Airline recommendations for small dogs

Hi,  I have been reading all the posts regarding moving pets to the UK and it has been extremely helpful. I kept seeing Virgin come up as a airline that people have been very happy with. Unfortunately I am having an issue with flights from LAX not being the right aircraft the week I need to depart so I am know looking at other airlines. Has anyone used another another airline and had a good experience?  This seems to be the most stressful part to me, to hand her over to someone at the airport and hope all goes well.
I was going to go with a pet relocate company but after reading here and other information it seems I can do this myself. I measured her a few times and a got a crate that is slightly larger - reading on here people got turned away. And I made sure it was larger than the smallest size VA would accept. I also ordered the kits from dryfur - another great recommendation from these boards. My vet here in LA is familiar with the paperwork and they do this on a regular basis, very lucky there. I was quoted $3,000 and more from the 2 companies I called. But now I am thinking it might not be a bad idea to go with them.
Someone posted about an additional fee when picking picking up and Virgin did tell me it would be $1099 for her flight paid in the US and £335 paid when I pick her up in UK.
Thank you all again for the wealth of information on this forum.  It has been a huge help to me as I undertake this move.


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My animals flew BA and they were fabulous!

We are traveling over in about a week's time and yes we were attempting to do it all by ourselves (through BA).  We decided to treat ourselves and just pay for the pet transport services.  We went with http://www.airpets.com which was recommended by BA.  We have 3 small dogs and the cost was about $2k more than doing it on our own.

I will warn you if you call BA reservations, they will feign ignorance on booking the flights for your dogs.  They said it was handled through their sister company for cargo and had absolutely no information on who to call to arrange the flights.  The website to the air cargo company was down (and it seems to be on a few occasions that I tried), the BA reservations told me my guess was as good as theirs for the correct number to call as they would just refer to the website! Uggh.  So after searching forums here, someone was kind enough to post this number to call for booking your animals on their flights:
1 (888 ) 578-4806

I did call it and the number appears to be correct.

We are not regretting paying extra for the transport. Our dogs are arriving the day before us and will be delivered to my in-laws house.  No waiting for a min of 4 hours after a long flight. No worries about the vet or us missing some vital piece of information.  That's just us, as we have a small toddler and 6 suitcases to juggle on top of everything.  Everyone's personal situation is unique but in my opinion, I feel the luxury is worth it.


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Thank you both so much!  i did spend some time on the phone with BA this morning and the agent was trying to be helpful but was very cagey about the extra baggage questions I had.  She said I needed to book my ticket first so I played the oh I am booking this right now, these are the flight numbers and class of ticket so I finally got some info out of her.  She gave me a local number for the Cargo company but I had found them online through links.  I got a quick response from my email to them and talked on the phone with Tom who was the one who noticed that 2 of the flights I was looking at for that day were not BA flights but operated by AA so that wouldn't work for booking with them.  he was able to answer all my questions and the price he quoted me was cheaper than Virgin.  All told Virgin was going to cost me 1700 and he quoted me 1276.  I made sure to ask that they cover ALL fees and they handle the animal from plane to customs to HARC.  But of course I am expecting to be hit with extra costs on everything I am doing.  I think this will be the best way for me to go but I am nervous as I can book my flight today but I book her flight on Jan 4, 2 weeks before.
The only thing that makes me think I can do this myself is my Vet has done this before so I feel that my paperwork will be in order.  Which in the reading has been more than half the battle.  I'd love to know how your transport goes Persephone.   

Sure, I will keep you updated! It sounds like you were able to get along with help from BA better than we were.  I just chalked it up to how typical customer service can go, you may get someone who has better information than others.  Also, you are lucky temperature wise to be leaving from a warm place like LA. We are just coming out of a cold snap in CO and that has been a stress on me, making sure the day we fly out would be ok.

Also we were told by our pet transport company, they could get tickets for our dogs on Mon, Weds and Friday.  I guess there are certain days where cargo travel wasn't available for them. I'm sure every location has it's own unique circumstance.  Just keep in mind in the off..off chance that say you can't book your pet on the intended day, you have two weeks to create another option.  I would most likely advise the transport route at that point where maybe your dog can fly a day after you.  If you've done most of the work, the extra cost would probably be less than changing your ticket.  I'm only mentioning this JIC! I'm sure it will work out very well for you, you sound like you have a great handle on things.

I'll give you an update when it's all said and done.  Good luck to you .


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That is great information to know!  My vet didn't want me to start the process exactly 10 days out from the flight in case of something I would have a few days after to get her transported.  And yes I will most likely go with the pet relocate company if something doesn't go right on that day.  So nerve wracking.  I didn't even think about the weather here (LA weather doesn't change much) but I am worried about the temp control area in the hold where they will be kept. 
I think I was lucky to find the cargo company for BA through the links online and got a decent person, it can be so hit and miss to get the information you need.  Very frustrating.  And now all I can do is wait till Jan 4 to book her travel and then Jan 11 for the Vet visit.  Now it is time to focus on my movers.  Another headache. 

I also went with a pet transport company. Initially I was going to book through Virgin, but I got nervous about the paperwork and with DH relocating and us trying to get rid of all our stuff and me trying to get the visa application together, it's been too crazy. Something could easily be missed, so I went with petrelocation.com and they've been top notch. Their initial cost door-to-door was really exorbitant, but when I cut the door-to-door service and went airport to airport/HARC, that made it seem far more reasonable. Would it have been a little cheaper to do the arrangements myself? Yes, but I liked having the peace of mind and guidance from the transport company.

The transport company walked us through everything, booked her flight on BA, sorted out my vet who had some poor misconceptions of what my dog would need to get through UK customs ("Myths" the transport company called them), FedEx'ed the documents to my vet in advance, was on-call through my final appointment and reviewed all the documents filled out by my vet for any errors (of which there were several!!! We had to do it 3x before they got it right) and provided the overnight FedEx envelope to send to the USDA for their endorsement and the forwarding FedEx envelope to where we dropped our dog off. They also kept us informed every step of the way, providing an update for when she was checked into the flight, providing tracking information so we can see her progress over the Atlantic, and notified us as soon as she cleared customs! It's a huge weight off our shoulders and I'm looking forward to seeing my puppy on Sunday when we arrive in the UK (I'm just visiting until I can apply for the visa upon my return to the US).

In any case, I have to say, the transport company was well worth it for me.

Girlwithapuck - that is great to hear!  I think I would have gone that route had my vet not been so familiar with the process. I'm so lucky they do this quite often and they told me I could get the paperwork endorsed here in LA. I was worried about getting it to Sacramento and back in the time frame. I wish I could do more now but having to wait till 10 days out for all the paperwork is stressing me out.
I've heard great things about Virgin and pet travel but it just wasn't working for me. I'm also doing BA and the company handling my dog has been great and responsive so far. I have to call in a few weeks to book her travel so we shall see.
Good to know what to expect if I have to go the relocate company route.
I'd love to know how it all goes at the reception center. Wishing you a happy reunion on Sunday!


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I'd love to know how it all goes at the reception center. Wishing you a happy reunion on Sunday!

Sorry for the late response, but ALL IS WELL with the puppy. The pet transport company was awesome and I was able to call the Animal Reception Centre and get an update on how she was doing. She was SUPER excited when we picked her up from the office and she's adjusted really well to the UK. I'm missing her terribly since I've returned to complete my visa application, but she's in good hands with my husband and his family.

How has/is your move going?

That is wonderful to hear!!!  Yay!!!  I saw my vet today and got paperwork endorsed. Phew!  It felt so good to see the approved on my paperwork. Now she needs tapeworm treatment and I hand her off to cargo company Sunday at the airport. She will be on my flight and I'm preparing myself for a long wait as she clears customs and the reception center. I'm praying it all goes well. Now I can focus on the movers who are arriving tomorrow. Eeek!


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A couple of tips for reassurance.  If you contact the Animal Reception Center at the airport you are flying into, they will usually have you email all the paperwork in advance and let you know if it's okay (less stress and it helps clear the animal faster).

Also, if you tell your airline crew that you have an animal onboard, they are good about telling you that your pet is loaded and strapped down, that the hold is up to the right temperature, and they'll tell you when you land that your pet is okay (as they are right there when they open the cargo doors).

Thank you!  We are coming into Heathrow Monday afternoon. I've called the reception center once and they were very helpful. It was about the micro chipping - she told me they can read any chip when entering. I was about to buy a reader for $369 LOL I will have to rechip and rabies her again though to get the EU pet passport but that's not needed right away. I will def check about emailing the paperwork on Friday when her tapeworm treatment is done and paperwork finished.


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Thank you!  We are coming into Heathrow Monday afternoon. I've called the reception center once and they were very helpful. It was about the micro chipping - she told me they can read any chip when entering. I was about to buy a reader for $369 LOL I will have to rechip and rabies her again though to get the EU pet passport but that's not needed right away. I will def check about emailing the paperwork on Friday when her tapeworm treatment is done and paperwork finished.
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Wow, thank goodness you saved that money! Do you have to rechip her here because it's like a 9-digit microchip? We did redo our dog's rabies and tapeworm of course, but our 10-digit microchip was totally fine. And the USDA stamp was easy enough... Wishing you the best/easiest transition!

I was surprised at how easy it went at the USDA. I saw plenty of people rejected for not having the right info or the right papers filled out. I was very nervous but my Vet did an excellent job. Now we just have to do the tapeworm on Friday. I'm anxious about handing her over and the long flight, she doesn't do well with separation.
Was it easy to redo the rabies and all?  Yes her chip has a shorter number so we need a new one for the pet passport.  But at least it won't affect her arriving into the UK. Got my fingers and toes crossed this keeps moving smoothly.


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Yay! Glad the USDA part was easy. The rabies and tapeworm were really easy for me, and I was nervous about the long flight too, but I was able to receive updates from my transport company all along the way, so when she got checked in, I got notified and then I tracked the flight and got updates when she arrived and when she got thru customs! I hope the rest of the journey goes smoothly for you too!


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