Flying your pet from the UK to the US
When we moved from London back to America, one of the biggest question marks in our head was — how were we going to get our 13-year old cat, Frankie, over?
She’s not a particularly good traveler (she often gets so nervous going to the vet that she starts drooling intensely), she’s older, and she’s just a bit sensitive all around.
Anyhow, for a few different reasons (extra miles, better flight times), we (the humans in the family) decided to fly with British Airways. And British Airways is one of the few international airlines that transports pets as well.
British Airways works exclusively with a pet transport company called Pet Air UK, so that’s that. When I contacted Pet Air UK for a quote from London to San Francisco, they offered two different levels of service:
Silver Service
- Frankie’s flight + Airline surcharges (Handling / Security / War Insurance / Fuel / Airway Bill / Transit Fees)
- Custom made PetAir UK IATA approved wooden travel container with bedding and watering facility (see below)
- Export customs entry
- Airport visit on day of departure for check in assistance (essentially — a rep will be waiting for you at the airport to help you check in your pet)
Gold Service
- Everything above plus…
- Pre-travel veterinary health examination + all documents that need to be completed by a vet
- Collection from your home and transport to the airport (includes one night boarding at the Tarbay Centre in Windsor). So in this option, your pet would be picked up the day before the flight in the morning, taken to the cattery/kennel, where the vet does their final checks and paperwork.
- They then take the pet to the airport and get them all checked in.
The price difference is minimal, but the base price is eye-watering. For the flight from London to San Francisco, the pricing was £1024.79 for the silver service and £1187.79 for the gold service (no VAT required as the destination was outside the EU).
We opted for the Gold service in the end. The difference of £163 was worth it just on the vet examination fees and cat transport itself.
There are some extras you can pay for too — one is to hire an agent to sort out all the customs paperwork on the other end of the flight. It’s apparently quite a lengthy process, so the agent fee is equally expensive (we were quoted £360).
So here’s how it went.
Online Portal
After we agreed to go ahead with the flight and agreed to the level of service we wanted, we were sent an online portal login. We paid for everything through the portal (via credit card), and uploaded Frankie’s proof of vaccinations, and a photo of her there too. Very straightforward process.
Picking your dates
The most nerve-racking bit about the whole thing was the dates. Pet Air UK requested our preferred date (Dec 17th), which is when we had booked our flights for, but wouldn’t be able to confirm with the airline until 14 days before the flight. So there was always a chance that we would find out two weeks before the flight that she wouldn’t be able to fly.
In fact, we found out on Dec. 9th that she indeed would not be able to fly on the 17th due to an airport strike, but could fly on the 16th instead. Luckily we were able to change our flights as well, so all was fine for us all to fly a day early, but it’s good to keep in mind to be a bit flexible.
Vaccinations
- The only vaccination that the US requires is a rabies vaccine.
- But if you opt for the gold service, and your pet will need to stay in the cattery/kennel, they require the flu and enteritis vaccines (2 shots) as well.
We had Frankie vaccinated on Nov. 10th for a December 16th flight, and found it very, very tight as the other vaccines can only be administered a few weeks apart. In the end, Frankie got her last set of vaccines on Dec 14th.
The Actual Pickup
We managed to sequester Frankie into the bedroom that morning as unsuspiciously as possible. The PetAir UK staff member that arrived was named Steve (I think) — he came masked, was friendly, and clearly was in the business because of his love of pets. I was happy to see that it was someone from Pet Air UK, not just some random courier — so he was able to ask any questions we had and was well trained in transporting pets.
The Crate
The crate is extremely sturdy, and surprisingly large. Definitely enough room for Frankie to fully stand up and move around a bit. There’s two plastic bowls that will be filled with water and food, respectively. There’s a warm wool pad on the bottom of the crate, and a pee pad underneath (just in case).
Pet Check-in
On the day of the flight, we got a text from Steve at PetAir UK to let us know she was all checked in, and doing great. What a relief!
Picking her up
Because our flight landed after hours, we had to pay for an agent to sort our Frankie’s customs forms as well, so I can’t say how complicated that process is.
However, for us — it was quite straightforward. All the pets end up in the cargo section of the airport (not at the luggage pickup)! So we had to drive to another part of the airport entirely.
We were given contact information for the agent who sorted all our paperwork, as well as an address to go to. The cargo area is quite industrial so it can be a bit of a maze, but we got there in the end. All we needed to do then was to show an ID, and sign some papers. And then we were shown to the cargo bay, where she was sitting patiently in her wooden crate!
All in all — for what could have been an intensely stressful and nerve-wracking process, it was relatively easy and straightforward. PetAir UK did a great job keeping us informed about what we needed to do, and made us feel at ease.
Good luck!