Is British Airways good for pets?

Can't find out for sure if I can fly my dog from Houston to Heathrow on Continental, so I'm looking at British Airways now. Anyone used them? Are they any good for shipping pets?

Nevermind, just read that BA won't ship out of houston in august due to heat. 

Anyone know if Continental will ship her to Heathrow? I called continental and they said it would work, then discovered on DEFRA site that the approved continental routes only go to gatwick. So confused!

Too late to call DEFRA in UK time. Guess I'll call continental back at some point.

Anyone else having as much fun as me? (note sarcasm in
'voice'/text lol)

If this helps, Continental do a great service if you can find an approved route involving them, that suits your needs.

I just successfully brought my cat from Houston to Gatwick on Continental, who do not have a heat embargo because they take extra measures to keep the animals out of any climate conditions up until the point of boarding.

What I learned is that apparently Continental keep the animals in a climate controlled area before driving them out to the tarmac in also a climate controlled vehicle, and they load live animals the very, very last thing, as close to takeoff as possible (and also unload them first at the arrival end). In this way, they don't need a heat embargo the way other airlines impose.

The animals travel in a separate compartment of cargo which is also climate controlled with the same air that circulates in the passenger cabin. At no point are they subjected to heat or cold. I was very, very happy with Continental's care of my cat. 

You do have to be careful about the "approved routes" and airlines in conjucntion with anyheat embargos imposed in some areas -- some airlines are approved but only to fly out of and into certain airports but not others. Always check with Defra -- calling them is helpful as you get the information instantly from the horse's mouth so to speak.

Thanks so much, midnights mom.

Im glad to hear that continental is so good. I know theyve won awards for their pet services so I was hoping to use them.

I was having trouble finding a direct houston-gatwick flight before the 28th, which is why I was hoping for a houston-heathrow flight. However, we finally have found a ticket that has a layover coming here, but direct back, to gatwick, so thats good. 

Yeah, I think I'm going to go with whats on the Defra site under approved routes. It also says the pet has to be accompanied on that route.

Has anyone shipped their pet via Continental unaccompanied?

Thanks so much, midnights mom.

Im glad to hear that continental is so good. I know theyve won awards for their pet services so I was hoping to use them.

I was having trouble finding a direct houston-gatwick flight before the 28th, which is why I was hoping for a houston-heathrow flight. However, we finally have found a ticket that has a layover coming here, but direct back, to gatwick, so thats good. 

Yeah, I think I'm going to go with whats on the Defra site under approved routes. It also says the pet has to be accompanied on that route.

Has anyone shipped their pet via Continental unaccompanied?

Dh & I used a pet courier service our cats fly on Continental from Newark airport unaccompanied to Gatwick in March 05 without any problems.    

We flew Continental with our cat from Houston to Gatwick (cheaper than Heathrow) and everything was just fine.  Continental people were really helpful in Houston and once on this side, there was just a little wait.  I was pretty nervous that something would go wrong but it all ended up just perfect!  Good luck!!

Thanks for the info. 

I am chiming in with a vote for continental.  They flew my dog and I over, I know it wasn't unaccompanied, but they did a lovely job with my dog and the nervous owner.  He was ready for pick-up just after I claimed my luggage.  Their rates are reasonable as well.  Best of luck with your move.

thanks. Got it set up for her to fly with my husband on continental next week to gatwick.

Her 3rd country certficate expires 1 day after she arrives in UK, (the 4 month rule) so I know it's close, but it was this or doing the tests and 6-7 month wait all over again here.

I haven't gotten my visa back yet, so it's weird... my dog can go live with my husband but I can't. hopefully it's temporary.  :\\\'(

Even though the original poster is all set, does anyone have strong feelings about either BA or Virgin?  We're flying out of Boston at the end of October with 2 older (12yo) cats.  We're not using a pet relo company, so are doing all of the legwork ourselves and would love to hear thoughts -- good OR bad -- on either airline when it comes to pet travel. 

Thanks!

Even though the original poster is all set, does anyone have strong feelings about either BA or Virgin?  We're flying out of Boston at the end of October with 2 older (12yo) cats.  We're not using a pet relo company, so are doing all of the legwork ourselves and would love to hear thoughts -- good OR bad -- on either airline when it comes to pet travel. 

Thanks!

We flew with our 5 cats with BA in April. Their ages are 12, 10, 8, 5 and 5. We couldn't have been happier with the trip. Everything went so smooth. The flight attendants gave us an update as soon as they were settled on the flight. We flew Dallas to Heathrow.

When I flew Virgin in March to London, I witnessed the Animal Receiving be first to the plane to retrieve kennels. I watched them remove the kennels and put them on the truck. I was impressed with their promptness and careful handling. This eased my concerns on the receiving end when it was time for us to fly in April.

With my horrible experience flying BA as a human being, I would never hand over my pet to them! No way. If they treat human passengers so poorly I don't even want to think about how they might treat animals  :\\\'( OK -I'm generalizing here but just had to vent.

I flew my cat from SFO to LHR with Virgin. They were super nice and caring about everything from beginning to end. I highly recommend them. 

BA was great with both my dogs coming from ATL to LGW. They were awesome from LGW to ATL in July. They even drove us back to the airport from their office (with our 2 kids) because they thought the taxi's cost too much! They were super nice.

Not to mention, the price actually went down from my quote rather than up like normal.

This is a really good thread.

I was interested in Continental as we will be going back to other way next year. We will be flying IOM to LGW then onto Houston. We are still looking at moving the end of Sept or October next year.

Thanks, all.  I'm leaning toward Virgin at this point.  I've heard good things about them both online and off.  We'll be booking in the next week for travel in mid-October.  *gulp*