lrm

Hello. We are trying to ship a four-month old dog from London Heathrow to Virginia (Dulles) in early December. We were hoping to fly over and pick up the animal and fly him back in cabin on British Airways. However, we are encountering challenges identifying ANY carrier that will allow non-service animals in the main cabin on this International leg.

Has anyone done this in the recent past? If absolutely forced to put the animal in cargo, we will--but need advice about safest carrier...the horror stories I've seen (about United, in particular) have really put us off this.

Any insight into the experiences with the process are hugely appreciated.

STBCypriot

In my experience, this is a UK thing. For some reason they do not allow pets in the cabin on flights (on any carrier) into or out of the UK. I don't understand why. The end result is it is outrageously expensive to travel with a pet into and out of the UK and the pet must go into the hold.

This might sound like a strange way to do this, but could someone travel with the puppy to France by car or train and then you could fly out of France with the puppy?

sambagrrl07

Or look into taking the QM2 crossing, which includes kennels? An expensive option (and from what I understand usually fully booked), but an enjoyable one.

bhomburg

Nobody has done this in the past on direct fights to the US, because UK regulations used to forbid it (they effectively don't any more, but airline policies haven't been changed to reflect this).

However, transporting your dog in the cabin is possible on various airlines who fly the route with one stop, connecting in Europe: Lufthansa with a connection in Frankfurt or Munich, AirFrance with a connection in Paris /KLM with a connection in Amsterdam, SAS with a connection in Copenhagen, or Finnair with a connection in Helsinki.
Or Air Canada, connecting in Montreal or Toronto (carefully review scheduled equipment for your flights, the have a lot of aircraft-type exclusions). Advantage: Air Canada has a 10kg weight limit. All others limit weight to 8 kg.

LHs charges are the cheapest at 70 euros.
Finnair has extra legroom 'economy comfort' seating available at a moderate price (or free with oneworld status), which comes in real handy with a legroom-robbing pet carrier under the seat in front.

With your dog having a UK pet passport, traveling around Europe is easy and going landside at connecting airports for some exercise will be uncomplicated.

lrm

That would be enjoyable indeed. Alas, a cruise isn't practical for us (too much time away) right now.

lrm

That's doesn't sound strange at all. I don't know how hard it would be (as a non-resident) to accomplish this. It may come down to available time.

I shipped another pup across --in 1998 (!) It's shocking that things don't seem to have changed (even though the draconian quarantine process seems to have lightened up a bit).

Any opinions about the best airlines to engage for this?

lrm

This is really helpful, thank you. I didn't book this last time (in 1998), so I'm unsure about the details (basically, the woman I got the pup from then took care of inoculations and his papers, etc., and dropped him off at Heathrow; I picked him up about 8 hours later when he landed at JFK cargo ). I am unsure an animal simply 'being exported' even will get a pet passport...he's just shy of 3 months old now, and definitely doesn't have one now.

Have you used the method you describe successfully? Is British Airways even an option? The pup must travel London to Dulles (Virginia), and I've heard good things about animal treatment on BA. I also understand that Heathrow is a good airport for pets, generally.

expatboy

The UK Customs and Quarantine regulations are in place to keep things like Rabies out of the UK, and to control the flow of animals in and out of the country.

BA is who I use when shipping my animals (dogs and cats) in and out of the UK and have always been really good for us in the past. A reputable company like Airpets will make all the cargo arrangements for you including supplying a robust crate for the animal that conforms to the IATA regulations. They will also handle any veterinary and certification requirements that the destination country may have, and will also arrange the Export Permit for the UK with DEFRA. As a passenger you cannot book cargo yourself, you will have to get a specialist to make these arrangements for you.

If you don't want to take the dog this way via Cargo then your best bet is probably to get the dog to Europe (via Ferry/Tunnel) and fly from there - however, I've never done this and can't imagine anything much worse than travelling with a dog/cat in the passenger cabin, but YMMV. AF's website states that the transport bag must fit under the seat in front if you're in Y. KLM's site is similar, and prohibits them in J and also in Economy Comfort extra-legroom seats. I don't know what kind of dog you are getting but it would likely be way more comfortable in the cargo hold - the IATA regulations are good and ensure that the animal travels in an appropriately-sized crate for the journey and is comfortable.

Good luck!

bhomburg

Any dog that's been born in the UK (is this a puppy from a breeder?) will get a UK pet passport. It does not matter that he's going to be leaving the country. Any vet can issue him one, and whoever is in charge of him now should really get to that.
Having a UK pet passport for him greatly eases entry into the US, as the US considers the UK to be a rabies-free country from which animals may travel from without being vaccinated against rabies. That UK pet passport is the best, cheapest and easiest way of establishing his identity and origin.

You have two options how to bring him over:

- fly over, collect him and fly back with him in the cabin using one of the pet-friendly airlines/routings I have posted above. This will cost your ticket and the pet-in-cabin charge on the way back. Charges for a pet in the cabin vary between EUR 70 (LH) and EUR 200 (Air France).
Note travel in the cabin will only work when puppy and the kennel he'd be using for travel don't weigh more than 8 kgs ( 10kgs in case of Air Canada) combined.
If he weighs more than that, you need to check him into the hold as baggage, which will increase cost to around $200. There's additional airlines such as AA or Delta who will let him travel in the hold as baggage from Heathrow to Dulles (although none who flies that route nonstop)

- you can have him shipped unaccompanied as cargo. This is the only way pets can travel on BA on this route.
Note that this will cost in excess of GBP 1,000 and require the use of an agent.
If you want to ship him through BA, he needs to be dropped off at the cargo facilities at Heathrow and picked up at the Air General cargo facilities (not the passenger terminal!) at dulles.

I generally do not use airlines who transport animals as cargo only for cost reasons. All rescue groups I know who rehome dogs to or from the UK go via mainland Europe and use flight companions.
I have travelled with animals in the cabin and/or the hold as baggage from the UK to the US multiple times, but always on pet-friendly airlines with connection in either Europe (Lufthansa) or the US (AA, for in-the-hold dogs).
Personally, I would do everything I could to ensure an animal can go in the cabin with me on any flight. Especially with a puppy within the weight limit, that's really the best option for everyone involved.

COOLIO

Agreed to bhomburg's posts above. It is possible - I have done it on AC.

I came across no issues at either checkin or going through security. Canadian passport control/customs wanted to see a rabies certificate (despite it really not being required as we came from an exempt country). I provided it and we were through.

katpat23

I fully appreciate the advice to keep the dog with you at all time, and use the in-cabin option if possible. But that's quite a long time from UK to US, and what if the dogs whine and protest a lot? Has anyone had that problem or do they find the airplane noise a soporific experience?

coleview

This is an older post but how has Covid affected your travel?

planet_erg

And Bexit?

bhomburg

Neither Covid nor Brexit have had a general impact on transporting pets in the cabin accompanying passengers.
This is very different for larger pets who will have to travel in the hold. Lots of airlines have stopped accepting animals for travel as checked baggage as a result of covid-related scheduling issues. Hopefully this will bounce back as restrictions are eased and flights resume.
And Covid-related service reductions have been responsible for some airlines ceasing to accept transporting animals as cargo, and others to dramatically increase pricing for this service-
Hopefully this will normalize as well, but I fear the price increases will stick for awhile as airlines try to recoup some of the revenue lost during the past 18 months.