Pet delivery by road or by air: which is better for your puppy or kitten?

By road with a pet nanny

A van fitted for animals, a nanny who feeds, walks and photographs the pet, stops every three hours. Balkans in a day, Central Europe in two, Western Europe in three or four. Calm, cheap, no airline rules.

The van carries two to four pets at most, each in its own crate with the blanket from the breeder, and the nanny is the same person from the breeder's door to yours. Every three hours the puppies go out on a lead and the kittens get a clean litter tray; at night the nanny sleeps in a pet-friendly guesthouse with the animals in the room. You get a photo and a location at each stop, and a phone call an hour before arrival.

Road is the route we recommend for every destination it reaches, and it reaches the whole of continental Europe. The only reasons to fly are the sea and distance.

In the cabin of a flight with a nanny

The pet travels in a soft carrier under the seat with a nanny beside it. One day to most of Europe, the UK and the Gulf; two to three days with a connection to North America or Asia. The nanny hands over at the airport with all documents.

Airlines allow one pet of up to eight kilos including the carrier in the cabin per passenger, which is why we fly puppies at twelve to sixteen weeks and kittens at fourteen; a Golden Retriever puppy at five months no longer fits under the seat. The nanny books a daytime direct flight wherever one exists, carries the pet through security in her arms and feeds it in the lounge before boarding. On a flight of three to five hours most puppies sleep from take-off to landing.

Never in cargo, and no long flights for flat faces

We do not use cargo for any pet, and no flat-faced breed flies longer than six hours.

A cargo hold is dark, loud and unattended for the whole flight, and the temperature at the gate in summer is what causes most of the incidents reported each year. A French Bulldog, a Persian or a Pug has a shorter airway than other breeds and copes badly with stress and heat, so for those breeds a flight beyond six hours is replaced by road wherever possible and by a short flight plus road where it is not.

How long each route takes

Road journeys are measured in days, because the nanny drives only in daylight and stops for the pets, not for the clock. Flights are measured in hours plus the handover at the airport, which takes about an hour from landing.

• Balkans by road: 1 to 2 days, 150 to 300 EUR
• Central Europe by road: 2 to 3 days, 350 to 550 EUR
• Western Europe by road: 3 to 4 days, 550 to 800 EUR
• Northern Europe and the UK in the cabin: 1 to 2 days, 700 to 1,200 EUR
• Eastern Mediterranean in the cabin: 1 day, 600 to 850 EUR
• Gulf in the cabin: 1 to 2 days, 900 to 1,200 EUR
• North America and Asia in the cabin: 2 to 3 days, 1,500 to 2,200 EUR

What delivery costs and what is included

Road: 150 to 800 EUR depending on distance. Air: 600 to 2,200 EUR including the nanny's ticket. The estimate is on each pet page; the exact price is confirmed before you reserve.

Both prices include the fit-to-travel certificate issued within 48 hours of departure, an IATA-approved crate or carrier that stays with you, the blanket with the mother's scent, food for the journey and the handover at your door or at the arrival airport. The figure on the delivery page is per pet; two kittens from the same litter travelling together in one van cost about a third more than one, not double.

Which route we recommend for your country

Road for Montenegro, Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and Portugal. The journey is longer than a flight, but the pet is walked, fed and watched the whole way, and for a puppy under four months those three or four calm days are easier than a single loud one.

Cabin flights for the United Kingdom, Ireland, Scandinavia, Cyprus, Israel, the Gulf states, North America and Asia, where the road either does not exist or would take more than four days. A Maine Coon kitten for Stockholm flies in three hours and is on the sofa by the evening.

How the documents are checked on each route

On the road the passport is checked at each border and the nanny carries the pedigree, the contract and the fit-to-travel certificate in a folder on the front seat. On a flight the airline checks the carrier and the certificate at check-in, and the destination airport checks the passport, the rabies dates and, for the Gulf, the import permit. In both cases the documents have been scanned to you days earlier; what the officer reads is what you have already read.

What each document contains and when it is issued is explained in the guide to vaccinations, microchip and passport.

What arrives with the pet

The pet, the crate or carrier, the blanket, the food bag for the first days, the folder with the passport, pedigree, contract and certificates, and a handover sheet with the feeding times and the vet's notes. The nanny stays ten minutes, shows you the chip number in the passport and answers the first questions; your advisor answers the rest by message for as long as you need.

If you want to see the puppies and kittens whose delivery is already planned for this month, the available puppies list shows the ready date and the estimated delivery cost for your country on each card.

Frequently asked questions