"Who ever said that diamonds are girls best friends,
never owned a dog."
"Who ever said that diamonds are girls best friends,
never owned a dog."
As you know I travel quite a lot with living in between Barcelona and Budapest for a while now. On top, I travel for work and since I don't have anyone who can babysit my dog - Papi while I am away and since I stay in Barcelona for a week or so at a time Papi needs to travel with me each month, by plane. Luckily, he is a young, mid-size dog with curly black hair, puddle mix with a friendly personality and in good health who takes the plane travel rather well.
Still, I am not to excited to have him fly every month as although he is taking it well, it is certainly not natural for a dog to travel so much and I imagine it must be even more stressful for him then it is for me, so I am hoping that this 'living in two cities' situation is just temporary and that we will soon settle in one city which we will be able to call home.
When I was preparing to travel by plane with Papi for the first time I did a bit of investigating online and I was terrified after reading a horror stories on forums and on various blogs, there was also a lot of wrong or conflicting information (I know now) so I decided to simply share with you my experience of traveling with Papi in the last year and a half on almost monthly basics with various airlines in Europe.
Papi is mid size dog (14kg) and he is traveling 'in hold', meaning, he is not traveling in the cabin with me but in his cage/pet carrier in a special climate controlled compartment for pets (not with the luggage).
#1 Getting a flight ticket for a dog & choosing the right airline.
I used to just buy my flight ticket online and come to the airport 45 min earlier then when I travel alone to buy a ticket for Papi on the airline counter, at the time, I was flying with Lufthansa who based on my experience has the highest fees for dog travel. This is not the best way to go about getting a ticket for your dog, as it might happen that there are already 3 dogs on the same flight and there is no available room for your dog, which might result in you having to cancel your ticket as well.
The best way for me now to get a ticket is to call the flight operator directly and ask if there is a room available on the flight for the dog (each flight if you will have stop-overs) once operator confirms there is I buy my ticket for the selected flight and once I get my ticket number I call the provider back and purchase a ticket for Papi with my credit card via phone and then company sends me Papi's e-ticket via email.
#1 Getting a flight ticket for a dog & choosing the right airline.
I used to just buy my flight ticket online and come to the airport 45 min earlier then when I travel alone to buy a ticket for Papi on the airline counter, at the time, I was flying with Lufthansa who based on my experience has the highest fees for dog travel. This is not the best way to go about getting a ticket for your dog, as it might happen that there are already 3 dogs on the same flight and there is no available room for your dog, which might result in you having to cancel your ticket as well.
The best way for me now to get a ticket is to call the flight operator directly and ask if there is a room available on the flight for the dog (each flight if you will have stop-overs) once operator confirms there is I buy my ticket for the selected flight and once I get my ticket number I call the provider back and purchase a ticket for Papi with my credit card via phone and then company sends me Papi's e-ticket via email.
“There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face."
Ben Williams
#2 Choosing a most pet friendly airline.
As I travel quite often with Papi I had really different experience with different airlines.
When getting a ticket for your dog, you will need to know your pet-carrier dimensions and exact weight as well as exact weight of your dog. I first started traveling with Lufthansa but since I never really knew how much the ticket for Papi will cost me as what I saw online was not what they told me on the airport when I was purchasing the ticket on the counter I ended up paying from 150 - 300 Euro one way, every time the price was different which was quite frustrating for me. Later I flew couple of times with Swiss and they were better and more consistent with prices. Also, I found that the price was different on different airports when purchasing ticket on the counter on the day of the trip - in Budapest I paid with the same company (Lufthansa) 250 Euros and upon my return from Barcelona, in Barcelona, only 100 Euros.
For traveling with a dog 'in hold' my favorite company now is is Air Berlin. They have a really pet friendly and knowledgeable staff, have more room for dogs - 6 vs. other companies which have up to 3 or 4 per flight and their prices are much more reasonable and consistent.
#3 Understand airlines requirements.
As I previously mentioned, you will need to have a FAA (US) and IATA Live Animals Regulations (EU) approved carriers with a proper ventilation, of a proper size for your dog size (dog needs to be able to stand, sit and turn in the carrier and you will need to have a passport for your dog and a health certificate from your vet. Here and here is the link to video with details on how the carrier need to be prepared for the flight.
#2 Choosing a most pet friendly airline.
As I travel quite often with Papi I had really different experience with different airlines.
When getting a ticket for your dog, you will need to know your pet-carrier dimensions and exact weight as well as exact weight of your dog. I first started traveling with Lufthansa but since I never really knew how much the ticket for Papi will cost me as what I saw online was not what they told me on the airport when I was purchasing the ticket on the counter I ended up paying from 150 - 300 Euro one way, every time the price was different which was quite frustrating for me. Later I flew couple of times with Swiss and they were better and more consistent with prices. Also, I found that the price was different on different airports when purchasing ticket on the counter on the day of the trip - in Budapest I paid with the same company (Lufthansa) 250 Euros and upon my return from Barcelona, in Barcelona, only 100 Euros.
For traveling with a dog 'in hold' my favorite company now is is Air Berlin. They have a really pet friendly and knowledgeable staff, have more room for dogs - 6 vs. other companies which have up to 3 or 4 per flight and their prices are much more reasonable and consistent.
#3 Understand airlines requirements.
As I previously mentioned, you will need to have a FAA (US) and IATA Live Animals Regulations (EU) approved carriers with a proper ventilation, of a proper size for your dog size (dog needs to be able to stand, sit and turn in the carrier and you will need to have a passport for your dog and a health certificate from your vet. Here and here is the link to video with details on how the carrier need to be prepared for the flight.
Make sure that you go to see your vet within a week before the flight to check a general health condition of your dog and write a health certificate needed for traveling, usually dog's passport contains room for these so vet just writes and stamps the passport. If your dog is older or taking medication, it might not be good to fly with him, also, some airlines will not take a snub nosed dogs like pugs as they often have trouble will breathing and flying in an airplane is more dangerous for them. Vet's are recommending NOT to medicate your dog to calm him down before the flight and many airlines won't take medicated dog's are they cannot guarantee how the dog will react to medicine during flight.
#5 Preparing your dog for a flight.
In preparation for the flight I usually double check that all of Papi's vaccinations are up to date, I take him for a health check and put the carrier in the living room with a thin blanket inside and try to make Papi comfortable to stay in the carrier for couple of hours so he gets used to the carrier and is not to stressed on the day of the flight. During Summer I fly with only early or late flights when it is not to hot and I always give Papi lots of water, when I check in my luggage I walk him outside of the airport a bit until it's time to check in. Also, I do not give him food on the day of the flight at all until we reach the destination.
I hope you find my tips useful, let me know if you have any questions as I pretty much mastered the subject :)
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