Best way to "ship" a dog?
 

A friend is adopting a rescued jack russel. He is in PHX, the dog is in AUS. What is the best, most economical way for him to get the dog to PHX? He asked, I have no experience.

I did some searches and found some threads here complaining about CO and DL, and found petsonthego.com as well.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated!

First off i hope when you say "ship" you mean bring on board with you. Bcs if not i have no material advice to give. But, when it comes to traveling with your pet im knowledgable. (the misses travels with her pooch. Our dog has visited a dozen or so countries in Europe, many US states, Central America and Asia. All in all he has been on transcon flights on about 10 or 11 r/ts in his young 3 yrs of existence).

We have found that on both trancon flights and domestic that NW has been the best.(5/3-5/9 NW 37/38 r/t BOS-AMS-MXP last flight with pooch.) They seem to be the most on top of in terms of rules and documentaiton procedures (paper work, visa/passport etc) and most of the FAs love dogs and always have been extra nice. Fees for in cabin pet run similar but vary by airline. NW is 150USD international, and also DL i think. Domestic NW is 50USD and also DLs and i think 55USD for AA. AUS-PHX is a route to me not familiar so cant really comment on carrier etc. However, I can tell you that when I bought my dog he came from Arkansas and had it hand delivered to me in BOS. He travelled on a DL flight via ATL(@ 7.5 weeks old) and I met his carrier at the airport... Although I have to check I can remember how surprised I was that the delivery fee was so low. Something like 150bux or so... PM if you like and ill give you the details.

Pets when traveling must buy their own ticket... so shouldn't they earn their own miles?!?? :D

jack russels may be small enough to carry on....check w/airline...

Physically fly down and get the dog. That's all I know and all I would do.

I had a parrot flown in from Texas to Wisconsin, but that was 10 years ago. So a brief search of NWA found this, and it looks to be around $150 these days. Plus your friend will need a vet certificate, which I'm sure the rescue outfit can provide quite easily.

I'd personally fly and bring the dog back in cabin...it's safer and there is a bit more control over the envirnoment the dog will be subjected to. Plus IIRC there are stringent maximum ground temperatures, which would play a factor for PHX this time of year. Or so I assume...we're just hitting spring:)

Actually, I looked at that website and it said the "VIP" service (which is what I would assume your friend would want to do for the dog) costs $252 for under 50 lbs., which I think would easily include a Jack Russell and kennel.

However, consider that if the dog takes NW it has to go AUS-MSP-PHX or AUS-MEM-PHX, either of which would be a pretty long trip for a dog in the cargo hold.

Considering the weather in both PHX and AUS right about now, and the fact that your friend could fly nonstop from PHX to AUS on either US/HP or WN for about $318-$350, round trip, I think I would definitely spend the extra $70-$100 and fly down to get the dog myself. I am sure the dog would appreciate the quicker nonstop trip and will be much happier and calmer when they get back to PHX as a result. The last thing I would want is have the dog get to PHX upset/hot/dehydrated and then have it associate all those unpleasant feelings about the trip with its new owner.

As this has nothing to do with miles or points, I'll move it to TravelBuzz.

Regards,

Flipside

We flew our lab from SF to Zurich on our UA flight for UD$247.00 last month. Not sure if it is same for Oz-US or if same price if you are NOT on flight.

-fduvall

More than 5000 pets die in the luggage hold every year, most due to heat and/or dehydration. Many deaths occur in summer. For this reason it is strongly recommended that you do not ship a pet, particularly for such a long journey where there are far greater risks.

If at all possible, bring the dog onboard with you. A dog that small should be no problem, provided you make sufficient advance reservation.

Thanks for all the responses - my friend learned from the Russel Rescue group (RRI?) it actually forbids shipping dogs as cargo, for exactly the reasons listed above, so it's a flight to Austin and an extra $80 on the return.

Actually, it will be Tuscon to San Antonio to save a few bucks ...

Thanks again!

Where does the 5000 number come from? Looking at the last few months of DOT stats tracking (http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/reports/atcr05.htm)

Mar 06: 2 Injury (1 CO, 1 Pinnacle)
Feb 06: 1 Loss (DL)
Jan 06: 1 Death (DL), 1 Injury (CO)
Dec 05: 1 Lost (DL)
Nov 05: 1 Death (Skywest), 1 Injury (Hawaiian)
Oct 05: 5 Death (2 AA, 2 Horizion, 1 UA)
Sep 05: 1 Death (CO)
Aug 05: 4 Death (2 CO, 2 AA), 4 Injury (2 CO, 2 Horizion, 1 UA), 1 Loss (US)
Jul 05: 2 Death (1 CO, 1 DL), 3 Injury (2 Alaska, 1 CO)
Jun 05: 5 Death (2 UA, 1 Each CO, AA, Midwest), 4 Injury, 1 Loss
May 05: 4 Death (2 CO, 1 AK, 1 US), 5 Injury, 1 Loss
Apr 05: 0 Complaints (apparently predates detailed tracking)

I count 23 deaths. Not 100% safe, but nowhere near 5000.

If this is a rescued dog from hurricanes:

There were organizations (volunteers) which were driving them in shifts to the destination.

This time of year, I would NOT send a dog via cargo to Phoenix (and I really hate the practice of sending dogs via cargo at any time although some people have no choice especially when the dog is too big and driving isn't an option). In fact, airlines serving Phoenix may not even accept them.

You could try some google searches to see if any organizations are "driving" "rescue" "animals" from "hurricane". or something along those lines.

oops didn't see the OP's reply before replying.

The 5000 number came from media reports. In fact, this article suggests 20,000 per year


Here's a nice Report too.

However, I would agree that animal deaths have been reduced since the airlines were required to start reporting them. ^ Still, I would be reluctant to ship my pet with cargo unless absolutely necessary. Why take the risk?