Flying a dog in cargo with British Airways from UK to US

[JadeyHexed 29]

My fiance and I are trying to figure out how we can bring his 30lb English Cocker Spaniel with him when he enters the US. I've found a direct flight from Gatwick to Tampa with British Airways. Trouble is, when you look into flying a pet in the cargo with BA they insist that you use a pet export service. It's going to be expensive to use this service. Is there any way around this? I tried looking at Lufthansa flights but they don't fly direct to Florida.

[diamondfloor 10]

Hi there,

I just flew my 2 yr old lab so I understand the issues you are running into. I could not find a US carrier who would transport him for less than £1100 using a pet export service so in the end I flew Air Transat (Gatwick to Calgary). He flew as excess baggage for less than £200.

We are in Montana only a few hours drive from Calgary so it was relatively easy for us to pick this route - not sure if its something you are able to do!

Good luck!

[srvman 38]

Hi there,

I just flew my 2 yr old lab so I understand the issues you are running into. I could not find a US carrier who would transport him for less than £1100 using a pet export service so in the end I flew Air Transat (Gatwick to Calgary). He flew as excess baggage for less than £200.

We are in Montana only a few hours drive from Calgary so it was relatively easy for us to pick this route - not sure if its something you are able to do!

Good luck!

Off Topic.

Montana? Where abouts? You are the first person I have ever seen in Montana round here. We are in Great Falls.

[JadeyHexed 29]

Hi there,

I just flew my 2 yr old lab so I understand the issues you are running into. I could not find a US carrier who would transport him for less than £1100 using a pet export service so in the end I flew Air Transat (Gatwick to Calgary). He flew as excess baggage for less than £200.

We are in Montana only a few hours drive from Calgary so it was relatively easy for us to pick this route - not sure if its something you are able to do!

Good luck!

I live in Florida so it's not really an option but I appreciate your feedback. =)

Did you have any problems crossing the border with the K-1 visa?

[diamondfloor 10]

srvman….we are in West Glacier right by the entrance to Glacier National Park. We own a lodge and cabins here - feel free to visit anytime!

jadeyhexed - no issues other than they issued me with a paper I94 in my passport rather than the electronic version (which I didn't know existed at the time!)

[tetlee 0]

Trouble is, when you look into flying a pet in the cargo with BA they insist that you use a pet export service. It's going to be expensive to use this service. Is there any way around this?

I was told by one of the airlines that this is now an import requirement of the USA; In other words any pets shipped 'as cargo' must be booked through an agent

As has been said the alternative is to take the Dog in the cabin as excess baggage. I'm not sure how that works, asI was looking at taking a bird and nobody will do that from LHR -> LAX

Edited February 20, 2014 by tetlee

[srvman 38]

srvman….we are in West Glacier right by the entrance to Glacier National Park. We own a lodge and cabins here - feel free to visit anytime!

We may take you up on that offer one day. Love Glacier, so beautiful.

[JadeyHexed 29]

I was told by one of the airlines that this is now an import requirement of the USA; In other words any pets shipped 'as cargo' must be booked through an agent

As has been said the alternative is to take the Dog in the cabin as excess baggage. I'm not sure how that works, asI was looking at taking a bird and nobody will do that from LHR -> LAX

Thank you for your reply! We've actually got the situation sorted out after research lead us to another helpful forum. Don't know why the airline you spoke with told you that. We've just booked our flight through Virgin Atlantic with fiance's dog in cargo with no problems. We just need to get her fit-to-fly certificate within a few days of leaving and her kennel. Along with a lot of paperwork it should be a fairly straight-forward process. =)

[stazie1 0]

Hi jadeyhexed,

I will be booking my flight with Virgin soon for me and my Labrador as I have heard good things about them when it comes to looking after pets.

Hugo has his pet passport just in case we need to come back to the uk but apart from his "fit to fly" certificate I'm not aware of any other documentation.

Please can you advise if I am incorrect here. Thank you

[JadeyHexed 29]

Hi jadeyhexed,

I will be booking my flight with Virgin soon for me and my Labrador as I have heard good things about them when it comes to looking after pets.

Hugo has his pet passport just in case we need to come back to the uk but apart from his "fit to fly" certificate I'm not aware of any other documentation.

Please can you advise if I am incorrect here. Thank you

Yes we've seen great feedback from those who used Virgin and went with a DIY version of flying our pet instead of using a courier service.

The other documentation I was referring to comes into play after you book your dog's flight with the cargo specialists at Virgin. They'll email you several pages of forms that have to be printed and signed.

When are you scheduled to leave?

[stazie1 0]

It's good to hear you have heard positive things also.

It's very frustrating as I have had my visa since January but I'm just waiting to exchange contracts on my house so I'm hoping end of next month.

How about you? Do you have a date?

[JadeyHexed 29]

It's good to hear you have heard positive things also.

It's very frustrating as I have had my visa since January but I'm just waiting to exchange contracts on my house so I'm hoping end of next month.

How about you? Do you have a date?

I understand your frustration.

We are looking at the end of April to fly him over here. Our wedding is May 18th. Can't get him here any sooner due to school and other loose ends that need tying up.

It's very strange that the wedding invitations are going out next week and we don't have our interview until the week after. Just trying to stay positive about everything though it's stressful as all get out!

One nice thing I found about booking the ticket for my fiance's dog is that Virgin doesn't charge for the animal's ticket until the day you fly out. Since the cost of his dog's ticket is more than his ticket (absolutely ridiculous by the way) it's nice to be able to split up the charges. Unless of course you're booking really close to the actual day of travel. =)

Keep me updated, as you'll be going through it first!!

[stazie1 0]

Thank you for the information re the ticket, that's good to know.

Yes it sure is stressful, all this waiting.

Good luck with the interview and yes I will keep you posted on the experience with Virgin.

Thanks

[rjm_cmyk 75]

My dog flew VA from LHR to SFO and had a very good trip (well she arrived healthy). I used a pet shipper as I was moving out of my house the day before I was flying out and really couldn't face the additional hassles connected with the dog shipping (forms/vets/booking her in). I did look at self ship with VA but the cost differential (after I'd factored in the crate costs) was close enough for me to pay the extra

I took a photo of my dog on the plane with me. I'd edited it and added some text - "Dear Captain - please check the heating is on in the pet hold". For the first time in 16 years of flying to SFO I actually got to sit upstairs on the a 747 which is where the flight deck is. I gave the photo to cabin staff and asked them to pass it on to the flight deck. During the flight I think everyone on the flight deck came back and spoke to me about my dog. Apparently they never usually see any of the animals in cargo and they were amused enough to pin her photo on the control deck :-)

In the end it took longer for me to clear my dog than it did for me to enter on my K1. First you go to the freight terminal. Pick up her docs. Go to back to customs and get them stamped. Back to freight and get hound. We left the (not very cheap) crate with them as we couldn't get it in the car. My dog is a pretty tall and long lurcher (greyhound cross)

[davrhon 1]

_{I have a pugalier and I can't find an airline that will fly a "snub nosed" dog as cargo d/t breathing issues. anyone have any ideas or experienced this before?}