Flying Pets to Spain: What No One Tells You About the Paperwork, Airlines, and Crates

While one could argue the most convoluted part of immigrating to Spain is the visa paperwork, I'm going to throw into the ring (for your consideration) the super fun and absolutely easy to execute task that is bringing your pets with you.

I've now brought over three cats and one dog on two different airlines, and have had two wildly different experiences. The good news? My $850 crate mistake bringing over the second round of pets was still cheaper than the €1.000 we paid to a broker on the first round to receive our pet through customs. Also, hopefully other people will find this and be a bit more educated on what you need to actually do to bring your furry family with you.

Let's start with round one: Artimur (uno de nuestros tres gatos / one of our three cats) and American Airlines.

Going over to Spain on our initial move, we knew that we were going to take one of our cats, Artimer (aka Artie aka turdnugget), with us. We started researching pet travel agencies, even had a call with one, but realized the price was out of our range. So we started research airlines that would allow animals to fly internationally without being on military orders. Because we were flying out of PDX, we only looked at airlines that had good flight options from there (is this foreshadowing?), and landed on American Airlines. The bad news was that Artie would have to fly cargo. The good news was that we could bring him at all.

It seemed simple enough: 10 days before the flight, email cargo to confirm Artie's place. Send the dimensions of his carrier, make sure he had food and water bowls that could attach to the carrier, food taped to the outside, and all of his paperwork.

Ohhhhh, the paperwork.

Coming into Spain with a pet, you don't need to quarantine. You do, however, have to come in with the physical paperwork (Model Animal Health Certificate for Non-Commercial Movements of Pet Dogs, Pet Cats, or Pet Ferrets blah blah blah) provided by the USDA no more than 10 days before your flight. But Alison, how do I get that paperwork, you ask? You find a certified vet through the certified website (which I've linked here). And you go to the vet to make sure that your animal has all the necessary shots as well as the correct type of microchip because it has to be the EU compliant microchip. And then the vet will send the request to the USDA around 10 days before you leave, and the USDA will approve it and mail a physical copy to you.

There are so many things that can go wrong, so stay on top of this paperwork. The digital certificate will not get you in the country. It must be the actual, physical, stamped and signed copy you receive in your mailbox.

Okay, well, that doesn't sound too bad.

You'd be right if that were the only paperwork we had for this round with American Airlines. Because after we submitted the paperwork to cargo, cargo emailed us back letting us know that we needed to have an approved veterinary broker receive Artimer when we landed in Madrid. A service for which we got to pay a lovely additional fee for, and had to gather even more paperwork. Oh, and change our flight because we couldn't land on a Saturday - the broker wouldn't be there, so we had to shift to the following week. My favorite was figuring out how to prove that he was more than five generations removed from wild cats because he's a Bengal. Then there were the forms they asked us to fill out and bring to the airport.

Of course things continued to go wrong when we were contacted two days before leaving and informed that it was going to be too hot on the day we were traveling, and that Artie could no longer travel cargo. Which meant another shift, finding a layover in a city that was later in the evening when it was cooler, and switching flights. Again.

BUT. We figured out the flights (even though it meant the kids and I flying separately from the husband), and made it to the airport. Where they told us we couldn't fly an animal in cargo internationally unless we were traveling on military orders (not true) and that we didn't have the right manifest (also not true). So there was more back and forth, more showing what we had, and more crossing our fingers until they finally let us bring Artimer to cargo.

Then there was getting him once we landed in Madrid.

Six hours. Six hours of sleeping on the airport floor while we waited for the vet to tell us to come get him from a building a 20 minute taxi drive away. In a country where we didn't yet know more phrases than "hello" and "I don't speak Spanish." All while I watched other people collect their pets in the luggage pick up area.

So, for getting the rest of the animals over, I decided to make sure I did more research.

Which means it's time for round two: Cooper, Loki, and Ripley, and Lufthansa.

And I found that Lufthansa not only would allow the two cats were traveling with in cabin, but that if we did a layover in Frankfurt that was over three hours, they would take our large dog (who had to fly cargo) out in the the pet area so he could stretch his legs, sniff some flowers, and leave some p-mail for animals to follow. Their website wouldn't let me book the pets, so I had to figure out how to call them (which wasn't an easy task). But I found the phone number for them in Germany, called, set up the pets, gave them payment, and thought that was all that I needed to do.

Narrators voice: that was, in fact, not all that we needed to do.

First problem? My card was never charged. And without payment (due at least 24 hours before flight), they would release the pet spaces we had reserved. It took three calls and lots of international minutes to figure that out, but we did eventually get it done. But the cost for three animals (two in cabin plus one in cargo) was still €200 less than what I paid for one. single. cat. to fly cargo on American Airlines. Not that I'm salty about that or anything.

Plus there was no need for Cooper to be received by a vet in Madrid. When I asked Lufthansa about it (and told them what I had to do AND how much I paid at American), they laughed because they thought I was joking. And that's how I learned something that I thought was a country requirement was actually an airline finding more ways to charge for unnecessary things.

But I definitely made that cost up when I got to the airport with Cooper and the desk agent took one look at my flight-approved kennel and went "that may be airline approved, but it's not Lufthansa approved."

I'm sorry, what?

See, Lufthansa has much stricter requirements for kennels than other airlines. And it is not clear on their website - you have to dig, dig, and then dig some more to figure out what kind of kennels are accepted. In fact, while I was there, I ended up sending the website to someone else who was also trying to figure out kennel requirements but couldn't find it on the website, because it is not easy nor intuitive to get that information.

I can't fully blame the airline here. I asked over the phone about crates, I read the first click on the website, but I didn't dig enough. So that's on me. And where I can give the airline credit is that the incredible front desk manager at Seatac (shout out to Valerie!) was able to connect me with a service to get a dog crate delivered with enough time to still make my flight. Which cost me an additional $850.

Yup. $850.

It was still cheaper than what I would have paid with American Airlines when I factored in the costs for American's cargo + having to have a vet to receive all three pets, but the unforeseen cost wasn't a fun one for me.

But Valerie was amazing. She not only helped with making sure we got the crate, but while we were waiting she took care of getting all the paperwork for all three pets put in their system, checked my mom and I in (because two people have to fly if you have two pets in cabin), and kept checking on my absolute wreck-of-a-self. She didn't even judge my ugly cry I had when I had a moment of panic that we wouldn't be able to board - she just kept calmly talking me through it, and was so kind that I want to go back and bring her some flowers and a bottle of wine.

The flight itself was pretty easy. We had a five hour layover in Frankfurt, where we settled into a little corner and I used a collapsible travel litter box for the two gattitos to stretch their legs and relieve themselves. I giggled a little on the flight when the flight attendant made me PROMISE to not open their kennels - apparently someone on the flight she'd come in on thought their cat was the exception to the rule, which led to some pet shenanigans.

And then, we got to Madrid. And I was so panicked about where to find Cooper. I didn't have an address for cargo pick up, and I had no clue where to look. So I found someone and asked in my stuttering Spanish, and she told me that right where our luggage would come out, there was a special belt for animals. So I went running back to where I'd ditched my mom with the two cats while she waited for our bags, and 10 minutes later a very happy Cooper came through the doors.

The rest of our airport exit was easy. We'd gone through customs in Frankfurt, so we literally just walked out the door. No having to wait six hours on the floor of T4 after traveling for 20+ hours. Just grab, go, find a pet friendly Uber, and collapse at the hotel we'd booked for the night.

Our travels weren't quite done, because we still needed to get from Madrid to Sevilla via the train, and when you're traveling with a dog over 10 kg you need to book 24 hours in advance, make sure you get a pet kit at the station, and keep all your paperwork from the USDA vet to show them at the gate. And then sit on the train with your doggo in the window seat, getting all the pets from the nearby passengers while the cats are at your feet.

TL;DR:

Get set up with a vet that can get you the correct paperwork as soon as you know you're going to immigrate with your furry family.

Lufthansa is the best airline to fly with pets, both in cabin and in cargo, when coming into Spain, but make sure you have the right crate requirements.

Don't use American Airlines, or any other airline that tells you that you have to pay for a broker to receive your pet for a vet exam, because that's not Spain's rule; it's the airline.

And book your train (if you have to take one) at least 24 hours in advance.

Now? We're home in Spain. Cooper and Artie are lounging on the deck, Loki's in the cat tree, and Ripley is in her happy little place in the kids' room. And our little family is finally back together again.