Travel with Pets - EWR-BCN With two Westies

We are flying Continental to Barcelona from Newark in a couple of weeks. This is the first time we have traveled with our Dogs. Where do we go in Newark to check the Dogs in for the flight, and is there an area nearby where we can walk them before putting them into their crates? Our Vet has given us Xanax for the Dogs will this be OK with CO's Petsafe program? plus what are your feelings about this? We tried a small dose on the Dogs the other day, and they both appeared slightly drunk, but were calm. Also any info on where we will pick up the Dogs in Barcelona? Any advice will be much appreciated.

I personally am not a big fan of ever sedating a dog to fly. However if you totally trust your vet I would go for it if they are really nervous travelers.

Also would you be kind enough to share with us what restrictions and requirements you had to meet with CO for this international trip?

Also do you qualify for "CO's Earn Miles with PetPass" program on an international trip?

From the CO site:
Earn OnePass miles through our popular PetPass program. OnePass members can earn one (1) OnePass mile for every dollar spent (including tax, fuel and security surcharges) when transporting a pet using Continental's acclaimed PetSafe service (in-cabin pets and service animals do not qualify for this program). Simply present your OnePass number at the time of booking your pet, and the miles will be credited to your account within 6 to 8 weeks.

We are flying Continental to Barcelona from Newark in a couple of weeks. This is the first time we have traveled with our Dogs. Where do we go in Newark to check the Dogs in for the flight, and is there an area nearby where we can walk them before putting them into their crates? Our Vet has given us Xanax for the Dogs will this be OK with CO's Petsafe program? plus what are your feelings about this? We tried a small dose on the Dogs the other day, and they both appeared slightly drunk, but were calm. Also any info on where we will pick up the Dogs in Barcelona? Any advice will be much appreciated.

We still have to visit the Vet to have her sign the papers we need for entry into the E.U. So I will discuss with her again about the Xanax. Continental said that the crate must have enough room for the dog to turn around, must be ventilated on all sides, and that when the dog is standing in the crate there should be 3 inches of room above the dogs head, also they say only paper on the floor, and you need to have two bowls that fasten to the front of the crate. We bought everything at Petsmart, including the Live animal stickers. My dogs are only small 20lbs, and 16lbs, but for Continentals requirements their weight including the crate is between 5lbs, and 50lbs so we will pay $559 plus surcharges for each Dog.

Can you use soft carriers and carry them on with you?

We would love to take them in the cabin with us, but they are too big to fit under the seat. Our first choice was to fly Usairways PHL-Mad but they do not allow dogs on transatlantic flights even in cargo.

Before visiting the vet yesterday,I checked with the Spanish Embassy to make sure everything was in order for entry of the dogs into the E.U. They have their own Website for this, and it is www.mapausa,org It turned out that we couldn't just go to any Vet as the must be NVAP certified. Luckily for us she was, and filled out the paperwork for us. This now has to be sent to the USDA for a stamp which I think costs $30 per Dog. Also the microchips in our Dogs which were done in 2006 did not meet the ISO standard so we had new chips put in that did. Next is the trip to Newark on Tuesday. I will post later about how the trip went. Wish us luck!!!

Good luck on Tuesday!!! ^

Everything went well with the trip, and the dogs arrived fine. We ended up not giving the Dogs any kind of medication for the trip as Continental said if the dogs looked as if they had been drugged that they would not accept them. When we boarded the plane we asked the Steward to talk to the Captain to make sure that he knew he had live animals on board. Before take off the Steward came back to tell us that he had talked to the Captain and that the dogs were on board, and were fine. On arrival in Barcelona it took some searching, and a few phone calls to locate the dogs who were at a freight forwards in another part of the Airport. We had rented a car so this was no problem to get there. What I hadnt expected though was that we had to pay the freight forwarders 120 euro's for handling the dogs. They told us the dogs were fine, and gave us the paperwork for the Spanish Customs which we had to take to the Vet at the Airport. She took us to the Dogs, and examined them, signed the papers which we then took to Customs, and then back to the forwarder who then delivered us the Dogs all together it took about three hours to sort everything out. The Dogs were in great shape, and are now living happily in Spain.