shipping cats in late June

crazyflamingo: I would familiarize myself with the pet rules on AA's website, then call back AA to confirm the rules. If what they say appears to contradict the website, then ask them about it. Possibly the rep doesn't understand the rules, or you misread the website. For example, the rules may differ for the Caribbean vs. the states.

There's no general reason to avoid AA. I've flown them many times. Loyalty to some other airline's frequent flyer programs might be one reason. A bad incident or two might be another reason. But they're not Aeroflot. Most airlines are just a commodity. Go with the best price, schedule and (if pets) pet terms.

Thanks again. Checking rates on one way flights to FT Lauderdale (where we will meet our car) Spirit airlines seems to have by far the best rates. I will be calling them Monday once I get started on really planning the logistics of all this. Want to minimize the time we are here without our car (or in Ft. Lauderdale without our car). Hopefully, Spirit airlines will be easy to navigate with pets. I've never flown on them but man their rates are inexpensive. Happy Saturday, all.

Thanks STXBob! I have noticed some contradictions in what various airline websites stated (or did not state) vs what the rep said, which is why I have begun making additional phone calls to the airlines to confirm their policies.

As for AA, glad to hear there's no general reason to avoid them. I've gotten vague answers on other forums as to why to avoid them so when I saw fdr post about avoiding them I figured I'd ask on here as well.

Thanks again!

Thanks again. Checking rates on one way flights to FT Lauderdale (where we will meet our car) Spirit airlines seems to have by far the best rates. I will be calling them Monday once I get started on really planning the logistics of all this. Want to minimize the time we are here without our car (or in Ft. Lauderdale without our car). Hopefully, Spirit airlines will be easy to navigate with pets. I've never flown on them but man their rates are inexpensive. Happy Saturday, all.

You may want to check with your car shipper. I know it used to take 4-6 weeks to get your car from Florida to St. Thomas. But that has been years ago, hopefully they have improved on that by now and make more trips or have a lot more stuff being transported than years ago.

customs has been known to keep a car for an extended time period when it hits the states...for thorough inspection or whatever....they can keep it up to 30 days without any explanation...so if you are expecting to walk off and drive away, you could be surprised.

crazyflamingo, it's just a personal preference for me to avoid flying AA. I'm sure everyone can provide counterexamples to each experience I list here.

My best experiences have all been on Delta; I would fly with them all the time if I could. Roomier seating, rarely a delayed or overbooked flight where I've traveled.

US Airways I really like overall, but I do hate listening to their advertising all flight long.

Spirit has the most cramped seating of any flight out of here, and there are fees for everything (including your carry-on bag, if I recall), which makes their upfront ticket cost look good but you can easily wind up paying more when all is said and done -- iguanabanana, make sure you check out the full cost very carefully.

With American, there were a few problems but my biggest issue was their flight attendants -- I was on several different flights where the AA crew was negative, snippy, and downright rude to me and other passengers, for no good reason. They added more seats to their planes and took out legroom around that time, too. So my dollars go elsewhere whenever possible.

Thanks fdr! Glad to know its just personal preference and not something totally catastrophic.

Delta was very helpful yesterday. They give you the exact dimensions that your carrier can be for each leg of the trip (if you are changing flights). We are going to try to fly with them and connect (then have our car, if we don't sell it on island) trucked to Memphis. This will end up saving us a bunch of $ by: 1) not having to rent a car between when we ship (6/23) and when the car arrives in Ft. Lauderdale (7/1... but can't pick up till 7/3ish); 2) hotels in florida; 3) roadtrip expenses. Also, we won't have to traumatize poor kitties by driving 1,000 miles with them after the flight.

The cost to ship car (if we don't sell it) will be roughly $900 (ocean) + $400 (inland to Memphis). Delta puts the cost for each kitty to fly at $200. Roughly, our cost to travel off the island will be about $3,000 (includes flights and baggage, car shipping, package shipping, cat carriers). I really hope we can sell our car. It would make this much less of a hassle.

Hope everyone is enjoying carnival. Sure appreciate all the advice.

Good Luck on your trip and let us know how things go............hopefully very smoothly for you and the kitties and everything else.