How to Fly With a Dog or Cat – Pet Travel Guide

In this how-to-guide for flying with your dog or cat, we provide a general overview of the different types of plane travel, how to choose an airline to fly your pet with, and customs and paperwork.

Flying with dogs and cats. Four pet crates at airport before flight

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Flying with your pet is a big decision, especially if they have to fly in the cargo hold, and you need to trust that the airline will take good care of your beloved pet. To minimise the stress on your pet, I always recommend choosing a non-stop flight to your destination; even if you have to drive a few hours before, or after your flight to do so.  Taking your pet on the plane is usually a very safe experience, and your fur baby will probably recover from the experience quicker than your pet-parent nerves will. 

Two of our dogs have now flown across the Atlantic five times, and the other has flown across it three times, along with our cat. They also took a short trip from Calgary to Phoenix last year when the US border was closed to land travel. Their most recent adventure was a flight from Calgary to Amsterdam. Needless to say based on our own experiences, and my years as a travel agent, we have learnt a lot along the way. In fact I would venture to say that we know more than a lot of the so-called ‘Pet Relocation’ services. All our experiences have been flying with our pets in the hold, so most of the focus of this post will be on that form of travel.

For this post, I am largely going to focus on a general overview of the actual travel portion of flying with your dog or cat, and to keep everything easily accessible, I have dedicated another post to answering some frequently asked questions. Take a look at this article on 15 Commonly Asked Questions About Flying with your Dog or Cat to learn the answers to important pet travel questions.

Dogs Hiking in Canmore Canada

Hiking in the mountains after flying back to Canada with our pets

How Will My Dog or Cat Fly?

There are essentially three ways that your pet can fly; Excess baggage in the cabin, Excess baggage in the hold, and Cargo. I have provided a rough outline of each option below.

Excess Baggage: In Cabin / Hold

With this option your pets will travel on the same flight as you, for example Vancouver-Frankfurt. The fee for taking your pet is based on the length of the flight, in this example long-haul, and the size of your pet. Whether they travel in the cabin or in the hold, they will still be referred to as excess baggage. 

If you want to travel with your pet in the cabin, then the crate has to be soft sided, and must fit beneath your seat, just like regular carry on luggage. The total weight, including the crate, is usually limited to 8kg and max dimensions of:  55 x 40 x 23 cm (LxWxH), however this can vary airline to airline.

If your pet is too large to be in the cabin, then they have to fly in the cargo area, typically referred to as the hold. You will drop your pet off in the passenger terminal, in most airports you do this at the normal check in desk, but some airports have a designated pet check in area (this is the case for Frankfurt airport). Once you’ve landed you will collect your pet in the baggage claim area, usually with the oversized luggage. 

Transporting your pets as excess baggage is going to be the most cost-effective, and easiest option to choose, if you’re relocating to a new country or even just taking a several month long trip abroad. Because your pets are only separated from you for the duration of the flight, and get to be reunited with you afterwards, I feel that this is the least emotionally stressful option for your pets. Flying together with your pets will also help acclimate them to their new environment a lot quicker, as they will still have the most important thing in their life with them, namely their fur parents.

Cargo

When you elect to transport your pet as cargo, you do not have to be on the same flight as your pet. As such you might also see cargo travel referred to as unaccompanied animal transport. 

With the cargo option you drop your pet off at the cargo facility for the airline you are going to be using – for example Lufthansa Cargo. This area is usually on the airport grounds, but away from the passenger terminal.  You can pick your pet up yourself at your destination, if you’re on the same flight, or you can give someone else permission to pick them up. Two of our dogs flew this way as puppies when they left the breeder, and they arrived in good spirits with no mess in the crate.

The fee is typically based on the volume of your crate, the weight and the distance your pet is flying. In order to get an idea of the cost you will need to contact the cargo company, and provide them with all the above information, in order to get an accurate quote. 

Some countries, like the UK, also insist that animals be transported as cargo when flying into the country. This is a particularly silly rule, as your pet can still travel on the same flight as you, but instead of paying a few hundred dollars for ‘excess baggage’ you are paying thousands of dollars for cargo rates. On a short flight cargo is still several times more expensive than when flying as excess baggage, but it would still only be a few hundred dollars for a medium sized pet. 

Pets in crates at airport before flying

They’re off! See you guys in 12 hours

Which Airline is Best for Pet Travel?

To an extent this is a personal choice, but depending on the route you need to fly you may not be left with a ton of options. During Corona times this has been made even more difficult as a lot of airlines decided to stop accepting pets, narrowing your choices even further. Our pets have always flown with Lufthansa, and we feel that they have always been well taken care of. Lufthansa’s pet booking process is also very easy, and they confirm the pet booking whilst you’re on the phone, and will tell you ahead of time whether there is space on that flight, so you can book your own ticket knowing that there will be space for your pet to accompany you. 

In comparison, our latest flight with KLM was a bit of a nail biter, we had to change our flight plans last minute as the roads to Vancouver got washed away by flooding, meaning we had to fly out of Calgary with KLM instead of from Vancouver with Lufthansa. KLM does not confirm the booking right away, and instead sends the request to staff in Amsterdam, who then either approve or deny it, but you have to book your ‘human’ ticket first without even knowing whether there is pet space on that flight (top tip: if you really press the customer service agent, they are able to tell you whether there’s space, but they are typically fairly reluctant to do so). The problem is that confirming the pet booking with KLM can take up to three days, and in our case we had to call back multiple times, with hour-long hold times, before finally receiving confirmation that we were all set the evening before we were scheduled to fly. 

Despite the bumpy reservation process, I want to highlight that the KLM check-in staff at Calgary airport were absolutely fantastic, and gave us the smoothest check-in experience we have ever had with our dogs. So definitely don’t dismiss KLM, but do make sure that the pet space is there before you book your ticket, and don’t count on them for a last minute booking. 

With all the talk about airlines, a big part of the equation is also the airport you are flying into or out of, as it is the airport ground staff at your departure location that are responsible for your pet until it’s loaded onto the aircraft, and likewise the local ground staff at your destination are responsible for unloading it. If you are flying out of the airlines hub (for example Lufthansa’s hub is Frankfurt, and KLM’s is Amsterdam) these people may be in the employ of the airline, but typically it’s a third party company. One important criteria is that it should be a bigger airport with either heated or cooled facilities where the pets can be before being loaded, and after being unloaded. Aside from size, your best bet here is to rely on the experiences of other people, to determine whether the airport is safe to fly from/ into. Based on our own experience, I would confidently fly my pets into or out of the following airports: Calgary, Vancouver, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Basel, Phoenix, Houston.

Customs and Paperwork

Depending on the country you may need to complete import paperwork for your pets before exiting the luggage area, this is the case in Canada. No matter which country you fly into, you should make sure to have their recent proof of rabies vaccination handy. For Europeans, the EU Pet Passport has all the info customs will need, but for other countries you need to make sure you have the receipt from the vet that has the sticker from the vaccine vial. Each country has their own requirements, so I definitely recommend doing your research ahead of time. For example, the UK requires a rabies titre – a test that measures the level of rabies antibodies in your pets blood – and you have to wait until three months after the test, before you can travel. Other countries might require a health certificate that has to be signed by the Government Veterinarian, and is only valid for a short period of time. 

As we briefly mentioned above some countries do not permit the import of animals through excess baggage. The UK is one example of this, along with Australia and New Zealand. Both Australia and New Zealand also have very strict quarantine requirements, where your pet has to stay at a government run kennel for two weeks after they arrive. Naturally the cost for quarantine is your responsibility, which along with having to transport your pets as cargo, makes it a very expensive proposition. 

Luckily, if your final destination is the UK, there is a way to avoid the excess fees that come with flying your pet as cargo. Simply fly into a European airport, such as Paris or Frankfurt, and then drive to the UK. You will still need a rabies titre test, but the cost savings could be significant, even once you calculate the cost of the rental car. 

GSD dog on the beach

Where Will I be Reunited With My Fur Baby?

At most airports your pets will be waiting for you after you’ve passed through immigration, usually in the same location where odd sized luggage items are placed, such as prams, skis, etc. 

Once you have picked up your very happy to see you pets, and made it through customs you will want to find a place where your dogs can relieve themselves. It’s worth doing some research on your destination airport ahead of time, as some airports have a pet relief area that you can use, but if they don’t I recommend doing some research using satellite view to see where the nearest grassy area is so that they can relieve themselves.

Is Flying with my Dog or Cat Really That Easy?

Honestly, yes. As with most things in life, it can seem really complicated before you’ve done it, but it really is not a difficult undertaking once you understand the basic concepts we’ve gone through in this post. We have managed to do it with four pets, including dealing with crates that sometimes didn’t fit on the luggage carts, missed flights, check-in staff that didn’t understand their own rules, and lifting the dogs in their crates onto and off luggage carts. 

If your pet is small enough to fly in the cabin with you, then you could easily bring them along on a short holiday abroad. However, if your pet has to fly in the hold, then I would only recommend doing it for a several month long trip, or if you’re relocating to a new country. 

To learn important considerations and helpful strategies for travelling abroad with your pet, check out our post on 8 Essential Tips for Travelling Internationally with Dogs and Cats.

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