Island Posted August 26, 2020 Share Posted August 26, 2020 HI Everyone We are in the middle of a move back - Sydney to London. We fly back in one week. Just a warning - it is an ABSOLUTE nightmare to try and get your dog on a flight in my experience so far. We booked in over a month ago with request to fly early September - rabies done, deposit paid, TOR form filled in, etc - but still haven't heard if we have a flight. If you are thinking of doing this - it is better to wait and get your PET ON A FLIGHT FIRST - because Qatar will not fly an animal back to the UK unless owner flys back within a few days too (fine if different airline). Otherwise considered commercial. Emirates are the only other airline flying dogs at the moment - and whilst they don't have the same rule about people flying back at the same time - its hard to get a flight. This is a stressful situation especially if you don't have friends/ family this end to look after your dog till it gets a flight (if you have gone earlier than them). Good luck, and hope you have a better experience than me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amber Snowball Posted August 26, 2020 Share Posted August 26, 2020 Keeping everything crossed for you that it goes smoothly. Not that it will make you feel any better but I had trouble getting flight confirmation for the cat when I flew back in 2018, so not just a covid issue. Company I used didn’t confirm until a couple of weeks before so booking my flight at that stage was proper expensive. However, we are here now and it’s a distant memory that I sometimes whinge about on PIO, nothing else. Just got to get through it. All the best with your journey back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fluffycookie Posted August 26, 2020 Share Posted August 26, 2020 oh dear, this is what we are afraid of. How incredibly stressful for you. I do hope it all works out ok. With one month's notice I would have thought the company would have confirmed a date for you, it's a bit off of them to take your deposit and not then confirm a date. We were told earlier in the year that the issue of arriving within a few days of your pet is a customs issue and is applicable to all flights? We need to drive for 9 hours to get to the airport when we go so planning our exit to a T is pretty important and I feel your pain. Wishing you much luck Island Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fluffycookie Posted September 4, 2020 Share Posted September 4, 2020 Hi Island, Just wondering how you got on. Did you manage to sort everything out in the end? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Island Posted September 5, 2020 Author Share Posted September 5, 2020 Nope, rest of family has moved but I can't get our dog on a flight... its awful Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VERYSTORMY Posted September 5, 2020 Share Posted September 5, 2020 7 minutes ago, Island said: Nope, rest of family has moved but I can't get our dog on a flight... its awful Are you using a pet moving company? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Island Posted September 5, 2020 Author Share Posted September 5, 2020 Yes sure am. I'm sure they are doing their absolute best but Qatar are no longer flying pets so its just down to emirates and London aren't accepting many pets so the whole thing is a nightmare for all concerned. If anyone has any bright ideas or ways around this I'd be so grateful as I miss my family and am desperate to get back to the UK to be with the kids during this huge life transition. Does anyone have any advice? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fluffycookie Posted September 5, 2020 Share Posted September 5, 2020 oh how awful for you all. Is it worth trying to fly your dog out from another airport/state where there are possibly less pets travelling? It would no doubt cost a fair bit to transport your dog domestically first but might be worth exploring. Also from the point of view of resitricted arrivals in London, could you look at Manchester or another UK airport where again there may be less arrivals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliQ Posted September 5, 2020 Share Posted September 5, 2020 18 hours ago, Island said: Nope, rest of family has moved but I can't get our dog on a flight... its awful Hi Island, just a thought, and it could be very very expensive, but could your pet transport company find a flight to an european city instead ? I can personally recommend a pet transport company that picks up pets in europe by road, and drives back to the UK, and I think the owner can travel in the van too in some circumstances. We used this company to pick up our cat from France to the UK, brilliant service, let me know if you want their details. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montague Posted September 7, 2020 Share Posted September 7, 2020 We have just taken our 2 cats back to the UK from Cairns and used Dogtainers. They flew on the 28th August with Emirates from Brisbane to Dubai with an overnight stay in Dubai and then flew into LHR the next day. Although the Pet Centre at LHR are not open at the weekends, they made special provision to open on Sunday to process them due to the current situation, which was all arranged by Dogtainers. One of us flew on the same flight from Brisbane to Dubai and then straight onto London, so that we could pick the cats up when they arrived. We were advised that Emirates have now started to release pet flights on a monthly basis. Also, I know that Dogtainers flew a dog from Brisbane to Frankfurt the week before the cats. Give Darren a call at Dogtainers in Cairns, he was so helpful and kept us in the loop all the way, good news or bad news. We were also offered Qatar but advised that we would have to have extra blood tests done at a cost of another $1000. Hopefully you'll get something sorted and you'll both be home in no time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Island Posted October 8, 2020 Author Share Posted October 8, 2020 Just a quick update - we finally got our dog home - we swapped companies and went to Dogtainers. The rest of the family flew back to UK as planned, I delayed my flight another 2 weeks till I knew I had doggie on a flight - then flew back, with him flying a week later. Not easy, super stressful. He arrived smelling like piss and fear but after a few days chasing squirrels and revelling in leash free country life - he's happier than ever! Good luck everyone, this must be the hardest time ever to travel. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tulip1 Posted October 8, 2020 Share Posted October 8, 2020 2 hours ago, Island said: Just a quick update - we finally got our dog home - we swapped companies and went to Dogtainers. The rest of the family flew back to UK as planned, I delayed my flight another 2 weeks till I knew I had doggie on a flight - then flew back, with him flying a week later. Not easy, super stressful. He arrived smelling like piss and fear but after a few days chasing squirrels and revelling in leash free country life - he's happier than ever! Good luck everyone, this must be the hardest time ever to travel. Great update and great result. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fluffycookie Posted October 9, 2020 Share Posted October 9, 2020 So good to hear it has all worked out for you Island. Dogtainers seem to be getting good reviews during all this chaos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bunbury61 Posted October 11, 2020 Share Posted October 11, 2020 On 08/10/2020 at 09:32, Island said: Just a quick update - we finally got our dog home - we swapped companies and went to Dogtainers. The rest of the family flew back to UK as planned, I delayed my flight another 2 weeks till I knew I had doggie on a flight - then flew back, with him flying a week later. Not easy, super stressful. He arrived smelling like piss and fear but after a few days chasing squirrels and revelling in leash free country life - he's happier than ever! Good luck everyone, this must be the hardest time ever to travel. God bless you island - after all the dog is part of the family. Just had to have my best mate put down - bloody heartbroken . You have done the right thing - its worth it - enjoy every minute Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s713 Posted October 14, 2020 Share Posted October 14, 2020 On 11/10/2020 at 10:52, bunbury61 said: Just had to have my best mate put down - bloody heartbroken . Sorry to read that, must be awful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joek62 Posted October 26, 2020 Share Posted October 26, 2020 Hey Island, I hope you've managed to get sorted out by now. I've had similar problems. The reason for animals being transported within a few days of the owner applies to all pet transfer due to HMRC tax reasons, all pets must arrive 5 days either side of the owner. It's getting crazy now due to covid - I had a price, flight and flight date agreed with PetCarriers and just when I thought it was all sorted, Petcarriers came back three weeks before the flight date with an $1800 price increase, that was 40% rise...there's a lot of exploitation going on from the airline, hope not from the carrier agents. I transferred my cat from Singapore to Sydney almost seven years ago - it did it all myself at a fraction of the cost agents charge but no airlines allow people to do it by themselves from Australia...that's exploitation in itself. My cat is flying 'Business' whilst I am flying Economy...crazy shit...!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Island Posted November 25, 2020 Author Share Posted November 25, 2020 YES thanks we all made it back safely and have a new fluffy addition to the family to top it all off - I miss Oz especially as summer is coming and we are still in lockdown here however, England is definitely the best place to have a dog in the whole world!! The woods and countryside and everywhere allowing off the lead walks is just a dream! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alice M Posted December 26, 2020 Share Posted December 26, 2020 On 06/09/2020 at 09:22, AliQ said: Hi Island, just a thought, and it could be very very expensive, but could your pet transport company find a flight to an european city instead ? I can personally recommend a pet transport company that picks up pets in europe by road, and drives back to the UK, and I think the owner can travel in the van too in some circumstances. We used this company to pick up our cat from France to the UK, brilliant service, let me know if you want their details. Good luck. Hello AliQ, I am moving to London in two months with my cat. Would you please let me know which company did you use for moving your pet? Thank you, Alice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliQ Posted December 26, 2020 Share Posted December 26, 2020 20 minutes ago, Alice M said: Hello AliQ, I am moving to London in two months with my cat. Would you please let me know which company did you use for moving your pet? Thank you, Alice Hi Alice, we used JetPets from Aus to Europe. After a spell in Europe, we then moved onto the UK and used cfourpaws.co.uk. They were fantastic. However, this was all pre covid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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