"HRFLTiger" <helen.miles@virgin.net> wrote

Glad to hear you are all home safe and sound.

--
Marina

Glad to hear all went well.

Glad all are safely back home.

Cheers, helen s

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I guess they are seasoned travellers by now. I wish I were one too. So glad
to hear everything went well.
Best wishes,

<snip

 Wonderful to hear that everything went well, Helen. Let us know when you
are in the US next so we can meet up.
 Lydia & Jazz
 --

 Irulan
 from the stars we came, to the stars we return
 from now until the end of time

 > We made it!!!!  Everyone is home and safe in Edinburgh, and I have no
 > doubt that all the purrs and well wishes helped smooth the flight.
 >
 > Virgin Atlantic were fantastic - they are absolutely top notch when it
 > comes to the care of pets as cargo - and they have the quarantine in
 > Heathrow down to a fine art. As Yowie predicted, it was all terribly
 > boring in the end!
 >
 > HRFL & Pandora were first taken to the Official Washington Dulles USDA
 > crate sealers (Pender vet hospital) and sealed into their crate with
 > special seals which are actually aluminium bands a bit like cable ties
 > with code numbers stamped on them. This is to stop anyone opening the
 > crate except in an emergency before they arrive at Heathrow.
 >
 > Then we took them over to Virgin Atlantic cargo, where they were
 > checked in and the cargo manager checked all their passport paperwork
 > so there were no peoblems in Heathrow. Both Tiger and Pandora fell
 > asleep at this point!
 >
 > Then I went and checked in, whilst they were kept in a temperature
 > controlled environment. When I was boarding the plane, the person
 > checking my ticket rang cargo, and they were delivered to the plane 20
 > minutes before take off. This is apparently in case of any delays, the
 > animals are not loaded and sitting around for long periods. Also, they
 > have a specifically appointed agent to remain with them at all times
 > until the cargo doors on the plane are shut. There were 2 other dogs
 > on the flights too - so it was full animal wise!
 >
 > When I got to Heathrow, I rang the animal reception center, who told
 > me that they were going through paperwork and vet checks. So I went
 > over and waited after getting some breakfast. Then the cats personal
 > Virgin agent arrived, to give me their paperwork, and to tell me
 > everything was OK. Apparently, he meets all animals coming on virgin
 > flights with the Animal Reception Center staff (customs) to check that
 > everything is OK and they aren't sitting around waiting to be
 > unloaded. When I spoke to the Virgin rep, he said that last year
 > virign had over 800 animals fly on their planes, and the most he'd had
 > on one plane was a family of 15 cats and dogs.
 >
 > I was very impressed with the service I got from Virgin - I would
 > recommend that anyone who wants to fly animals should use them where
 > possible. Mind, American Airlines are also excelent, and so are
 > Continental. British Airways are reasonably good, but not the best,
 > TACA are OK....
 >
 > And do you know what the scarey thing is? HRFL Tiger and Pandora have
 > flown on all of them!!!!
 >
 > A very relieved Helen M

Good to hear it went well. They certainly do sound VERY concientious. It
must have made you feel much better. I hope you all get to stay in one spot
for a while now :)

Karen

Glad to hear the worry is over, and now everyone can just settle in.
Sounds like you've found an excellent airline for the furry ones :-)

Woo hoo!  Welcome home, the whole human and kitty clan!  Happy it all went
so well, Helen!
Christine

That's great news :)

I'm so glad things went well.

Woo! Yay!

Your recent posts about the feline flying feature have been of great
interest to me, 'cause the furry freaks chez moi will likely have to
hop the pond Blightywards in the next couple of years. I am currently
still trying to work out the exact procedures needed to get the PETS
certificate - I have complete paranoia that I'll fill some form out
using a .5mm pen nib rather than a .567mm pen nib, thus consigning the
furry lumps to 6months in chokey.

Steve.