Pet Airways

[ripley]

I will be moving across country in mid February from Pennsylvania to California. My plan originally was to drive with both dogs. However, I have learned of a relatively new company called Pet Airways and am considering using them to fly the dogs out to CA instead. According to their website, the dogs ride inside the cabin. It's temperature and pressure controlled, plus they are checked on by people every 15 minutes. The dogs would have to stay overnight in the middle of the trip, so the whole process would take about 24 hours. The company only flies to LA, so they would have to be picked up by my parents and driven another 350 miles in addition to the plane trip. Both my guys are pretty sensitive (especially Indy), so I'm not sure if this is a good idea for them (I would never even consider putting them in cargo on a regular airline, especially at this time of year). However, I know Indy would also be very stressed out staying in strange hotels, etc. for the 7 or 8 days it would take to do the drive.

 

I am reluctant to trust a company with my pups when I know nothing about them. So I'm wondering if anyone on here has experience with them or heard anything. I looked them up on the BBB. They are not registered with BBB and have an "F" rating. However, this rating is based on them not responding to the one complaint that the BBB received about them. Here is their website:

 

http://petairways.com/

[geonni banner]

There used to be an outfit called "Flying Fur," but I couldn't find them on line. I did find this, however. Who knew there were so many companies that specialize in animal transport? Some of them seem like thy are geared toward puppy-mill clients, but others seem less unsavory.

 

http://www.petsonthego.com/profpetmovers.html

 

Then there's these guys that only move rescue dogs...

 

http://www.flyingpaws.org/

[SoloRiver]

I would drive. Seven to eight days from PA to CA? My brother and I made it from Northern VA to San Francisco in two and a half days hauling a U-Haul trailer that was stuffed to the gills and as heavy as my Element could tow.

 

I thought Solo would be stressed by the long trip but he was perfectly fine.

[luv2napp]

We moved from Laredo, TX to Ashburn, VA six years ago. At that time I had two BC's, one cat, two bunnies and a hamster. Well, as you can imagine, I went crazy trying to figure out how to get all the animals moved. We had a quad cab truck, so we knew the dogs, hamster and my son could fit, but that was all. It was a 3 day trip....I had to stop after about 11 hours of riding, that was all I could take. Anyhow, I found this wonderful transport service who drove all over the country picking up and dropping off animals. They took the bunnies and cat for me. I wish I could remember their name. If you are interested, I can search for it. If not, I won't bother. Good luck in whatever you decide to do. Moving is a pain!

[Mojo]

FWIW, I concur with SoloRiver--as the sole driver, and leisurely driving only 8 hours a day, taking plenty of pit stops for meals, and staying in a hotel every night, and even going exactly the posted speed limit, it was still an easy 4 days from Buffalo, NY to Los Angeles, CA when I did it--nothing remotely close to 7 or 8 days. If you actually try to hurry, and take turns driving with a friend, it is definitely possible in 2.5 days or less, particularly if you drive round the clock. I have one crazy friend who can somehow make it in about 30 hours, but I wouldn't recommend his methods. If you have to move out a lot of your stuff anyway, and your dog likes car rides, I would also definitely suggest that you drive the whole way. The route is really scenic/peaceful, and the hotels off the highway are pretty quiet, particularly if you are only stopping late at night and leave early in the morning, and you don't try to leave your dog unattended in the strange hotel room for very long, and, of course, you confirm beforehand at the hotels all along your route that pets are allowed, and bring a familiar blanket or dog bed or soft folding crate (or whatever your dog likes to sleep in/with), I am willing to bet your dog would be much happier getting to be with you the whole time, since the move will be stressful enough in itself, and it will be worse for him/her to have to deal with it alone.

 

As for flying with Pet Airways, I was consistently advised by friends who fly their dogs cross-country a lot for trials, etc., NOT to use Pet Airways, since it is impossible to check on the quality control at their central layover facility. Even besides the staff treatment of animals behind closed doors, I was also very concerned about disease transmission, and the potential for dog fights, with so many nervous pets being handled in close proximity. I also imagine it would have been pretty traumatizing for Mojo to have to be loaded onto the plane and go through the long flight, only to find himself at a strange boarding facility where I wasn't there for him, where he would probably spend the night freaking out (he does not, btw, do well in doggie daycare or boarding situations), and THEN be re-loaded onto another plane the very next morning? And what if, in his panic, he somehow got loose, and lost, hundreds of miles away from me?? By the time I could fly to the facility, he would be long gone. I also didn't like that they only had small planes (Beech) to fly such a long distance, and frankly, the whole concept of flying ONLY pets--i.e., with so many other dogs/cats on board who are probably also extremely nervous--not to mention that you can't use your own familiar crate (they have special crates they use), I think the whole atmosphere would have made flying much, much worse for Mojo, compared to a flight in cargo, where he could be in his own crate that he's used to, and would most likely be the only pet. So, Pet Airways was out of the question for us, but I will say that to their credit, when I called them, they were booked up 3 months in advance (and this was just after they had started service in July, 2009), so it looks like plenty of people do use and recommend their services....but maybe just for shorter, one-leg flights.

 

Just to keep your options open, however, you should know that as scary as it initially sounds, flying a dog in cargo really isn't that bad, as we learned last summer when we DID end up flying Mojo across the country with a regular commercial airline for a vacation. If you choose an airline with a temperature-controlled cargo hold (i.e., heated with cabin air), you really shouldn't have much problem flying in the winter, as long as you fly during the hottest part of the day, though of course it also depends on *just* how cold the ground temperatures are at your origin in PA, as different airlines have different weather embargos (for good reason, since the main concern with flying cargo is that the air temperatures at 20,000 feet are pretty darned cold, even during the summer)....however, it's currently 80 during the day here in LA, so there's nothing to worry about at your destination, if you do end up flying into SoCal in order to get a direct, non-stop flight. Anyway, I was repeatedly told that it is much worse to fly in the summer, which is when we had to go, since waiting on the tarmac in the heat is what is most likely to kill a dog. So, we booked a normal commercial NON-STOP flight during the early-morning off-peak hours (to avoid summer heat, as well as long stressful lines at the airport in order to minimize crate time and flying time) from LA to NYC, and then hung around the gate until the last possible moment to check in (and if you go immediately to the counter and tell the attendant you are flying a dog in cargo, they will help you check in right away, meaning you can skip the whole long regular passenger line and stay with your dog OUT of the crate at the curb just outside the airport until you absolutely have to go inside to check in), which made it just over 5 hours on the actual plane for him, and about 7 total hours in the crate from check-in until we were actually at our rental car. And, btw, just as a tip, we even thought to sign up for the "blue chip club" rental car service, which is FREE with all the major agencies, so that all you have to do is make the online reservation, show your membership card when you arrive (there is a separate, special instant-serve line for blue chip members that bypasses everyone else), and POOF, you can go right to any car you want without having to fill out ANY paperwork, and just drive off--just so that we wouldn't have to prolong Mojo's crate time by waiting in the regular line at the rental agency. (Oh, and btw, you also have to make sure that the rental agency will ACCEPT dogs in their cars; National, Thrifty, and Avis will, without a cleaning fee, at least as of July/Aug 2009.) THEN we drove the 400 miles from NYC to Buffalo (our final destination), which sounds like it is similar to what you would have to do with the additional 350-mile drive.

 

So, even though my boyfriend and I were absolute wrecks worrying about Mojo in cargo the whole time, Mojo was honestly great about it all, which says a lot, since he is a pretty anxious dog, as dogs go. We also made sure to get seats on the right side of the plane near the wing, so that we could actually see him boarded and deplaned, decorated his crate with crazy foil stars so that I could see the crate from the plane easily in the dark, along with cute taped signs (stuff along the lines of, "Hi, my name is Mojo, this is my first time flying, and I might be a little scared! Please do not open my crate, but you may offer me water through the door!") so that the ground crew would smile and be nice to him, and I do feel that helped a lot, because indeed, we SAW several of the crew members bend over to wave to him and talk to him through his crate door, which we had twist-tied shut (I was worried that cable ties might make it too hard to open in an emergency)...but regardless, Mojo looked reasonably happy being handled by the crew, as far as we could see. I was actually so paranoid about strangers handling/lifting his crate beforehand that I had male friends come over to practice picking up Mojo's crate while he was still in it, and even took Mojo on a couple of dry runs to the airport several days prior, and ASKED the security guards to practice inspecting his crate (i.e., the dog has to be in the crate once you enter the airport--at least at LAX and JFK--but then, after you check in, you go in a special separate area, where you have to take the dog OUT of the crate so that they can put the crate through x-ray or do a visual inspection, but the guard will not actually touch the dog), just to get Mojo used to the whole experience, and the guards were actually nice enough to help me out. Admittedly, however, Mojo was thoroughly crate-trained and comfortable being in a crate long before the flight (I'm not saying your dog isn't, but just asserting that this is, of course, an important concern before even considering something like flying in a crate in what amounts to a dark, noisy, moving metal box for 5+ hours), and further, Mojo is not noise-sensitive, and he also ***loves*** riding in cars and doesn't get motion-sick, so we had no reason to think that he would react badly to flying.

 

The last thing I will note is that the familiarity of being able to be in a car with us (even a strange rental car) immediately after his flight definitely helped him to decompress after the stress of flying, as we had suspected it would, so again, if your dog likes cars, getting to drive the remaining 350 miles might actually help him/her relax, rather than stress him/her out more, but you know your dog best!!!!

 

I hope that helped. If you have any more specific flying-with-dogs questions, please feel free to PM me--I'm sure there are many more tips/tricks I ended up doing to help Mojo's flight go more smoothly that I have missed relating here....but even still, as well as Mojo handled flying, it was still pretty stressful.....so, if I were actually MOVING (i.e., not just taking a vacation), again, my vote would be definitely to drive with him, hands down. He and I are much happier being together the whole time where we can keep an eye on each other...I guess we are both control freaks!!!

 

Sincerely,

Koi

[ripley]

Thanks everyone for your responses. I think I'm leaning pretty strongly toward driving. Koi you make a lot of good points about the pet airways procedures. It could be fine, but there's no way to know for sure. Also, Indy has pretty significant fear/anxiety issues and he's only been with me about seven months now. He's gotten a lot better in that time, but I worry that the move in general is going to set him back. The one time I kenneled him (just over night), I don't think he peed or drank anything for the entire 24 hours. The two flights, kennel over night, then being picked up by my parents (who he's only met once, several months ago), and driven another 6 hours is probably just too much for him. And to top it all off, since my house doesn't close until several days after the flight time (they only go a few times a month), he would be in a strange house without me for the first few days. He actually likes the car. It's mainly the hotels and strange people I'm concerned about with the drive. However, when you compare that to what he would face in the flight situation, it doesn't sound as bad.

[Cody & Duchess]

We drive with our dogs from Florida to New Mexico twice a year. Both do it well - they are just happy to be with us. In transport - make sure your dog is safe- we use halters- no chance of slipping a collar. Ripley - I am sure your dogs already do this- but my worst nightmare is the thought of a dog getting spooked and bolting on a trip.....

1. Park in as quiet an area as possible ( rest areas- go way to the back.... you may have to walk far to use the bathrooms, but your dogs are far from the big rigs)

2. Bring plenty of water with you- a bowl that can be resealed is good.

3. Teach your dog a strong "okay" command. No one gets to exit the car until that is said.

4. La Quinta takes up to 2 dogs with no fee. Their national website gives you the info.When you book - ask for a ground floor, very quiet area. If you didn't get ground floor when you arrive for check-in - take the stairs ( firestairs) . My Cody got really freaked out by an elevator that was on the outside of a building. I won't do that again. If your dogs sleep on the bed- bring a sheet to throw over the hotel comforter.

5. Teach your dog to go to the bathroom on cue - I tell them to do their business. Helps speed up some of the sniffing in a new place and needing to find to perfect place to poop.

[nancy]

Well, not all dogs freak at elevators. Fergie absolutely loves them.

 

We stayed at a Baymont with her. Our room was near the stairs, so we thought we'd use them once we got settled. Oh no. She pulled us to the elevator. She thinks it's the most wonderful magical room.

 

Then again, she discovered elevators on our trip to New England when she was less than a year old. As she panics at thunderstorms and any pressure changes, we were worried. Obviously, the changes in elevators are quite different.

[Mojo]

Hi Ripley, glad that we've helped you a bit with your decision! I just also wanted to say that Cody & Duchess made a lot of great points, too, about car travel. Mojo's bathroom command is "hurry up," which definitely helps speed things along in new places or when I'm in a rush (but frankly, with a male dog, it's not like he has much of a problem deciding on a place to go, LOL--I think this command was much more useful when I had a female, particularly when there wasn't any grass around, as she didn't like to do her business on concrete). Anyway, Mojo's vet has an elevator, so he's been on it repeatedly, and after a time or two getting used to the motion, Mojo doesn't mind elevators now, either; however, he sure is alarmed when the doors open and other people and dogs get IN the elevator, and/or when the elevator stopped at our floor and people/dogs got OUT of the elevator right at him. At the hotel in NYC, though, which was pretty busy at all hours of the day and night, AND our room was pretty close to the hall elevator, which unfortunately made a loud "ding" every time it came to our floor that could be heard inside our room, we worked pretty hard to get him used to the idea by clicking and giving lots of treats whenever the elevator doors opened...and honestly, after 10-15 repetitions at various times of the day, he relaxed and got over it by the end of the first night. So, if your dog is a bit nervous, too, the ground floor request is an excellent idea, and if you can't get that, taking the stairs just gives you room to maneuver if someone should come up or down the stairs, but since most people do take the elevator, you rarely encounter people in the stairwell. But again, a lot of the places off the highway (I think we went south as soon as possible, and mostly stayed on the 10 W) between the northeast and California were, in my experience, pretty small little motels, with plenty of grassy areas around them, so they were extremely quiet and deserted--nothing compared to the super busy high-rise hotel Mojo had to put up with in NYC. In any case, super good luck with your move, whatever you decide!!

[Jimmyd65]

We drive with our dogs from Florida to New Mexico twice a year. Both do it well - they are just happy to be with us. In transport - make sure your dog is safe- we use halters- no chance of slipping a collar. Ripley - I am sure your dogs already do this- but my worst nightmare is the thought of a dog getting spooked and bolting on a trip.....

1. Park in as quiet an area as possible ( rest areas- go way to the back.... you may have to walk far to use the bathrooms, but your dogs are far from the big rigs)

2. Bring plenty of water with you- a bowl that can be resealed is good.

3. Teach your dog a strong "okay" command. No one gets to exit the car until that is said.

4. La Quinta takes up to 2 dogs with no fee. Their national website gives you the info.When you book - ask for a ground floor, very quiet area. If you didn't get ground floor when you arrive for check-in - take the stairs ( firestairs) . My Cody got really freaked out by an elevator that was on the outside of a building. I won't do that again. If your dogs sleep on the bed- bring a sheet to throw over the hotel comforter.

5. Teach your dog to go to the bathroom on cue - I tell them to do their business. Helps speed up some of the sniffing in a new place and needing to find to perfect place to poop.

 

 

I agree. Your decription is our trip to the "T".

[NorthfieldNick]

FWIW, both my dogs have been on planes cross-country with no trouble. I moved from Maine to WA state, and I flew. I hate driving, and a cross-country road trip sounds like pure torture to me. The 10 hours to Finals this year nearly did me in. Lu moved with me, and she acted like she got on a plane every day. That was in mid-November, and was actually from Ohio to WA. Lu was totally comfortable in her crate, and while she wasn't the most comfortable with strangers, she came off the plane just fine.

 

Nick was flown from TN to WA unaccompanied when I bought him. That was in Dec. He also arrived just fine, although the pissing down rain unnerved him a bit (that was one of the rainiest winters on record here).

[bc4pack]

It's all about knowing your dog (and yourself ). The vast majority of dogs do fine. Owners tend to stress out the most.

[BCBaxter]

Any word on how Ripley's trip across country went?

[Zap-n-Jo]

Regarding flying dogs in cargo on commercial airlines...

 

We have flown our dogs several times from Arizona to Florida and back. (We've also driven them; it just depends on how much time we've had.) We clearly mark their crates with all kinds of info, particularly our flight itinerary, contact information, and a request to take the dogs to the vet if needed, with a promise to cover any related vet expenses.

 

When we board the plane, we always either pop our head into the cockpit to talk to the pilot or ask the flight attendant to ask the pilot to confirm the dogs are on board. We give them a brief description of our dogs, just in case there are other dogs being boarded too.

 

When we ask some flight attendants, they roll their eyes as if we're being too high maintenance. However, once this practice made all the difference. On a flight to Florida we had a stop in Dallas, with no scheduled plane change. However, things got rearranged, and when we got to Dallas, we had to change to the aircraft at the adjacent gate. As usual, when I boarded the connecting flight, I asked the pilot to be sure the dogs were on board. This pilot was great, asking me all about my dogs and promising me to give them a safe trip.

 

Ten minutes after our take-off time we were still sitting at the gate. The pilot made an announcement, something like, " Sorry, folks, for the delay. But we are missing two very important passengers. We have two border collie dogs that are supposed to be on board, but they're not here yet, and we're still looking for them. It will be just a few more minutes." Of course, there were quite a few groans from some of the passengers about the delay -- clearly not dog lovers!

 

The pilot refused to depart until we found the dogs. He even got off the plane and walked on the tarmac looking at the cargo area of the plane we had just gotten off of! It turns out that with the confusion of the unscheduled plane change, the dogs were taken to the main cargo area. The pilot tracked them down, and we were well on our way 10 minutes later. I loved that pilot!!! And I'm so glad I asked the pilot to confirm that the dogs were on board.

[Donald McCaig]

Dear Doggers,

 

Luke and June have flown Delta 4 times and Air France once RT. !0 flights total. Neither like it and I am never comfortable until the pilot assures me my dogs are aboard. But it beats four days on the road. Luke is crate defensive and once arrived with a note on his crate: "Cross Dog! Watch Your Fingers!" which enhances my worries (airlines can refuse to carry a "Cross Dog") but I've never had any trouble. Once in Atlanta I was watching my dogs load onto our regional jet and the worker asked" That your dog?"

"Yep"

"He seems a little upset"

So they reversed the escalator, Luke came back down and I told him he was a blockhead. (He is.)

Back Luke went.

My experience with airline personnel has been uniformly good and my dogs have traveled safely, if not comfortably (the cargo hold is temperature controlled but lightless and loud). The biggest problem is getting two dogs, two big crates, luggage and moi to the checkin counter. Terrorist paranoia has removed terminal parking from the terminal and luggage carts are often unavailable or wee little buggers. (In de Gaulle I rolled two huge crates, dogs inside, duffle atop peering around the sides, trying not to run into people or tip the whole sheebang.)

 

Best bet: get a friend to drop you and the dogs at curbside checkin. (Expect your dog(s) to be body searched and/or rolled over on their backs by security later). When I can't get dropped at the curb, I bungi cord my second crate atop a wheeled crate, install my luggage in the crates, attach dogs to string leads and blow right past the sign that says "Service animals only!"

If some dope says "Hey!" I keep booking, explaining over my shoulder: "They haven't been through security!" The word "Security" freezes intellects long enough for me to reach the ticket counter where the dogs can go back in their crates for all I care.

 

Twice they've been in the hands of the airlines for thirteen hours (I hated that) and I'm pretty sure Delta lets them out at their hubs - a practice I've two minds about.

 

But nervously, unhappily I'd fly them again.

 

Donald McCaig

[JohnLloydJones]

The word "Security" freezes intellects long enough for me to reach the ticket counter...

A sad, but true, comment on travel today.

 

I am lucky that our local airport (Sky Harbor, Phoenix) is dog friendly and the two big terminals have their own small dog parks for traveling dogs to stretch their legs and hike a leg.

[Tuxedodog]

I spent a lot of time researching air travel for pets. A co-worker was on a 6 month rotation from the Netherlands and brought his 17 year old cat with him. In the course of my reading, I read a lot of good things about Continental Airlines for pet transport if you decide to go that route. Where I live in PA I would have to take the animal to Newark, NJ for a Continental flight, but the kitty's return was a much better experience than the trip out. The cat has since returned to the US with his owner for a permanent stay.