flights for cats?--Panicking now!

I'm trying to track down how to get my cats on the plane.  I am going to call Virgin Atlantic on my lunch, but wondered if anyone has done this recently?  On the website it says that they do take pets, but they only listed the major airports near the coast!  We're flying from Cedar Rapids, Iowa to Chicago and then on to London.  I'm getting a bit worried now that we might not be able to take our cats!  However, I did call United first because they are the first leg of our trip and they transferred me everywhere and the guy in the cargo department said cats can fly unaccompanied through cargo.  I thought that was interesting. 

First, do your cats have their PET passport? If not then they can't fly in without going through a quarantine period. Also, the UK has strict routes that pets can fly in on, and I am not sure which ones are Virgin, but I know that from Atlanta my cats could only fly in on BA, not Delta. They flew unaccompanied in Cargo, and were delivered to me by a pet transport company when they got here. Check DEFRA.

Here is the website to check:


http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/quarantine/pets/index.htm

Ok, so we've got the pets passport thing on the go.  The vet has been working with us on this for the past 7 or 8 months to make sure they are ready to go at the end of March.  Now, I just called our airline and they DO do it, but you have to have the pets there by 2PM in Chicago.  Not going to happen.  We have tickets already that we leave at 4 from Cedar Rapids, and don't get to Chicago until 5:25.  Now I'm panicked and really need to get something figured out fast.  I can't get on the defra website for some reason (I'm at work and they block certain things).  If anyone has more info on the unaccompanied cats thing that isn't on a website, can you please post it!!  They also told me that they need 2 weeks notice! 

I am from the Quad Cities and when I flew my cats I actually had to leave from Minneapolis. So I drove the 7 hours there.  Unfortunately they isn't anything closer than Chicago.  Is there anyway you can actually change your flights even if it does cost a little extra?  Knowing where you are coming from, if I were you I would just see if you could drive to Chicago the night before and then depart from there.  That's about the easiest thing I can think of.

I think we've sorted it.  We have changed our first flight out of Cedar Rapids to an earlier flight that will put us there by 12:30 and we need the cats checked in at 2pm, so we've got over an hour to figure that out!  And then we just sit around the airport for the next 6 hours or so until we finally leave that evening.  I hope the cats will be ok for that long!  Do they get taken somewhere that they can use a litter box and get some food?

When my cats were moved over they were not given food prior to the flight and had pads in their crates in case they peed. I wouldn't feed them before the flight, they will be fine for a day!

So I've talked to United and apparently, they can only get one pet on the flight because it is a dinky plane from Cedar Rapids to Chicago and they don't do unaccompanied pets in cargo from Cedar Rapids either.  There goes my idea of sending one unaccompanied on a earlier flight.  Now I really don't know how we are going to get 3 cats to England.  It is sounding impossible even though lots of people have done it. 

How many of y'all are flying from Cedar Rapids?  Can't you each take a kitty as a carry-on?

I'm afraid that it's looking like you're going to have to cancel your flight to Chicago and just drive there.  I know it's a hassle, but moving with pets is always a hassle, and sometimes concessions have to be made! 

Meg has a good idea about each of you flying on a different leg from Cedar Rapids.  It is about a 3 1/2 hr - 4hr drive to chicago. That might be the best bet.

Sorted!  There was only 2 of us and we were thinking it would be impossible.  But we got a really great friend that will drive the cats to Chicago that day for us so we can still fly as we were going to.  Then we can meet up with them there and check the cats in for the Chicago to London flight!  We just need to pay their gas, which is totally fine, and probably cheaper than getting someone else to fly with our third cat!  Really glad someone came though!

so glad you have been able to work something out. I know how it is important to have our pets with us. They are part of the family.  Hope the rest of it works out well for you!

Sorted!  There was only 2 of us and we were thinking it would be impossible.  But we got a really great friend that will drive the cats to Chicago that day for us so we can still fly as we were going to.  Then we can meet up with them there and check the cats in for the Chicago to London flight!  We just need to pay their gas, which is totally fine, and probably cheaper than getting someone else to fly with our third cat!  Really glad someone came though!

Fabulous news!   Glad your friend has come through for you.

Me too!!  Man, I didn't think it would be that difficult to just get a few cats on a few flights!!  Hardest part of this move hands down!!

we also moved our 3 cats over to the UK and it was definitely the most stressful part of our whole move.  They flew on Continental unaccompanied from Seattle to London - Gatwick.  They have a special staff there that handle animals and they were treated very well.  They were ready to be picked up when we arrived and had been fed and everything.  We worked with a pet travel specialist and she gave me a checklist for their trip.  If you'd like me to send it you, PM me your e-mail address.

Good luck and hang in there!