Flying Dog To Adelaide

[jacqui835]

I am about to move to Adelaide, and naturally am taking my pooch. We are not moving until mid Jan, but need to go down in advance to view potential new places to live, and although initially we had planned to just fly down for the day, flights back at this time of year are pretty pricey. So to make the inspection and not pay a fortune to get back, we would need to stay for about 3-4 days. Most of my friends and family are overseas, and I'm not entirely comfortable with leaving my dog in boarding - he's also not desexed so a lot of places won't even take him though I may have to further consider that option.

Since we're staying with friends in Adelaide though, we have started considering the possibility of taking the dog with us for a bit of a holiday...

Whether we do take him this time or not though, I need to start looking into pet transport options. Does anyone know any good air transport services that take good care of your dog? I am having nightmares about that story where the pug died on a plane; that is not an acceptable outcome for me. Any advice or experiences would be most appreciated.

[ness]

I have flown both my girls interstate with Virgin (Adelaide --> Perth --> Adelaide) and (Adelaide --> Sydney --> Adelaide). Not had any issue. And my youngster came Perth --> Adelaide with Qantas.

I tend to fly Virgin because the airfares are a little cheaper then Qantas (on the human side). I just ring the guest service centre when I book my flight to confirm there is space for the dog on the same flight. The dog is then added to your ticket but you pay for there flight when you drop them at freight.

I know Qantas permit more dogs on a flight then Virgin.

Edited December 29, 2010 by ness

[Ptolomy]

I have flown the kids Virgin to Adelaide and the staff were terrific. I suggest you look at flights not leaving/arriving during the hottest part of the day.

Its easy to book it yourself.

[Furkidsforever]

I am about to move to Adelaide, and naturally am taking my pooch. We are not moving until mid Jan, but need to go down in advance to view potential new places to live, and although initially we had planned to just fly down for the day, flights back at this time of year are pretty pricey. So to make the inspection and not pay a fortune to get back, we would need to stay for about 3-4 days. Most of my friends and family are overseas, and I'm not entirely comfortable with leaving my dog in boarding - he's also not desexed so a lot of places won't even take him though I may have to further consider that option.

Since we're staying with friends in Adelaide though, we have started considering the possibility of taking the dog with us for a bit of a holiday...

Whether we do take him this time or not though, I need to start looking into pet transport options. Does anyone know any good air transport services that take good care of your dog? I am having nightmares about that story where the pug died on a plane; that is not an acceptable outcome for me. Any advice or experiences would be most appreciated.

You mention about the pug that died. Is your dog a pug? I know Qantas will not take certain breeds - pugs amongst them - not sure about Virgin. Qantas exceptions are listed on their website. Also, Qantas have a huge amount of documents to be read and a form to be completed for transporting a dog. Not sure about Virgin.

[Dogsfevr]

[ Qantas exceptions are listed on their website. Also, Qantas have a huge amount of documents to be read and a form to be completed for transporting a dog. Not sure about Virgin.

Things must have changed regarding documents because on both airlines i have never read & completed forms except the payee slip/contact details & i fly 1/2 yearly & just returned last month from flying the dogs

If you do fly Qantas has weekend restrictions on taking dogs.

Virgin don't but they do have number limits qantas does allow more dogs.

I have flown both with no issues .

[dogslife]

I flew a 70 kilo Neo Mastiff to Qld with no real issues. He was a massive sooky boy.

We went Qantas and it was fine. We went late in the day.

The only issue was finding a crate big enough for him. The one that was hired only just fitted him.

I watched them load him whilst I was on the plane. I could see him out the window and they were very careful. They had three dogs that they were loading.

They did have lots of paperwork for me to sign at the other end but the staff just let me sign the bottom as he was howling once he heard my voice and he had started rocking the crate back and forth. I think they were terrified that he would break out and they didn't like the idea of a 70 kilo black dog loose.

He was also bloody loud with his howling.

[Leema]

I have flown Clover Adelaide to Canberra and back a couple of times. She also flew from Melbourne to Adelaide as a puppy. No dramas.

I have flown both Qantas and VirginBlue, with the dog as extra baggage.

In Adelaide, dogs are not permitted in the terminal, so you have to go to freight to pick them up. The Virgin Blue one is opposite the human-airport, while the Qantas area (Australian Air Express) is around the corner. Still walking distance but a bit further away.

[ness]

I should add my experience with Virgin blue has been nothing but positive - I had flight delays out of Adelaide and as we were flying onto Perth I was concerned about the length of time she would be crated. The Adelaide virgin people were fantastic - let me get her out of her crate walk her through the terminal building and hang around outside where there was some grass until 15 minutes before the flight was called. I had a flight delayed out of Perth after she had already been loaded onto the plane but the grounds crew made sure they kept an eye on her and let me know everything was ok.

Oh and they also let me know she had been boarded even though I watched the crate be loaded before I boarded the plane .

[Ptolomy]

Another gold star for Virgin - when I travelled to the Royal in September this year - we flew over Virgin, but came home Qantas. The Virgin man offered to hang onto our crates for the 4 days we were in Adelaide - an offer to good to refuse - and then we picked it up on the way to Qantas for the return journey

[westiemum]

Yep I've flown cats and dogs countless times over the last 25 years or so (Ansett and TAA! ) - and have flown them on both Virgin and Qantas in the last few years and haven't had any problems - my westie girl came down from her breeder in Brisbane on Qantas in late 2006 and didn't have a problem - they fly in the pressurised part of the hold.

Just don't sedate them like we used to years ago - it dehydrates them and if they wake up groggy they can be a bit distressed...

Oh and do try for early morning/late afternoon/evening flights... I think evening is the best - like hoomans they then have an explore when they arrive and go to sleep!!

Edited December 29, 2010 by westiemum

[Miss Squish]

In Adelaide, dogs are not permitted in the terminal, so you have to go to freight to pick them up. The Virgin Blue one is opposite the human-airport, while the Qantas area (Australian Air Express) is around the corner. Still walking distance but a bit further away.

The Virgin Blue freight is no longer across the road from the terminal, it is now past Ikea which is probably no longer walking distance. Not as easy now to get a coffee from the terminal while waiting for a dog to arrive

Ive flown many Rescue dogs into Adelaide with both Qantas and Virgin and both have been excellent with no issues at all

[Furkidsforever]

[ Qantas exceptions are listed on their website. Also, Qantas have a huge amount of documents to be read and a form to be completed for transporting a dog. Not sure about Virgin.

Things must have changed regarding documents because on both airlines i have never read & completed forms except the payee slip/contact details & i fly 1/2 yearly & just returned last month from flying the dogs

If you do fly Qantas has weekend restrictions on taking dogs.

Virgin don't but they do have number limits qantas does allow more dogs.

I have flown both with no issues .

The documents are as a result of a booking made a couple of days ago for a flight Adelaide/Melb with Qantas, so they may be something new.

[jacqui835]

Thanks guys, I will contact Virgin and Qantas and make some inquiries. My dog is only about 40kg but he's really tall so finding a suitable crate (we don't own one) is likely to be a challenge :s

Wish that if you had a trained dog and certificates to prove it you could just have them onboard with you...

Edited December 29, 2010 by jacqui835

[Paptacular!]

I recently flew a dog as excess baggage with both Qantas and Virgin Blue - no issues with either. For a small dog (under 10kg) it was $50 for Qantas with AAE and $55 with Virgin through Toll.

No extensive documents when I put Portia on the Qantas flight.

Be wary of which airports you can/can't take dogs into the terminals. We flew Darwin to Melbourne and return. Although dogs are allowed in the Melbourne terminal, when Portia was boarded in Darwin by freight (because dogs aren't allowed in the Darwin terminal), she came out at AAE in Melbourne.

Same as sending her back via Virgin - went through the freight part rather than the terminal.

The people when you book the flights should be able to give you all this info.

[Hairy Maclary]

When we moved from Cairns to Perth last year I asked Qantas lots of questions about particular flights and found out as much information as I could - for example it turned out the most direct/shortest flight wasn't suitable because there were restrictions on the number of animals they would take AND they could be offloaded to make room if necessary - you wouldn't have known unless you asked! Eventually I found a flight via Sydney which was only a 30 min stopover with no change of plane. With a little planning it's quite easy to do it yourself.

[Robbi]

I flew Abbie from Sydney to Adelaide with Jetpets, they were great and coped well with my many phone calls and put my mind at ease. the only scary moment was when i went pick her up and the guy at the freight terminal said there had been no dogs on the Sydney flight, how he hadn't noticed the big Bull Arabx pup in the freight area i will never know

[yarracully]

I've had three dogs flown from Brisbane to Adelaide on two occasions with no problems. Two were from Rockhampton to Brisbane then on to Adeliade. The third straight from Brisbane. I just got the breeders to put them on at their end and made sure it was a flight where I could be at the airport to pick them up as soon as they landed. Each time they travelled unaccompanied and had no problems at all. Although I usually do it in the cooler months as the cargo section is not air conditioned. The biggest issue we had was trying to get into teh freight section to pick them up. I don't do the "Big busy place" thing to well.

[*Oscar*]

I had my puppy fly from newcastle to adelaide when he was 8 weeks. Not sure of carrier as I had dogtainers organise everything for me. Was very easy to deal with and everyone was lovely.