Question about "approved airline routes"

Hi all,
 
  I was not aware of the approved routes thing until recently. So forgive me if I am still a little confused.

I'll be taking 3 cats with me. We do not live near an international airport. So my question is :
If i take the cats on a flight from Arkansas , to an approved route airport and then change planes to a second flight to England....Is this still considered an approved route?Or would I have to drive to the second airport?And just leave from there?

Also , has anyone flown "alone" with 3 cat carriers? how did you handle it? was anyone at the airport helpful in carrying them to check in etc?
It seems physically impossible.

                                           Thanks for any advice !

                                                     Lena

Talk to the airline carriers about how to handle this States side... you can ask each airline for quotes along the way and what their policies are, because each one has different policies. 

For example, British Airways World Cargo required me to drop off my two cats in Chicago before noon on the day of their international flight-- which was impossible for me to do coming from St. Louis and they weren't willing to accept them unless *I* or an approved courier took them there. But Continental gave me better rates and could start them out from St. Louis without a problem (though they had to fly down to Houston and then Newark before heading out to Manchester, I'll get to that).  Also, most rates are flat rates so no matter where they have to ping them around within the US, you shouldn't get charged more.

The 'approved routes' only applies to the final departing US city to the first arriving UK city.

I didn't accompany my cats for the trip-- they went with cargo all of the way through, which was part of the reason they got flown from St. Louis to Houston first-- because it was one of the few routes that had a plane with a sealed cargo bay to accommodate them.  So, I didn't have to handle their carriers at all.  I imagine that's the same for any pet owner even if they are accompanying their pets on the same flight for connecting flights, with exception to seeing eye dogs.

Are you on the DEFRA Pets Scheme (got their 'Pet Passport')?  Did you get their US Health Certification?  Or are you importing them into quarantine?

Hi Lena -

As jennlyle said, the actual flight which departs the US and enters the UK must be on the list of approved routes/carriers but any prior flight or transport is totally up to you - as long as you can meet the tick treatment requirement of a vet visit 24-48 hours in advance of departure and you arrive at the location of your US-UK flight with plenty of time to check in your cats.

I travelled from Atlanta with two cats, each in a carrier so large that I could only carry one at a time - the folks at BA World Cargo in Atlanta were quite friendly and provided me with a flat cart to help me get the carriers from the car to the office more easily, and when we picked the boys up in London my husband was there to help cat (and carrier) wrangle.

Thank you guys for your reply's .That is good to know!
This whole cat process is something else.

Yes, I am doing the PETS thing. so ,my husband will be going months ahead of the cats and I.All we have left to do is the wait (over in Nov.) and the tick/tapeworm and the Usda stamp.

Also ,confusing. I have to go to a city other than where I live to get that.

                              I'm a wreck about my cats having to fly in cargo. They are a bunch of scaredy cats. Were your cats fine when you picked them up?

                                                   Thanks! Lena

I was an absolute nervous wreck about my cats' flight - of EVERYTHING I had to cope with in order to move to the UK, this one thing was the thing I stressed about the most. 

And they were JUST FINE.  Seriously.  Toby has a nervous tummy and tends to puke if you even look at him funny, much less change something in his environment or stress him out at all - and he didn't even puke.  I was braced to receive traumatised kitties at Gatwick and instead DH and I spent the first fifteen minutes after our "reunion" with the boys being covered in kitty kisses and snuggles - apparently they had the folks at the ARC eating out of their hands.  And, seriously, I have NEVER seen our boys be as well-behaved as they were on that drive up North - one I had been completely dreading (five hours in the car with two yowling cats?).   

Yah, because of timing issues, I ended up having to import my babies into quarantine.  But quarantine's not so bad!  Here they are from our last visit Saturday:



First visit was crucial for them to come out of their shell and it took about an hour.  But now they love it in quarantine and I can't wait to bring them home  =)  Just 24 more weeks ><

Wow quarantine does look way better than it did in my nightmares. LOL
Hope it goes by quick for you.

I still don't think my crazy cats could handle the separation though.

                       Thanks to all for your replys!

                                Lena