Qantas changes pets policy - now freight.

[bsmith]

Re: Travelling with small pets on the golden triangle

We have two small dogs and travel between Melbourne & Brisbane quite regularly with Qantas and they provide an excellent service. My Wife rings them up a couple of days prior and books them on then we simply go the airport check in as normal and take them to the special baggage area for drop off.

We often see them being loaded onto the plane and they are often waiting for us at the special baggage area in Brisbane/Melbourne when we land.

Full credit to Qantas here as they always seem to look after them extremely well

 

[Rebekkap]

Re: Travelling with small pets on the golden triangle

I have a cat who is adored. But MrP is highly allergic to dogs. He gets asthma almost immediately when in the same room as where a dog has been. I'd be really concerned about animals in the same plane and getting into respiratory issues.

Yes, I can see how that would be an issue. I wonder why more Americans haven't sued airlines over it?

 

[Pushka]

Re: Travelling with small pets on the golden triangle

Yes, I can see how that would be an issue. I wonder why more Americans haven't sued airlines over it?

Yes, given the peanut butter issue, it is a wonder.

 

[Jaryd]

Re: Travelling with small pets on the golden triangle

I just received a call from a nice lady at QF Freight who confirmed that everyone with existing bookings should proceed 'as-is' - that is, dropping pets off in the terminal 1 hour before flight, as per current policy.

She did say that the main problem was people turning up at the terminal with dogs on leads, expecting that QF would just do everything, including provide the crate at no notice. She said that for people who genuinely fly often with their pets, they will be working on a fix, but we will need to hang on until that is sorted. She suggested buying a few tickets in advance so that we can keep taking advantage of the current policy until they work out how they do it long term. I suggested that pets only be allowed to travel in IATA crates that have been 'approved by qantas' prior to travelling. My thoughts were, that this would only need to be approved once and then you could prove that you have the necessary crate and provide them with the surety that they could accomodate your pet.

Anyway, it will probably take a little while, but she said they are definitely onto it, and it wont remain like it is proposed post 1-December.

 

[Borisdog]

Re: Travelling with small pets on the golden triangle

About 15 years ago my wife took Borisdog, the real one not me, to Melbourne from TSV to see his human sister. All good on the way down. On the way back Borisdog didn't make the swap from the Mel-BNE plane to the BNE-TSV plane. How on Earth that happened I'll never know, the wife actually saw him on the tarmac as the BNE-TSV plane was pushing back. Boris spent the night in BNE in a boarding kennel. God knows how long he spent on the tarmac before the muppets woke up to the fact that he belonged on the plane that just left.

I got home from work to find tearful wife and no dog.

Wife wrote extremely irate letter to all and sundry - not one acknowledgement or reply.

I've never put another dog on a plane and never will.

 

[Rebekkap]

Re: Travelling with small pets on the golden triangle

About 15 years ago my wife took Borisdog, the real one not me, to Melbourne from TSV to see his human sister. All good on the way down. On the way back Borisdog didn't make the swap from the Mel-BNE plane to the BNE-TSV plane. How on Earth that happened I'll never know, the wife actually saw him on the tarmac as the BNE-TSV plane was pushing back. Boris spent the night in BNE in a boarding kennel.

I got home from work to find tearful wife and no dog.

Wife wrote extremely irate letter to all and sundry - not one acknowledgement or reply.

I've never put another dog on a plane and never will.

That's horrifying! Mine are pugs, and when I think about how quickly heat can kill them, there's no way I'd be putting them on a plane if there was any chance they could get left on the tarmac. Geez!

 

[Pushka]

Re: Travelling with small pets on the golden triangle

Do the airlines require cats/dogs to be immunised? That's usually a requirement for boarding in a kennel. I'd be upset at seeing my pet in a crate as the plane pulled back.

 

[ComeFlyWithMe]

Re: Travelling with small pets on the golden triangle

We have two small dogs and travel between Melbourne & Brisbane quite regularly with Qantas and they provide an excellent service. My Wife rings them up a couple of days prior and books them on then we simply go the airport check in as normal and take them to the special baggage area for drop off.

We often see them being loaded onto the plane and they are often waiting for us at the special baggage area in Brisbane/Melbourne when we land.

Full credit to Qantas here as they always seem to look after them extremely well

No more for tickets issued after 1 December.

 

[ComeFlyWithMe]

Re: Travelling with small pets on the golden triangle

I just received a call from a nice lady at QF Freight who confirmed that everyone with existing bookings should proceed 'as-is' - that is, dropping pets off in the terminal 1 hour before flight, as per current policy.

She did say that the main problem was people turning up at the terminal with dogs on leads, expecting that QF would just do everything, including provide the crate at no notice. She said that for people who genuinely fly often with their pets, they will be working on a fix, but we will need to hang on until that is sorted. She suggested buying a few tickets in advance so that we can keep taking advantage of the current policy until they work out how they do it long term. I suggested that pets only be allowed to travel in IATA crates that have been 'approved by qantas' prior to travelling. My thoughts were, that this would only need to be approved once and then you could prove that you have the necessary crate and provide them with the surety that they could accomodate your pet.

Anyway, it will probably take a little while, but she said they are definitely onto it, and it wont remain like it is proposed post 1-December.

To resolve the issue you refer the pax to the actual published policy and if they don't comply, you don't carry them. It's a simple proposition, however it would also require the policy to be written in terms that can be understood, unlike the current and previous policies which were both ridiculously and unnecessarily long (like this post)

My take on the conversation with the same person is that the only fix they would be looking at is the consignment timeframes at the freight terminal. I think you are living in dreamland if you expect QF to change their policy back or make actual improvements from a customer experience perspective if past performance is anything to go by.

I am becoming very used to good customer focussed offerings being withdrawn by QF for cost and 'operational' reasons. Search this forum for "enhancement" or "simpler and fairer" for a few examples.

 

[love_the_life]

Re: Travelling with small pets on the golden triangle

OT but still about transporting animals for those who might be interested. About 10 years back my brother and SIL were moving to UK/Ireland and as greyhound trainers, had to arrange the transport of their dogs (50 greyhounds). After much research they ended up on a Singapore Airlines cargo plane, with them and the dogs travelling together so they could feed and water the dogs on the way. My brother constructed the travelling boxes for the dogs to give them enough space each. They were very impressed with Singapore Airlines - the transport was seamless and when in Singapore there was a lengthy stopover, as soon as the plane stopped air-conditioning was piped in to keep the dogs cool. Unfortunately Heathrow was not quite so seamless from what they said. After some time in the UK they now live in Ireland, though the last of the Australian dogs has now passed on.

 

[russ]

Re: Travelling with small pets on the golden triangle

Qantas has gone to the dogs!

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

Re: Travelling with small pets on the golden triangle

Maybe its time for parents of "furbabies" to go with VA where though pets might have to dropped off at the freight carrier as well, but at least the pets, ergo, humans earn 300 VA FF points per flight the pet takes.

 

[kalboy]

Re: Travelling with small pets on the golden triangle

Although Virgin charge a flat fee ( $75 the last time I took I dog over Melbourne ) The Toll agent will require a fee (bribe) to actually load your pet onto the aircraft. out of Kalgoorlie its about $130 in Cash only and you wont get a receipt either.. Reported this to VA and they are apparently aware of it but don't note it on their website.
Has any one else experienced this or is it just another Kalgoorlie tax. ?

 

[Jaryd]

I've had my puppies travel with VA before and there was no additional cost. I can't remember if I did it through jetpets or direct through VA though... But they have been on VA aircraft a few times. It's such a hassle and its a pain to drop off and collect in separate buildings, which adds about 2 hours to their trip.

And the 300 points is almost irrelevant. It's such a small number that I don't know why they bother.

 

[notsure]

Re: Travelling with small pets on the golden triangle

Unbelievable - I'm right with you - no way my fur babies will ever travel as freight!

If only I could say the same - my two cats fly out of Oslo on Monday (we're taking them down there by train tommorow) - and should arrive in Sydney on Wednesday morning....that is going to be the longest 32 hours of my life (they are flying EK and have a 10.5 hour layover in DXB)....I won't relax until I hear that they have safely arrived at the Quarantine station, and won't be truely happy until I can pick them up 10 days after that.....

Mind you, I still think they should be allowed in the cabin in their bag, like they are in the US and Europe. Totally uncivilised having to put them in the hold. Poor babies.

As much as shipping my cats is stressing me out, I don't believe that pets belong in the cabin, with the obvious exception being for assistance animals, as you never know if someone on a flight or subsequent flights has a servere allergy. I also believe that service/assistance animals should be fully trained, and certified, to prevent what seems to be fairly rampant abuse in the US by people wishing to avoid paying to transport their pets.

 

[Happy Trails]

Re: Travelling with small pets on the golden triangle

These moggies had some excess baggage.

heroi_ 'smuggled into UK hidden with pet cats on plane' - Crime - UK - The Independent

 

[browski]

Re: Travelling with small pets on the golden triangle

This is why I always prefer snakes as pets; when travelling, they can easily fit in a pocket of your clothing and don't bark.

 

[Quickstatus]

Re: Travelling with small pets on the golden triangle

This is why I always prefer snakes as pets; when travelling, they can easily fit in a pocket of your clothing and don't bark.

This pet does not bark but does not fit in pocket

US Airways kicks disruptive emotional-support pig off plane | Fox News

 

[love_the_life]

Re: Travelling with small pets on the golden triangle

This pet does not bark but does not fit in pocket

US Airways kicks disruptive emotional-support pig off plane | Fox News

Now that is funny! I like the bit in the article that says emotional support animals are allowed on commercial flights as long as they are not disruptive. Please!!! I can just imagine what turns up as an ES animal!

 

[ComeFlyWithMe]

From NT News 7/01/14

Concerns aired as dog dies on Qantas flight
By KATINA VANGOPOULOS
A DOG booked in to fly from Darwin to Perth has died.
Another passenger, who was also transporting her dog on the same Qantas flight on Saturday, said that she was disappointed at the airline’s conduct.
‘‘Saturday was a particul- arly hot day and we had to drop off our dog two hours
before departure,’’ she said. ‘‘While we were boarding the plane I saw one of the hostesses call the lady off the plane to go and see her dog — it was obviously not
looking good.
‘‘I heard the owner say
that it was probably heat stress — and she came back on to the plane crying.’’
The passenger, who did not wish to be named, said
when she retrieved her dog in Perth she found out the ot- her woman’s pet had died.
‘‘There was a big s*** fight happening,’’ she said.
The woman said the two- hour waiting time to get on the plane might have con- tributed to the dog’s death.
‘‘I think it’s ridiculous ani- mals have to be dropped off so early,’’ she said.
‘‘They probably sit in a hot
tin shed before they are load- ed on to the plane,’’ she said.
‘‘They have to sit for so long and then endure the stress of a flight.’’
Qantas did not respond to requests for comment from the NT News yesterday.
Last January, Qantas came under fire for changing its restrictions on breeds al- lowed to fly.
American staffordshire
terriers became the sixth breed banned from travel- ling on Australian Air Ex- press, the Qantas-owned freight carrier used to trans- port animals on Qantas and QantasLink flights.
In September 2012, a croco- dile escaped from its cage on a Qantas flight from Bris- bane to Melbourne and was discovered roaming through the cargo hold.

As such, I call bullsh!t on the 'animal welfare' excuse, this is a cash grab, and a way to make it easy for QF to take no responsibility when things go wrong.