Pet Mover... Or Cargo Service??

[SBH]

Be careful of Continental, they were going to ship our dog SFO to Honolulu via Houston! Also our dog is a 115 pound german shepard and had to be shipped in the largest 700 series crate so Hawaiian Air couldn't ship him from Honolulu to Hilo in a Boeing 717, had to use Aloha Air Cargo.

The best thing we did is use Island Pet Movers to help with Quarantine, Kari was great! www.islandpetmovers.com

[Kelena]

Yes, my dog and crate combined are just over the limit acceptable by Hawaiian Airlines (70 lbs) and so she (my dog) cannot travel with friends who are coming to visit on Hawaiian Airlines. She she has to go cargo or I will have to come back to the mainland and get here.

I called Alaska Airlines. They would route her from San Diego to Seattle to Honolulu! So, yes, SBH, good to inquire about routing!

The only cargo that flies direct to Kona is, as best I can discover, the dreaded Delta.

It sounds like if I can get her to Honolulu (easy, but not cheap), then I can get her to ITO. However, I am hoping to avoid her sitting in cargo between flights.

I regret engaging the services of a pet mover who has turned out to be worse than useless -- but actually caused me greater expense by not timely addressing the very issue I am facing now. I will seek redress if that pet mover doesn't snap to pretty quickly.

[Carey]

I am soo glad you are finally getting here (after over 4 years of so close, but....)

I could not help but thinking, when you typed "just over the limit" for the easy answer of Hawaiian.... Weight Watchers!!!!
(and just think of all of the happiness once she is here & be able to eat ANYTHING!!!! oh the spotted pleasure, the tail wagging....)

Ok... I digressed...but are there different carrier weights that may help out? ....

You may also want to see if there are any animal competitions near when the flight must be, as I know that some animals take charters here for competitions like the AKC show at Blasidell in September... (although that show will not help you, there may be something...)

Maybe that cruise in the earlier thread.....

ETA: Kona Vet. Service Direct Release page:
http://www.konavetservice.com/drelease.html

This may have some info:
http://www.konafriends.com/moving-pets-t...asier.html

[Kelena]

Thanks, Carey. I have my answer now although I am furious that I had to research it: had ro figure this out with only Punawebbers to guide me : only Delta flies pets directly to Kona from the mainland as cargo.

She weighs 54 lbs. she should weigh 45. The crate weighs more than 20. (There is only one way to get the weight on a crate---you have to weigh it. I won't be caring for her but another couple weeks--my ex will. I can't take the chance that the precious payload won't be down to 70 by 12/28. If it is over that, Hawaiian greedily shuttles you to cargo at a premium--if cargo is available on 12/28.

I have enough to coordinate without worrying that the most precious thing I am bringing might be refused at the gate when I am not there. Plus my friends did not have the required 3 hours between flights to get her from HNL to ITO.

So, I am adjusting to new realities before I even arrive!

Sending your pet directly to the Big Island via cargo: only Delta does that.

Not United, not Alaska. No one but Delta.

Complication: you must have paperwork, including flight info to AG 30 days before your flight.

But you can't reserve on Delta (cargo) until 14 days prior. I will straighten that out with Ag tomorrow.

The other option is to go get my girl, which may prove cost effective.

There is a dog show in January. I will try to get my girl here on her first possible date of entry: 12/22.

And yes, I am going to try to make the Keaau Christmas parade.



I

[KeaauRich]

I hate to say it, but a quick round trip to the mainland might be the solution (tho costly...) to many of your issues and concerns. If it were me, I'd feel much more comfortable knowing that I could personally verify every aspect of the shipping process. When we flew our dog we found a pet-friendly skycap to transported her, we watched to make sure she got loaded onto the plane, we informed the captain and crew that we had a dog on board, once seated on board we received a signed receipt saying she had been loaded (part of United's normal procedures), and by the time we reached baggage claim in Kona we simultaneously met the vet who was there to check the dog out and saw our dog being delivered. There was some confusion on the first leg of our trip because DC-based ticket counter folks weren't aware of current regulations, but again, because we were physically there with our paperwork and knowledge, we were able to get that straightened out too...

[lostboystoy]

Try island pet movers out of Honolulu Carrie is wonderful for 150.00 she will get all the permits book the flights personally makes sure they catch their connecting flights, and she has an in with the AG dept. I wish I would have known about this service before moving 6 dogs and a macaw to Hilo from the mainland .
Please for the love of god make sure you do all permits health certificates and acclamation certificate( required by delta). In blue ink! Otherwise you can run into some hangups the reason for blue Ink is so that it shows that the permits are originals and not photo copied.
Your other big dilemma will be making the connect flight from Honolulu. To Kona they are only allowed to move two animals per flight, so if someone else is moving their animal on the same flight your animal will get bumped to another flight, I had to sit in the Hilo airport for three hours while my partner was in honolulu putting two animals on each flight..
Something else to keep in mind the AG office closes at four if your animal arrives after 1 pm theirs a good chance it won't get released till the following day.
These reasons alone make Carrie at island pet movers worth the 150 dollars .
Their is no communication between the AG and the airlines you can call the same office three different times and will be told totally different information.
Good luck and welcome to Hawaii

setting my soul free....

[Kelena]

Blue ink? Wow.

Okay. Thanks everyone. I believe that the most difficult part of my move has been resolved. Wish me luck in actually making it work.

My girl should be with me on 12/22. We begin hydrotherapy the next morning!

[lostboystoy]

I know blue ink sounds crazy I know, but welcome to Hawaii where sometimes theirs just no rhyme or reason.
You would think with the influx of folks moving to and from Hawaii that the AG dept and airlines would all be on the same page.
Just like the acclamition certificate not required by the state or AG dept only required by delta airlines.. Go figure

setting my soul free....