September 21st, 2007
I got a call yesterday from someone asking if I shipped ’snakes’…easy answer “No”. I did have someone during Katrina call me because they had a ‘pet rat’ and needed to get it out of Louisiana. The airlines were giving her grief about the cage. I told her to buy 2 cages that fit into each other and turn one-one way the other the opposite way inside of each other to see if the airlines would accept it. Never heard back. Hope it worked out for her. Other strange requests-ferrets, chinchillas, monkeys, birds…. We do love our pets! Want to have more pet travel fun:
http://www.myspace.com/puppytravel
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September 20th, 2007
Why won’t the airlines take ‘pit bulls’? Mine is so sweet and would never hurt anyone? This is something I hear several times a week. There is no doubt that an owner would think their dog is wonderful and would never hurt anyone. It probably would not. However, it is unfortunate that a few people train their pit bull dogs to be protective to a point of over aggression. Unfortunately, it has ruined it for everyone and the airlines just will not take them.
For more pet travel fun and info visit:
http://www.myspace.com/puppytravel
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September 13th, 2007
Today I picked up a dog- collie - to ship to Milwaukee. Owner and I had a very tight conversation yesterday about the fact that the vet had approved a sedative for the pet. I advised the client not to even tell me about that because I did not ship sedated pets. They went into this long explanation about how it was o.k.-the vet said it was fine.
I took the dog to the airline this morning. Dog looked drunk when I picked it up from the client. Airline noticed the authorization on the health document to allow pet to be sedated. He and I both looked at each other and shook our heads. Airline was advised. Dog was shipped. I have been worried all day about the dog. Poor baby. Owner should have taken the medication and lett the poor pup alone.
Most airlines will not even allow a sedated pet. It is not good for them!
For more pet travel fun…visit me at:
http://www.myspace.com/puppytravel
Posted in A Pet Travel Experience | No Comments »
August 21st, 2007
A Pet Travel Agent’s Perspective
The media is reporting that this summer has been the worst on record for the travel industry. Passenger complaints are up, airport delays are off the charts and airline employees are disgruntled and angry. In 1992 the airlines decided to begin to cut travel agent commissions and within 24 months they cut them completely. This in my mind is where it all began. I started my career with Eastern Airlines in 1984. At that time 90% of all bookings and reservations for the airlines were made by pet travel agents. We were told to “be nice to the travel agents they are our largest source of revenue”. Now some 23 years later the ‘travel agent’ is an oxymoron. The airlines cut travel agents completely out of the distribution and service process and ASTA-the American Society of Travel Agents-completely dropped the ball by not lobbying for travel professionals and taking a stand that if the airlines were going to cut revenue streams to agents the traveling public was going to have to feel it too. Instead travel agents tried to make it without the commissions and virtually eliminated their own profession in the process. The airlines need travel agents! When flights are canceled and passengers need information, they need to be able to contact a professional immediately for help-cell phone, text messages, and email messages work great. Calling 800 numbers and/or waiting in long lines are not working! If the airlines are not willing to pay for this help, the traveling public is not going to get it and things are not going to get better. In the long run the amount the airlines can pay to compensate the travel agents is nothing compared to completely going out of business.
Posted in Pet Travel Agents, The 'business' of a pet travel agency, Comments by Barbara | 2 Comments »
July 14th, 2007
Summer for any pet travel agent is a busy time. People are on the move during the summer months. This week I have been trying to help a client move her sisters 3 dogs from Texas to Tanzania. The client came to me because she was frustrated with the first company that was trying to help her. She was pretty warn-out with all the details. I tried to simplify her life and went against my better instincts and used a different exporting city than L.A./LAX to ship the dogs to Africa. Never doing that again; ended up working with a ‘colleague’ that I had never worked with before. She was nice at first-quite the bragger about her company and what she did. When things started to get complicated-which they can when dealing with live animals and pet travel to the other side of the world, she got down right mean. I am trying to make things work for my client and she starts feeling ‘put out’ by the job and then accuses me of asking her to do something ‘unethical’ that I wouldn’t do but would have her do. Right, no way. Bottom line: bad communication and too much emotion. Who’s got the time to deal with that? Long story short, we are shipping the dogs to L.A. to the best exporter in the United States-the one I should have used in the beginning-and dogs will do fine. Life is just too short to deal with unhappy mean people-it’s summer!
Posted in Pet Travel Agents, A Pet Travel Experience, Comments by Barbara | 1 Comment »
June 24th, 2007
Air Canada announced on June 22, 2007 that they no longer will be allowing pets on their airline. The reason they stated for this was the need for more cargo space for the passenger luggage. What does this have to do with carrying on a pet? There has always been a limit to 2 pets per cabin. So if two pieces of carry on size luggage have to be checked, how much space does that take in the hold? This is not good news for people who need to ship or travel with their pets. Continental Airlines will accept a few pets in the cabin on most of their domestic U.S. routes. They have a ‘no checked pet’ policy but instead have an awesome ‘Quick Pack’ pet policy in their cargo division. They go above and beyond in every way to try and accommodate pets on their airline. Delta, United, American and Northwest Airlines have summer temperature embargoes for checked and cargo pets and can be complicated but they have not banned pets all together – yet.
So does Air Canada not want to take pets because of cargo space for baggage or because they just don’t want to do it anymore? If you have choice in the Air Canada market, I suggest you try and take another carrier-even if you aren’t traveling with a pet.
Posted in Comments by Barbara | 2 Comments »
May 31st, 2007
Worried about getting bumped while traveling on the airlines this summer? Worry even more if you are trying to get out of Mexico City with prize winning show dogs. I have a client who travels all over the world showing her Basenji’s. Last week she traveled with two colleagues and 5 dogs to Mexico City for the World Dog Show. The travel down on American Airlines went fine. Coming home was a completely different story. They arrived at the airport more than 3 hours prior to departure to check themselves and the dogs in for the return flights. At check in the American Airlines counter agent advised that their flights were over booked out of Mexico City and they were more than likely going to be bumped and there was no space at all for the dogs. American knew the dogs were booked on the flight with these passengers and had been ticketed for at least 3 months. The counter agent was not the least bit accommodating and my client had to do plenty of screaming and yelling to get anything accomplished. There is no way they could leave the dogs in Mexico and the American agents just did not care. She demanded that they reroute them on another airline if necessary. They had to get out of Mexico City no matter what. Final destinations were Albuquerque, Calgary and Tulsa. At her suggestion, they re-accommodated the Calgary traveler on United Airlines via LAX. Problem solved; well kind of. She quickly put 2 dogs in 1 crate-not recommended- so that she would not have to leave any dogs in Mexico. Needless to say she was stressed putting her World Champion dogs together in 1 crate but literally had no option if she wanted to get them out of Mexico. Once again she was given little if no help from the American Airlines counter agents.
When the Calgary traveler arrived at the United counter, the United agent advised him that they would not accept the metal crates that his 2 dogs were in. He called me in a panic. I called UA Cargo in the U.S. and asked them to call down to Mexico City and advise them that the crates are IATA approved and completely acceptable for international pet travel. They did. He then was required to pay for the dogs travel fees at the counter. My client handed the United Airlines agent the cash for the dogs. The United agent asked him if he had correct change-he did not. The agent handed the cash to the person standing next to them requesting they get correct change. The person said they would and left. This person did not work for the airline; the money was gone. The traveler had to pay for the dogs again! Because he had to overnight on arrival into LAX I booked him a pet friendly room at the LAX Airport Hilton. He asked me to reconfirm that the dogs had been booked from LAX to Calgary for the following morning. I discovered that the yes he was booked as a passenger but not the dogs and that the aircraft American had re-accommodated him on was actually a small commuter plane that does NOT accept pets. I had to call United – get the booking changed, and then call the co-share carrier to Calgary to get the dogs confirmed. They told me I had to confirm the dogs with United because it was their booking. I called United back; they put in the “request” for the dogs. I called the co-share carrier back and they said they never confirm dogs – it has to be done at the airport.
Of course I got another panic phone call from my client when he arrived at LAX. They charged him AGAIN for the dogs to accompany him from LAX to Calgary. He was furious.
So who do we call to recap all the added expenses for the hotel room, paying for the dogs 3 times and getting home much later than ticketed?
Guess I will start with American and work my way back.
Does anyone at the airlines care anymore? What in the world happened to customer service? Where do they find these people that they are hiring? What a mess.
Posted in A Pet Travel Experience | 2 Comments »
May 14th, 2007
Summer pet travel is here! Pet travel in the summer is always a challenge. Many of the U.S. domestic airlines start to impose their summertime embargoes. Delta Air Lines will not allow any pets to be checked from May 15 to September 15, 2007. They will allow pets that can travel ‘in-cabin’ as long as they fit in a crate or sherpa that will fit under the seat in front of you. There is a limit on the number of in-cabin pets allowed per flight so be sure they know in advance that you are taking a pet on board with you. American, Northwest and United Airlines have the same rules for carry-on pets but will accept a “checked pet” with a passenger as long as the temperatures in every city on the travel itinerary do not exceed 85F. This can be a real nail bitter if you already have your tickets and are hoping to check your pet as extra baggage to travel with you. They claim that it is for the safety of the pet and you want to believe that. A traveler has to wonder why Lufthansa, KLM, Air France and many other international carriers do not impose a temperature restriction or embargo during the summer. Is it because they are savvier to pets or is it because the domestic U.S. airlines just don’t want to hassle with pets? Remember that once the pets have been loaded onto the aircraft the temperatures in the ‘hold’ are the same as the passenger cabin and are regulated by the pilots on most aircraft. The concern is the tarmac. The tarmac is the same temperature for all airlines at LAX so why the difference? I have no idea.
That being said, if you want to take your Labrador with you to Jackson Hole this summer you cannot. Delta Air Lines is taking no live animals in or out of Jackson Hole; accompanied or not. The closest airport you will be able to fly into is probably Salt Lake City / SLC. You may be able to squeeze in on Delta into SLC during the early morning hours or late after the sun goes down. We get many inquires to drive pets from SLC to Jackson Hole. We are happy to do it for you and will take excellent care of you pet. It is pricey with the travel distance + the cost of fuel you are looking at $750US for the transport alone. We do it all the time. Give us a call toll free at 877-261-3555 and we will put you on our calendar! Happy Traveling! www.puppytravel.com
Pet Travel Advice for Dummies:
Don’t purchase an airline passenger ticket if you are planning to take your pet with you until you have checked with the airline to see what their summer pet travel policies are! If you are flying Southwest Airlines they do not take pets at all …. Ever.
Posted in Pet Travel Agents, Pet Travel Agent Advice for Dummies | 1 Comment »
April 21st, 2007
The most common question asked when shipping pets is “Should I sedate my pet?” The airlines will not accept a sedated pet. Pets actually travel better when they are not sedated. They usually just curl up and go to sleep. I had a conversation with a retired cargo agent with United Airlines about his experience with pets on the job. He told me that the only time in his career that he ever saw problems with traveling pets was when they had been ‘drugged’. He explained to me that when you give the pet medication it makes them feel funny and then they panic. Suddenly they feel funny, they are hearing unfamiliar noises and they are confined in their travel kennels. They start to pant and get over heated. I guess you could best describe it as they “freak out”!
I have told hundreds of clients the issues of sedating pets for travel and the harm it causes.
NOW WHAT DO I DO?
This week I purchased a little second home in Southern Utah. It is beautiful there and I can always work my company virtual. I of course want to take my 2 dogs Oodles and Soozie! Soozie is great in the car and taking a 4 hour road trip will not faze her. Now Oodles is another story. She pants and shakes the minute I open the car door. It isn’t like I never take her in the car. She goes to the doggie day care every week to play and every single time she is a basket case. I have tried purchasing a doggie seat where she can sit up and see out-did not work. I have put her on the front seat with the seat warmer on-still a wreck. I have held her on my lap, tried to offer her treats, bones and still she just basically hates it. So now what do I do? If I want to take both of them to Southern Utah am I going to let the poor thing just deal with it or should I slip her a Dramamine? It is amazing how easily I can tell my clients to absolutely never sedate their pets when they travel and I am even considering doing it to my own pet! Only option: talk to my vet! I will update you after I talk to him about it.
Posted in A Pet Travel Experience, Comments by Barbara | No Comments »
April 11th, 2007
The variables involved in pet travel can be overwhelming at times. As a pet shipper you try as hard as you can to take care of all the details and think of everything possible to assure the shipment goes well for the client and their pet. On an international shipment for example, I can be communicating with several people: the client-who may not be in the United States, the client’s contact and/or family member in the U.S., the person who is transporting the pet {many times a breeder}, the vet, the USDA official vet, the consulate, and of course the airline/carrier. I always look at it as a team effort and anyone who has ever worked on a team knows that communication among team members is crucial to its success. Many times you are only as strong as your “weakest link” and you are “only as good as the information you receive”. Case in point: Recently I was shipping a puppy out of a city in the Mid-West to a city in Central America. We had to get the puppy an International Health Certificate from the qualified accredited vet, have it endorsed by the Official USDA Vet, and get it authenticated at the embassy of the country we were shipping to. The forms have to be completed in this order correctly and accomplished within 10 days of shipping. When shipping from the United States to many Central American countries, the airlines will not confirm space until 48 hours prior to departure. Timing is everything! We were able to get the documents for the puppy from the vet, get them endorsed with the USDA vet and sent to the consulate in Washington D.C. in a timely matter. The airline even gave me a firm confirmation 7 days before departure! The consulate decided to sit on the health certificate for a few days…a few days is not good; they finally authenticated them and I had a Federal Express driver pick up the documents and ship them priority to the breeder for shipping 1 day before the confirmed departure. The breeder was the ‘weak link’. He had an issue with the client hiring a ‘pet travel agent’ to ship their puppy; he felt like he knew how to ship puppies and this was money that should have been paid to him. Therefore he made EVERYTHING a problem and did his best to make my life as the pet travel agent pretty miserable for a few days. Complaints came because he did not know the exact time the Fed-Ex would arrive, and when he discovered that the airline would not let him tender the pet at the place and time I advised – remember – you are only as good as the information you receive-he went ballistic. I resolved the airline issue in less than 20 minutes but not before I got a pretty good tongue lashing from the breeder.
O.K., so the airline originally gave out incorrect information - it can happen-the consulate took their time in getting their part of the task accomplished and Federal Express will only give you a ‘window’ of time when deliveries are made….that’s the way it goes….whoever said that pet shipping and team work was a PERFECT SCIENCE?
{By the way, the pup went as scheduled to its new home in Central America.}
Posted in The 'business' of a pet travel agency, A Pet Travel Experience | 2 Comments »