Flying with Dogs - UK

[Mukel]

We've recently returned to the UK bringing our two dogs with us.
We'd like to begin by thanking KAR for their invaluable help and assistance in the process. Our special thanks to Kim for providing the help and experience necessary to make this a relatively painless process.
We brought two dogs with us and the only cost from KAR was £100 for one dog or in our case, £150 for two - to ensure the paperwork was all completed correctly.
We recommend buying the crates from KAR, as they are exactly the same price as supplied from the nearby pet shop. The discount for buying in bulk goes to KAR to help with their running costs.

As of 26/4/2018 the cost of transporting a dog from Ercan to Brussels is £10 per Kilo - including the weight of the crate. I think we may have been fortunate in that our larger dog was weighed-in as being much lighter than we expected. Maybe the width of the crate was too wide for their check-in!


Why Brussels? Admittedly this involves a trip through the Eurotunnel and driving from the UK but the total diesel cost for us was approximately £120. If you like adventure, this is definitely a goer. We decided that I should travel two days before my wife to give us time to pick up the car and then to set off to meet her when she landed with the dogs. As I had to travel from South Wales, I split the journey, staying in Folkestone overnight on the night previous to our rendezvous.
If you haven't taken the Eurotunnel, this is definitely the way to cross La Manche. Advance booking is best and a relatively early start on the day of arrival allows ample time to meet up with the Turkish Airlines flight.

I believe we saved more than £1500 by booking the flights ourselves and taking the dogs on an accompanied flight to Brussels. (There is a charge of £455 for the privilege of entering the UK via Heathrow.) You have to be comfortable with driving the distances involved and there is a degree of stress ensuring that the dogs are registered on the flight. (It is easiest to go to the Turkish Airlines office in Lefkosia to check this. We found phoning customer support a frustrating and unrewarding experience. Their office is easy to find. Turn right off the main Lefkosia-Famagusta road at the junction after Bayrac Radio/TV. Continue on this road looking for a large Mosque. Take the right hand junction at this point and the offices are on the left.

Good luck if you decide to try this. Any questions on here we will try to help.

[aerhere]

So pleased everything went so well for you, it's nice to read such a positive post!

[sally4670]

Mukel - we also had a similar experience aided by KAR and Kim from the pet travel part of KAR. They/she could not have been more helpful - she spoke to us about the different options and not just the most expensive. In the end we chose to use their cargo option because it just wasn't right for us to travel with our cats to Brussels or Paris. KAR did explain that if we wanted we could send our cats with a courier and they would be collected from the arrival airport (Paris or Brussels) and driven into UK and then on to us at home. Even though this was a little bit cheaper we chose the cargo option to London and then home delivery..
The service that our cats - and us - received was excellent. Must admit i was on the phone quite a bit to Kim asking questions and questions and double checking things - but we were not made to feel a nuisance and always felt part of our cats move all the way along. it was all made so easy for us. We just wish there were more service providers in the TRNC who gave as much time and effort and helpfulness.
Our cats arrived - almost a door to door service - happy, clean and not stressed at all.
We would never ever have any doubts in recommending KAR (and Kim) to anyone -their service is above excellent as they really care about what is right for you and your pets - that is how we felt. it was probably the easiest part of our UK move. They certainly came up trumps and we are always grateful to them.
Mind you we are not sure the cats are enjoying the UK weather now .

[Yes and no]

Kar were brilliant when we shipped our little lad back couldn’t fault em. Picked him up from Heathrow a bit subdued be healthy and back to his old self in a few moments.

[Mountain Edge]

I appreciate what you are saying and am so glad all went well for you and your dogs. All I will say is that I travelled the exact same route as you but did the paperwork myself at the cost of 20tl for 2 dogs. It is good that KAR helped you out and you were happy with their service but it is very much at a price and, trust me, the paperwork is/was easy.

[snd1966]

I gather from these posts taking your animals back to the uk when you decide to leave may not be the financial burden that has always been indicated if you do it yourself. Defra I know always have said it was better to come direct to the uk from Germany or france after a stay.
I know when I bought our dog out I could not believe the costs and when reaching here most annoyed my husband could of picked us up from Larnaca for cost of fuel (agent 300 Cyprus pounds). I could of taken the dog to Heathrow not used a kennel who made it so scary I paid the £2000 which included flight and everything which at the time seemed the easiest way. We for some reason felt happier here and dealt with all the communication and paperwork ourselves which was, I recall very reasonable.