COST OF SHIPPING PETS
Probably the most often asked question is: How much does it cost to ship my dog or cat?
The second most asked question is: How safe is air travel?
First things first: The least expensive way would normally be by 'carry on' That is, a
small pet in the cabin. This information is best gotten from the passenger-reservation
people of the airline you travel on. The next least expensive would be: excess baggage
This is the same as checked baggage, at the ticket counter, and also would be addressed by the passenger-reservation people.
We pet shippers most often deal with pets as cargo, or unacompanied baggage.
Though these pets travel in the very same cargo compartment as those traveling as
excess baggage, the charges are dealt with differently.
Most airlines arrive at their cargo charges, using the volume or dimensional weight
system. The maximum outside 3 dimensions are utilized. Usually as inches, the cubic
measurements are taken. Once cubic inches arrived at: divide by 194 to reach
domestic weight; and divide by 166 to arrive at international weight.
International volume or dim weight is usually further calculated to the metric system and
shown as kgs. It is essential that these measurements are very carefully taken as one
inch can make the difference in many dollars.
If you will visit: Wikipedia - Dimensional Weight; and/or: Volume, much of this will be
better explained. We might say here that: Continental airlines base their charges on
Actual weight of each pet and kennel; as opposed to vol or dim weight.
Please, at ALL times: Make sure that the pet shipper of your choice itemizes ALL charges very carefully for you. On top of the above methods of arriving at pet shipping
charges, one must also specifically ask about: fuel and security charges, taxes, etc
VERY IMPORTANT
ALL shipping arrangements and getting ALL Shipping charges MUST be done in the
country of origin of the prospective shipment. In otherwords, NO ONE in USA, for
example, can tell you what it will cost to ship a pet from Germany to the USA, or to
another country. This info MUST be aquired in Germany ONLY Many people make the
VERY serious mistake to retain the services of an agent, 3rd party shipper, to handle
a shipment from some country, other than their own, to another country, other than
their own. Your total cost will skyrocket........
For your own protection, ONLY deal with someone who will have direct hands on your
shipment.