of vaccinations. We are moving to Arizona in July and are going to go with BA as they have direct flight to Phoenix.

Can you tell me whether the normal plastic pet container is suitable - the type you can buy from the pet stores? What did you all use??

I am more panicky about the cat than about moving us and shipping belongings.

Thanks in advance.

Heather

Maggs

Hi
I brought my dog and my cat over at different times and with different airlines. I brought my (now) 5 year old Lahsa Apso girlie over July 2003 with United and they let us book her on as excess baggage at Heathrow. Very smooth and I don't think she realised she was in a different country... like she's lived here all her life! They told us she would cost around $50 to fly as excess baggage and we could pay on the day of the flight but they didn't ever bill us for her! In March this year I brought my 10 year old tabby lady over on BMI and she had to go through the BMI cargo terminal but flew on the same flight. Cost 295 pounds and I supplied the crate. She also doesn't realise she has moved continents and has settled in very well from day 1.

On both occasions I asked the flight attendants to let me know when my dog and cat had boarded the plane safely and they did. With my dog, three flight attendants let me know! Also with my cat, they called my name on the plane just after we landed and asked me to meet the airport representative who told me where to find my cat and who to speak to. She was waiting in the customs area of Chicago O'Hare for me.... the cat that is! She had cleared the public health officials and was ready for me to take home. With my dog she came out where the delicate/special baggage comes out and we had to take her to see the public health officers ourselves.

It does seem a daunting process but it all works out in the end. Good l.uck.

Maggie

sibsie

AF only charged me €102 for my two cats and they're big buggers.

You do need a special container. The normal one you take the cat to the vets to is too small. The cat has to be able to stand up, turn round and lie down. There also has to be a small water container inside.

Mass where I am required the rabies shot which my two already had from living in Spain. When I arrived the cats were just brought out to the baggage area and left for me. They had a bit of a wait as I was robbed on the way over and had to go through deferred inspection. I didn't get stopped by customs or asked for any paperwork, though the nice customs chap did push one of my carts out into the arrivals hall for me.

Scorchio

Our lurcher flew with my wife from Heathrow to DFW in January using BA. We just made sure when we booked the tickets that there was sufficient room for the dog+large crate. When we got there, we paid two lots of excess baggage charges - one for the dog, one for the crate - for a total of 140 quid. The crate cost us about 150 quid from Pets At Home, but it's huge!

We had all her vaccinations up to date, including rabies just to be on the safe side. The vet checked her out a few days before the flight and gave us a certificate saying she's fit to fly. A copy of this and her vaccination record were attached to her crate.

That's about it, really!

It was a really long flight, but she came out fine at the other end.

sibsie

Scorchio's just reminded me that I had to get the fit to fly cert and that AF asked for it. I had to get it no more than 48 hours before the flight.

BA wanted the same when I flew the cats with them.

Cygnus

Hi Heather,

As others have already said, you do need a larger crate for transportation. I've just purchased 2 of these for my 2 cats which will hopefully do the job!: http://www.petplaypads.co.uk/Vari_Kennel.htm

Hope that helps!

I have now found out from Animal Airlines that my cats can't go on the same Continental flight as me and DH due to the connection time for our connection flight from Newark being less than 4 hours So they have to book them onto another airline (Delta). They should hopefully arrive at our destination on the same day as me.

SO - anyone with pets booking a flight to the US, don't book with Continental and also, make sure that you have at least 4 hours at any connecting airport because under I.A.T.A. Rules, there has to be a minimum of 4 hours available for connecting flights.

Good luck with your move to Phoenix Heather! I am moving to Lawrence which is close to Kansas City.

Josie