Has anyone taken tropical fish back to the USA from the UK

We are quite attached to Big Bertha and the boys and want to take them, and the others, home with us. They now make a kind of carrier bag that lets oxygen in through the sides and CO2 out the same way, so it's safer to transport fish long distances. I know how to pack them, and all that stuff. There is no restriction in the USA for bringing pet tropical fish (of this variety) into the country. (Checked with USDA, Fish and Wildlife, and have written to the destination state's bureau for advice as well.) They are worth a max of $10, so customs isn't an issue although they'll have to be dealt with at customs.

The problem is finding a carrier that will take them.

Supposedly TSA lets you through security with tropical fish in the USA, not sure what UK's version of same does. The problem is that even after getting the nod from security, I've had no luck finding an airline that will accept them. I've been researching extensively, and nobody I've found will accept fish in the cabin (in a carrier that goes under the seat in front) on a trip from the UK to the USA. I haven't actually found one yet that will allow a box of fish as a "pet" traveling in cargo when I fly, either, as they'll do for dogs/cats/ferrets/birds. So far all I'm coming up with is a few companies that are pet-freight forwarders.

Does anyone know of an airline that will accept tropical fish as "pets" traveling in cargo?

(UPS has a service, but it would take about two full days to get from our flat here to our future flat - that's a long time for the kiddies to be boxed. They'd probably survive, but it's not a good idea. I had the same breed of fish in a fish tank in the back of a U-Haul driving from Dallas to the West Coast in the middle of the summer, one time, and they made it just fine. But I don't want to be taking chances with them on an international shipping with something like UPS. It's also obscenely expensive - more than buying an airline seat and putting them in it, actually.)

I started to have a look but it would be helpful to know which airlines you've ruled out already.

I will preface this that my experience is with the show Tanked.   

Yes, fish can be transported.  But they will be cargo and expensive.

And yes, my cats “seats” in cargo were about 5 times the cost of my seat.

Do you have a friend here that will take good care of them?

They are going home with us.

No need for anyone to check with airlines, I simply need to know if anyone knows for sure of one that does.

I have been in contact with about a dozen airlines, and although some of them will even take exotics like hedgehogs, few will take tropical fish. Those that do require the use of a cargo-forwarder company. A few airlines (like BA) require a specific forwarder, who, unfortunately, does not "do" fish. I have also been in contact with several forwarding companies, and none have accepted fish. The last one sent me the contact info for two other companies that might work, am waiting to hear.

Iberia will allow fish in the cabin, but only on their own flights. So a code-share flight (which most of those from the UK to the USA seem to be) won't work. Checking to see if I can fly on a non-codeshare Iberia flight through some permutation of take-offs and landings.

American seems to be willing to take fish in the hold, but only on non-codeshare flights? (So no BA. I'd have to find somewhere they fly  as AA.)

EDIT: Have just been referred to the local AA cargo people by their main live-animal people, so it's looking a bit better. (I hope.)
https://www.aacargo.com/learn/animals.html

(Thanks for offering to do the look-ups, though.)

(Thanks for offering to do the look-ups, though.)

Glad you've got an active lead to work on. 

Yeah, it's been interesting. I was on chat for some time with United tonight, talking about their "Pet Safe" program - pressurized cabin. The agent was assuring me that Big Bertha and the Boys could go via Pet Safe.  But I double-checked by phoning the "Pet Safe" office, being the paranoid soul that I am, and, lo, no they cannot. The rules are different for trans-Atlantic vs. national travel. They have to go as cargo. So I'm waiting for an email back from their freight-forwarder-of-choice.

It's kinda been that the whole search - a lot of mis-information from the airlines themselves. Very, Very aggravating.

Lufthansa will take them. Via cargo from Edinburgh. Waiting for their ffoc to get back to me.

I have a boatload of AA miles banked up from years of travel. I am thinking that the Daughter will go ahead of me and be working/at school (Cornell sent a "thanks-but-no-thanks" today, so only one left now). I can use my miles after 31 October to fly from the UK to JFK for freebies. That might be the best thing to do. Assuming I can get BB & the Boys on the same flight. (Although I'd really like to be going in September.) Apparently AA has a shipping agent in Glasgow. Who I am still waiting to hear from.

On the "to do" list is phoning UPS to find out where they have overnight service from. If there's somewhere I can get to by train in the UK that does overnight to the USA, the Daughter can be at the other end to collect BB&B. (UPS will only ship live animals on "next day" flights.)  The fish can survive several days in the permeable-membrane shipping bags, no problem. As long as the temperature doesn't get too hot or cold. (That's the complicated bit.)

Ooooh-kay then. 

There appears to be an option. I have contacted well over a dozen airlines, and emailed a half-dozen pet-forwarders. Only one has responded. (They want about £1300 to forward a 12"x12"x12" box of fish that require no export paperwork, no import license or government paperwork, or veterinary clearance in the USA. Yeah, no.)  So it's back to plan "A".

Vueling Air allows fish in the cabin. Small box, under the seat.
Iberian Air allows fish in the cabin. Same arrangement.

Vueling code-shares with BA. So I would have to be absolutely sure to get a Vueling flight to connect with an Iberian Air flight (they also codeshare) that was not a codeshare with BA.  THEN Big Bertha and the Boys should be able to fly with us.

So, Vueling has one flight a day from Edinburg to Barcelona that they run themselves. Nice, but the direct to USA flights by Iberian appear to leave from Madrid (other side of the country).  So, Bus to Edinburgh to  plane to Barcelona to high-speed train to Madrid to airport to USA. Ummm, this is starting to get waaay too complicated! The fish have about a 48 hour "safe" life in the box.

Now checking the option to take a ferry to some other country where there might be an airline that would carry the fishies.....

Ooooh-kay then. 

There appears to be an option. I have contacted well over a dozen airlines, and emailed a half-dozen pet-forwarders. Only one has responded. (They want about £1300 to forward a 12"x12"x12" box of fish that require no export paperwork, no import license or government paperwork, or veterinary clearance in the USA. Yeah, no.)  So it's back to plan "A".

Vueling Air allows fish in the cabin. Small box, under the seat.
Iberian Air allows fish in the cabin. Same arrangement.

Vueling code-shares with BA. So I would have to be absolutely sure to get a Vueling flight to connect with an Iberian Air flight (they also codeshare) that was not a codeshare with BA.  THEN Big Bertha and the Boys should be able to fly with us.

So, Vueling has one flight a day from Edinburg to Barcelona that they run themselves. Nice, but the direct to USA flights by Iberian appear to leave from Madrid (other side of the country).  So, Bus to Edinburgh to  plane to Barcelona to high-speed train to Madrid to airport to USA. Ummm, this is starting to get waaay too complicated! The fish have about a 48 hour "safe" life in the box.

Now checking the option to take a ferry to some other country where there might be an airline that would carry the fishies.....

Are there more options for flights from London?

Haven't found one yet. All Iberian flights I'm seeing from London involve code-share and are run by BA. BA doesn't do fish other than as cargo (which puts us back to square 1). 

American ... I'm STILL waiting to hear from their Glasgow office. But I'd have to be sure it wasn't codeshare with BA.

Air France - dogs and cats

Aer Lingus - no go. Except as cargo. And I'd have to take the train to another city where the larger AL planes land, as they can't put the fish in the puddlejumpers as cargo.

Aeroflot - no

AeroMexico - only pets on flights of six hours or less

Agean - fish ok as pets in hold, don't do cargo to the USA.

Air China - cats and dogs

AIr New Zealand - pet shipper.

Alitalia - dogs and cats only.

ANA - no fish

Brussels Air - pet shipper

Delta - cargo. Requires a pet shipper.

El Al - checking. They allow birds in the cabin....

Finnair - checking. They allow rodents in the cabin....

Iceland Air - no

Japan Airlines - pet shipper

KLM  -  only cats and dogs

Korean air - no

LOT - need to contact, website unclear

Lufthansa - pet shipper

Norwegian Air - no pets.

Quantas - pet shipper

Swiss AIr - pet shipper

Transat - dogs and cats only

TUI - dogs and cats only.

SAS - don't know yet

Singapore Airline (flys out of Manchester or London) - they take fish as "cargo pets" - waiting to hear if that's a pet in cargo or as cargo.

United - cargo. Requires a pet shipper.

West Jet - no

Which airport are you flying to?

At this point, it's open. But most likely it will be the greater NY area (anything within four or five hours of Binghamton by car) or (potentially) to LAX (or the vicinity) if a miracle happens and the Daughter gets a job out there she's applied for.

If I can get the fish into the country then there are US carriers that will accept them. Or I'll rent a car and drive them - I moved literally half the way across the country once with fish in a partially-filled tank in the back of the car ok. Or hop an Amtrak.

The immediate problem is that I just can't seem to get them across the pond!

(Amusingly, although they don't fly to the USA, I did find one airline that allows you to chain your falcon to a seat. No more than two birds per seat.)

(Amusingly, although they don't fly to the USA, I did find one airline that allows you to chain your falcon to a seat. No more than two birds per seat.)

Awesome! 

Ok, now that the world is gone to hell and the airlines aren't flying, and this one may or may not exist after it all... Iberian. The fish can fly in the cabin on Iberian. But only on actual Iberian Airlines, not AA codeshares. So, for 150euro and my figuring out how to get to somewhere, eventually, where  a non-codeshare trans-Atlantic Iberian flight originates, I could get them home. Into a probable two-week quarantine.

So I think we'll be rehoming the little guys. Who, like clockwork, spawned again yesterday. I just scraped all the eggs out of the tank a week ago, and now I'm out of the mineral water that is no longer available in the shops to put into their tank to help balance out the lack of minerals in the tap water here.  I'm going to have to get the chemical test kit out and start playing with calcium pills and bicarb, I guess, again. 

Seriously, why on earth was there a run on still mineral water? Covid doesn't infect the public water supply. Oy. 

Photo of tank, if anyone might be interested, fully of albino corydoras, one very old neon, and an algae eater. (The larger fish in this photo "is no more" quite some time ago.)

I'm starting to feel seriously guilty as I recently took our fish back to the pet store and sold the tank on Ebay.  Nobody was taking any pleasure in looking at the fish and it fell to me to constantly hassle my daughter to take care of them.  Once the tank was gone, we had room for the breadmaker.

Once again Nan, I salute your maternal instinct and unwavering loyalty!