Frenchie Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 So QANTAS have just lived their embargo on all snub nosed breeds. Their flight is substantially quicker than the current Air Canada offering & is direct e.g. 2 hours stopover early in the morning in Dubai. The negative - possible heat. The positive - much quicker, less stress as they don't have to get of the plane. Air Canada has a route that avoids the heat. London - Vancouver - Sydney. There is however a long stopover in Vancouver of 12 hours & my understanding is that Air Canada take the pets, put them in a larger cage (not sure) & offer them water.. The negative - this 12 hour stopover must be very confusing for our pooches & thus add a lot of stress. The positive - low temperatures on the ground in all locations. We're looking at flying to Sydney from London around October (all relevant shots etc... have been taken care off). I guess I am looking for insight. No uneducated comments please about Snubs - we all know the negative side of their travel. Just looking for real insights, ideally from the pro's. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 Have you checked the average temp of Dubai in the morning in the month you want to fly? The hold is supposed to have temperature maintained so should be fine but if there are problems or some such, what is the temp going to be sat on the tarmac is the one thing I'd want to consider there. I"m sure Bob will be along with some wise words Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frenchie Posted August 10, 2013 Author Share Posted August 10, 2013 Yes, its between 7-9am the stopover. One can only look at the average temperatures. October it starts to cool down (for Dubai) & November it drops again... Average low in Dubai in October is "said to be" in BBC's Weather site 22 degrees & max 33 degrees. November (which is pushing on as we'd plan to leave start of October) Low is 18 & Max is 31... I actually spoke to a very informative rep, Denise at QANTAS who was there for the first 10 days of this "Dubai Route" earlier this year in April. She was there to oversee freight & how the animals were treated, how they gave them water etc... She actually said the hatch is open for most of the landing but that the heat doesn't really get in. The hold is "controlled to 18 degrees" but obviously some of this will escape when its open. It is tough - she was helpful, honest & definitely not trying to "over sell anything" & said that the temperature doesn't change much... and she off-course said to be safe, avoid the "peak hot season" which ends in September... Nevertheless, its a "toss up. More time on the Canada route with guaranteed lower temperatures or Less time on the Dubai route with that small chance of heat! Again, as bad things happened in the past, I am sure that the airline would not take risks. They also said they bring out a Cool Dollie to keep them cool but thats only in extreme conditions... The question remains open! Such a hard decision! Bob? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incata Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 I don't know about pets but Vancouver airport is not the best organised in the world, so I'd try and get an opinion from someone who has sent their pets that route, or a flight attendant who does the route regularly (maybe post on one of the flight information forums). I have flown to and from Vancouver on a regular basis and certainly in the winter, disorganised would be a polite way to describe them. They regularly forgot to put their water tankers away overnight, so they froze and the plane water tanks could not be refilled until they had defrosted them. This often meant sitting in the plane for a couple of hours before take off while they sorted the problems out. While it was Air Canada I flew with, it was not down to them, it was the ground crew. The Air Canada crew generally raised their eyes to high heaven and got the DVD system working as quickly as possible! October in Vancouver will be a reasonable temperature for pets and I would hazard a guess (based purely on a conversation with a friend who is a flight attendant with BA) that your dog may be taken better care of on the ground in Vancouver than it would in Dubai (where dogs are generally seen as being dirty creatures). Whilst the stop over may be longer, if I had a pet, I would be sending them that route, rather than the Dubai route. Maybe someone from PetAir could give you some advice? Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frenchie Posted August 10, 2013 Author Share Posted August 10, 2013 The temperature in Vancouver would for sure be better. They are not taken of the plane in Dubai - the hatch is opened, their water is topped up & they are checked for "health". My concern in Dubai would be x2. 1) possible heat issues but QANTAS have said this should not be a problem now & 2) If there was a problem, how would they respond. Then again, I would worry about this no matter what... Vancouver is a proper 12 hour stopover so a lot more goes on. They are offloaded, taken to an area where they are given water & I was told they are put in slightly bigger cages. They are then resealed 4 hours before the flight so again, Its a very long time for them in the Crate when going via Vancouver. Part of me leans towards the QANTAS route as I see less room for error - one (new 380) plane, 22 hours vs 36 hours, and they are not offloaded so one would think that is better for them... Vancouver simply because its been in operation for longer... If Bob addresses this post, I wonder your thoughts? And why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobPetairUK Posted August 11, 2013 Share Posted August 11, 2013 Hey Give me a chance! Frankly, i dont know the right answers i only have opinions and these are my ramblings! I think QANTAS have opened up this route to snubs because they have lost a stack load of revenue from not flying pets to Perth. The powers that be in Australia have seen revenues go down and asked someone how can we up them again. Cynical of me and without one shred of evidence but that is my opinion. why have they not flown snubs for years and now they decide to? The disclaimer owners have to sign now is really tough. Yes QANTAS have said they will take snubs, but they will not take one shred of responsibility if anything goes wrong. Transit via dubai or Vancouver - yes the vancouver one is longer and more faffing around, but they are taken out of their crates and put in the position where they can get medical treatment if they need it. They are checked by a pet shipper in Vancouver. Dubai they are looked at by the air cargo handlers and watered and off they go. Who do you trust more? a pet shipper who deals with just pets or a Dubai cargo handler? When the Air Canada route started we hated it - too long, too much faffing, too expensive, but over the last years or so we have grown to appreciate it as a reasonable route. I just think that if you have the choice of the 2 (and they both cost the same) you would choose the Air Canada route. if you are at the point where either you leave your dog behind or fly him on the Qantas route then go for the qantas route. these dogs travel well and the risk to snubs is still tiny (bigger than for normal faced dogs, but still tiny) - probably around 1 in 200. Also if Qantas flew to Perth then you would fly them to Perth on this route, but that is not the case. what would i do if i was flying a bulldog to Australia - i would fly them via Vancouver but moan like hell that it was costing me even more money! Look, i dont know the right answers. but we feel it is the best thing for the dogs only to offer the Air Canada route at the moment. From a purely selfish point of view, if a dog does not make the journey then i am the one who has to call the owners and tell them and anything i can do to make that as infrequent as possible is fine by me. Yes this decision is going to cost us money, but i just think it is the best way to go. Sorry Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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