Here’s the research I’ve already done:
He’s a snub nosed dog so he’s not allowed underneath the planes in cargo due to risk of death. But he’s freaking dense so he’s not allowed in most cabins because they have a 15 lb weight limit.
United Airlines seems to have a size limit for dogs in the cabin, but no weight limit. However, both on the website and the app, when I search for transatlantic flights, I get error messages.
I also researched some cargo pet transport companies but I’d be looking at $3k each direction.
Our starting city is San Diego and our destination is Formentera, Spain. But if we could find a way to transport him from San Diego to anywhere in Spain or France, we could go the rest of the way by train so that would work just fine.
I immigrated to the UK from Canada with my cat. He was able to go below in the cargo area. I had to get him a few rounds of rabies vaccines, microchipped and a pet passport. Then the cost of his flight with mandatory insurance was about $300 more than my flight. He had an extra 4 hours before the plane departed, and 6 after. Some animals wouldn’t have had toooo hard a time with it, but he was traumatised. It took him more than a week to come out from behind the couch for longer than to use his litter box and eat.
I’ll never be taking him out of the country again.
Aw, sorry he had a hard time acclimating. I’ve never done it personally, but I’ve heard from a couple friends it was a pain. But their accounts were pretty much the same. Shots, passport, and chip. Glad he’s all good now though.
I don’t plan on moving to another country, but I would like to travel with my dog. I don’t think she’d do well on a plane either. I’m just not sure if I want to do multiple day drives with her (same country) or not.
Yeah, I get that. For a domestic flight, a loooot of these complications just go away. That said, could still be extremely expensive. Likely significantly more expensive than taking a scenic multiple day drive that your dog will absolutely love hopping out in strange places and peeing to claim it as no dog has before!
Yeah. That’s my thoughts. I’ll get around to doing it eventually.