In Part 1 of The Ultimate Guide To Traveling Internationally With Your Pets you learned that most of the work you have to do takes place well before you ever get to the airport. Once the paperwork is out of the way it’s time to book a flight and actually take your trip with cat or dog in tow.

Booking A Flight With Pets – Including Expected Costs

Begin searching for your flight tickets as you would any trip without pets; about 2-4 weeks in advance without booking anything just yet. Also, I strongly recommend you stick to a single airline, even if it’s more expensive. Each airline has various requirements for the transportation of pets, plus you want as little switching along the way as possible.

• Pet Travel has a good list of individual airline pet rules.

Direct flights are also ideal – they tend to cost more but are less stressful than multiple flights for your pets.

Once You’ve Found The Right Flight: Step By Step

1. Go to the airline website and find out what their pet policy is.
2. Look specifically for crate dimension requirements, booking deadlines, and beware of airline breed restrictions. (That last point is especially important if you have a dog with a reduced snout like a boxer or a pug. Some airlines won’t fly them due to their breathing problems which can be amplified in pressurized airplane environments.)
3. Based on that information decide if your pets can (or should) be with you in the cabin. Here are the differences between traveling with pets in-cabin, as baggage, or cargo.
4. Call the airline directly and let them know that you’ll be traveling with pets. Usually if your pets are not going to be in the cabin, you can book before, and then call to let them know. For in-cabin pets call before booking anything.

Typically only two pets are allowed in the cabin on any given flight so let the airline representative know that’s your intent. Also let them know the dimensions of your crate or carrier, breed specifics, and ask what the additional costs are.

What It Costs To Fly With Pets

Putting aside for the moment any additional costs, like visits to the vet and new crates, an in-cabin pet generally runs anywhere from $100-150 and animals checked as baggage about $150-250. Some airlines charge you per kilo of the total carrier-pet weight and you will (almost) always pay any pet costs when checking in; not when you book.

24 Hours Before Flight Time

Every pet is of course different, but stop feeding them around 12-24 hours before your trip and go easy on the water several hours before flight time. Being hungry is inconvenient but a full bladder or crate full of poop at 10,000 meters is worse.

• Pack enough food to feed your pet for the first day or two of after arrival.
• Have a favorite toy or chewing bone for your dog’s crate. Make sure the bone isn’t real (synthetic only) and that the crate contains no grass, hay, or any food items.

It might be difficult to find a pet store with everything you need right away so best be prepared – and don’t forget your pet’s vet and medical records!

Checking In At The Airport

The process for checking in with a pet is slightly different than when you’re traveling human-only. You’ll get to the counter, show the required documents for your pet, and pay all of the additional booking fees. Your pets (in crate) will also be weighed, which is why you shouldn’t lie about Fido’s extra 5 kilos.

Hopefully you’re prepared with a leash or are comfortable holding your traveling cat, because the crates are run through an individual X-ray. Pets don’t go through the machines themselves so you’ll need to hold on to them for a few minutes while security does finishes its checks.

• Pets traveling in-cabin with you will need to have their carriers go through the X-ray machines at the security line. Usually you can hold your pet as you walk through the personal X-ray machine; ask the airport staff to confirm.
• Pets being checked as baggage should have ‘special cargo’ or ‘live animal’ tags added to their crates; make sure they’re there before the final check-in.
• Here’s the process of taking a small dog on a plane.

Once security is done, your pets will be checked-in and you won’t see them again until you land at your final destination. Upon arrival at the airport your pets will be brought to you at the baggage claim by airline staff.

Arriving At Your Destination And Going Through Customs

Most travelers with pets worry about this part, customs at arrival, most when thinking about traveling internationally with their pets. In fact, it’s generally the easiest part, assuming you’ve got all of your vet papers and required documents in hand. It’s usually less hassle traveling from the US or Europe to other places but if you’ve met the requirements, customs is often a quick glance-and-go process.

A Few Other Pet Travel Tips

• There are 4 airlines your pets can earn frequent flyer miles on, one of 7 ways to bump up your frequent flying mileage.
• Check for any pet-friendly hotels at your destination. GoPetFriendly is one of 5 useful pet travel websites.
• Thinking of getting a pet? These are 4 things frequent travelers need to consider before getting a dog or a cat.
• Some tricks to keep your cat happy while you travel.

Hopefully at this point you’re beyond customs and well on your way to your new home or vacation spot. Your pets will be stressed but these feelings pass quickly once a daily routine and the comfort of home is established. If you’ll be traveling anytime relatively soon after this, don’t neglect to make those vet appointments for the next stop. Fortunately, this seemingly formidable process becomes much easier after you’ve gone through it once, for both you and your pets.

[photos by: Big Dubya (cat eating dollar bill), Ross Belmont (dog clock), racieur (traveling dog in carrier),

Traveling with your pets on a short road trip can seem like a daunting task, let alone taking them anywhere internationally. The process of traveling with your pets internationally actually isn’t as complicated as many traveling-pet-owners initially assume. It’s a matter of solid preparation well before your flight, a few trips to the vet, and some added steps on your existing flight plan.

For this post I’m sticking to air travel and talking about cats and dogs when I refer to “pets”, since most all other animals are regarded by airlines and governments as “wildlife” and are subject to different requirements.

Warning! Don’t Book Yet

You could easily end up out of a plane ticket if you book first for yourself and try to make arrangements with your pets. First thing’s first, don’t get ahead of yourself, no matter how cheap that last minute flight is.

First, Get Your Pets Ready

It’s a terrible idea to pick up your dog or cat who has never been in a car before and fly them halfway across the world. Fortunately frequent and gradually extended car rides are good test runs to get your cat used to traveling and your dog prepared for long trips. There are many tips for flying with pets and methods to prepare for air travel, here are just a few of them:

• Tips For Long Flights With A Small Dog
• Have Dog, Will Travel: Tips For Taking Pet On The Road
• Tips For Road Tips With Pets
• Preparations And Tips For Flying With Pets
• How To Travel With Pets

Assuming your pets are ready, now it’s time to get you (the owner) up to speed as well.

Two Important Questions: Where From And Where Too?

You’ll need to start planning at least 3 months in advance, especially if it’s your first time traveling internationally with pets. Every nation has their own pet import requirements which vary based on your originating country.

Specific Destination Information

• Pet Relocation’s International Requirements Map
• Traveling With Pets From The US To Europe
• How To Bring Your Pets To The US

The most reliable place to find a country’s pet import requirements are from its embassy. Find the contact information for any embassy around the world with EmbassyWorld, and if you can’t find any information online, give them a call. Pet requirements change often so don’t go on old information, hearsay, or what you “think” is right.

More International Pet Travel Considerations

• Make sure to look up the information for countries you may have layovers in.
• Dog owners should check to see if there are any breed (e.g. pit bull) import restrictions.
• Also, many countries prohibit the export of certain native breeds, be sure to check export restrictions as well.
• Many countries don’t accept puppies under 12 weeks old.
• Check what the requirements are for your home country. Some require blood tests to be done 3 months prior to return so a 1 month trip may not be feasible.

Hopefully by now you know about any applicable restrictions and (importantly) all of the vaccination requirements. Most immunizations have some sort of time restrictions and must be done (e.g. two weeks) before traveling and pets typically need to be micro-chipped as well.

Vets, Vets, And More Vets

You’ll be going to the veterinarian at least once, if not twice or three times depending on the medical requirements of your destination nation. It’s important to note that while many vets are aware of international travel requirements, many are not. Print out and take all of the requirements you learned of from the embassy as well as any specific forms you downloaded to each vet visit.

• Get all of the required shots and any shots that you cannot verify were done in the past.
• Some countries require more current vaccinations than your pet may already have. Redo any shots that need an update (only if the vet says it’s OK of course).
• Get a “pet passport” – most veterinarians will have them – they list all of the shots your pet has received, along with the relevant dates.
• Keep the pet passport and all other medical papers from the vet; you will need them when you take your trip.

The veterinarian visits are arguably the most important part of the international pet travel process. Neglecting or skimping them can result in quarantines for your pet (nobody wants that), or an immediate return back. Don’t make things more expensive or stressful for your pet than they need to be by being lax with the paperwork.

Next Up: Booking, Flying, And Arrival

Tomorrow in Part 2 of the Ultimate Guide to Traveling Internationally With Your Pets you’ll get down to making the actual arrangements with the airlines. That will all seem like a piece of cake considering that much of the pet-travel work is upfront with trips back and forth to the veterinarian’s office, online research, and lots of paperwork.

[photos by: peregrinari (white dog-top image), mk30 (cat sleeping on road atlas), foolfillment (dog panorama), janerc (cat face closeup), adria.richards (dog and cat at vet)]