July 2012
“We bought our plane tickets to Uruguay, the dogs too! We fly November 15th – Miami, Florida to Montevideo, Uruguay. It was more expensive than we thought. We could fly roundtrip to Europe 2 ½ times with the same money.”
Two dogs in Minnesota………
American Airlines had a flight that matched our needs; time of day, seating together, evening flight, and price. We bought a round-trip ticket even though we were only going to use one way. Crazy, but it was cheaper than a one-way. The round-trip ticket cost around $1400 for each of us. It was a non-stop, nine hour flight. That was our second major expense; buying our car was the biggest expense.
Miami was our launch point. We drove our car from Minnesota to Miami. Then, we shipped our car to Uruguay. After dropping off the car, we flew with the dogs to Uruguay.
A few months earlier we researched shipping a vehicle. First, we had to chose a launch point on either the east or west coast of the USA. To avoid the cost of going through the Panama Canal, we had to pick an arrival port on the same coast. We would have chosen San Diego as our launch point if we had chosen a port on the west coast of South America such as one in Colombia. We chose Uruguay because of its safe port and the number of non-stop flights available to us: a must with the dogs.
Our dogs getting used to their kennels – we had the doors off
If you are considering traveling with a dog, there are a number of restrictions to be aware of. Each airline varies, so you need to visit their website before buying your pet a “seat”. Certain breeds (flat-nosed/faced) are not allowed on some airlines due to breathing difficulties. The Cavalier side of our dogs would have made them questionable, but they luckily got the Cocker Spaniel snout. We used just “Cocker” in all paperwork from that day forward. It made our life easier that day and at every border crossing. Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is not a well known breed.
Another consideration was the outdoor temperature at arrival and departure. If it is too hot at either end, pets are not allowed on the flight. The airline is aware that occasionally the plane is forced to sit on the tarmac for a period of time. The animal hold can get too warm if it is hot outside. We figured we were fairly safe with Miami in November. It was springtime in Uruguay (opposite seasons) so the temperature was moderate. We paid $350 ($175 each) for the dogs to fly. The worst part was leaving the dogs at the airport.
Make sure to get big enough crates – they are in them a long time.
The kennel needs to be long enough that they can lie down.
We could not find kennel beds that we liked so we made custom beds. It was easy.
The beds were foam with a fleece cover. One end had a Velcro closure for easy washing.
Our kennel beds were a thick foam covered with a fleece-like material
Next post – why you should read my post!