With our anticipated overseas move date less than 90 days away, we’re getting down to the wire on some of our planning. One of the big issues we have to muddle through is flying with our three dogs from here to there.
We’ve been poring over airline and embassy websites, and asking lots of questions of people who’ve already done it. It doesn’t help our planning efforts that Panama changed some of its rules on November 1, but hasn’t told us yet what those changes are.
Recently I spoke with a single mom who moved with 10 animals to Belize a couple of years ago. She highly recommended American Airlines to me, as the airline easiest to work with for pet transportation.
I hadn’t originally looked at American, because they don’t have direct flights from Orlando to Panama. They do, however, fly directly from Miami.
We’ve looked at three airlines.
Copa Airlines
We can’t take our three dogs on Copa. Sure, they transport pets, but they have this weird Catch-22 thing going on. Our dogs are each under 20 pounds — one is 9, one is 11 and one is 15. But they are all too large to fit under a seat in the cabin. (The shortest one is 11″ at the withers, most underseat areas now are 9-10″.)
Copa won’t allow you to send a dog in a crate by itself in baggage if the dog is under 20 pounds. But you can only crate animals together if they are the same species/breed (ours are) and under six months of age. Since our dogs are seven years and up, they won’t let us crate them together and they won’t let us crate them individually.
Needless to say, we won’t be flying Copa on this trip.
Delta
Delta has direct flights from Atlanta, but that’s an 8+ hour drive, so we’re not really considering it. We’ve also heard some disturbing things about Delta’s record when it comes to shipping pets.
American
American flies direct out of Miami, about four hours away, and they’ll let us send two dogs in the same crate, but not all three. However, it looks as though that’s the best we can manage. At this point, American looks like the most pet friendly airline.
Special Kennels Approved by IATA and the Airline
If your pet is small enough to fly in the cabin, you’ve got more flexibility in choosing his container. Soft-sided carriers are popular and readily available. But if your pets are flying as baggage, they need kennels that are approved by the International Air Transport Association and your airline. IATA standards are the same, airline standards vary.
IATA requires that the kennel be rigid and non-collapsible. (We can’t use the wire crate our dogs are accustomed to because it could collapse during flight.)
The pet must be able to stand in the kennel with at least 2″ of headroom, and turn around, sit and lie down in a “natural” position.
Most airlines require that doors be extra-secured with zip ties at the four corners so Fido can’t possibly escape. The kennels we purchased also have holes for tie-downs at each of the four outside corners, I guess to make it easier for airline personnel to secure them so they don’t shift during flight.
During the flight, your pet needs access to food and water inside the kennel, and airline personnel need to be able to refill them without opening the kennel door. Some companies now make side-by-side dishes that attach to the wire door of the kennel for that purpose.
Kennels must be clearly marked with the words “Live Animals” in letters at least one inch high.
Kennels must be clean and free of foul odors. No, I’m not kidding, that’s a requirement.
Most airlines also require you to tape a bag or pouch with a small amount of food to the top of the kennel, to have on hand in case of a delay that necessitates feeding.
Preparing Your Pet
If you need to purchase a new travel-approved kennel for your canine or feline companion, start getting her used to it as early as possible.
We brought in the kennels last week, and just let them sit around for a few days. Then I started tossing treats inside a few times a day. Now I’ve progressed to giving the treats to the dogs by hand once they’re inside.
This weekend we’ll remove their old, familiar wire crate and have them sleep in the new ones.
By the time we’re ready to go, the dogs should be completely comfortable with their new kennels. That means less stress for them and for us when they get on the plane.
Have you flown your pet overseas? What steps did you take to prepare her — and you — for the journey?
Please do let us know how the flight actually works out for your animals! Also, I’m sure I heard just a few days ago that American Airlines just declared bankruptcy…..
Hi Lynne, yes, AA is doing a bankruptcy reorganization, but they’re claiming it won’t affect travelers. We shall see. Will definitely keep everyone posted on this. We all love our pets, and I know for us the challenges of getting the dogs to Panama with us are our biggest obstacle.
Sounds like you’ve checked much of what you need to , but I don’t notice US Dept. of Agriculture/APHIS or TSA.
When I flew from Washington Dulles to Amsterdam Schiphol with 1 dog and 2 cats (separate kennels for the cats, believe me), my research showed that KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines) was preferable for pets as they move everything from household pets to zoo animals, polo horses and extremely expensive race horses. No problems with the airline, but they aren’t a choice for you.
I had to deconflict the directions of KLM, US federal government, Netherlands, the US Dept of Agriculture/APHIS AND the European Union’s regulations for pets (they required their own individual pet passports to enter and travel within the EU) so check to make sure you don’t have similar requirements .
Biggest challenge was that veterinary evaluation and paperwork needed to take place and be filled out within a certain day window (anywhere from 2 to 7 days PRIOR to the flight depending on airline, etc.) of the actual flight. Rationale? They don’t care if your pet is healthy 2 weeks before the flight, but need to know it’s healthy right before the flight. That includes checking for chip (which you’ve arranged) and all necessary innoculations (again, check against regulations of all 5 of the above: US, airline, country of destination, USDA/APHIS and EU/regional requirements if Central America requires them).
Then I had to take all paperwork (after veterinary assessments but within the flight window) to USDA/APHIS office for review and approval. Some states have 2 offices, others only 1 in entire state and some states none. (I’m guessing FL has 2 offices.) I was lucky that our NC state office was in Raleigh, 25 minutes from my house. I’ve heard of people who had to drive 3-8 hours to get to a state APHIS office. My agent told me many people don’t get approved as they don’t have the complete paperwork for each animal.
Finally, don’t scoff at the ‘clean’ rule. When I got to the airport, checking in with the airline was not a big deal as I had the paperwork (and multiple copies so I could give a full set to the agents on either end of the flight). However, even then it took an hour for them to be processed in, and THEN they went through US TSA security check where I had to remove each animal individually from their kennel (AFTER ensuring they had 2 ” headroom — don’t skimp on this) so that the TSA officer could do the various checks (including for explosives in our case as flying to Europe). If the pets have soiled the kennels, make sure you remove them and clean up them AND the kennels before going through the airlines and TSA check, or you risk TSA potentially saying they couldn’t complete a full evaluation.
After TSA approval they went to the airlines’ pet staging area, and 80 minutes later onto the plane. You are fortunate to be traveling in February; I was going in July so had to bounce up against the temperature rules for the airlines AND the airports, and just made it on the day and time we traveled. (I was told that even though we were a 7 pm flight when it’s usually a good 5 degrees less than high point of day, the determination of ‘safe for pet travel’ can be made early to mid morning and hold for the rest of the entire day, regardless of change in temp.)
A kind flight attendant going on our flight who had seen us check in with the pets was kind enough to seek me out at boarding and reassure me that he had seen the 3 kennels loaded onto our flight.
The one positive I will say is that all 3 did fine on a much longer flight than you’ll be going on, and adjusted quickly. They were far less traumatized than I was!
Wow, Linda, thanks for that detailed accounting of your experience flying your three pets to Europe!
Fortunately, ours is a bit less complicated because a) it’s shorter and b) Panama doesn’t have all the requirements Europe does. We don’t need passports for the pets, and they don’t even require microchipping. We do run up against the temperature problem though. That’s why we’re planning to go in February. By March that 85 degree F limit can be reached almost every day in Panama City.
The USDA paperwork is the same deal, though, and I’ll definitely be writing more about that as we get closer. We have a window from the day the vet issues the certificate until they fly. The country actually allows 30 days, but the airlines only 10. . . go figure. . .
You are definitely on top of this, so give yourself an A! I found the appointments, paperwork and actually getting the pets cleared onto the flight one of the most stressful parts of our entire move. So many moving parts, conflicting requirements, etc. When I got on the plane I sunk into my seat exhausted. I knew there was nothing I could do about how they were handling the flight (the vet said they’d likely sleep due to the muffled droning noise of the plane), so best just to use the flight to relax and rest up. Good luck!
Thanks 🙂 I know that the paperwork shuffle and actually getting the dogs on to the place is already stressing me out. So many i’s to dot and t’s to cross. . . (although, again, not as complicated for Panama as for Europe). Looking forward to having it behind me, for sure 🙂
I’m brand new to this blog but am enjoying it very much. Lots of good information here.
We brought our Jack Russell Terrier, Archie, with us from Vancouver to Europe, where we are now. Well, actually we’re in Asiatic Turkey now. We’re RVing around for a year, and flying Archie over here was by far the most nerve wracking part of the planning process. Like Linda, we flew KLM (wonderful) and like Linda, I was exhausted by the time I finally dropped into my seat.
You’re lucky you don’t have to deal with all the microchip stuff. Archie was already chipped, but the day before we flew, the gov’t vet requested proof of his chip date (which I didn’t have) before agreeing to endorse his papers. Total nightmare.
Best of luck with all your planning!
Aloha Suzanna: Well here I am at this post! The pet issue is a big one too for me even though my 3 Goldens and cat have flown from Hawai’i to the mainland US and back again and now in Nov. 1st we are flying to Panama. (Las Tablas area). I too have known the same FINALLY able to sit in the seat feeling knowing your pets are safely under neath the plane you are on in baggage. However I am really wondering about the “NO Microchip” policy. I too “saw” this on the Panama website requirements. HOWEVER in order to have the APHIS paperwork (form 7001) done you MUST have the microchip. AND now I have heard from my vet that they are requiring a 15 diget microchip not the 9 digets ones that my animals have – so they are saying I have to get new chips for all 4 animals. Yes yet another expense. So anyway what I am wondering is : HOW did you FIND people that you could coorespond with who HAVE brought their animals to Panama and gave you the info? I’ve been trying to just get in touch with you about this. Also since we are going to the LAS TABLAS area is there any airport CLOSER than Panama CITY that will allow them to get off there? Did you drive them to Las Tablas from Panama City? OR where? I really do need specific answers to a few questions too and would appreciate any help you or the people whom you had contact with and derived answers from could help me. Thank you very much Antoinette Jackson