Air France/American Airlines Questions

I am looking for anyone who has flown with a pet using Air France. My parents have my cat in California and were planning to fly Air france from SFO to Paris where I would pick them up and drive them back to England. My mom spent 3 hours on the phone being transferred between Air France and Delta to be told that my parents would need to book their non refundable flights, then apply for my cat to come with and would be given an answer in 24-48 hours.

My question is- is this true?? They are only planning to fly Air France because they allow direct bookings for pets, so if they can't be sure that my cat can come on their flight then they wont be booking it.

That brings me to my second question: Does anyone have experience flying a pet into LHR with American Airlines? I requested a quote through the website and they quoted me $650 plus about $500 in fees (mostly towards UK airport payments), but they also mention needing a IPATA agent to ship animals in to the UK. I can't tell if this means I can book directly for the fees they listed or the fees they sent me are in addition to the pet transport company fees.

Don't know much about pets, but the drive from Paris to London is a specialist subject of mine.  Let me know if you've got any questions about that.

Don't know much about pets, but the drive from Paris to London is a specialist subject of mine.  Let me know if you've got any questions about that.

Why do I suspect you drive like a bat out of hell?!?

So I got a hold of Air France and they told me that my parents can book a flight and apply to bring my cat, and their card won't be charged for the flight unless my cat is also approved to fly. So it looks like that's a problem solved, my parents will call to book the flight this week

American Airlines also got back to me about the price quote, and said that the $1100 is fees is separate from the pet transport company fees So it appears that we can't book direct ourselves with American Airlines (which is fine since it looks like Air France will work out).

@jimbocz once we get the flight booked I'll definitely message you about the drive!

So I got a hold of Air France and they told me that my parents can book a flight and apply to bring my cat, and their card won't be charged for the flight unless my cat is also approved to fly. So it looks like that's a problem solved, my parents will call to book the flight this week

American Airlines also got back to me about the price quote, and said that the $1100 is fees is separate from the pet transport company fees So it appears that we can't book direct ourselves with American Airlines (which is fine since it looks like Air France will work out).

@jimbocz once we get the flight booked I'll definitely message you about the drive!

Thanks for sharing! Glad it seems to be falling into place! 

Why do I suspect you drive like a bat out of hell?!?

No way, you are the one with all the fast cars and distractions in the back seat.  I'm reasonably slow and careful as I am rarely in that much of a hurry.

I currently have zero points on my license.  What's your number?

I may find the answer soon, but how does one get from the Paris airport to England?

1. Eurotunnel - I feel like I read that they don't allow pets
2. Can I just rent a car?
3. I sent an message to Pet-Move, but I am a bit late since I hope to move at the end of the month
4. I have messaged @jimbocz

I thought working and trying to plan this all on my own could be a disaster. Not quite a disaster yet, but could be going better!

Thanks!!!

Hi, sorry I don't know much about the pet taxi service other than people have used it successfully.  You should be able to find the name on threads here or Google it.

Do you have a friend in the UK you can persuade to come get you?  You could take a normal French train to the Calais TGV station, then it's a piece of cake for someone to pick you up there from the UK.

I've never tried, but renting a car from Paris and driving one way to London sounds difficult or impossible. 

One other crazy suggestion : there's a website called bla bla cars that's like a carpool app, my French family use it all the time.  Maybe you could find a ride from Paris to London there?

If you really, really, get stuck as a last resort I'll come pick you up from Calais for expenses.

Thanks! I def will be searching for options today!!!

Pet taxis:

http://www.folkestonetaxi.com/Pet+travel+abroad.html
https://www.pet-moves.com/ 30 day minimum notice
https://www.pets2go2.co.uk/

Give Animal Couriers a call - they run a same day Channel hopper car-service from Paris airports and will pick up and deliver your pet door to door to any stop in the UK. We used them to get our pets to the UK from Sweden - it was a three day trek for the poor cats, but they have specially tricked out vans for all their passengers. Price was pretty reasonable too, considering the length of drive, and we liked the service ( a small bobble with communication on the Swedish end, but to be expected as Scandinavia was an unusual loop for them. They are serious pros at the French loop and channel crossing).

Give Animal Couriers a call - they run a same day Channel hopper car-service from Paris airports and will pick up and deliver your pet door to door to any stop in the UK. We used them to get our pets to the UK from Sweden - it was a three day trek for the poor cats, but they have specially tricked out vans for all their passengers. Price was pretty reasonable too, considering the length of drive, and we liked the service ( a small bobble with communication on the Swedish end, but to be expected as Scandinavia was an unusual loop for them. They are serious pros at the French loop and channel crossing).

Perfect! Thanks for the recommendation, Bertine. This issue comes up often.

Here they are!  https://www.animalcouriers.com/channel-hopping/

Thanks! Good to have that here on this thread. I got mine sorted as http://www.folkestonetaxi.com/Pet+travel+abroad.html responded super fast!

Folkestone Taxi has been really wonderful so far! Very responsive.