Pet transport- Tips for flying with a pet
July 12, 2010
I had to fly with my pug for the first time last week! I learned a lot and wanted to pass along the info!
If your pet is not used to a crate, get the carrier a week or so before and get them used to it. I’m lucky since I pet sit in Scottsdale and buddy comes with me alot, i sometimes have to crate him, so he is used to a crate. phew!
I am just going to go through the steps of traveling with your pets from my experience.
1) Make sure you really need to bring your dog along. If you are gone for a few day to a week and are going to be traveling when you get to your final destination and leaving rover at the hotel room or alone at a family members house….. leave him at his own home and hire a pet sitter like http://www.elitepetcare.com .yes, shameless plug.
Travel is stressful enough then to be alone in a strange hotel or house is scary and not nice for your dog.
But if your dog will be a part of your vacation then have at it!
2) Make sure your airline takes pets. Google “enter airline you want to look into” pet policy or “airline” in cabin pet policy. Some airlines count the pet as a carry-on. Lame!! I used Alaska and they don’t count them as a carry-on so I had Buddy, a small carry on suitcase and a camera bag.
3) Book your ticket. it may be a good idea to call before you book to make sure there is room for the pet. I called Alaska before I booked and she told me to book first, then call back so I had a confirmation for her…
4) Get your confirmation code and call the airline. They will make a note in the system that you are traveling with a pet.
Airlines only allow a certain number of in cabin pets, so if for some rare reason they are full on the flight you selected, they will help you change the flight for free.(at least Alaska)
5) You will need a health certificate to prove your pet is healthy enough to travel and UTD on vaccines.
In some cases, you have to travel within 10 days of the health certificate issue date. My vet made sure i was traveling within this time frame. Then the certificate is only good for 30 days.
6) Buy or borrow an airline approved pet carrier. The carrier needs to be lined with an adsorbent material. The pet industry makes fleece liners for these carriers which are perfect.
The pets will lay down the entire trip so even though it doesn’t look very comfortable, Buddy was fine. Especially since the mesh on the side of the carriers stretched to accommodate his buddha belly.
**pets need to be in the carriers when they are in the airport. I let buddy stick his head out and no one said anything.
7) Go to the airport and print your ticket at the kiosk if you have no bags to check in. At the kiosk you will be asked to pay for your pet for this leg of the trip. Probably would make more sense to just do it all at the customer service ticket counter, but the airport was empty and I was there 3 hrs ahead of time, so I was putzin around.
The fees will be about $100 each way.
I will sidenote here that Buddy had been walked in the am. went to a picnic in the afternoon and had another short walk before the airport. He was tired and ready to nap for the plane ride. Make sure your dog is tired and pottied out before you get to the airport.
Since I was at the airport at an off hour(saturday at 3:50 p.m. for a 6:50 flight) I had time to kill and I didn’t want buddy to be in his carrier longer then needed, so I asked for the pet area so he could potty and walk around.
It was by the smoking area so that blew, but i found a non smoky spot to sit and let buddy stretch. And he got lots of attention. He went potty, walked around and got some water.
9) Security check point. Pet has to come out of its carrier so the carrier can be scanned. You walk through the metal detector holding the pet. I took buddys harness off since the tags would set off the metal detector.
Then back in carrier.
10) I boarded the plane towards the end to keep buddy unshoved under the seat as long as possible.
Place the carrier under the seat with the zipper on top facing you so you can have access.
The carrier really didnt fit under the seat too well because of the life vests under the seats, so it stuck out by my feet. The flight attendants didnt say anything.
Buddy just slept the entire time. On take off I stuck my hand in his carrier to rub his neck and soothe him. I also put my finger in his mouth to make him yawn in case his ears weren’t poppin on their own. I did that every time my ears were effected, I figure his ears pressure is effected too right!
So traveling with a pet is pretty easy, but its EXPENSIVE!!
