--------FB LIKEBOX-----

Scoop on Airline Marriage and Military Pet PCS

February 21, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Guest blog writer, Happy Tails Travel

 

The imminent merger of two large U.S. commercial airlines will not affect the costs for service members shipping their pets with them on military-contracted “Patriot Express” flights as they make permanent change-of-station moves, according to defense officials.

“Our contract allows pets to fly for a tariff that’s already been negotiated,” said Cynthia Bauer, spokeswoman for the U.S. Transportation Command.

A variety of commercial passenger carriers contract with the Defense Department for Patriot Express flights, Bauer said, adding that Patriot Express missions are “the primary way” that military passengers on official orders move to and from the U.S. and overseas locations.

Currently, service members moving to or from overseas locations and flying on contracted Patriot Express aircraft pay $112 to fly a pet weighing up to 70 pounds, regardless of where they are flying, Bauer said. For pets weighing more than that and up to 140 pounds, it’s another $112, or a total of $224.

That cost is set by TransCom, along with the Air Mobility Command, at the time that the contract that includes Patriot Express flights is agreed to, Bauer said. “It’s not negotiable,” she said. “That’s what the service member pays.”

United Airlines and Continental Airlines are two of the Patriot Express carriers. As those two airlines merge, the new United will adopt Continental’s PetSafe program. Beginning March 3, except for small animals that can be carried on board, United will no longer check in animals at the airport ticket counter for travel in the cargo area of the plane. Instead, passengers will take their pets to cargo facilities or express offices.

But for those shipping pets outside the Patriot Express venue, costs could increase in some areas. For example, “due to Japanese law, anyone shipping their pets from Japan pays our PetSafe rate and a third party forwarder at market rates,” said Mary Ryan, a spokeswoman for United.

She said the company realizes the pricing could affect some military families who do not use Patriot Express flights, and is evaluating its pricing from Narita International Airport. Information was not available about the differences in pricing at press time, but one source told the Defense Department newspaper Stars and Stripes that prices for shipping under the new system could reach almost $4,000.

“Patriot Express is a good first option for [military] travelers, especially those travelers with pets,” Bauer said, adding that local transportation offices can help military members and their families with the latest information.

Filed Under: moving with pets, News, PCS'ing, Pets, Planning, Shipping

Taking your Pets to Hawaii

August 31, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Maybe you have heard of the strict regulations that Hawaii imposes on pets coming from the mainland or other countries/continents. Rightfully so, as the Hawaiians are simply trying to protect the beauty of the islands. While it is important it can also be very confusing as well as pretty expensive for pet owners particularly if you have several animals in your family.

Before you even consider taking your pet to Hawaii, make sure that your pet is allowed on the island, make sure your pet is not one of them:

Non-domestic dogs and cats and hybrids such as wolf, wolf cross, Dingo, Bengal, Savannah, etc are prohibited under Plant Quarantine (PQ) law.  Refer to Plant Quarantine’s animal guidelines for importation.Find Cheap Flights

What are on base housing regulations? http://www.armyhawaiifamilyhousing.com  or USMC

Generally: You may keep up to two pets in family housing. Dogs, cats, guinea pigs, domestic rabbits, white mice, rats (U.S origin only), most common cage birds, fish and cold blooded animals purchased commercially in Hawaii may be kept as pets.

Many animals are prohibited in Hawaii in order to protect the environment. Others are prohibited in family housing. You may not keep any of the following animals in base housing: [Read more...]

Filed Under: Hawaii, moving with pets, Pets Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Germany to US: PCSing with 4 dogs!

November 17, 2010 By 4 Comments
German Sheppards are moving overseasIntroducing Sandra:

I am Sandra, a German National and my husband is enlisted in the US military. I don’t have twitter, I don’t have kids and don’t even have a cellphone…. but I have a blog!
So great that we have a dog expert among us! She is the right person to ask. Thank you Sandra, for writing this article. Read her adventure, which she describes here and on her blog: Headoverheals .
PCS’ing… while most spouses have their first time PCS either in the US or maybe from the US to overseas, I pcs, for the first time, from Germany to the US and we don’t PCS alone. We bring four German Shepherds with us. Who am I? I am a 31 year old German Citizen married to a 30 Year old man who happens to serve in the US Army for ten years already. I had the pleasure of being the FRG leader for two Units within the same Battalion. One week after we got married I ran into my husbands commander on post and she asked me if I was interested in volunteering next thing I know I am appointed as the Leader. When my husband moved to the other Unit the new Commander simply put me into the FRG Leadership position as well. I went through quite a bit of training, went to conferences I would have never dreamed off attending and I am thankful I had the opportunity to get that kind of insight and of how they work. I have learned that there are two different worlds. There is the world of the military & family support, how it’s supposed to be and then there is reality.

The military makes a great effort in supporting the families and the intention and resources are there. All you have to do is to reach out and grab whatever information and support is out there.
Anyhow, ever since we got married all I heard was “Wait until you get to the US, things are going to be different.” When I took over one of our German Shepherds I was told “Jesus Christ.. it had to be a Shepherd you will never find a place with a GSD off post.” but since I grew up with Shepherds and my parents are breeding west-german working line Shepherds I am hooked on them. There is no way I would own a different breed. Then I took over my Shepherds half-sister and I was bombarded with statements like “Are you serious? How are you going to pay for the flight, let alone the security deposit for a rental or finding a rental at all? What about the vet costs, it’s nothing like in Germany and most places consider GSD’s as an aggressive breed…” and then I topped it all because in March 2010 a German Shepherd puppy moved in with us and people went completely berserk. I was told that I would never, ever find a landlord willing to rent out to a couple with three German Shepherds.
For two years I was told I wouldn’t find anything at all so I started to do research before we even knew where we were going. I was anxious to find out where the Army would send us next and I was crossing my fingers for Colorado but the Army had other plans for my husband. They gave him orders to Ft.Drum.

But before we could even think about anything else at all we had to start the Visa process. I was about to collect all the information for the first appointment when one day I bended over to pick up a doggie toy and it hit my back. Long story short we ended up having two MP’s, four firefighters and three medics at our place getting me out through the window to send me to the hospital and since I couldn’t get up at all, couldn’t walk or even move they kept me there and knocked me out with some pain killer that I was actually able to sleep. The ENTIRE neighborhood watched and I don’t know how many rumors were going around. One person even thought I was dead since it was in the middle of the night and I was covered in a blanket and they couldn’t see my head. So that was it, our schedule was completely screwed up and my husband had to collect the paperwork for the Visa.

The days passed by and we finally were on our way to the Embassy in Frankfurt and what started in excitement turned into a complete nightmare. They stressed us so out that I was close to tears. That was on August 18th. Than the movers came and packed our stuff. Two days later our car got detailed and we paid around 400 Euros for that just to be told by the car inspector that we had to clean the spare tire because there was a little dust on it. First I thought he was joking but he was not. He would not allow our car to be shipped if we didn’t clean off the dust from the spare tire. It was beyond my understanding, afterall we just spend 400 Euros on it…

And from then on we had to wait. To wait for the letter from the consulate that approved me for the second appointment and final interview. In the meantime I did a lot of research on Ft.Drum, the surrounding area, contacted dog clubs, Schutzhund Clubs, SAR groups, watched the housing market and send tons of emails to landlords to find a place. I knew we wouldn’t be able to move into military housing so I watched Craigs List and AHRN. Both have been very helpful and for those that move to Ft.Drum there are several possibilities and there are places that have no breed nor a size restriction and you can keep up to three pets with DC Properties for example. That is the info I received from them. Don’t hold me to that though, as we all know policies can change at any given time. Smile emoticon
Anyhow, since hubby had to work I went to the second appointment myself. I had all the paperwork ready, prepared for battle and the interview. Once I got there I stood about two hours in line before I even got in, waited for another hour to go to the first window, pay the fee, waited another two to three hours before I was able to turn in the paperwork just to find out that some of the papers didn’t get accepted and I had to order them all over again. After that I waited another our or two until my number was called to window 16. I was nervous and excited the same time. Finally, the interview and when it was over I was disappointed. That was it? All they wanted to know was where we got married and how we gotto know each other? No questions about the relationship, likes and dislikes. All these horror stories about the interview turned out to be wrong.

After that I was free to leave and on my way home I couldn’t stop to think “Wow… that was it? All the proof, pictures, receipts and print outs for nothing?”
So I rushed home, went straight to the city hall to order a new german police record which never made it to our place and is now going to the city hall and supposed to be there by tomorrow (cross your fingers). Anyhow, the last weeks all I did was waiting. Waiting for paperwork and since I had nothing better to do I kept on doing research on the internet about my future home. I searched for housing and ever since I started to include videos and links to our dogs I haven’t had a problem to find landlords allowing that many German Shepherds. If you contact a landlord and tell him that you bring a bunch of GSD’s of course he says “HELL NO!” but if you include pictures, video material from training showing off that your dogs indeed are well trained and listen to you most landlords reconsider and approve them. At least that is what I experienced. But without help from a very good friend of mine I would have never had the idea. Chris, an Army Wife, dog handler and German Citizen herself, helped a lot. She gave the advise from the beginning to write up resumes for the dogs. To keep track of the training (when, what and where), references from the trainers, vets, friends and families and to send that with every application. I simply took it a step further and it worked perfectly for me.

Chris then went to the places and checked them out for us. She took tons of pictures, sent me detailed descriptions, nailed the landlords when it came up to damage told us exactly how it is. Without her help I could have never gotten the place I wanted initially. The landlord himself is retired military and a great guy.
Besides that I also did research on the local dog clubs. I wanted to know exactly how far I have to drive to the next Schutzhund clubs, how many clubs are out there, how good are they, who is the trainer and what kind of training methods are used. I looked up a local SAR Organization (search & rescue)and sent them an email. Surprisingly I received a very long email from another German Citizen and Spouse who is now a trainer at that SAR Organization and we’ve had a great chat on the phone. I sent her videos of my youngest bitch and she put a good word in for us.
I also checked on shipping the dogs and that itself is a totally different story. First I contacted petair, than gradlyn kennels and they wanted around 2000 Euros to ship all three of them together. Plus they’d only ship into NEWARK if we shipped them together. Since we already have a place and offers from fellow dog handlers that they would keep two of our dogs we asked SATO travel what they had to say and we now have a solution.

Each dog costs a 180 Euros to be shipped with US Airways from Frankfurt, Germany to Syracuse, NY. However there can only be one dog on the plane from Chicago to Syracuse, means that hubby and I have to fly on different days anyway. That way he can take the male and I can take the bitch. The second bitch will be shipped with either petair or gradlyn and the male puppy stays with his breeder until January and will then be shipped to the US and finally join his new family and pack, meaning us.
I understand that we are very lucky. We had help and guidance. I had the time to do the research and knew exactly what I wanted. With my dogs I never get bored. They are my best friends and opened the door to new possibilities, friends, challenges and adventures.
My biggest fear about military life was that I wouldn’t manage to fit in, that I’d be stuck in the house, bored to death and wanting to go home so bad that our relationship would be doomed to fail like it happened thousands of times before. I know several girls that got divorced after living two or three years in the US and returned to Germany because they didn’t know what they got themselves into and I swore to myself that I will not be one of those girls.
I will miss my home, I’ll miss my parents, two sisters and friends. I am scared and excited and while one part of me wants to settle down the other longs for adventure and this very first PCS (for me) from Germany to the US is one heck of an adventure, an adventure I will probably never forget in my life. And I am forever thankful for all the help we have received along the way.
We are still waiting though… waiting to finally fly out to our new destination and home… in two days we move out of our apartment that we have lived in for almost three years. We’ll be moving in with my parents until the day hubby flies to the US. I will follow him a couple of days later once my Visa arrived. And then EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE!
Sandra
Filed Under: Guest Bloggers on MDS, Military Family, Military LIfe, moving with pets, OCONUS, PCS'ing, Travel Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,