Moving US to UK with pets

Hello,

So grateful I found this forum  . I am moving from Atlanta to Manchester the second weekend in June. As I started to research moving my WGSD, I leaned towards doing it myself but now I am just not sure. Both ways have pros and cons and I am certainly willing to pay more money if it means peace of mind of having Sheba arrive safely door to door. As I am speaking to a few pet relocation services, I have lost confidence in using them for varied reasons. I discovered a few months back that Delta will start using the Airbus 330 (carries live cargo) for the ATL to MAN flight at the end of May so we can now take the direct flight into Manchester! I was not opposed to flying into London but of course its a no brainer if she can take a direct. So as I started calling around, I found most services here on US side weren't aware of the change, which is no big deal. So I inform them of this news and one of the services has been very spotty with their knowledge of the process and kept trying to steer me to either fly into Paris on Lufthansa (cheaper customs) or into London. I finally got her to quote me direct on Delta flight and it was outrageous ($4,630 (wo transport in Man), which she said it would be and one reason she kept trying to steer me away. You will have to hire customs agent, blah blah... I further explained about Pets on Jets, who have been most helpful btw. Anyway, I could go on but you understand. I am more stressed out now just trying to sort out who to use if anyone.

So please let me know your thoughts, comments, suggestions. I have Sheba's vet appt on June 5 to fill out all paperwork and tapeworm treatment, then off to the USDA (an hour drive) to get health certificate endorsed. I know I can do this myself but getting her to the airport, checked in, etc. feels like it would be stressful and not sure about a backup plan if I don't use a service.

Also re the Homeagain chip, Sheba has the 10 digit and my Vet checked to see if its ISO compatible and they say it is. I spoke to Ian @ Pets on Jets and he said they have 4 readers and can read it but feel free to bring my own if I want. I looked into renting one which is about $65.

Sorry for the long dragged out dissertation. And trust me, this is the cliff note version 

Thank you in advance for your assistance!

Bye for now,
Nikki

Hello,

I moved my two cats over a few years ago, before the rules changed (much easier now to get your animals into the UK).  I was very nervous about something going wrong and chose to use a pet transportation service.  Luckily we have a family friend who was the head of the county's Humane Society and he recommended a pet transportation company called Air Animal.  They are based in Tampa, which was convenient as that is where they were flying from.  It was very expensive, but fortunately I had received a very generous relocation bonus from my company.  They did a fantastic job and everything went extremely smoothly and I didn't have to worry about a thing.

With the rules being simplified now, I think most people do it all themselves as it will save you quite a bit of money.  Hopefully one of the people who have done this recently will be along shortly to give you some pointers on doing it yourself.

We brought our cat 2 years ago with no issues. I spoke with one pet transport service, but when they said the DEFRA website had incorrect information, I said thanks, but no thanks.

It's expensive, and in most cases totally unnecessary IMHO.

Such a useful thread

I am moving from the Bay area to London in September, and I will bring my cat with me.

I am waiting for a few quotes from relocation service companies. So far the only company I talked to was petrelocation, and I didn't get a great feeling. from all the information gathered here, it seems like doing it yourself isn't too complicated, especially if flying BA to Heathrow.

Anyone with a recent checking experience in SFO?

Any recent service companies review?

Thank you

We just moved here at the end of May from Austin. We used Happy Tails Travel. There website is Happytailstravel.com They also have a facebook page. I dealt with Ashley and she was very knowledgeable and helpful. One thing was when I took my papers to the USDA they said it was a few day turnaround to get them back. This was  on a Thursday and Memorial Day was the following Monday. They said I would not have my papers until Tuesday. Well my dog's flight was on Tuesday. I called Ashley and she called the USDA and spoke with them and my papers were ready the next day.

We were very happy with them. It was not as expensive as some other companies. Our fee was $825, the cost of the flight and then $600 for the customs agent in London.