How We Moved Our Cat from the US to UK with Vicuna Air
As we have been prepping for our transfer from the US to Scotland, there have been lots of fairly massive logistics to determine. Like: making use of for my partner visa, promoting our townhome in Ohio, and determining the best way to ship issues to the UK. However the largest and arguably most aggravating a part of the shifting plans was selecting the best way to carry our pet cat overseas with us.
We have had our cat Weasley for practically 12 years, and leaving him behind merely wasn’t an choice; he is a part of our household, and I might by no means dream of re-homing him except it was medically needed. In his case, although, although he is an previous man (16 years previous across the time we have been planning our transfer), he is a really wholesome previous man with no main medical points.
So clearly he was going to make the transfer with us. However how?
Taking a pet overseas: the fundamentals
Taking an animal overseas can typically be a tough process. Do not assume it is as simple as shopping for an airline-friendly provider and reserving your ticket.
Now clearly I can not communicate to ALL cross-border journey with pets. If you wish to journey or transfer overseas together with your pet, you undoubtedly have to do your homework upfront so precisely what’s required in your particular case.
In *most* circumstances, you are going to want issues like:
- Vet checks
- Particular paperwork (crammed out at particular instances)
- Proof of vaccination (typically only for rabies, however typically different vaccines/remedies are wanted, too, particularly for canine)
- Lively microchip
- An airline-approved provider/kennel
It is not at all times a simple or low-cost course of, so that you undoubtedly wish to look in to all of this stuff as early as attainable.
Shifting a pet to the UK
It is also necessary to know that taking a cat or canine with you to Nice Britain (that will be England, Scotland, and Wales) comes with totally different entry guidelines than taking a pet to an EU nation elsewhere in Europe.
Pets do not need to quarantine to enter the UK any longer when coming from a rustic just like the US so long as they meet all entry necessities, which is nice information! However there are totally different guidelines for entry (and totally different paperwork) from the remainder of Europe, so it is actually necessary precisely what you’ll want to do earlier than making any journey preparations.
For taking cats to the UK from the US, they should be microchipped with a Europe-compliant chip and be up-to-date with their rabies vaccinations. You additionally have to have an “official vet” (within the US, it is a USDA-accredited vet) fill out a Nice Britain Pet Well being Certificates after which ship that certificates to get endorsed by the USDA inside 10 days of your pet’s arrival within the UK. (More info here.)
And talking of that arrival into Nice Britain… it is NOT at the moment attainable to fly a pet in-cabin into the UK on a industrial flight. Full cease, you may’t do it it doesn’t matter what measurement pet you are bringing.
However what you CAN do is fly a pet in-cabin on a personal pet constitution into the UK.
Why we opted for a pet constitution
Like I discussed above, it isn’t attainable to fly a pet of any form/measurement in-cabin from the US to the UK on a industrial flight. Some individuals are comfortable to place their pets in cargo for journey, however it’s not one thing I felt snug doing with our 16-year-old cat who does not even like automobile rides.
We appeared into our different non-cargo choices, which embody flying your pet in-cabin from the US to an EU nation after which hiring a pet transport firm to take you and the pet into the UK. (A typical route is to fly from the US to Paris, after which rent a pet transport firm to drive you thru the Chunnel into the UK.)
However doing the US-EU-UK route would have added lots of further steps (and stress) to our entire course of. We might have had 2 flights from the US to Paris the place Weasley must be underneath a aircraft seat, a protracted drive to the UK with a border crossing, after which a protracted practice journey (or one other lengthy drive) to Scotland. And we might have wanted to get the USDA paperwork completed for each the UK AND the EU earlier than touring.
So we determined to look into pet constitution flights, which might enable us to fly on to the UK with out the additional paperwork or journey stops.
What’s a pet constitution flight?
Pet constitution flights are a rising development amongst pet house owners, particularly for these with bigger canine that always aren’t accepted on common industrial flights, even in cargo.
It began out with pet-owners coordinating flights amongst themselves, typically via Fb teams. They’d discover pet house owners trying to fly a selected route, after which they might constitution a personal jet as a bunch that will settle for all of the animals and share the whole price.
However now there are precise pet-centric airways that do that for you! They constitution the planes and promote particular person seats, with every seat coming with both 1 or 2 pet berths.
Airways at the moment providing pet constitution flights with worldwide routes from the US embody:
- Bark Air
- K9 Jets
- Vicuna Air
All of those airways provide pay-by-the-seat tickets the place the animals journey proper within the cabin with you. Canine do not need to be crated, and may even sit in your lap if you would like! It is an costly choice, sure, however it’s rising in recognition as a solution to journey with pets in a a lot less-stressful method.
Vicuna Air + why we selected them
After dong lots of analysis about our totally different choices, we ended up deciding on flying Weasley with Vicuna Air. This can be a barely newer firm within the pet constitution world, however perhaps that is what made them stand out. I had a cellphone name with the proprietor to ask questions on how their service labored, and love their ethos about pet journey — they actually appear to go above and past.
Vicuna Air is also comfortable to take cats and different small animals on their flights, AND they provide two alternative ways for pets to journey: both “Furs Class” with their proprietor, or “Biscuit Class” on their very own with one among Vicuna’s in-flight concierges. So far as I do know, that is the one pet constitution firm that provides this feature.
Due to all the things else we had occurring, we determined to ship Weasley in Biscuit Class with Vicuna Air. This meant I’d drop Weasley off in New Jersey, and Elliot would choose him up on the different finish in London.
How a lot does a pet constitution flight price?
Pricing relies on a number of components, together with the route, time of 12 months, and ticket kind — the identical as every other flight. Normally, although, a Vicuna Air flight in Furs Class (the place the human flies with the pet) begins near $10,000 per seat, whereas a Biscuit Class ticket (the place the pet travels solo) begins round $5400 at the moment.
Full disclosure: Vicuna Air supplied me a reduction on Weasley’s ticket in trade for sharing about our expertise on-line. However I used to be absolutely ready to pay full value for his seat!
Contemplating we might have spent hundreds doing a US-EU flight after which pet transport into the UK, sending Weasley on a constitution truthfully did not appear *that* way more costly, and at the least his journey day can be over faster.
Vicuna Air evaluation
As a result of I do know there are individuals on the market in search of a step-by-step evaluation of this entire course of earlier than they spend hundreds on a pet constitution themselves, here is the way it all went in our case.
The vet prep course of
Earlier than we even booked a pet flight, we met with Weasley’s vet to go over the entire means of taking him overseas. In our case, we had some further steps to take since Weasley is an previous man and didn’t have a Europe-compliant microchip (an ISO-compliant, European-accepted microchip must have a 15-digit ID quantity). We needed to get him a brand new microchip and a contemporary rabies vaccine (as a result of there are guidelines concerning the chip coming earlier than the vaccine, so we simply acquired him a booster simply to be protected).
We then made an extra appointment precisely 10 days earlier than Weasley was as a consequence of arrive within the UK to get his well being certificates crammed out and submitted to the USDA for endorsement by our vet, who’s accredited and in a position to submit this paperwork. (If you’ll want to examine whether or not your vet is USDA-accredited, use the APHIS database.)
Some vets are ready/keen to fill out the paperwork earlier and undergo the USDA across the 10-day mark (it solely must be USDA-endorsed with 10 days of your pet’s arrival), however in our case we needed to do all of it on the 10-day mark. Most vets can submit the paperwork electronically now, together with a pre-paid, self-addressed FedEx In a single day label for the USDA to ship your signed type again to you.
The Vicuna reserving course of
Reserving a flight with Vicuna Air is very simple. You’ll be able to seek for flight routes and choices and ebook all the things on-line — simply take into account that they run flights based mostly on demand, and plenty of of them do promote out months upfront!
I used to be in a position to ebook Weasley’s Biscuit Class seat pretty late in our planning course of (we could not plan his journey till we had a spot to stay in Scotland arrange, which took longer than anticipated), however that is largely as a result of I used to be in common contact with Vicuna’s proprietor, Jamie, and he assured me that he may match a cat on most any flight with sufficient discover.
For those who’re reserving an everyday Furs Class ticket, although, undoubtedly plan to ebook at the least a number of months upfront, if not sooner. Most of Vicuna’s flights are confirmed and assured to fly earlier than they’re even listed on the location.
Pre-travel paperwork and emails
After reserving, we acquired some useful emails from Vicuna about all the things we might have to do earlier than Weasley’s flight. There was a guidelines on-line of all the things I wanted to submit pre-flight, together with information about us and Weasley that Vicuna’s staff used to pre-fill the Nice Britain Pet Well being Certificates for us. I used to be then in a position to take the pre-filled type to our vet appointment, which was actually helpful.
I did have some questions alongside the best way (particularly since Weasley was flying on his personal, with one among us dropping him off and the opposite choosing him up). And each query I despatched to Vicuna by way of e mail was answered often in lower than 12 hours.
Vicuna’s problem-solving
The reserving course of and our vet’s submission to the USDA went easily. The USDA even endorsed our paperwork early, and I had the signed varieties again to me 2 entire days earlier than our flight!
Nevertheless, the morning that I acquired our USDA varieties again, I additionally acquired a name from Vicuna. They do pre-clearance with UK Customs for all of the pets flying with them to make sure that everybody can have a clean entry into the nation (I LOVE this, because it means there’s zero stress about whether or not you messed one thing up).
In our case, *we* hadn’t messed something up, however the UK wished us to vary a reputation on one a part of our USDA type. I in fact began freaking out since I had lower than 48 hours till I used to be speculated to fly Weasley to New York.
Emily from Vicuna was unbelievable, although. She defined how we may take care of this (mainly our vet simply wanted to return into his USDA system and make the replace and log off on it), however when she may inform over the cellphone that I used to be stressing about it, she supplied to name our vet and type it herself. And she or he did! Inside an hour she referred to as again and mentioned I might have the brand new copy of the varieties emailed to me, and that Vicuna even coated the price our vet charged for making the modification.
This degree of service and problem-solving is strictly what you ought to anticipate from a premium product like this — however that does not imply each firm would do that for a buyer.
The journey expertise itself
We booked Weasley on an in a single day flight from New Jersey to London with Vicuna Air. This meant I’d fly him to New Jersey the identical day as his in a single day flight, and Elliot would meet Weasley in London the next morning and drive him again to Scotland. (Most of Vicuna’s flights from the US to Europe fly throughout daylight, however each from time to time they will have an in a single day choice.)
Weasley has (to our information) by no means been on a aircraft earlier than, and has definitely by no means traveled thus far or lengthy earlier than! To say I used to be burdened can be an understatement — however all the things labored out tremendous ultimately!
Attending to New Jersey
Pre-travel, I talked to Weasley’s vet about journey nervousness treatment choices, and we ended up going with Bonqat (a cat-specific pregabalin med) to provide him for the journey day. I additionally purchased him a model new journey provider with expandable sides (this one, in case you are curious) in hopes that his journey day can be as snug as attainable*
*We examined the Bonqat at residence earlier than our journey to ensure Weasley reacted to it okay, and I additionally left his new provider out for a few week — and hid the occasional deal with in it — so hopefully it would not be as scary.
I booked our flight to Newark on United Airways, who make it simple so as to add a pet to any flight for $150.
On the day of the flight, we acquired to the Cleveland airport a number of hours early to examine in and get a tag for Weasley’s provider. I additionally requested for a personal screening at TSA Pre-check so I would not need to take Weasley out within the terminal, and the TSA officers have been comfortable to oblige. The safety course of was seamless and did not take lengthy in any respect.
As soon as within the airport, we discovered a quiet nook and I popped out the “porch” of Weasley’s provider to let him stretch out whereas we waited to board. And as soon as on board, I stowed Weasley at my ft and he did not make a single peep the entire flight! (The Bonqat truthfully labored so properly! It calmed him down with out zonking him out.)
After we arrived in Newark, I then referred to as an Uber to take us to Teterboro, the place the pet constitution leaves from. (For those who’re flying Furs Class with Vicuna, although, they embody chauffeur service to/from the airport.)
Pre-flight at Teterboro
We acquired to the right spot at Teterboro after which had a while to attend once more. Vicuna Air very well asks everybody with canine to reach at the least an hour earlier than their flight for final walks and a few socializing to allow them to get an thought of which canine do/do not get alongside. They base their seating association on every canine’s persona.
Since this wasn’t necessary for us, we have been in a position to take Weasley to a quiet room (in one of many pilot lounges) to let him out of his provider for a bit. We supplied him a litter field (we traveled with this travel litter box), some water, and a small quantity of meals and treats (together with a deal with laced with one other dose of Bonqat). He ate a bit of bit and explored the room and truthfully appeared fairly chill!
When it was time to board the aircraft, they’d Weasley board final. That is most likely ideally suited for cats who’re afraid of canine, however fortunately Weasley fairly likes canine and is not bothered by them in any respect.
They allowed me to hold Weasley out to the aircraft myself, and so they seated him in the direction of the entrance of the plane. And whereas canine do not should be in carriers/crates on these flights, smaller pets do. They let me come out Weasley’s “porch” for his flight, although, and we set him up in a snug spot.
After which I needed to say goodbye!
They flew in a single day (a fast 6 hours and quarter-hour on a Gulfstream GV) to London, however whereas I used to be asleep Vicuna proprietor Jamie despatched me a pair messages and one video saying that Weasley was doing nice and largely sleeping.
And I woke as much as the message that Elliot had efficiently picked him up!
Arrival in London
As a result of Vicuna Air will get pre-clearance for all of the pets on their flights, Elliot did not have to attend lengthy in any respect for them to carry Weasley to him straight off the aircraft. At London Stansted, they as soon as once more let Elliot and Weasley use a small room so the cat may take a provider break earlier than the onward journey to Scotland.
After which Elliot and Weasley spent the day driving residence to Edinburgh, making a pair stops alongside the best way for meals, water, and litter field breaks.
Our cat is NOT a traveler, however he did surprisingly properly on this entire journey, which took practically 24 hours from begin to end.
General verdict
Now, is that this an choice for each pet proprietor? No. I am properly conscious that we’re very privileged to even be capable to think about flying our cat on a personal jet. However, in our case, it made probably the most sense for our cat and our timeline, and we may match it into our shifting funds. And ultimately I am so glad we determined to ship him with Vicuna Air.
Whereas we do not plan to make Weasley transfer anyplace ever once more, I’d not hesitate to make use of Vicuna Air once more, or to advocate them to every other pet dad and mom who would by no means dream of sending a member of the family within the cargo maintain.
And for anybody curious, Weasley has settled into life in Scotland simply tremendous. I do really feel dangerous that we needed to put him via the stress of shifting, however I do not remorse not splitting up our little household.
What different questions do you’ve got about shifting a pet from the US to UK?
Amanda Williams is the award-winning blogger behind A Harmful Enterprise Journey Weblog. She has traveled to greater than 60 nations on 6 continents from her residence base in Ohio, specializing in experiential and considerate journey via the US, Europe, and remainder of the world. Amanda solely shares suggestions based mostly on her private experiences and locations she’s truly traveled!