Moving my dog for $5,100?!

I'm moving my Weimaraner & my cat to the UK from San Francisco. I just got a second quote back from a pet shipper for $5100. This cannot be right. The first quote was for $5700. Has anyone else shipping pets? If so, how much did it cost?

By "pet shipper", do you mean an airline or a pet relocation company? If the latter, $5k might not be unusual (depending on your pets' sizes). It also depends on where in the UK you're going.

I didn't use a pet relocation company, and paid about $2,300 to ship my 60lb dog and 10lb cat from Washington DC to Heathrow in April 2010. The airline charged me based on both size of the animal (volume of its crate) and weight (so my cat was about $500 of the cost and my dog was the rest since he's much bigger).

I didn't use a pet relocation company, and paid about $2,300 to ship my 60lb dog and 10lb cat from Washington DC to Heathrow in April 2010.

Mine was back in 2003, but I didn't use a relocation company either. I spent about £1,000 to ship my 25 lb cat (yes, he was BIG) from Boston to Heathrow.

To the OP, I know prices will obviously have changed since 2003, but what hasn't changed is the fact that it'll cost you significantly less to handle it yourself than to use a pet relocation company. And it's really not that hard. There's some great advice here on UKY to help you through it all. 

We just shipped our dog (20 pounds, medium crate) into Manchester about 2 weeks ago and it was $975ish.  We learned too late that the dog had to come to Manchester accompanied so having to solve that problem we called all the airlines who were approved and also pet relocation people.  It would have been more than double to use an agent to do things for us.  Also the clearance fees to go into Manchester were lower than the London airports.  For our dog to fly unaccompanied into Heathrow it would have been $1700 whereas Manchester was just under $1000 but she had to be with someone.  In the end we bought a friend a ticket to fly with her as it was going to be almost the same cost for us in the end and we didn't have to drive down to London. 

Definitely call around and see what will work better for you.  Also the paperwork isn't that hard so if you do it yourself you could save some on the costs.

Well, after hunting for a better deal all day it turns out that's just how much it costs. I called the only 2 airlines that will ship pets from SFO to LHR (BA & Virgin) and BA requires a pet relocation agent, hence the $5100.

If I book through Virgin I don't need an agent, but the airfare alone is $3260, plus approximately $650 upon arrival at Heathrow. Plus, I've got to get my USDA clearance prior to departure, vet visits for both, which will be another $300. Then there is bribing my in-Laws in San Francisco to take them to the vet, and the USDA, and the airport, all without missing anything. Then, there is renting a car in the UK to pick them up from Heathrow and drive them to my new home here in London. Grand-total (minus the headaches and time lost) $4210.

Ouch. I guess I'll pay the extra $900 for the time saved. Plus I know they'll be safe.

*sigh* The things we'll do for love!

Well, after hunting for a better deal all day it turns out that's just how much it costs. I called the only 2 airlines that will ship pets from SFO to LHR (BA & Virgin) and BA requires a pet relocation agent, hence the $5100.

Look through past posts on this subject in the moving section rather than this pet chat section.  A "pet relocation agent" is not a pet relocation service that you hire to do all the paperwork for you.  A "pet relocation agent" to BA is simply the agent who meets your pet(s) at the plane and brings them to the reception area where you collect them.  Its not someone you have to hire seperately - BA tells you who to call (James Cargo when I did this in 2009) and what to fax them. AFAIK, Virgin requires this too (since you cannot take your own pet out of the cargo area of the plane and transport them to reception centre),  BA just works it all into the price where Virgin charges the fee upon arrival.

ETA: the note you see on BA's website about requiring an agent appears to be travel FROM LHR or LGW not travel TO these airports.

ETA: the note you see on BA's website about requiring an agent appears to be travel FROM LHR or LGW not travel TO these airports.

Oh, thanks for posting that! I misread the note on the BA site. I just called BA and they are $3400 including arrival fees for both dog and cat. That's not so bad so I might give that a try, so thanks for posting!

"Please note that British Airways World Cargo at London Heathrow and London Gatwick no longer has the facilities to deal with members of the public or non-account holders. All requests to ship live animals must come via a Pet Travel Agent who can make all the booking arrangements directly with British Airways World Cargo on your behalf."

Hiya,
The prices you quoted were similar to what we paid in 2010 when I brought my  Ridgebacks to the UK. (DFW-LHR)
Although both of my dogs were only 75-80 lbs in weight, because they are both fairly tall they had to travel in the XXL (Great Dane sized) crates. At that time, the planes that BA few out of Dallas could not accommodate crates that size.
Your weimie may be similar in size, if so just make sure that whichever airlines you go with can accept a giant crate if needed.
On a happy note, both of my ridgies love it here. Lots of off leash fun and plenty of woods and green spaces to explore.
Best wishes to you and your pup.

Price isn't far off. I was quoted at Delta for my 15 lbs cat in a medium kennel at $680 plus the $730 on the other side.

I'm moving my Weimaraner & my cat to the UK from San Francisco. I just got a second quote back from a pet shipper for $5100. This cannot be right. The first quote was for $5700. Has anyone else shipping pets? If so, how much did it cost?

If we move back to the states I'm thinking of this:
Last time I checked it was $750 and all the luggage you can take.
Coco and other dogs aboard Queen Mary 2

Last summer, Delta quoted me $730 as the clearance fee on the 'other' (UK) side for my cat going to MAN via ATL.

Turns out, the $730 was 130 GBP, payable to Pets on Jets, not $730. I've never been sure why the Delta agent quoted $730, because all my pre-trip conversations with POJ were very specific that it was 130GBP.

We paid Delta $725 at ATL on the day of travel. Part of that fee was an extra to have our cat taken to a kennel for the pre-flight time, because it was ridiculously hot and we arrived early. They can only hold an animal in the cargo area for a certain time period during the summer. We could have kept the cat with us, and checked her in later, but felt it was far better to pay the kennel fee.