Flying with Giant Dogs
Jun 25, 22, 8:19 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2022
Posts: 1
Flying with Giant Dogs
I'm trying to ship my dog overseas, we are going to be flying with American Airlines but I can't find a kennel big enough for him! He's a Saint Bernard and we need a 54inch kennel (larger than the 700 series). Does anyone have any advice on where I can find one? Or where I can get one custom-made?
Jun 25, 22, 2:34 pm
#2
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 4,686
I'm trying to ship my dog overseas, we are going to be flying with American Airlines but I can't find a kennel big enough for him! He's a Saint Bernard and we need a 54inch kennel (larger than the 700 series). Does anyone have any advice on where I can find one? Or where I can get one custom-made?
Dec 22, 22, 10:56 pm
#3
Join Date: Oct 2019
Posts: 16
You might have a hard time shipping your dog in the cargo hold (AVIH) beacuse, as far as I know, the largest crates they allow tend to be the 48" length variety. For the size you are talking, you'd probalby need to work with whatever subsidiary handles the airline's cargo, rathen than the main airline ticketing agents.
$3000 is a ridiculous amount of money. Having a crate custom-made out of wood by someone who is familiar with the specific requirements of airline crates would probably cost just as much. Doing it yourself would be much cheaper, if you have the time, expertise, and access to a large woodshop, and the time to review the IATA requirements (link). I had considered making my own crate for my dog out of wood, but then I realized it would be super heavy, and once I got where I was going, I would basically have to tear it down. The Impact crate is aluminum and collapsable, so once you get where you're going you can slip it into the attic or basement or whatever, otherwise you have a huge box that probably won't even fit through a doorway.
Dec 23, 22, 10:19 am
#5
Join Date: Oct 2019
Posts: 16
And also, the idea of sitting on a boat for two weeks eating buffet food with a bunch of retirees sounds like just about the most tedious thing imaginable.
Furthermore, the kennels Cunard did have available on their select pet-friendly vessles were not too large, so if your dog was over a certain size, and I believe my average-sized 100-pound Ridgeback was, you would have to book two adjacent kennels or something weird like that, which considering the limited available of the kennels, basically halved the likelihood / doubled the timeline of your finding a booking.
The pricing was not too bad, compared to the alternative of finding a flight, and acquiring a crate. But the logistics and timeline did not work for me.
Apr 25, 23, 11:42 am
#6
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: BSL
Programs: AA (EXP); among others :)
Posts: 2,480
This will probably too late for the OP to solve her issue, but because FT does a good job serving as information source when searching related info on the web it may help others, so here's a PSA:
Zinger makes semi-affordable crates for large dogs in sizes up to 32"W x 48"H x 60"L. (and larger for custom orders).: https://www.zingerwinger.com/Crates/Need/AirlineTravel/ . Those are the cheapest ones I know.
When adding shipping and the mandatory airline travel kit (https://www.zingerwinger.com/airline-travel-kit.html) the cost will still stay well below $2,000 even for the largest variants. They can be completely disassembled for easier storage and transport, takes about 20 minutes for two people with a screwdriver and a wrench.
Especially when moving from the US to Europe and this would be a one-time only use, it's absolutely no problem to resell them over there especially in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The LH group - one of the largest players in the worldwide animal/pet transportation market - will not transport a number of dog breeds (those on their 'dangerous dog' list) in standard plastic travel crates but demands this kind of crate for passengers wishing to transport their dogs as checked baggage (see here for details). In Europe, that kind of crate is even harder to come by short of very expensive custom orders so there'll be demand.
AA has aircraft-dependent crate size restrictions. Live animals are only loaded into the forward cargo compartment (as only that one is climate-controlled on Embraer-, Bombardier-, Boeing- and Airbus A321T aircraft), so the size of that door effectively limits the crate size.
Back when AA accepted animals as checked baggage for the general public (which they did until 2020, a full decade after their primary competitors stopped to do so but unfortunately have stopped apparently for good now) one had to piece itineraries together by themselves using the fleet guide on aa.com and the schedule available on aacargo. if with a Giant or larger dog crate.
Now that this is history, such detailed knowledge isn't necessary anymore as one has to rely on the pros at AAcargo/PetEmbark to do their job. As a direct result, fees for transporting animals in the hold have gone up alarmingly. Where it once was an already-not-cheap $200 to take a dog from LA to NY on AA, they now charge more than $600. It's even worse internationally where four-figure pricing is the norm these days.
Today, the only pets-as-checked-baggage-to-Europe option remaining for those not living in a major city with no direct service by EU airlines allowing pets in the hold basically is Alaska for domestic flights (who will increase their checked pet prices by 50% come May1!) combined with an European airline still allowing them as checked baggage. Not ideal, as Alaska's route network is rather small compared with the big Three.
Cunard is indeed a good option, especially for dogs so large/heavy they won't fit a standard airline crate. It's cheaper than transporting them as cargo, too. Most airlines accepting pets as checked baggage for somewhat reasonable prices starting at $300 these days limit size and weight for this. Flying transatlantic with oneworld airlines, it's 45kg combined animal/crate weight with Iberia and 75kg with Finnair, Royal Air Maroc and Royal Jordanian for example - anything above that needs to be shipped as manifested cargo with stratospheric pricing.
The transatlantic trip on QM2 takes six days, not two weeks. It's travel a bit like in the old days before the jet age, and it's definitely travel, not your typical cruise. They get branded 'crossings' and not 'cruises' by Cunard, for a reason.
A large pet kennel is 36"x 36"x30″ and if that's too small two can be combined for a space that's 36"x36"x60". One kennel costs $1,000 (hooray for Cunard to not having raised their prices at all the last few years, they've been constant since at least 2018, something that definitely isn't true with airlines), Also, the animals basically just sleep in them and can roam around indoor and outdoor freely as they wish all other times.
Very true about the demand, the kennels tend to be booked solid a year and more in advance. But there's waitlists you can get added to, and when there's cancellations the slots open up again.
$1,000 for the pet plus a tad less than $2,000 for the accompanying human doesn't sound that bad compared to business class airfares plus pet fees these days.
Here's some good and up-to-date info about pets on the QM2: https://cruisemaven.com/travel-with-...ls-to-england/
Zinger makes semi-affordable crates for large dogs in sizes up to 32"W x 48"H x 60"L. (and larger for custom orders).: https://www.zingerwinger.com/Crates/Need/AirlineTravel/ . Those are the cheapest ones I know.
When adding shipping and the mandatory airline travel kit (https://www.zingerwinger.com/airline-travel-kit.html) the cost will still stay well below $2,000 even for the largest variants. They can be completely disassembled for easier storage and transport, takes about 20 minutes for two people with a screwdriver and a wrench.
Especially when moving from the US to Europe and this would be a one-time only use, it's absolutely no problem to resell them over there especially in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The LH group - one of the largest players in the worldwide animal/pet transportation market - will not transport a number of dog breeds (those on their 'dangerous dog' list) in standard plastic travel crates but demands this kind of crate for passengers wishing to transport their dogs as checked baggage (see here for details). In Europe, that kind of crate is even harder to come by short of very expensive custom orders so there'll be demand.
AA has aircraft-dependent crate size restrictions. Live animals are only loaded into the forward cargo compartment (as only that one is climate-controlled on Embraer-, Bombardier-, Boeing- and Airbus A321T aircraft), so the size of that door effectively limits the crate size.
Back when AA accepted animals as checked baggage for the general public (which they did until 2020, a full decade after their primary competitors stopped to do so but unfortunately have stopped apparently for good now) one had to piece itineraries together by themselves using the fleet guide on aa.com and the schedule available on aacargo. if with a Giant or larger dog crate.
Now that this is history, such detailed knowledge isn't necessary anymore as one has to rely on the pros at AAcargo/PetEmbark to do their job. As a direct result, fees for transporting animals in the hold have gone up alarmingly. Where it once was an already-not-cheap $200 to take a dog from LA to NY on AA, they now charge more than $600. It's even worse internationally where four-figure pricing is the norm these days.
Today, the only pets-as-checked-baggage-to-Europe option remaining for those not living in a major city with no direct service by EU airlines allowing pets in the hold basically is Alaska for domestic flights (who will increase their checked pet prices by 50% come May1!) combined with an European airline still allowing them as checked baggage. Not ideal, as Alaska's route network is rather small compared with the big Three.
Cunard is indeed a good option, especially for dogs so large/heavy they won't fit a standard airline crate. It's cheaper than transporting them as cargo, too. Most airlines accepting pets as checked baggage for somewhat reasonable prices starting at $300 these days limit size and weight for this. Flying transatlantic with oneworld airlines, it's 45kg combined animal/crate weight with Iberia and 75kg with Finnair, Royal Air Maroc and Royal Jordanian for example - anything above that needs to be shipped as manifested cargo with stratospheric pricing.
The transatlantic trip on QM2 takes six days, not two weeks. It's travel a bit like in the old days before the jet age, and it's definitely travel, not your typical cruise. They get branded 'crossings' and not 'cruises' by Cunard, for a reason.
A large pet kennel is 36"x 36"x30″ and if that's too small two can be combined for a space that's 36"x36"x60". One kennel costs $1,000 (hooray for Cunard to not having raised their prices at all the last few years, they've been constant since at least 2018, something that definitely isn't true with airlines), Also, the animals basically just sleep in them and can roam around indoor and outdoor freely as they wish all other times.
Very true about the demand, the kennels tend to be booked solid a year and more in advance. But there's waitlists you can get added to, and when there's cancellations the slots open up again.
$1,000 for the pet plus a tad less than $2,000 for the accompanying human doesn't sound that bad compared to business class airfares plus pet fees these days.
Here's some good and up-to-date info about pets on the QM2: https://cruisemaven.com/travel-with-...ls-to-england/
