Pet air cargo and flight arrangements, USA ⇄ Asia

What we arrange

• Mode and carrier selection: we check which carriers on your route accept your pet's species, breed, size and age, in which mode, and whether seasonal temperature limits apply on your dates.
• Flight booking arrangements: we book or coordinate the pet's space with the airline or its cargo department, and align it with your own flight where the pet travels with you.
• Routing: we avoid connections that would make your dog clear customs in a country that changes its status for US entry, or that a destination forbids.
• Crate guidance: sizing and preparation to the airline's and IATA's standards (crate guidance).
• Documents for the flight: what the airline wants to see at acceptance, in addition to the government papers (veterinary documents).
• Arrival coordination: where the pet is collected, and what happens next.

Drop-off and pickup at cargo terminals, ground transport, boarding and customs brokerage are handled through local partners where available, and your quote lists which apply.

Airline policies change often. We never promise a carrier before we have confirmed the carrier, the aircraft and the mode for your pet on your dates.

Cabin, checked baggage or cargo

Pets fly in one of three ways:

1. In the cabin, in a soft carrier under the seat. Small pets only, and only where the airline allows it on that route.
2. As checked baggage, in the hold of your own flight, checked in at the passenger counter.
3. As manifest cargo, booked as an air waybill shipment through the airline's cargo side, with its own acceptance and collection process.

Not every carrier offers every mode on transpacific routes, and some destinations decide for you. Hong Kong's import permit terms, for example, require dogs and cats to arrive as manifested cargo; excess baggage and hand-carried pets are not permitted (AFCD permit terms). The same terms ask for the fastest and most direct route, and exclude dogs and cats under 5 months old.

The trade-offs between the three modes are explained in our guide to cabin, checked baggage and cargo.

Why the carrier question comes first

US carriers have narrowed what they accept. Delta, for instance, states on its pet shipping page that it currently ships pets as cargo only for active US military and State Department Foreign Service members traveling on permanent change of station orders. Delta also does not accept brachycephalic (snub-nosed) dogs, cats or their mixes, and does not ship pets when the ground temperature is above 80°F (27°C) or below 20°F (−7°C), with a certificate of acclimation required between 20°F and 45°F.

That is one carrier; others have their own lists of accepted breeds, weight limits, aircraft types without a suitable hold and summer embargoes. This is why a dog that flew easily one year may need a different routing the next. We check the current rules for your route rather than relying on last year's experience.

Mode and US arrival airport

For dogs entering the US, the mode can also decide the airport. A dog that was in a CDC high-risk country in the last 6 months and was vaccinated abroad must land at an airport with a CDC-registered animal care facility where it has a reservation. CDC notes that the Seattle facility takes cargo-only reservations, and that cargo is preferred for Los Angeles to avoid clearance delays (CDC facility list).

Changing airlines or traveling in the cabin on a connection can mean clearing customs at the layover, which counts as entering that country under CDC's layover rules. See pet import to the US and our US airports comparison.

Breed, size and season

• Snub-nosed dogs and cats (bulldogs, pugs, Persians and similar) face the most restrictions; IATA asks for a container 10% larger, and some carriers, Delta among them, do not accept them at all. See brachycephalic pets.
• Large dogs usually rule out the cabin and can exceed checked-baggage limits, which points to cargo. See dog relocation.
• Heat and cold can close a route for weeks at a time. Departing from Texas or Florida in summer, or from Chicago in deep winter, may mean a different date or connection.
• Age: destinations and carriers set minimum ages (Hong Kong: 5 months; US entry for dogs: 6 months).

Typical routes we plan

From the US: USA to Japan, USA to Taiwan, USA to Singapore, USA to South Korea, USA to Hong Kong.

To the US: Japan to USA, Taiwan to USA, Hong Kong to USA, China to USA, Philippines to USA.