Flying With Dogs Dog Travel Forum

This topic was posted in the Flying With Dogs Forum on April 29, 2015 12:41 p.m.. If you can help with this question about Flying With Dogs, please post a reply.

Flying to LAX from Hawaii non stop

We have booked our two dogs, 45 and 55 lbs, both under 2 years old in cargo on a nighttime non-stop flight with us from Hilo, Hi to LAX. We have never done this. The booking says we need to check in our dogs 3 hours in advance of the flight in Hilo Hi. This is a small airport and we will visit the check in desk a week before our flight with the larger dog and carrier to confirm that we will be okay to board on the actual flight day.

We are hoping that when we arrive at the airport 3 Hrs in advance as requested they will check in the dogs but still let us walk them and let them out of the kennels closer to the boarding of the airplane. The flight is close to 5 hours and we have to pick the dogs up at the LAX cargo office near the passenger terminals. Overall, we want to minimize the amount of time the dogs are in the kennels which could be 8 hours or more.

We will talk to our vet first but since the flights are during their normal sleeping hours we are considering minimizing their water intake before the check in and ask the airline not to give them water, (unless there is a delay), since they normally do not drink water at night. It just seems inhumane to give a dog unlimited water and then lock them in a carrier for 8-9 hours.

Has anyone had experience transporting from Hi to LAX or mainland. BTW There is no quarantine required when traveling from HI to Mainland, just a health certificate and proof of rabies vaccine.

Mahalo
Robert

Originally posted by Robert from Hilo, HI, US
April 29, 2015 12:41 p.m.

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United from Hilo to LAX was exceptional

Just an update now that we are settled in California and to say that the United staff in Hilo Hawaii were compassionate and very helpful in helping us transport our two dogs to LAX.

The check in procedure is rather complicated. Our dogs are 45 and 65 lbs and were in separate large kennels. The first stop is the agricultural check where they have to inspect that there is no fruit or other prohibited items in the kennels. We then had to bring the kennels to the check in counter where they must be weighed with the dogs inside. Then comes the paperwork! When booking make sure to ask United to send you sample forms that you will have to fill out at the counter. It's complicated and I think I signed my name at least 15 times. The agent was very patient and because we had arrived early we had her full attention, but it took about 30 minutes to complete the process.

Once everything was done they allowed us to stay for a while with the dogs before they took them into the holding room. While the dogs were being wheeled away one of the ticketing agents even stopped the baggage handler and told him to go slower and to be careful.

As we were boarding the plane we asked one of the baggage handlers if our dogs had boarded the plane. She told us she had loaded them herself and they were in the back cargo hold and were calm and happy.

The Petsafe cargo pickup at LAX is across from the airport hotels, but there is no shuttle bus. The facility has a huge free parking area and there is even an area to let your dogs relieve themselves.

The cost was just over $800 for both dogs, which is the standard air cargo charge. It made me appreciate that checking two 50 Lb bags was a bargain at $50.

Thank you to the entire United ground crew staff in both Hilo HI and LAX for making the process easy for us and our dogs.

Posted by Robert from Oceanside, CA, US
July 27, 2015 6:12 p.m.

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