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Have you heard about the new United Airlines pet policy?
Basically, due to the Continental Merger, United will be chaning its pet shipping policy. Pets are no longer checked baggage, but cargo. They WILL be adding a couple special sundries, like a petsitter and a/c van to bring the pets to&from the plane as well as a third party"
Oh and this is all due to some new Japanese law.
What concerns me, is that before, most pets cost $250 to put on the plane. Now, its going to range from $1,000 - $4,000 (depending on the size of the pet). That is a HUGE cost increase for a van, a dog walker and this "new need" for a third party....oh and some law that did not bother United until the merger.
http://www.stripes.com/news/shipping-pets-during-pcs-could-cost-nearly-4-000-under-new-rule-1.168509
I have no problem paying for a new processing fee (the van and pet sitter) if this was a flat fee that actually covered the true cost of said benefit. But this sliding scale based on weight is wrong. My 30lb corgi (you know, the old british lady dog) would cost $1000 more than my 15lb dog (terrier), but the expense for the van and walker is no different and that 15lbs should not cost $1000...not when my luggage weighs the same amount.
More importantly, this announcement came out less than a month than its implementation date. Please tell me how ANY SERVICEMEMBER (no matter the rank) is going ot be able to come up with $1000 - $4000 in a manner of weeks DURING their PCS?
Oki is going to be overrun with animals....what a shame.
Re: Have you heard about the new United Airlines pet policy?
It sucks! We PCS-ed to Guam last April with a Great Dane and a Hound mix and the cargo alone cost us close to 3,000 dollars (continental airlines).... I understand they couldn't be cabin animals regardless because of their sizes (160 lbs and 70 lbs), but after the quarantine fees(mandatory quarantine), cargo costs, and finding a crate large enough to ship our Dane (Giant size was too small, we had to modify it), we wound up spending 4,700 dollars-- and the AF refunds you 250 dollars per animal, so we spent 4,200 dollars! It is sooooo expensive!
The problem is that the third party carriers are just as expensive as this new policy. Yes, you can ship a pet on another plane as cargo, but if there are any issues, your pet is SOL.
I have a couple questions...
(1) Does this policy replace there carry on pets? Because I know United (and other airlines) currently allows pets to travel with you in a carrier as long as they are under Xlbs and count as your carry on.
(2) What about Space A? Is that a viable option for these servicemembers? ( I ask because I'm hoping for overseas orders for our next assignment but worry about taking our 13lb Dog... my H said we would most likely take Space A but IDK if that is more standard since he is AF).
ETA: Correct Grammar
What about taking a small dog as carry-on? Is that allowed internationally? I know that's how we planned on moving our girl around with us, when it's not CONUS.
A few years ago we flew on the Patriot out of Japan (Oki to mainland, and then into WA). At that time I would say there was at least 8 pet slots. In the middle of PCS season it can still be tough to get a spot though. We were fortunate to get our dog on the flight with us.
Supposedly, they will allow carrion pets WHEN the country you are leaving and entering into allow them. I have heard that Japan may be one of t "no go" countries. But I could be wrong.
Pas for Space A, there is the Patriot, but they only have so many openings. And you still need to mainland Japan...which TMO may not do for you or if they do, you might get United.
And For real Space Availalbe, ie. not on PCS orders, you CAN NOT bring pets.
Thing is if the third party carrier is a designated pet carrier and they really know what they're doing and how to take the proper precautions I wouldn't mind paying more. I agree that the sudden increase is outrageous as is the amount considering the very slight increase in the quality of service.
This is very disturbing. People found it hard enough to cough up less than $500 to ship their pet and ended up leaving them behind during a PCS, now it won't be only the irresponsible and heartless pet owners, but the responsible ones as well who are questioning $4K+ to ship their animals. That is insanity and is only going to make the homeless pet problem due to PCSing even worse. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
We are PCSing from Hawaii next summer, I would never leave our pup behind, but I am definitely not looking forward to the bill for moving him.
There IS an option to bring dogs Space A if you have PCS orders; however, you will not know until the day of the flight if there is cargo space available for the animal. Also, there is a 72 hour window where they let you know if a flight is coming in/out of the base but that does not guarantee you a spot on the flight. There is also a 2 pet limit (which works for MOST people, but not all).
We are AF as well, and depending on where you are it could be easier/harder. We have been in Guam a little over a year and even on EML orders for 28 days, we couldn't get a flight out on Space A at all. I have tried to get Space A on my own a few times and haven't been able to get a flight out. And that is without the dogs.
England did the same thing with very short notice. Sucked.
$2k later, our dog is here.