Does anyone have experience flying with a dog in-cabin to the UK or Ireland from Zurich? If so, how did you do it?
My dog meets the size/weight/health criteria to fly in-cabin and whenever I have tried to book them onto flights to Ireland or the UK, there has been no issue at customer service level (“yes, of course we can fly your dog in-cabin”) but when it comes to booking/reserving a place for my dog, the requests get rejected.
I tried to fly from Zurich > Amsterdam > Dublin with KLM, and I was assured it was no problem to fly with the dog in-cabin but the request got rejected.
I don’t know about Ireland, but for UK flights pets aren’t allowed in the cabin unless they’re assistance dogs. Or you fly in in a chartered private plane.
" When pets have to travel as cargo
How your pet can travel depends on how you are travelling.
If you’re travelling by plane
Pets have to travel as cargo on a plane unless:
you’re flying on a chartered private plane
you’re travelling with an assistance dog"
With our dogs, we always drive and take the Tunnel- so the dogs stay with us in the car. Ferries on short crossings from Calais, etc, dogs have to stay in the car down below- and in case of rough seas it is awful. Passport, chip, vaccination, vet check and worming are VERY strictly enforced.
To Ireland, from Roscoff to Cork- dogs allowed in cabin apparently.
We drive to Ireland regularly because of our dog - always use Tunnel then drive to Wales for the ferry. Altogether takes about 22 hours !!! Do-able in Summer but in Winter it’s no fun and we sometimes stay in uK near Oxford to break the journey. Our dog is too big for the cabin but I have friends who have successfully flown with a small dog. Swiss in Zürich just will not do it, the only way is to fly to Paris or Amsterdam and then to Dublin. Swiss will accept dog for Dublin to Zürich flight but top tip is to book a Business class flight to ensure greater willingness on their part.
@itsjess, Airlines like Swiss / Lufthansa simply have a blanket policy that does not allow for animals to be carried in-cabin to countries like the UK, Ireland, Hong Kong, South Africa. Aer Lingus and BA only accept assistance dogs, and KLM never gave me a response other than saying the issue is with Dublin Airport (which sounds credible!).
@Clonskeagh, thanks for the tips. I have considered driving to France and getting the ferry across that way, but seems very awkward too. Which ferry do you get from Wales?
The more I think about it, the more likely it will be that I will drive to Ireland and try take the tunnel after all ...! The pooch like most pooches loves the car so that would be the easiest!
We leave Zug around 8am, get to Calais around 4pm ( with 2 short stops) Drive up through England via M25- Birmingham - Chester ( 2 stops) to arrive at Angelsea around 11 pm, then have to wait until 2:15 for the Stena Line sailing. Irish Ferries is 2:45. It’s tiring but okay. I believe flying with Air France via Paris is the only option in reality,
Don't take the ferry- dogs have to stay in car below deck and you are not allowed to visit if rough crossing, etc. Take the Tunnel- only 30 mins and dog stays with you in the car.
Stay overnight in a Hôtel that allows dogs somewhere between Dover and Anglesey.
It a UK rule, they do not accept pets in the cabin, not the airlines choice. Definitely second taking the tunnel, you stay in the car with your dog and it only take 30 mins.
Can anyone give info on ferries to Ireland from UK to Ireland- can dogs stay with you in cabin with dog areas on deck. I know this is the case from Roscoff to Cork.
BTW, which part of Ireland are you talking about? If going to South- the Roscoff-Cork crossing overnight seems the best. Perhaps to Dublin OK too. Friends with 3 young children to this regularly. They drive to Roscoff in one go and then sleep in cabin overnight. I'd rather stop for one night on the way to break the journey- but each to their own.
On the ferries from Angelsea to Dublin dogs stay in the car during the crossing, there is a kennel they can be held in but this is on the car deck and noisy so we never use it. The journey time is around 3.5 hours ( shorter if you get the faster Swift/ only travels at certain times and in Summer).
Also ferry travel is much slower than road so taking the ferry to Roscoff adds a lot to the journey time compared to Holyhead, particularly if your end destination is Dublin.
Stena Line from Fishguard to Rosslare and from Holyhead to Dublin have cabins in which you can take your dog. But they seem to get booked up quite early.