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Post by mamamia on Apr 4, 2013 21:18:37 GMT
Has anyone had experience shipping their dog as checked baggage on the Lufthansa/Privatair flight from Frankfurt to Dammam? Does Privatair accept pets in crates in their cargo hold? Any input would be helpful. How were dogs treated on Lufthansa?
Thanks.
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Post by mamamia on Apr 9, 2013 3:15:15 GMT
An update on my previous post:After a few phone calls to Lufthansa, this is what we learned. Lufthansa does carry pets all the way to Dammam, however they only have space for 2 pet crates on the flight so book your spot early!!! You are allowed to visit your pet in Frankfurt at the PetLounge (time permitting, of course!!) Cost for pets depends on crate size. Hope this helps anyone planning to bring their pets!!
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Post by Hadia on Apr 9, 2013 4:01:49 GMT
Is this a year round option?
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Post by mamamia on Apr 9, 2013 12:56:13 GMT
Hadia,
We are planning to travel May 1st and this was OK with them. There do seem to be some heat restrictions in effect from June to September, depending on prevailing ground temperatures at point of boarding and destination. I think one would have to call and check during this time period.
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Post by gbhatia on Apr 17, 2013 23:53:04 GMT
A further update on miamama's post above. (Miamama is my better half for those that haven't figured that out yet  ). Although Lufthansa say they will take dogs all the way to Dammam, the reality is that when you actually go to book passage, they WILL NOT fly the pet from Frankfurt to Dammam. That is because that segment is actually operated by a separate eny on their behalf -PrivatAir who refuse the pet when the agent tries to book the spot. Note that you, or the Lufthansa agent will not know this until the very last screen of the booking process !! It came as a real shock to us as we had enquired not once, but twice from Lufthansa directly over the phone before we set the itinerary with ASC in Houston !!! Two separate agents assured us that since the flight was a LH coded flight, Lufthansa rules and regulations would apply all the way to DMM. Nope. I guess they didn't get to the last screen to confirm bookings when we were just enquiring. The upshot of it all is that our options now are : 1. Fly into Riyadh or Bahrain on Lufthansa operated flights. This was the suggestion by the LH agent. Even if ASC allow this change, i don't view either of these alternate routes as a realistic option as we are to be met by Aramco when we arrive and will create headaches all around with respect to baggage, the pet, etc. so a no go. 2. Fly the dog as manifested cargo arriving the same day. For this we would need our Iqama as there needs to be an exporter and importer of record for customs at both ends and they cannot be the same person. The Iqama allows a freight handling company to manage all the paperwork on your behalf in Saudi as well as Canada through their agents etc. this of course will take time which means the dog gets left behind while the iqamas are processed. 3. Switch to KLM which operates their own flights. While embarrassing with respect to asking ASC to change our itinerary one day after we approved it, we are going to follow this route and hope for the best. |
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Post by kellbenl on Apr 18, 2013 5:33:18 GMT
I feel your pain my friend. We went the other route going with a pet relocator hoping to avoid the drama, I was sadly mistaken as this is taking a lot of effort and time is not of the luxury here. One thing I've ascertained thru all the iterations is that Riyadh is definitely an option. it is about a 5 hour drive to Dhahran from what I gather they are more pet friendly than Dammam. The pet relocator I'm using is Dana Fanning Senior International PMC Animal Land Pet Movers 877.DOGSFLY 678.302.9431 fax Www.petmovers.com A phone call is cheap and she is wonderful at navigating the Bovine Manure that we are both getting all over our shoes. Hope this helps and Good Luck. |
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Post by gbhatia on Apr 18, 2013 19:54:16 GMT
Well I must give a big shout out to the folks at ASC in Houston who were wonderful with our request to change airlines. They had us rebooked on KLM within a couple of hours of my phoning them and explaining the situation and totally understood our desire to ensure the pet travelled with us . |
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Post by gbhatia on Apr 24, 2013 13:15:02 GMT
Done. (Phew). A BIG BIG THANK YOU to the folks that helped get the paperwork processed in Saudi. Now that we have the import permit, its all systems go for the start of the new adventure next week. Let's just hope there aren't any last minute hiccups with the flights / KLM |
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Post by gbhatia on Apr 25, 2013 17:43:17 GMT
I know I've posted this message on another thread but we are so happy that I thought I'd post it here as well By the way : If anyone is moving from Canada and wants to know the process for importing their pets without going through a relocation service, please feel free to contact me (now that I feel like a veteran). I am more than happy to share our experience I just wanted to send out a BIG BIG Thank you to Joy Neumann who helped us navigate through the process of getting the paperwork done for our pet. Joy really stepped up and actually went to the Ministry of Agriculture in Dammam on our behalf to obtain the import permit for us . Without that of course, one cannot bring the pet into the country (its the last step in the whole process). For someone to do that for someone they haven't even met is awesome and our whole family is grateful. It just reinforces the family atmosphere image we have of Aramco and its employees Thanks Again Joy Mia, Anita & Gurpreet |
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Post by charliebrown on May 11, 2013 4:20:25 GMT
I am a new hire and will be traveling around mid Aug. Could you please provide Joy Neumann's contact info by PM or email please, I am in desperately need of the pet import.
I want to obtain it before Ramadan begins....
Thank you so much....
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Post by gbhatia on May 17, 2013 20:31:17 GMT
CB. Remember that the permit is only valid for 30 days so it should be applied for with that in mind. Also, I just heard from another new recruit that KLM won't fly dogs after May 15 th due to the summer heat so you need to ensure you have a way of getting your pet over here.
We looked at emirates, Ethihad and neither of those would take our dog as the layover in Dubai / Abu Dhabi were too long. Lufthansa would take our dog as far as Frankfurt but the subsidiary PrivatAir refused to take the dog from Frankfurt to Dammam. KLM ended up being our airline of choice but if they've put a heat embargo on, that eliminates the last option we came up with.
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Post by kellbenl on May 18, 2013 2:23:24 GMT
CB
Please see my post above. We are flying our dogs thru a pet relocation service. The restriction on heat and airlines only applies to pets traveling as excess baggage. If you ship them as cargo the restriction does not apply. Contact Dana and she CAN help.
Best wishes and good luck
Ben
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Post by FromCalgary2 on May 18, 2013 3:57:54 GMT
We had a slight hiccup with KLM saying there are no pets after May 15, however, since the 1-800 number I called serves Delta-KLM-Air France I had a Delta rep answer. The rep assumes KLM is the same. The second time I called I asked for a supervisor (as recommended by Boomerang) and they dug deeper into the policy and we now have a reservation request for Molly that will be confirmed in a few days.
There are no regulations for KLM going to KSA, however, they can still deny you at the airport during check-in. Hopefully everything will be smooth for us.
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