jenninedinburgh

My husband and I are moving to South Carolina in August. We just received a quote of 1400 GBP from PetAir UK to fly our 2 cats from EDI to ATL (they said they could not fly them to Charlotte for some reason, which is quite a bit closer to where we are moving). We find this quite steep and are looking for other (cheaper) options. Apparently Lufthansa charges $200 for each cat on an International flight - much cheaper!

Anyone flown their pets to the US on Lufthansa? How was it? Was it cheaper for you compared to other alternatives?

Bob

Probably a heat thing. Summer/winter and plenty of airports have restrictions on when they'd accept pets in the hold.

As for Lufthansa, you can search the forum for past threads and have a look at the wiki up top, but don't think there's been anything to recent on Lufthansa.

petitefrancaise

Yes, we flew with our dog on Lufthansa 2.5 years ago.

We were flying from France to Austin, Texas via Frankfurt and Houston. Lufthansa were great, it was all easy and straightforward getting her on the plane in France and picking her up at excess baggage in Houston where we cleared her through customs.

Slight hiccup on pricing - Lufthansa quoted us about €350 for her complete journey and this is what we paid at the airport when we checked her in. When we checked her in for the flight from Houston to Austin, we had to pay an extra $450 for that flight. TBH, we had read about this happening and so were prepared to pay it anyway, Lufthansa just got it wrong - internal, non-lufthansa flights are not covered since the animal is transported and cared for by a pet transport company. Since it was over 100 F degrees in Houston at that point, we were grateful that she was being well cared for.

We weren't allowed to fly the rabbit on a passenger plane, little bunnies are apparently too dangerous. She had to go with a pet carrier in a double cage with chicken wire over the bars..... that cost us $1k.

So, yes. Lufthansa is a good option and cheap just watch out if you have to transfer to a domestic US flight for a price hike. Might be cheaper to drive.

jenninedinburgh

Thank you for sharing your experience So it sounds like the issue was once you got to the USA - hopefully we'll be okay as the flight pattern would be EDI to Frankfurt and then Frankfurt to Charlotte

petitefrancaise

Yes, you should be fine.

I have recommended Lufthansa quite a few times for pet transport. Just remember that you MUST make sure that there is availability for your cats on each flight before you book your own flights. Phone Lufthansa and they will book the spaces for you.

jenninedinburgh

Good point Thank you

Stuathorn

I took my cat from Heathrow to Chicago via Frankfurt with Lufthansa last year and they were very good. The only difficult part was at Frankfurt where I had to walk through the scanner holding her whilst the carrier went through the X-ray machine. At Heathrow, I took her through the scanner in her carrier and was took to room and the carrier was x-rayed separately.

mrken30

The other difficult thing is the carrier for taking a cat on board is smaller than the required carrier for putting them in the hold. I managed to find a soft carrier that would fold in case I was unable to take the cat in the cabin.

jenninedinburgh

Hello Does this mean the cat travelled in the cabin with you?

jenninedinburgh

How was it with the cat in the cabin? This is an intriguing idea - although we're anxious that ours would keep meowing and disturb other customers.

Stuathorn

Yes we took her in the cabin. That was the reason for going via Frankfurt as it is the one of the few airlines that take a cat in the cabin when flying out of the U.K. (It is illegal for airlines to have pets in the cabin to fly into the UK so most don't allow it either way). She was quiet most of the flight but she mewed mostly on landings. Before we found Lufthansa we where planning on getting a lift with a friend to Paris and taking an Air France flight to the USA.

petitefrancaise

I'd put the pets in the hold. They are in absolutely no danger whatsoever, the flight is ?6/7 hours from Frankfurt to Charlotte so it's not that long and you can enjoy the flight without worrying about the cats anoying other people and they'll be taking up your leg room too. It's like having small kids but worse because you can't give them a sweetie and hope it keeps them quiet for bit!

mrken30

Yes the cat traveled in the cabin. It was quite stress free for both me and the cat. My cat was a very placid cat though. It cost an extra $50 at the time compared to $2000 and the hassle of having to drop him off and pick him up. I flew United into Chicago and then onto PDX.

markcst

So PetAirUK will be all in, which includes the crates you'll have to have, customs clearances, pet passports, vets checks etc.
I could not fault them with what they did for our dog. And the money IMHO was worth it.
So you'll need to check like for like for hold transportation.

yellowroom

There are quite a few threads on pets travelling by Lufthansa if you search. Most seem to be problem free, but you may want to check out this one: International Arrivals at IAH (with dogs!) - British Expats

Not wishing to alarm you but to make sure you have covered all eventualities.