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Lufthansa Pet Crate Requirements.
So this is literally flat out ridiculous what I’m having to deal with to bring my dogs to Venice. Have a question about Lufthansa so their online website says their highest crate dimensions are 49 x 29 x 33 The Petmate Skykennel Giant that I would have to use for my male is 48" L x 32" W x 35" H There is no crate with their suggested dimensions btw. We will be flying into Venice from Atlanta since that’s the only airport that flies with the actually Lufthansa planes that is nearby (my husband is Army and stationed in Vicenza). I’ve been told by a few people they’ve used the Giant for their dogs flying that airline and had no problem, but I just wanted to check with maybe someone who has flown recently with theirs. My male GSD is huge and thankfully he fit we tried it out at Petsmart. My female could probably skim by and use an XL so I’m not too worried about her. I’ve tried contacted Lufthansa several times today and get told various things. This is very frustrating it isn’t our choice to move and yet here we are. We could get by with Delta because we are on military orders, but the issue there is all their planes that fly into Venice are too small to have any animal is cargo. I really need some help/guidance Pet Shipping companies aren’t in the question because they are way more expensive than we can afford right now. |
I flew Lufthansa multiple times with a Giant Kennel ( 48" Petmate Vari Ultra, link) and never had any issues with getting it accepted in either North America or Europe. A friend who is in the Canadian military used them to move from Canada to Italy on military orders just last month, he had the same kennel that you have for his Golden Retriever and there were no issues.
Unfortunately, Delta indeed is not an option for you. Their ATL-VCE nonstop uses B767 aircraft. Delta stopped accepting animals in the hold on 767s in 2012: Delta does not accept animals as checked baggage or cargo on any Delta operated B767 aircraft systemwide. There are no exceptions to this restriction for any customers, including military customers. AA is out as well although their crate policies allow your size (max. dimensions on AA are 48" L x 32" W x 35" H). The A330s they fly to Venice only allow up to medium sized crates. If you wanted to fly AA with a large dog in the hold, you'd have to fly them to Milan which is served by 777s out of MIA and JFK - giant crates are OK on those flights - and drive the rest of the way (two-and-a-half hours, 150 miles). The issue here is finding a domestic connection to either JFK or MIA that's operated by aircraft that'll take large crates. Out of personal experience, as schedules constantly change and aircraft get substituted, that can be a daunting task and is nothing I`d recommend to an inexperienced traveller. |
Yeah I’ve searched every airline it is either try to squiggle by with Lufthansa or fly Air France and have to transport them to another terminal on a seven hour layover in Paris.
With as many people telling me they’ve used the Giant sized crate with Lufthansa I think I’m going to try it |
If you have not yet moved I have a size 800 animal crate built by Gradlyn Pet Shipping services in Frankfurt. You can't send it as excess baggage, it has to go as cargo. The crate is very large (my senior greyhound fit very comfortably) and comes with a water bucket with an external filling funnel. I have it on eBay for $450 but if you PM me I can give you a good price for it as a favor to a fellow solder (I am a Marine veteran).
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Originally Posted by flybd5
(Post 32051783)
If you have not yet moved I have a size 800 animal crate built by Gradlyn Pet Shipping services in Frankfurt. You can't send it as excess baggage, it has to go as cargo. The crate is very large (my senior greyhound fit very comfortably) and comes with a water bucket with an external filling funnel. I have it on eBay for $450 but if you PM me I can give you a good price for it as a favor to a fellow solder (I am a Marine veteran).
Cost us 3k to ship my female who I ended up using a giant crate for. |
Originally Posted by flybd5
(Post 32051783)
If you have not yet moved I have a size 800 animal crate built by Gradlyn Pet Shipping services in Frankfurt. You can't send it as excess baggage, it has to go as cargo. The crate is very large (my senior greyhound fit very comfortably) and comes with a water bucket with an external filling funnel. I have it on eBay for $450 but if you PM me I can give you a good price for it as a favor to a fellow solder (I am a Marine veteran).
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This sounds like you didn't go with LH after all. Which airline did you end up using, and did they force you to use a pet shipper/agent?
That's some insane pricing to get a dog from the US to the EU.... |
Originally Posted by bhomburg
(Post 32062671)
This sounds like you didn't go with LH after all. Which airline did you end up using, and did they force you to use a pet shipper/agent?
That's some insane pricing to get a dog from the US to the EU.... I told them to try and book me a sharecoded or whatever flight where it is United operated by Lufthansa. Lady swore up and down she couldn’t do that 🙄. It was cutting it so close to the time I had to leave I didn’t have time to argue and make a complaint. You know the annoying thing? That pet shipper obviously used LH LOL which just made me even more angry for getting booty raped by that pet shipper and SATO. |
Ok, this is what I have learned... we moved to Eastern Europe two years ago with a husky... big fat bill of 4500 dollars and that was with me driving him to Dallas to fly out Luthansa, if they picked him up from our hometown, it would have been another 1000 (eye roll). Anyway, from the pet relocation company I learned how to do the paper with the vet, then also learned the problem to your crate size.... there is an extension that you can buy online that makes the smaller crate into the size you needed, which would have been the largest size possible without going over the max dimensions... make sense? It all has to do with the dog being able to sit and have room .... ears length.... yada... If you ask me it is almost like that size crate does not exist, just so you have to use a pet relocation company! I would never had discovered that on my own... they even sent me the link to buy it. Anyway... this time he is going back home with my son to college, and I plan to spend about 400 bucks to get him home, but I think the key is you have to fly One LAG with an airline such as Lufthansa in order to make it easy, so I plan to fly Frankfurt to Dallas and DRIVE home the rest of the 5 hours... it will be well worth saving 4 grand!
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Originally Posted by brandi
(Post 32092946)
Ok, this is what I have learned... we moved to Eastern Europe two years ago with a husky... big fat bill of 4500 dollars and that was with me driving him to Dallas to fly out Luthansa, if they picked him up from our hometown, it would have been another 1000 (eye roll). Anyway, from the pet relocation company I learned how to do the paper with the vet, then also learned the problem to your crate size.... there is an extension that you can buy online that makes the smaller crate into the size you needed, which would have been the largest size possible without going over the max dimensions... make sense? It all has to do with the dog being able to sit and have room .... ears length.... yada... If you ask me it is almost like that size crate does not exist, just so you have to use a pet relocation company! I would never had discovered that on my own... they even sent me the link to buy it. Anyway... this time he is going back home with my son to college, and I plan to spend about 400 bucks to get him home, but I think the key is you have to fly One LAG with an airline such as Lufthansa in order to make it easy, so I plan to fly Frankfurt to Dallas and DRIVE home the rest of the 5 hours... it will be well worth saving 4 grand!
The airlines are getting more and more ridiculous by the year. I’ve heard some airlines won’t fly crates either extenders anymore. It really is a huge crap show. The paperwork part isn’t an issue because the military vet does it for us for pretty darn cheap like maybe $30 I’ve heard it is pricey getting it done on the civilian side. |
Lufthansa: Excess Baggage - Cargo Hold
Good morning,
It’s been really helpful reading similar stories here. We have a similar issue transporting our Labrador. We are set to leave Beijing (thank God, been a long for years) and returning to US this summer. We are flying Beijing to Frankfurt and onward to Washington, DC. We have our lab slated as excess baggage in cargo. Our Petmate Sky Kennel 700 series is 48 by 36 by 32. Lufthansa crate requirements are 49 by 33 by 29. Really hoping we don’t have issues when we depart, as we literally have 0 options to accommodate our departure, outside Lufthansa. It sounds like some have had success despite the slight overages on width and height. Any additional feedback or success stories would be helpful if you guys are out there. Of course, any ideas or strategy on making it work would be awesome to hear about. Thanks all!! |
Originally Posted by mryan1629
(Post 34090266)
Good morning,
It’s been really helpful reading similar stories here. We have a similar issue transporting our Labrador. We are set to leave Beijing (thank God, been a long for years) and returning to US this summer. We are flying Beijing to Frankfurt and onward to Washington, DC. We have our lab slated as excess baggage in cargo. Our Petmate Sky Kennel 700 series is 48 by 36 by 32. Lufthansa crate requirements are 49 by 33 by 29. Really hoping we don’t have issues when we depart, as we literally have 0 options to accommodate our departure, outside Lufthansa. It sounds like some have had success despite the slight overages on width and height. Any additional feedback or success stories would be helpful if you guys are out there. Of course, any ideas or strategy on making it work would be awesome to hear about. Thanks all!! Were you able to transport without issues despite the crate size difference? I am currently looking at the same situation. Any info would be appreciated! |
Hey Matt,
Flying out of Beijing in 8/13. Talked to Lufthansa desk agent last week who could only assure me that some discretion is used when you arrive for flight. Not very comforting, but that’s all I’m gonna get. When do you depart? |
Originally Posted by mryan1629
(Post 34155280)
Hey Matt,
Flying out of Beijing in 8/13. Talked to Lufthansa desk agent last week who could only assure me that some discretion is used when you arrive for flight. Not very comforting, but that’s all I’m gonna get. When do you depart? |
I flew before with a giant crate
Originally Posted by Matthew Keithley
(Post 34155300)
Yea that's not extremely reassuring 😂 I fly out in July as of now (dates may change), so I guess I'll be the one to update you on how it goes! Still debating using a shipping company.
So what I can tell you is that I flew last year on Lufthansa from Washington to Cairo via FRA with a giant crate with no pbs what so ever. The ticket was originally on Austrian and I got a written approval for this special crate size. Actually at the airport no one bothered to measure the crate. However this year I am flying again same route, Austrian, same crate and they told me that they can’t give me a written approval as the rules have changed! I am planning to just book the flight and go to the airport cuz these aircrafts have accommodated the couple of inches in width and height before. I will either fly in May or June. |
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