Traveling with your pet to St. Croix

Anyone have any advice? Also are there any dog parks in stx?

Hi Tommy,
We traveled with our German Sheppard 6 years ago.
We drove from Maryland to Ft. Lauderdale to ship our vehicle then we rented a car to drive to Miami. We did stay over night in Miami at a hotel close to the airport but I can't remember the name. I think it was a big chain. You could research that.
We got to the airport early with our dog, we did give her meds so she would be calm. Everything went fine. They did have to search her crate while we were standing there which was funny because the person who did the search was scared to death of her.
After that they took her with them. We flew AA. When we arrived in STX our dog was delivered to us where you get your luggage. She did great, she was still a little doped up. We then rented a car from the airport so we could get to our rental villa.
We use Dr Hess he is a great vet.
She adapted very well here.

hey margarita thanks for the feedback!! how does your sheppard do with the heat down there? any issues? and would you be able to list Dr. Hess's contact info? Thanks so much, I appreciate it!

-tommy
www.movingtotheislands.blogspot.com

remember, you might not be able to travel with your pet in cargo if it is too hot out.
we broughtour cat in a carry on. he was scared at the airport cause we had to take him out of the carrier. other than that no problems

The temperature cannot be over 85 degrees for me to fly with a checked pet. What are average stx temps for december? I just searched and found average temp highs in low 80's. Does this sound right?

Hi tommyb,
We lost our Sheppard a year ago, she was 11 years old. Her hips just got real bad, had to put her down.
Actually, she did great with the heat, sometimes she would lay right in the sun like she was tanning. She had her favorite spots on the cool tile floor. I have to say she loved the A/C when we would turn it on in the bedroom at night.
She loved going to the beach and loved long walks but did not like getting in the Ocean. LOL!
Dr Hess's phone number is 340-718-3106 www.islandanimalclinic.com
You should be fine with the temps in December.

tommy, you have to concider the temps for anywhere your plane goes including miami or peurto rico. you should be fine here for cargo, but not sure about the other airports.

margarita -- sorry about your loss, i know losing a pet is one of the hardest things in life to deal with. Thats so funny to hear that she would lay in the sun like she was tanning! Makes me laugh! Thanks so much for your feedback and contact info on Dr. Hess, I appreciate it greatly.

speedy -- thanks for the feedback too! we are planning on flying direct from miami to stx so i think we should be good but i will definitely keep an eye on the temps.

Do you guys know if the airports go day by day with the temp restrictions, or is it by season or historical data?

Again thanks so much for the feedback, it really helps me!

Airports go by the actual temperatures at the time of the flight departure and arrival time.

There is also now the daily evening direct flight from MIami to STX--it leaves at around 6.15 in the evening. In the winter in Florida, you should have no problem with the temperatures at that time of night. Actually, last year I checked in one of my dogs on this flight and I was worried the cold restrictions might kick in since it was freakishly cold in Florida at that time.

If you want to fly in the summer or fall, you can also try to catch the late flight from Miami to SJU when the temperatures may be okay. You can overnight in San Juan and then take the seaplane or cape air flight in the morning (I believe they still accept pets). I would also make sure to buy a flexible ticket so if you can't fly because of the temps and need to delay, you can keep changing your flight with no penalty (penalties are high nowadays--$150 flat rate + difference in ticket prices on American).

There have been tons of posts and threads about shipping pets on this forum. I recommend you do a search. Also go to pettravel.com They have a lot of resources for traveling with animals (including lists of pet friendly hotels).

Hi Tommy,
We traveled with our German Sheppard 6 years ago.
We drove from Maryland to Ft. Lauderdale to ship our vehicle then we rented a car to drive to Miami. We did stay over night in Miami at a hotel close to the airport but I can't remember the name. I think it was a big chain. You could research that.
We got to the airport early with our dog, we did give her meds so she would be calm. Everything went fine. They did have to search her crate while we were standing there which was funny because the person who did the search was scared to death of her.
After that they took her with them. We flew AA. When we arrived in STX our dog was delivered to us where you get your luggage. She did great, she was still a little doped up. We then rented a car from the airport so we could get to our rental villa.
We use Dr Hess he is a great vet.
She adapted very well here.

Margaritagirl,

I assume your sheppard was rather large. I have a 75 lb dog. Do a lot of the rentals have pet restrictions?

I learned something yesterday that might be helpful to those who plan to travel frequently with their pets. If you're going somewhere for less than 60 days, you don't need to get a new health certificate for your return flight... UNLESS you booked your return flight separately from your outbound flight. This is from American Airlines.

twistie, MOST of the rentals have pet restrictions. Unfortunately, being an animal lover here limits your options considerably.

Hi twistie,
Yes, our Sheppard was very large, 95 pounds.
We rented a private villa when we first arrived for 3 weeks before we settled on our house.
It's hard to find places that allow dogs but they are out there.

Does anyone know if the health certificate is the only thing needed to travel with your pet to stx? I recently spoke with my vet and he stated that some places require rabies testing 3 months before departing, but he also stated that this is for such places that do not have rabies such as Hawaii or Japan. I believe stx does not have any restrictions other than a current health certificate, but please let me know if they do. Thanks!!

I traveled with my dog to STX last January. She did not have to get tested for rabies before hand. However, her rabies vaccination had to be less than a year old.

I didn't have trouble finding a taxi from the airport. However, my dog is only 12 pounds. She was a carry on so I couldn't tell you how long will take to get her after landing. The airport is very small so it shouldn't take long at all. Originally, she was going to fly in cargo but American wouldn't let her b/c the temp at one of the layovers was too cold. Thankfully she is a small dog so I had no problem getting her in as a carry on.

Thanks for the response maryb! I couldn't find anything other the rabies vaccination less than a year old rule from my research but your response sure helped. Thanks again.

-tommy

www.movingtotheislands.com