While writing about our epic journey from Colorado to Spain, I decided a post dedicated solely to the decision process of how and what flights to book was essential.* This is written based on our experience relocating to Europe with three dogs who had never traveled outside the US. If your pet has previously traveled and has been issued a Pet Passport, the steps may differ from these.
Several factors will play into what type of flight you decide on:
🐾 Number of pets
🐾 Size of pets
🐾 Health of pets
🐾 How do you want your pets to travel? — On a cargo flight · In the flight hold · In the cabin · Private Charter
🐾 Are you willing to drive?
🐾 When are you flying?
🐾 Where are you going?
🐾 What country will you fly into?
Let’s dive deeper into each of these, and I will explain our situation.
Factor One
Number and Size of Pets
Ginger, Ellie & Finn
This is important because some airlines limit the number of pets each person can be responsible for on a flight. In our case, we have one smaller dog around 9 Kg or 20 lbs (not mini or toy-sized) and two big dogs. Our big dogs were about 30 Kg and 45 Kg — that is about 66 lbs and 100 lbs. It is important to note that airlines will want the weight in kilograms.
The pet-to-person ratio depends on the airline and whether the pet will be in the cabin. If you have more pets than people, there are a couple of things you can do.
🐾 You can bring a friend who will be the escort for a pet.
🐾 Hire a pet relocation company to assign an employee to accompany you and/or your pet.
Factor TwoHealth of Pets
An examination by a veterinarian will be required for your pets to travel. Only a vet can deem your pet(s) healthy enough to fly.
Factor ThreeFlights and Driving: Big Decisions
This is sort of a biggie, and all other steps depend on this one. You see, you can fly from the US to Europe from and to basically any major airport. But how you want your pets to travel will be the factor that determines whether you will drive to another city, how much time it will take to get there, and when you must receive your USDA endorsement (more on that later).
Our dogs are our children. To any extent possible, we wanted to ensure they were close, safe, and as comfortable as they could possibly be. I did a lot of research. There are a few scenarios for flying with dogs on a commercial airline: in the cabin, in the hold of a passenger plane, or on a dedicated cargo flight. There is also the option to fly via charter — because that dives into many other options, I’ve covered it separately below.
Flying Commercial
Many airlines will fly dogs as cargo. We knew we were not comfortable flying our larger dogs on a cargo plane without us. People do it — it just wasn’t for us.
Some airlines have the option for larger dogs to fly in the hold. However, from Denver (our closest airport), there would be a layover where the dogs would be taken out of one plane and boarded onto another. This was an option with a layover in Chicago, but the thought of our babies sitting outside on the tarmac in Chicago in December…? Forget about it.
At the time of our booking, we found the most reliable options for direct flights with pets in the hold were Air France and TAP Air Portugal. Although our final destination was Spain, no airlines offered direct US to Spain flights with dogs in the hold. Air France offered non-stop flights from LAX and Newark to Paris, and TAP was flying from Miami to Lisbon. Our next decision was which airport to drive to.
I mapped the drive to all three cities and, knowing we were already short on time due to the USDA endorsement, ruled out Miami — it was about one to two more days of travel than Newark or LA.
Once I had narrowed it down to two cities, I did a deep dive into the types of aircraft. I found that Air France operated long-distance flights to Paris on either an Airbus A350-900 or a Boeing 777-300. (To do this, look at available flights and open up the details — that is usually where you find the type of aircraft.) This mattered greatly when traveling with a dog in the cabin because the Airbus has more space in the footwell for the carrier. Ultimately, while the aircraft type helped us choose the airline, the final decision between Newark and LAX came down to the drive. We opted for Newark: a longer drive, but a much shorter flight.
After the decisions were made to fly Air France, drive to Newark, and fly to Paris, we researched the crate requirements and purchased our travel carrier and crates. These are the exact models we purchased:
If your crate comes with plastic nuts and bolts, you MUST replace them with metal hardware (available at hardware stores or as airline travel kits) to meet IATA international flight requirements. Airlines often reject plastic fasteners.
Crate practice — Ginger approves
There are some companies out there that will do door-to-door service with your pets, or pick them up and meet you at your departure airport. We considered those options and got a quote — for $16,842. We decided that the more elements of our trip we had under our direct control, the more comfortable it would be for all five of us.
Before we traveled, we “practiced” getting in the crate and carrier. However, Ginger preferred to be in the big crate while the treats were handed out.
The decision is made — but before you buy the tickets, you must confirm your dog isn’t on a national ban list or subject to mandatory quarantine upon arrival.
Flying Charter — Private or Shared
Obviously, this is an option most people don’t think of, or think is out of reach. However, with careful planning and budgeting, you may find it is closer to grasp than you thought. This is especially true when you factor in the number of pets and family members traveling. For a large family with several pets, you may be surprised at how close the cost is to flying on a commercial airline.
It is possible to find someone, or multiple parties, to share a flight with. This can be done by either you securing the flight and finding companions, or locating someone who needs travelers on their pre-booked flight.
There are so many pros to flying private — obviously, your pets will be right there with you, regardless of size, breed, or type. There is no plane change. This also greatly expands the options for points of origin and destination. However…
Just like in all other financial scams, unscrupulous private flight brokers will prey on your emotions, make empty promises, and can leave you stranded — or worse.
We talked to several brokers during our planning phase, as well as joined social media groups “dedicated” to assisting with private charters. Be aware that many individuals running these pages receive a stipend or commission for recommending certain firms. That doesn’t mean they are scamming you, but they rarely disclose this information to their groups.
If you decide to explore this option, we can recommend some reputable brokers. Reach out via the contact link on this page.
Factor FourWhen You Are Flying and Destination
Ginger’s pre-flight vaccine
This detail is a determining factor in when you secure your certificate for your pets from the USDA. The entire process — from the vet visit to the USDA endorsement — must be completed within 10 days of your pet’s arrival in the EU.
You must arrive in Europe within that timeframe. In our case, for a flight leaving New Jersey or New York on December 16, our certificate had to be issued no earlier than December 6. Because we were driving from Colorado to New Jersey, we had a major time crunch on our hands.
If your pet travels more than 5 days before or after you, it could be considered commercial movement — and therefore the USDA certificate is valid for only 48 hours!
There are other considerations as well:
🐾 Is your dog due for a rabies shot? If so, it must be administered more than 21 days before leaving the US. Otherwise, you will have to quarantine your dog upon arrival until those 21 days are up.
While the US often uses 3-year vaccines, many EU countries operate on a strict 1-year schedule. Additionally, the EU may view a “primary” 3-year vaccine as only valid for one year. To be safe and avoid paperwork rejection, we opted to get a fresh 1-year booster before travel.
🐾 What type of microchip (if any) does your dog have? The European Union requires a fifteen-digit scannable chip. Your dog must be microchipped before the rabies shot. That means if your pup is up to date on the vaccine, but the chip doesn’t meet the requirement, they will have to be chipped again and vaccinated again before the information is entered onto the health certificate. (This also happened to us.)
🐾 Although the European Union seems like all nations would have the same rules, there are some variances. Be informed — don’t just expect your vet to know the current rules.
Ireland is part of the EU but is one of a handful of countries requiring a tapeworm treatment to be issued by a vet within 1–5 days of arrival in the country. Spain, France, and Portugal have no such requirement.
🐾 While your final destination must be on your paperwork, some EU countries require the paperwork to be in that nation’s official language if you disembark. (Yep, happened to us!) We booked our flights into France, so our paperwork was in English and French. We were going on to Spain, and thankfully, the French paperwork was sufficient for our port of entry.
If you opt to fly into a country with that language requirement, be aware there is no changing destinations once your vet has submitted your paperwork to the USDA. You cannot fly into Germany with paperwork completed for deboarding in Spain!
We have a whole post dedicated to Breed Bans & Entry Rules. If you aren’t sure if you can bring your dog, check out this valuable information!
Putting It Together
Ok, I Know All of That Sounds Confusing — Because It Is! Here Is How It Plays Out:
- Contact your vet to ask if they provide health certificates for travel to Europe, and how long the wait is for an appointment. Some big clinics only have one licensed vet that can do this. You can also check the USDA Accredited Veterinarian search site on the USDA APHIS site for the closest vet to you.
- Decide how and when you will be flying, from where, and to what country. I advise you to book a flight no less than 40 days out to resolve all necessary vet paperwork.
- Ensure you have proper carriers and crates for commercial flights.
- If you decide your dog needs a new microchip and/or rabies shot, contact your vet to schedule this as soon as possible. The rabies shot does not have to be within 21 days of travel, but it has to be 21 days or more before travel to avoid quarantine.
- Within 10 days of travel, attend the check-up for the health certificate and either 1) send it to the USDA, or 2) — preferably — have your vet submit it electronically.
- Some vets, like ours, use the electronic submission system (VEHCS) to send your paperwork to the USDA. If they do, the USDA typically sends a digital copy endorsement to them within 24 hours. This means your vet can print it for you, which is much faster than waiting for a courier. Your vet should be able to help you with this whole process.
- Receive the USDA endorsement and arrive in Europe within 10 days.
- Once you arrive, the endorsement is valid for four months. You can take your time traveling to your ultimate destination country, as long as you make it within that time frame.
- Keep a spreadsheet or notebook with flight costs, requirements, departures, and destinations prior to making a final flight decision.
- If considering flying on a private charter, run a cost comparison for your whole group against the cost of a private or shared charter flight.
- Reach out to your vet as soon as you are serious about moving to inquire about wait times.
- If your dogs are due a rabies shot within a year of travel, get the 1-year.
- Don’t forget to ask your vet about sedatives for the flights!
- Book the biggest car you can — don’t skimp. It’s better to have more than enough space than too little!
*I am sharing this based on our experience. You should do your own research and speak to your vet for official guidance. Because the rules change from time to time, this information could be stale at some point in the future. If you are interested in assistance with this planning process, please reach out via the Contact Form. We will be happy to reach back.
Join me for the next post in the series, Relocation Abroad with Pets: Breed Bans & Entry Rules, where we tackle the most critical legal challenges first!
The Relocation Series
Thanks for stopping by and sharing!