flyrights

I needed to take my large dog from Paris to Bangkok. I checked EVERY AIRLINE possible, and ALL of them charge a flat rate of 49 Euros PER KILO for an animal. For a large dog, with the cage, that comes out to almost $2,000. That's right, $2,000. If I put water in his cage, that weight will add about $100. If I feed the dog before the long flight, that's an extra $100. This is such a racket. Seems that ALL of the airlines have gotten together to EXTORT this out of people traveling with pets. This is unreasonable. There should be a flat fee, per the size of the cage/kennel one is checking. That would be fair and reasonable.

Between the US and France, and between the US and asia, most airlines charge only about $150 - $200. That is still high, but could be considered reasonable. $2,000 is NOT reasonable. It is EXTORTION.

After searching for almost two days, the BEST i could come up with was LTU Airlines, which charges "only" 14 Euros per kilo, so we are taking a train from Paris to Dusseldorf, and going with LTU to Bangkok. LTU also takes the dog's weight from your baggage allowance of 20 kilos, so if you travel light, you won't pay much extra. The other European airlines charge ALL of the dog as "excess baggage". LTU also has a deal if you join their "club", you get 10 kilos extra baggage allowance... which is well worth it. And i'm discovering these days, most airlines are getting real strict about the baggage allowance.