MoshiMoshi

From several years reading this board, I'd say that almost all airlines have form for giving incorrect information about pet travel. I know it's a confusing area, with tons of different regulations from country to country, but it's so frustrating when you can't get a straight answer from the company itself.

Allfourfeet, are you flying from Heathrow? That could make a difference re. AA's policy.

LizzyQ, that link didn't work for me. Do you have your pets booked with AA? Hope it works out.

LJSassy

We used Petair from Scotland to Houston in April this year.

We did look at trying to do it ourselves, and just couldn't sort out all of the logistics the way we wanted.

Although it isn't the cheapest option, Petair really did to a marvelous job. My biggest concern was my large dogs (rhodesian ridgeback) welfare, and i really cannot recommend Petair more highly. He arrived clean, not too stressed, was whisked though customs and delivered to my home within 1 hour of landing.

Good luck with your move x

Allfourfeet

I didn't even say an actual airport, I just asked about any airport leaving from the UK, as we could potentially fly from any of needs be, but she just said American Airlines don't fly animals out of the UK in the hold full stop. It is very frustrating as I thought reading on website it'd be okay and now find out it won't and we could be moving pretty quickly so now having to email around agents for quote! Nightmare! Hopefully worth it once we've moved though!

g1ant

Call again.... they do.

Allfourfeet

Thankyou, I will do that! Will try again tomorrow! I'll let you know how I get on 😊

sherbert

It could be the dates/destination: as I mentioned, all the US airlines have an embargo on transporting animals as baggage during certain months and to certain airports because of extreme temperatures.

maemaesmummy

My dog flew out to join us in July this year....she flew Manchester to orlando with Thomas cook .

Tess4

I flew my dogs over with me this July. A labrador and a poodle. I used Lufthansa because I had read nothing but great reviews on their handling of pets. And from conversations i had with them per telephone, i was more than impressed. Although we can never know how they really are looked after, I was really happy with Lufthansa. We were fortunate and flew on the new 380: huge plane, really quiet and so I knew my two dogs would at least be spared the noise!

I flew from Vienna to Frankfurt. I asked the air stewards to inform me that my dogs were indeed on board, but they forgot to let me know. Lufthansa does state that you will be notified, this is the only negative i can comment on. When they did inform me after i reminded them, it was too late as we had already taken off.

In Frankfurt, Lufthansa takes them to a pet area where they walk them and give them water; time permitting. I cannot guarantee they did this so just have to assume they did due to their reputation. I did go to a Lufthansa check in to ask about them once i landed in Frankfurt, and the representative was extremely helpful and said that they are most certainly being well looked after and are both ok, as i would have heard from them if there were any problems.

Upon landing in Miami, things changed dramatically. I was pulled aside and taken into a room filled with other flyers that had no idea why they were there, or where they were. My dogs were a concern for me as they had been travelling for a good 15 hours at this stage. I asked the officer what the options were; i needed to be sure they were safe and wanted to avoid for them to be in their cages for a further "unknown" amount of time. I was told it wouldnt take long, that was it. The dogs were of no importance. It took 3 hours. My dogs were sitting in their cages somewhere in the luggage area, with nobody looking after them. Whether Lufthansa was responsible for this or not, remains to be seen.

After my 3 hour wait period, i ran out to find them. They were sitting in their cages, petrified and sitting in their pee sodden blankets. I believe that without this extra 3 hours they would have arrived in a different scenario, a more humane one. All in all, it depends on what airline has the best reputation. But when you land, you must be aware that you could be taken aside for further questioning, and this can take hours, and your dogs may be left the way mine were, and you cannot help them at all. This is just my personal and recent experience upon landing in Miami.

MoshiMoshi

Glad to hear your dogs made it, albeit with a horrible arrival. It sounds like you were taken to secondary questioning, and, you're right -- this is something you have no control over. Even getting through POE without this can take a long time. It's very very stressful when you don't know what's happening to your pets.

Since you flew from mainland Europe, were your dogs classed as excess/outsize baggage rates, rather than manifest cargo? I just wonder, because I believe if they'd flown cargo they wouldn't have been left in the luggage area; you'd have picked them up from the airline's cargo depot or (if applicable) the animal reception facility. (There's no guarantee they'd get better treatment here, but I think they'd still be in someone's charge until you picked them.)

When my cats came from mainland Europe to USA, they were excess/outsize baggage, and like your pets they were just left unaccompanied in the luggage area. It took ages for our visas to be stamped, so they might have been there a while. I had envisaged picking them up from someone or some special desk, so was very surprised to see them just left on the floor.

It might be something to bear in mind when people with pets are considering flight options: excess/outsize baggage is much better value, but I do think pets get pretty haphazard treatment on arrival. It seems like once they're off the plane, no one has particular responsibility for them, which isn't good if the owner is held up. I could be wrong, though.

andrewlohnes

From all the things I have read, my 1st comment is definitely what I'm going to do and use Pet Air. I may be wrong but from what I have read on other threads they take your pet a few days before you leave and send them a few days after you arrive? Yes they may cost a bit more but if you love your pet enough then you'd be willing to pay extra to know professionals are arranging and doing everything.

Tess4

there was really only one option, which was excess/oversized baggage, this was what they recommended. Not sure if that was the best option as far as picking them up goes though. Basically anyone could have taken them, because for security reasons, i had copies of their docs in their cages. The customs and border didnt look at my passport to check i was the owner....scary! Andrew....whilst i totally agree with you on the importance of paying extra, its not always possible for everyone to spend that kind of money. I'm really glad for you though that you can afford to take this option though, but there are ppl out there that love their pets as much as anyone, but simply cant afford that route. I tried a company similar to pet air, in my "home" country (am from the UK but havent lived there in a long time). They are recommended certified etc by all the top companies doing this. I would never recommend them though as they were interested at first, then never answered my emails. I still do and always will recommend Lufthansa. Even if you select excess baggage as a way of transportation, the animals are in a whole other area than luggage, its regulated air and temperature equivalent to that of the cabin. Water is also provided, food not, for obvious reasons. At the end of the day, no company can take away the fear that some pets may have with flying, n or the stress they will undoubtedly endure....its a choice we all have to make for them. Comfort can only be had in between the flights. I can only say that my dogs wont travel air again, they are a bit older, but either way, i dont really want to put them through that again.

andrewlohnes

Oh yes I totally agree with that and trust me I am not rich or even well off in the slightest!! It's just something I am budgeting for as I still have 16 months til my move (it's 16 months for exactly that reason of saving enough money in the bank for things like this). Otherwise I'd be gone already

MoshiMoshi

It very much depends on your circumstances.

If you need your pets to be boarded and transported to/from the airport, then you can pay an agency like Pet Air to do this -- but many people are fine to take the same flight as their pets, and have no issue checking them in themselves.

If you don't have time to deal with the paperwork, ditto -- but the paperwork, even for entering the UK, is perfectly doable.

If you want to ensure your pets have extra care and attention being loaded and unloaded onto the plane -- I'm not sure how much effect an agency has here, if any. Are they allowed 'behind the scenes' at the airport, on the tarmac etc? Don't they just check your pet in at the Cargo depot, along with the independently-booked pets?

If you want your pet to have special handling on arrival -- yes, in this sense a company like Pet Air will collect your pet from the Cargo terminal or Animal Reception Centre, and avoid a situation such as the OP's. Equally, though, you yourself can book your pets to fly as cargo (not baggage) and they'll go to the same place. Furthermore, you might book them as baggage and have no problems because you're a citizen and can pass through POE very quickly, picking your pets up right away.

It's not clear-cut! I really don't think the 'if you love your pets you'll pay for an agency' thing is reasonable. Agencies can be really useful, but some of them have a tendency to overstate how difficult transporting a pet is, and to insinuate that they'll basically hold your dog's paw the whole flight and guarantee his total comfort and safety. This isn't really the case. Pet-owners need to weigh up what value a pet agent actually adds for them; in some cases, it's limited.

Tess4

thats a wise way to do it Andrew...hope it all goes well, and i am sure it will let us know how it went. Totally agree with what you wrote MoshiMoshi, good advice. At the end of the day, if at all possible, owners need to be sure they wont land, pardon the pun, in the way i did...and their pets are looked after if the owners need longer at immigration.

WhyteBoar

I flew my cats over to PHX this August and used PetAirUK. I paid 1300 for the crates, their flight, two nights boarding at their facility, pick up from my home in the UK, all the paperwork and the pre-flight vet check. They have two packages, and this was the Gold package. They have a Silver too, but I can't reminded which thing are omitted.

I understand it is expensive, but looking back, I couldn't put a price on the peace of mind. The gentleman that came to collect them was very nice and tried to put me at ease.

I flew out the day after they were collected and the cats flew the day after me. PetAirUK gave me clear instructions on what to do before and post flight. They called me after they dropped them off at Heathrow to let me know they had been checked on to the flight.

Three hours before their flight landed I went to BA Cargo (Swissport) in PHX and collected paperwork, which I had to take over to customs to clear them. Clearing in Customs took 5 mins, at which point I went back to BA Cargo and showed them that the cats had been cleared. This all took so little time we came back to the house to await the flight.

We went back to BA Cargo 30 mins after the plane had landed and they were both already there waiting for us and we were able to take them home.

Of course you can do many of these things yourself, if you have the time. Personally, I didn't and I was worried about them enough without worrying that I also had to organise their paperwork and check them in too. I didn't expect them to have any influence on the welfare of my cats once they had been handed over to BA. My biggest worry was actually that the Cargo personnel at PHX would delay in off loading them and they'd be exposed to the heat.