Flying Dogs in Summertime

I wanted to share our experience flying with our dogs last month so it may help some others out because it is very difficult. We flew from STX to ATL. Most people know there is an embargo period from May 15-Sept 15 (we flew in June) that restricts any animals flying as "checked baggage." This also applies to any time the temperature exceeds 85 degrees, which obviously is everyday there. But you can fly your pets through Delta's PetFirst program as cargo. I'm sure there are other airlines that do this but from our experience flying down there with the dogs I was comfortable going with them again. Also, to use the PetFirst program the airport has to have a temperature controlled holding area. San Juan and Atlanta both have temperature controlled holding areas. You will have to call the PetFirst number to find out if specific airports have them.

We flew with 3 dogs ( 60lbs, 50 lbs, and 15 lbs) from STX to SJU with Seaborne airlines on a Tuesday flight at 6:10 am in order to beat the heat restrictions of 85 degrees. Seaborne has a 70 lb weight limit (includes dog and kennel) and our biggest dog was slightly over the limit but they allowed it without any problems. They may have restrictions on kennel sizes if your dog is bigger than that but you would need to check with them on measurements. Each flight is able to accomodate 2 dogs in cargo and so I reserved their spots ahead of time to make sure. We were also able to bring the smallest one as a carry on with no problem. They each were $100 (carry on and as cargo). Also, you must look up the all the kennel restrictions (must have holes on three sides, certain metal fixings, etc.) and have the Health Certificate and rabies certificate for each dog.

When we got to SJU we had to pick up the two dogs flying in cargo from the luggage area (they were wheeled out by the airport staff). Our next flight left at 12:50 from SJU to ATL so we had an hour or so to kill to let the dogs out and go the bathroom. We let them out of their kennels right near the luggage area and let them do there thing then got a taxi cab (van) to go to the Delta Cargo Facility. I think it was about $20. I had copies of the address and numbers of the Cargo facility (delta has a list on their cargo site) to make sure there was no confusion because we don't speak spanish. We had done this before so knew it was a possibilty for trouble. It seems that most drivers don't know where the Delta Cargo is but know the general area with directions. It is at the very end of a long line of warehouse facilities and is very hard to see because UPS or FEDEX trucks block seeing the last building. But we found it without problems and it took about 1.5 hours to get them all checked in and paperwork filed. I had all the paperwork necessary and so we had no issues with anything, it just takes a while. So we went back to the airport and had about 2-21/2 hours to get checked back in and board our flight. Also, we did not bring any checked luggage to avoid having to wait for luggage and to not have to deal with that and two large kennels and a carry on dog.We had to check the carry in dog at the counter though because they check the health certificate and the kennel. By the time we got checked in and through security, we had about 45 minutes to spare.

When we got to ATL, we got right off the plane and were picked up by family and again had the address for the Delta Cargo area and GPS took us straight there. We had to wait about 15 minutes for the dogs to get there but they got there without any issues. I think the cost for shipping our two biggest dogs in cargo was about $1100 from SJU to ATL with Delta and I think $100 for the carry on dog. It is really expensive but this probably is the only option other than a private charter. We considered the private charter but it was about 3-4x this amount and only flew us to Miami.

I hope this helps others because it was a nightmare our first flight down to St. Croix. I spoke to dozens of Delta people and got different anwers to every thing!

Also, I want to thank Island Animal Clinic for getting all of our dogs Health Certificates, printed all their records, and gave us duplicates of everything. It was very helpful to have a second copy because Delta kept one and I didn't think about it but have all their records still.