Anyone Moved Pets through Chicago?

Hi Everyone,

We plan to relocate from Chicago to Manchester at the end of August. We have 2 cats that we would never consider leaving behind, and I believe I understand how the overall procedure works (that doesn't mean I won't have questions later, though!).

My problem: What do we do about the weather? I know we can't fly direct from Chicago to Manchester, so we plan to fly through Newark on United. According to a quote I got from a moving service (almost a year ago!) the heat won't be a problem in Newark, something about exceeding minimum requirements? But that doesn't help with getting them out of Chicago in the first place. Did any of you move pets from Chicago, or anywhere in the midwest? The weather can be so extreme here, it's hard to imagine that there are many days that one would feel confident that it wouldn't be too hot or too cold.

I am, of course, in contact with United, but they're not being very responsive. I would love to know anyone's personal experience with this - I just want some reassurance that I won't have any problems bringing my babies with me! They're the naughtiest cats in the world, but we love them anyway

Hi,
I think heat embargoes vary by airline.  I'll be flying my dog to Heathrow from Atlanta on BA, but looked into flying  him on Delta before I made a final decision. One or the other of those airlines has a heat embargo for flights through either Dallas or Houston, and Miami, but apparently Atlanta wasn't an issue since the flights I was considering were overnights.

Hope this helps!

It does, thank you! Unfortunately we have very little choice when it comes to flight times, there just aren't that many into Manchester. Most flights are overnight, but first we have to get to New Jersey! I wish we could just take our usual direct flight with American Airlines - I hate AA, the plane for that journey is tiny (only 1 aisle with 3 seats on either side) and the entertainment is awful, but I would be so much less stressed about my boys with a direct flight!