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I am wanting more information by those that have recently transported pets from U.S. to Portugal. In checking today after listening to the 11-3-22 Social zoom session, several people mentioned transporting pets this year, 2022. As we have 4 cats, we cannot transport them between the 2 of us, as personal items under the seat, and did review the latest articles online of best airlines to transport pets internationally. According to one article, posted in June, American Airlines has one of the best ratings for pets, https://www.tourradar.com/days-to-come/pet-friendly-international-airlines-ranked-top-20/ and in our case, we would have to use their American Airlines Cargo service, which is temperature controlled, and they could fly on the same flight as we would be. I called their AA Cargo service, and talked with a very helpful woman for some time, and she said, at this time, neither the Lisbon or Porto airport was receiving pets, and we would have to fly them to Madrid, and then transport them ourselves from there to Portugal in a rental car.
Has anyone else had to transport more than one or two pets, that they could not have as "personal items?" I was told that we would be required to transport them in medium size series 200 carriers, that were 27"x20"x19", as the minimum size allowed for international transport. The 4 cats would cost about $775 for each cat, with an estimated overall cost for approx. 80-100 lbs overall, of $2327. I have not checked out concierge services for cats, although Pet-Express was recommended by someone today on the chat, and noticed they wanted about $675-$875 each for their carriers, and much larger than needed for a cat, and am in the process of getting quotes for transport using the recommended carrier size, which is about $45-$138 on Amazon, which is quite a bit less expensive than their P-E's crates. I will post the estimate given when received from them.
I noticed that Tap-Portugal also is very good with pets too, although they only fly from U.S. from a few airports, and then there is the flight from where we are in New Mexico to that airport. I plan to email the Lisbon and Porto airports where they would receive pets, to inquire if it is true, that currently, they are not allowing pets aside from those that may travel as personal carry-ons. Any more specific information would be welcomed, as this is one of our primary worries in figuring out, well before we plan to apply for our D-7 in early spring, after returning from our 2nd scouting trip in mid-Jan for about a month or thereabouts. As none of our cats have ever flown before, and are not happy even in the car, it does seem that if the cargo areas of the plane are temp controlled, and they would all be together, that they would be much happier in cargo, than under the seat near us, and dealing with so many people, and the chance that they would be making noise as well, and how is that all handled...not well I would assume...and about as bad as a cranky baby...or worse perhaps. So, we would prefer not to deal with all of that, and figure they might settle down once the plane has departed. It also seems that if we are dropping them off prior to our check in, and any transport service would be doing the same, and not be able to check on them during transfers, as we would not be able to, then it may be equal to having them fly with us, in cargo, and be able to pick them up after processing.
Look forward to any more specific information, as did not find much recent pet info in the forum, and will inquire again and discuss in any appropriate zoom sessions, as my partner, Dwight, is signed up for the premium membership, so we can access everything we need to, etc. So enjoyed meeting all the happy people who have arrived at their destination in Portugal already, and those looking to do the same, as we are.
I would be most interested in how you work this out. I too was on the 11-3 social and am trying to figure out the best way to bring my 2 cats over at a not insane price. I also had read n the AA site that the airline was not managing pet moves on transatlantic flights, that had me worried as well.
Hello, there is another post about traveling with Pets that you may find helpful.
I also posted a response there about our experience flying with 2 cats from California to Lisbon.
Depending on the cost for pet transporting, maybe paying for a friend's ticket to fly over with your additional pet would be cheaper! 🙂
I miscalculated on the cost per pet in earlier posting, of AA Cargo, as it would be about $581.75 per per, instead of $775, and that was for a total weight of about 80-100lbs., and it seemed like they would allow transport of a larger dog, as that is mentioned as a concern on certain airlines, on another thread on this site, and not sure of the cost for lesser size total weights, although good to call them as they were very helpful. Still to be figured out if Lisbon is accepting pet animals as cargo if not flown in cabin. Any updates on that would be great to know.
thanks for all the replies...I will add when I have something new but appreciate all the help