5 Tips for Safe Holiday Pet Travel
November, December and early January are extremely popular times for people to travel, which means that moving a pet during these holiday weeks can be surprisingly complicated.
In the interest of facilitating streamlined pet moves and happy reunions, each year we like to remind pet owners that it’s possible to save time, stress, and even money by planning an earlier pet move in order to avoid the hectic holidays.
Based on years of pet shipping experience, here are a few tips from our experts that will help you organize your pet’s holiday move as smoothly as possible.
1. Start planning well in advance.
Rushing adds stress at any time of the year, and if you wait until the last minute before the holidays begin to start putting your pet’s move together, you may find yourself facing serious challenges.
2. Have a back-up plan.
Delays and hiccups are more likely to occur during the holidays, so it’s very important to have a contingency plan in place just in case. Where will your pet stay if a flight is delayed by a day or more? This is the kind of question you need to know the answer to.
3. Hire help.
Since you probably have plenty of other things to worry about (such as the details of your own move), now would be a good time to hand over the responsibilities of your pet’s logistics to an expert whose job it is to plan safe moves.
4. Be flexible.
Maybe things will go completely smoothly, but just in case they don’t, it’s wise to be ready for anything by gathering relevant contact information and mentally preparing yourself should adjustments be necessary.
5. Reschedule.
Though you may want to fly on Christmas Day, by now you probably realize this just isn’t plausible. Avoid the rush altogether by flying well before the holidays begin or after the height of the chaos ends. Adjusting your travel date may not be your first choice, but it will probably make things much easier for both you and your pet.