Recent direct release of pets at the airport? Please share your experience. (Hilo: taxi cab, living)

[Tiki808]

I moved my kitty from NY to Maui and had great success. Stopover in LA then to Oahu then Kahului. Now the airlines were pretty stupid as my cat was supposed to be checked as luggage but on both flights they never asked and i brought him on the plane under my seat with me. Once in flight, the flight attendant asked me where my cat was as they showed me as needing to ship my cat as cargo. I said hes right under the seat and I just walked by you all getting on the plane. They were upset and said I couldnt do this but we were already in flight. Not to mention this happened on the next flight too. talk about airport security. this was AA.
I heard Continental is better and has an air pressurized cabin for pets.
I had to come back to the mainland and brought my kitty with me. once again under my seat no problems. I will be heading back to the islands this upcoming year and plan to do it all again. yes, my cat is well traveled now.
Just make sure all your paperwork is in order and plan six months out with your veternarian. if you followe everything on the checklist, you will have no quarantine and be on your way. give your pets a day or two to get over the shock and keep them in a small room until they adjust.
Best of luck.

[chs]

wowee a couple of great danes
I will note for you that regular interisland flights can only take the X-Large 500 crates (I had the 550 Giant crate going over the Pacific and nearly lost it when they didn't think it would fit on the interisland (3 inches longer on one side) - they kind of squashed it and got it on). That was for a mere 75 lb dog so it would not work for any Great Dane I know.
All you guys with cats and chihuahuas, it is not the same at all. Getting from the quarantine release place to air cargo necessitated a taxi van (though don't be dumb like me and get the taxi van going to the quarantine area - the fella did not even know where it was, we circled the airport a couple of times and ended up about 100 ft from where we started). Even the taxi van can only take one decent sized dog crate so you might be making multiple trips. They are very adamant about not letting the dog out on airport property at quarantine but the cargo guys were great and said let the buggah out to walk around a bit after the long transpacific and we will get your paperwork going.
Getting a 75 lb dog and kennel into the taxi van was no picnic. (Much easier to load the crate and let the dog jump in but NOOOO, not allowed)
Finally, on landing at outer island, again, you will have to transport the freakin crate plus dog (No, don't open it!) to your vehicle and the 750 doesn't fit on the $3 baggage trolley. I think after they realized that the dog plus crate weighed more than me they relented a touch but I can only imagine the hassles of multiplying this with bigger dog, more animals, bigger crates.
There are folks who help/expedite for a fee and come to the HNL aiprort to help you out with a van and everything. might be worth looking into.

[lauleahere&there]

Regarding the inter-island leg of the flight: Depending on the island you're going to, you may have to ship your animal by cargo plane instead of on the passenger plane you're flying on. Island Air has a limit of 75lbs total (animal and crate). Our golden retriever is 62 lbs and the XL crates run about 28 lbs. Cargo planes often fly only once a day, so we have to stay in Honolulu overnight to meet Kamaka Air Cargo the next morning.

Check with the individual airlines. Some cargo companies don't fly everywhere.

[tortoise31]

No matter how I slice this it's a nightmare. BUT my dogs are my family too so I have to do whatever it takes to get them where we are going. I am sure it will be a trip and a half!! I plan on smiling a lot and not freaking out IF at all possible!!

[KoaKine]

Originally Posted by lauleahere&there

Regarding the inter-island leg of the flight: Depending on the island you're going to, you may have to ship your animal by cargo plane instead of on the passenger plane you're flying on. Island Air has a limit of 75lbs total (animal and crate). Our golden retriever is 62 lbs and the XL crates run about 28 lbs. Cargo planes often fly only once a day, so we have to stay in Honolulu overnight to meet Kamaka Air Cargo the next morning.

Check with the individual airlines. Some cargo companies don't fly everywhere.

Exactly I have looked into this from 1 end to the other and my 104 lb pup will have to go cargo also. The only plus that I can get out of this is that I dont have to fly into Kona and try to get my dog with the crate and bags ans wife in the same car and drive to Hilo then try to return the x-large car and trade it in for a x-small one thats cheaper until my car gets there.

[tortoise31]

Originally Posted by KoaKine

Exactly I have looked into this from 1 end to the other and my 104 lb pup will have to go cargo also. The only plus that I can get out of this is that I dont have to fly into Kona and try to get my dog with the crate and bags ans wife in the same car and drive to Hilo then try to return the x-large car and trade it in for a x-small one thats cheaper until my car gets there.

I have decided to hire help on the Honolulu end. There is no way I can get 3 Extra Large crates containing a Weimaraner and 2 Great Danes along with a 4 year old and a non ambulatory 18 year old by myself from the plane to the quarantine area and then on an interisland cargo flight. I may fly the dogs Pacific Air Cargo out of LA if I cannot get into Honolulu on that large Continental jet out of Newark before quarantine closes. I'd rather have all day in Honolulu to get things going and done because that PAC flight leaves LAX at 2:30 am. I'd rather be fussing around in the middle of the night at LAX then freaking out in Honolulu the next day.

[KoaKine]

Originally Posted by tortoise31

I have decided to hire help on the Honolulu end. There is no way I can get 3 Extra Large crates containing a Weimaraner and 2 Great Danes along with a 4 year old and a non ambulatory 18 year old by myself from the plane to the quarantine area and then on an interisland cargo flight. I may fly the dogs Pacific Air Cargo out of LA if I cannot get into Honolulu on that large Continental jet out of Newark before quarantine closes. I'd rather have all day in Honolulu to get things going and done because that PAC flight leaves LAX at 2:30 am. I'd rather be fussing around in the middle of the night at LAX then freaking out in Honolulu the next day.

If you need help with that just ask I can hop over to HNL meet the cargo plane and help you .

The way I figured out to do it was to have my wife go early get settled then meet her in HNL to help clear the dog while I fly to HNL then we both go to Hilo

[mdand3boys]

Originally Posted by Tiki808

...I heard Continental is better and has an air pressurized cabin for pets....

All of the large jets have pressurized and heated cargo holds for pets. The small, inter-island prop planes that fly at much lower altitudes are a different story, but then the pet would be flying in the cabin anyway.

[tortoise31]

Originally Posted by KoaKine

If you need help with that just ask I can hop over to HNL meet the cargo plane and help you .

The way I figured out to do it was to have my wife go early get settled then meet her in HNL to help clear the dog while I fly to HNL then we both go to Hilo

Thank you Koa, I appreciate that! We'll see how it turns out as I get closer to the leaving date. If I had someone else to share this trip with it might not be so daunting! But it WILL happen!

[mdand3boys]

tortoise31: Be glad to help you if I can, too. We live near Pahoa and I am in Hilo every weekday.