baylily

I don't appreciate being doubted on the forum, and I apologize for not having additional information (as i said in my original post, I too searched for details for but could not confirm anything specific via TSA). I also don't appreciate being called a Troll, or being told I am "confused". I joined the forum (my OH is british and joined a month ago to ask visa questions) to post about this new bit of information albeit vague to assist others. I realize it is too late for anyone who has already booked their ticket (unless they can fly before Monday!), but may help someone else to schedule alternate arrangements for their pets.

This is most likely a reactionary response from the US to what we have seen on the news in Yemen, but who knows how long they will be implementing these procedures? Like some other restrictions ( shoes on vs. shoes off) sometimes these policies are not clearly laid out, and seem to be guidelines rather than written in stone.

Also, to clarify, I missed the phone call from Virgin, and had to call them back, so unless it is a giant conspiracy by the airline, I doubt this is a "prank". Also, at more than 400 pounds one way for my toy breed dog, for the airline to implement this new rule on its own without the intervention of the TSA also seems highly unlikely.

baylily

Have just called the TSA, am being told no one knows anything about this, and that they have no jurisdiction over pets (although I think she may have been incorrect, as surely pets count as cargo for international flights...).
Off to call Virgin again..

md95065

You shouldn't take this personally but you have to realize that when the first post by a new member contains information that appears to be completely ridiculous and that neither they nor anyone else is apparently able to verify people will assume that you are, at best, naive and easily taken in or, more likely, a troll ...

If that is not the case then it might be better to delay posting information like this until you can also provide some references that other people can use to verify it.

baylily

Okay, have been reassured by Virgin, that these are real restrictions. In addition to the pets, as of Monday, there will be no unaccompanied baggage allowed in cargo.
He also indicated that this notice was directed at Airline Carriers, not the general public.
My contact there is Dean, he also seemed very surprised that TSA did not have knowledge (0844 873 8000)Unsure why the people at TSA in the US seem unaware of these new changes--number I called was 571-227-2829 spoke to Janella.
I can't imagine this will be kept a secret for much longer, though, as I think it will affect lots of travelers, especially with the holiday season looming.

baylily

You shouldn't take this the wrong way, but I think you are incredibly presumptuous. I'll just sit back and wait for my moment to post "I told you so"...
Thanks to the others for posting constructively to a new member of the forum, as opposed to critiquing my rationale for posting "urgently" this clearly still developing piece of news.

Jerseygirl

We get trolls posting everyday...so it's only natural for people to be suspicious. Please don't be offended.

I don't know whether I'm misreading your post but did you say your wife has also joined...if so have you contacted admin to let them know there are 2 usernames from your IP address? If not can you do so? Thanks.

baylily

My husband uses a separate laptop, and we each have stagnant IP addresses for business, so shouldn't be an issue of crossing over.

babybyrd

i think this is so new noone knows what is happening right now
just spoken to airline again who say if you have a dog travelling within next five days please call tomorrow

so it looks like changes are underway

Jerseygirl

Please inform admin of the username of your wife. Click on the 'Contact Us' tab at the bottom of this page. Thank you.

ChocolateBabz

Just pulled this off a pet relocation site:

http://blog.petrelocation.com/blog/p...-imports-to-us

Hope no one is buying us a puppy when we are home at Christmas

meauxna

Please don't take one comment out of context; we appreciate you bringing this to our attention. As with all important changes like this, we're just trying to gather enough evidence that you *can* say 'I told you so'. (tho I hope it doesn't come to that)

sir_eccles

Getting back to the story in hand. It seems to originate from a story in Le Figaro which indicates the plot is actually from 2 years ago:

http://www.lefigaro.fr/international...-kamikazes.php

Google translation

Seems the terrorists won a long time ago!

King Gimp

We have just found out we are having the same problem, booked with Virgin to fly 28th Feb, when we called to book the cat on cargo last Monday we got told of the new restriction - My wife has been (trying) to deal with it, but getting nowhere.

The cat came from the US 6 years ago but was shipped separately once my wife was already in the UK

She's spoken to the TSA and got the same response i.e. they have never heard of it..

We can't find anyone at Virgin who can say how long this will be in effect.

What a pain.
:curse:

baylily

Thanks for posting this, it echoes a lot of the information I was given by Virgin.

I wish the TSA would open a wider publication of these restrictions, as I think it applies to more travelers than those with large ink toner cartridges

meauxna

Yes.. I am also thinking that this could be a Virgin-specific policy for the moment. They see the full list of cargo restrictions from TSA (which is holding it close to the vest for security reasons) and made the decision to just cut off pet shipments.

I expect we'll see clarification soon. The "established business relationship" could be the clause under which Virgin told you the 'must have shipped with us before' rule, and I notice Continental being specifically named in the PetRelocation site article.