I'm having real troubles thinking this one through.
I'll be moving from DC to Las Vegas in a few weeks. My company is paying for relocation and it's a really good package. I'll be going there in 2 weeks to look at potential rental houses & start work, then I'll come back to DC for a week to get my stuff together for the move. It'll be a "pack & ship" where everything is being moved for me.
Here are my options:
1) Drive the ~2500 miles from DC to Vegas with my dog. It'd just be me & the dog (I drive a pickup truck, so the cab isn't extremely spacious, but it's an extended cab 4-door 2001 Toytota Tundra with suicide doors on the back). I'd be allotted no more than 5 days to make the drive which is about 650 miles a day (which I can do, but it'll be rough after about 3 days straight driving). The company will pay my gas mileage at 58.5 cents a miles & will pay 4 nights worth of hotels (no food or any other costs).
2) Fly from IAD to LAS on a company paid one-way ticket (and I choose whatever flights I want, so the nonstop on United will be the one I select) with my dog as checked baggage (which, depending on my stuff will either be $100 or $250 - I'm a PremEx, so I think I get 3 bags & therefore, with 2 bags, my dog would be $100). This would be sometime from October 11-14 when I'd make the flight. The company will ship my truck for me via an auto transport service.
I'm getting a "pack & ship" move, but I live in a small apartment now with not a lot of stuff, so I'll get there before the 18-wheeler will (as they will need to make other stops along the way probably to fill the truck with other people's stuff to make it more economical for them), so either way, I should get to Vegas before my stuff does, but if I do the drive it's possible, though unlikely, that they will get there first.
About the dog:
She's a 9 year old Austrailian/Sheppard mix:
And she's never been on a plane before in her life. She hates vacuum cleaners, but loves car rides. I have no idea if the plane will freak her out. I know a woman who took her dog out to LA from DC & she believes her dog had a stroke on the plane. I have an airline approved pet carrier & can get all the necessary paperwork together.
The question is what to do?
Do I make her go through about 8-10 hours of misery (5 hour flight + at least 3 hours on the side + possibly delays) which will be EXTREMELY better for me? Or do I suck it up & spend 2500 miles in a car with her over the course of 5 days to keep her stress levels down. If I was able to do this without have to use 5 days to travel & wasnt' doing the drive in a pick-up truck by myself, I'd happily do the drive. But I see some real value in the option #2 from a time & ease perspective.
What are FT'ers thoughts? Anyone check their dogs under the plane on United? Experiences?
Thank you!