baylily

I have a flight booked on Tuesday for me and my dog to fly from Heathrow to Dulles. I just received a frantic call from the staff at Virgin informing me of new travel restrictions that apply to cargo as of Monday Nov.11!
Unless your pet has previously flown with the same carrier, your pet will not be able to fly after Nov.11. I am unsure of how long these restrictions will be in place, but it is obviously going to cause a lot of heartache for many pet owners immigrating to the States.
If you haven't already booked your flights, you may consider taking the Queen Mary, which has an on board kennel option and I don't think is effected by the TSA's restrictions.

I'm fotunate to have flown my dog to the UK on Virgin less than 3 years ago, and am therefore exempt.
I hope this post is informative to some, but would encourage others to do a bit more homework. I have been unable to find anything official from the TSA supporting this!

MsElui

that doesnt make sense. How can someone flying for the first time with a pet meet that criteria with ANYONE?

lansbury

So the TSA are concerned about suicide dog bombers now.

baylily

That's exactly it, if you've never flown with your pet before, you cannot fly with your pet after Monday. If you have flown with, say, BA, and are now planning to use Virgin, you cannot fly with your pet.
The only way to fly into the US with a pet is if you have flown out of the US before using the same carrier. I realize this is a very small exemption, but refers to an assumed "pre existing business relationship" that you and the airline have... In my case, just dumb luck that I booked with the same carrier!

Gingerert

Huh?

sir_eccles

Do you have a link to something official that details this new restriction or are you just going off this phone call?

A quick google suggests the only new restriction recently is ink and toner cartridges.

traceym

It was on the news the other night, terrorists were trying to send a dog with bomb stuff inside it, sorry I didnt pay too much attention.

meauxna

I can't find anything on the TSA site, or in the news, or on the Virgin Atlantic site to support this (tho I am not discounting it).

Please continue to update this thread with any information you find.

Bill_S

I looked for confirmation as well, and didn't find anything either. Checked TSA, DHS, BA, Virgin, the Google... anybody else who is booking flights with pets please report in.

babybyrd

hi guys
i work for one of the airlines mentioned above and have asked everyone i know to look into this for me but so far noone has heard a thing
will hopefully get back to you before bed time ( i go early lol ) with more of an answer

baylily

As I said, I haven't been able to find anything in writing, only a vague document on the TSA homepage about more strict policy towards cargo (although nothing is specific or what the actual regulations will be).
I'm sure that anyone who has booked flights with pets as cargo has been notified by their carrier (or I would hope so). Posted more for informational purposes for anyone who has not already done so (even though my information is also vague!).
The Virgin cargo rep I spoke to also said that these restrictions only effect pets coming into the US, not leaving.

http://www.dhs.gov/ynews/releases/pr_1289237893803.shtm

Michael

Something is not right. It seems that either the staff at virgin was playing a prank on one of the employees and they believed the story or you got a call from someone that was trying to get information from you.

You should call Virgin to verify that the call was real.

babybyrd

k guys

noone i can contact knows anything AND ive been in touch with TWO of the uks biggest pet transportation agencies

there are def new cargo restrictions from 11th but as far as i can find out dogs/pets dont come into it

i honestly dont think virgin would have called and said this if they hadnt been certain though - so there must be some truth or confusion somewhere but i cant for see what/where it is


if i can find out anything more tomorrow i will post back

babybyrd

i did read/see this so i wouldnt be suprised if some kind of xray became the norm - - if it isnt already

sir_eccles

Could it perhaps be a confusion based on the name of the explosive - PETN?

Or a troll?