[glencorgi]

Jane,

Flying a puppy or dog within the continental US usually runs under $200 on average. The last one I was involved in flying was about $150 from NC to FL. I hope by now Michael has figured out that it isn't quite as simple as plopping a crate on any ol' airline going from point A to point B and having a dog flown in here. Very few airlines want to deal with the hassle (and yes to a large degree that is how many of them look at it) of flying pets. It isn't that things are not all milk and honey in the States, rather a bit of naivete on the part of someone making judgement calls on matters where one lacks any true practical knowledge or experience outside of their limited sphere of an almost fairytale world. In the United States there are a magnitude of practical realities with which we have to deal in day to day pet ownership on any number of levels that are not within the grasp of some.

From about now until the end of September there is an embargo on shipping pets because of temperature - temperature is ALWAYS a factor in shipping pets even when the embargo isn't on. The temperature of the airport the pet will be leaving from, the temp of the airport should there be a layover, the temp of the airport where it will be landing - all have to be considered before one has a go on many flights. Then there is also weather conditions - storms, snow, fog, heat - all can happen on the same day on the path of certain flights given how large the US is.

There are a few airlines which have cargo holds which maintain a constant temperature and have a special service for flying pets. But then they have to fly into one's local airport or you have to find the next nearest one. I have an airport 30 minutes from me and can fly to certain locations out of it. When it looked like I might have to assist with flying a dog from NC to WA state once, the nearest airport with the service we were looking for was an hour away. When I got a second puppy from the breeder we drove 2 days to pick up the first one from, the airport I picked the second one up was two hours away.

As I said, I've been lucky and have had no problems with any I've flown. I am going to post a "horror" story that happened when a breeder attempted to fly a puppy to its new home in another post. This happened on one of the best airlines to fly pets and keep in mind it was one ticket counter in one airport the airline served, so a blanket indictment of the airline is not called for. Plus this happened months back, so not something to incite anyone to go on a rampage about, it has been handled.

Debbie