I finnaly got my dog buster to stx

Finally got my black lab here. What a long, strange trip it's been!! Flew him in to Puerto Rico via American, and flew over and back with him by Caribbean Sun. Caribbean Sun was great! Took him to the ocean - he was afraid of the violence of the water but loved the sand! Hope he'll get used to it. Many thanks for those who responded in my quest for getting reunited with him!

Did you really bring 6 doggies?
What about flying them in on a private plane?
B

Do you know of any private planes/pilates that would assist in getting these pets transported.

I can sometimes help to arrange dog transport on private aircraft.

Hi,

I was reading about people's experiences getting dogs to St. Croix and saw your posting about getting dogs in on private aircrafts. How does that work? I'm moving March 7th and would like to bring my two dogs. One of them is lighter, about 60lbs so I feel like I could get him on a regular plane, but the other is just about 100lbs and there seem to be a lot of weight restrictions. It would be nice to not worry about them being cooped up in a cargo hold though so let me know where you fly them from and rates and all that, if you can. Thanks so much!

Jillian

Jill, I sent you an email with a little info and asking a few questions.

Yes, I really brought 6 dogs - 5 Rottweilers and a mutt. What can I say? I'm totally devoted to all of them. It was an adventure, to say the least. By the time I jumped through all of the hoops to have them flown, it was quicker and easier just to send people to fly with 4 of them (my husband brought one and I brought one) - and yes, I paid 4 plane tickets for people out of Arkansas to fly them down. A private plane from AR would have been cost prohibitive. Since the airlines wouldn't fly that many large crates at one time we just had to wing it, so to speak. It was just as cheap to get them to STX from Arkansas as to Puerto Rico or St. Thomas. I figure I spent close to $4K to get them here if you include the month they had to sit at the kennel when it was too hot to fly them. I sure hope they are worth it.

I called Cape Air yesterday about flying my large dog on their planes and the woman said they don't allow large dogs in the cabin. So I wonder is it an unspoken rule that big dogs (he ways about 100lbs) can get on board or is that a rule they no longer are following?

SIX DOGS? $4000?? Do you clean your yard with a snow shovel???
the goombah is in shock and awe.

HAHAHA!!! Should have brought the shovel...forgot. Backbreaking.

Jillian - it is up to the pilot. They are blowing smoke at you. They flew 4 of mine. I wrote a letter to the airline office because the two pilots were so wonderful - one was Danielle and one was Deeter. The last dog that came in weighed 125 lbs. Now, the relative that flew him had to wait a couple of flights until the last flight of the day, but I'd betcha you could win this one! The crates are too large to fit into the tail of the plane. They never asked how much our dogs weighed, and we never said...all they said is they would fly dogs, and so we brought them...and they all made it here! It was $10 extra.

Becky, I plan on eventually bringing my Rottweiler down with me also. Will be using Spirit Airlines for my scouting trip in March and will quiz them on restrictions. Mine and many others pets are like kids goombah....wouldn't drop my kid off at a shelter and say adios 😉

Jeff

Hi Pet People,

We used USAir to get our cats here because their baggage compartments are temperature regulated, which means they can transport animals year round and aren't at the mercy of the outdoor temperatures like the the airlines are. The other advantage of USAir was that they offered direct jet service from Charlotte NC to STX every Saturday, which meant no stop in Puerto Rico or need to work with a commuter airline. Am not sure if the direcdt flight is still part of their scdhedule.

The USAir staff was fantastic with the one cat who went as baggage (not cargo). We brought the other two as carry ons. The cost was $100 each, regardless of whether they rode in the cabin or in the luggage hold. And each critter needed the health certificate that was 10 days old or less -- I believe that's an FAA reg and not something that is determined by each airline. The good folks from TSA also made us take our two carry-on kitties out of their carriers to be walked through the metal detectors, and they actually "frisked" both of them while their kitty carriers went through the x-ray machine.

Be sure to make your reservation early as they do place limits on the number of animals they will take in the cabin and in the cargo hold. There are restrictions on the combined weight of animal and carrier that can travel as baggage (which means they are accompanied by a person on the same flight) -- animals that exceed the limit or are traveling alone must be shipped as cargo, which is more expensive.

Final thought: You should check to see what size pet carriers they can accept. If I recall correctly, the allowable dimensions for carry-ons were slighlty larger for soft-sided carriers than they were for the rigid carriers.

--HC
(The lone cat person in this thread)

USAir is no longer flying pets to my knowledge - after they merged with whoever it is they merged with, it was over...hence paying for 4 people in 6 days to bring the rest of my crew down. Unless they've changed, that deal is off. A shame...they were VERY good to my animals the time that they were in the care of their people...they even pulled them out of their crates to hose them down when it was so hot.

HC, my dogs would love your cats - for a snack, hehe!!!

Sam,

Yep, you're right. USAir now only accepts pets as checked baggage on shuttle flights in the Boston, DC, and LaGuardia markets only.

However, the USAir web site says they still do accept pets as carry-on items, and now lists the charge as $60 instead of the $100 we paid two years ago! The do say that these carry on pets are not permitted on transatlantic flights, which may mean the USVI flights aren't covered. There are limits on how many critters can be on each flight and on the size of the carriers.

Anyone who wants more info should check out the USAir site at:

http://www.usairways.com/customers/travel_policies/pets/

Snacks? My kitties? I have two that are part Siamese and one who is a little street tabby hellion -- together they may be able to give your Rotties a run.....

....if the Rotties were over 10 years old, muzzled, recently fed, and drunk!

--hc

whatoozy

Actually my Scottie is very important to me also. But don't know if I would pawn the family jewels to ship a kennel full. Just me, I guess. I'm sure Becky R has different priorities. Good for her, that is what makes the world go around. To each his own.

njg