sticker shock at price of pet handler

hi all! i was just quoted $3,400 for a professional pet handler to get my dog to the U.S airport and on the plane, etc.  They deal with the paperwork and such, which is great, but that cost (which includes the airfare) has given me a bit of a shock!

That's not too shocking of a price. Which handler did you get the quote from?

I used Airborne Animals for transporting my Pomeranian and it was about $2,600 from Vermont to Heathrow, and that included everything, even one day of boarding in Boston.

If you have a moderately sized dog and if you aren't living near a major international airport, the price can get rather expensive.

That said, I'm sooooooo glad I didn't try to ship Poppy myself.

I think i'm in the wrong business!

That's not too shocking of a price. Which handler did you get the quote from?

I used Airborne Animals for transporting my Pomeranian and it was about $2,600 from Vermont to Heathrow, and that included everything, even one day of boarding in Boston.

If you have a moderately sized dog and if you aren't living near a major international airport, the price can get rather expensive.

That said, I'm sooooooo glad I didn't try to ship Poppy myself.

Dh & I used Airborne Animals as well to ship my 2 cats over to the UK in March 2005. the cost of all the paperwork, 1 night of boading, the last minute vet stuff for each cat, each cat carrier, the cost of being picked up from the kennel my cats were in Indiana. then flown from Indiana then flown from Newark to Gatwick London, then dropped off at my doorstep. I think the grand total was roughly over £1300 pounds. I know that is alot money but to Dh & I that is money well spent. I think having my cats here in the UK help me settle in more but thats "just my opinion".

It's really not that difficult to do it yourself. And you'd cut costs by a lot!

actually, that quote was from Airborne, and I am sure it is money well spent, but right now with a transatlantic move with 2 kids that we've only two months to plan for, it's also money we don't really have to spare!
(also, I now of someone who got his *horse* shipped for 5k, so really.....)

Yeah--we're seriously going to try and figure it out on our own.  We're reasonably intelligent people (she says, optimistically;-))

The cost is substantially cut but doing it yourself.  I will be flying two dogs and by doing it myself, I will pay $1400 roughly and perhaps a bit less when it is all said and done.  But, I am also lucky that I have a non-stop flight from Boston to Heathrow.  I will be using Virgin when it is time for me to go, whenever that may be.

You really CAN do it yourself - I promise.   BA charged me $1700 to ship both of my guys from Atlanta to Gatwick - the quote I got from Airborne Animals was more than twice that.

There's loads of info on the Pets board - and feel free to PM me with any questions!

Thanks for the reassurances, Meg and Dar.  Thats really good to know:)  I am sure I will be in touch as we figure out more and need someone's insight.

Dh & I used a pet handler because I was already living in the UK and it made things so much easier for us with our cats in kennels because of a *bleep*-up by the vet meaning  they couldn't travel with me when I moved over. They had to serve their 6 months from the blood test again and it was either kennels in the states or quarantine over here which is very pricey. Once cleared, Airborne did the rest. Of course you pay more, but for us it was the price to pay for peace of mind.

well bugger! if we fly the dog through Detroit, we *have* to use an accredited pet handler (via IPATA).  Quote I just got from the lady I spoke to is $3,000.

am now looking into whether we can go through Chicago, but this would be a lot more hassle.  Those of you who managed to get their pets through without a handler--where did you fly them from?  (and maybe this is only the case if the pet is traveling unaccompanied).


and shugga, i think you might be right.  that's also an excellent way to do it, and avoid the quarantine costs there.  it's still pricey, but much cheaper to just kennel them here (and make sure they are in a nice place, etc).  we're lucky because we have a friends taking care of her until the 6 months is up.

shugga, i think you might be right.  that's also an excellent way to do it, and avoid the quarantine costs there.  it's still pricey, but much cheaper to just kennel them here (and make sure they are in a nice place, etc).  we're lucky because we have a friends taking care of her until the 6 months is up.

I wasn't fortunate enough to have anyone to be able to take my cats for 6 months. my mom, my sisters, or none of my friends could have pets where they lived at the time.  so fortunately Dh & I found a kennel online that was in the next town over from where I used to live back in the States. so my sister went an checked it out for us to see if it was suitable place for my cats an it was a great kennel. so when we went home for our wedding in Nov we went to check on my cats they were in excellent hands.        we even got a discounted deal from the kennel since our cats would be there for 6 months. we paid $400 dollars for a 6 month stay where the cost of quarantine at the time was well over £2000 pounds for a 6 month stay ouch.