Shipping questions/problem - Page 1

I've been on the phone all morning with Delta trying to book a flight for my dog in the morning. The problem is crate size...according to them. This dog is short and only 51 lbs, and they are telling me I need a GIANT sized (600?) varikennel to ship her in? Someone tell me I can ship this dog in a 400...a 500 is big for her and they are charing almost $100 more for it. "Her ears cannot touch the top of the crate" Well geez she's a german shepherd, they have large erect ears! Does everyone else have to ship adult dogs in a 600 crate? Her ears are going to touch the top of that too! I've never done this before...but dang what a hassle... Are they this strict or are they actually going to make me ship her in a 600? I have to drive her 3 hours to the airport and I'd hate to get there and my crate not meet their standards.

They ARE that strict. Personally, I would try Continental Quik Pack, they are much more realistic. I had to swap a young male from a 400 to a 500 for a flight yesterday but they were fine with a 500. The guy at O'Hare was actually okay with the 400 overall but was afraid they would pull him from the continuing flight in NJ and we didn't want to give them a reason to do that. If Cont. flies to where you want to go, I find them far superior to Delta. 99.9% of the time the dog leaves from the airport and is picked up at the airport. There is no delay getting the dog to yet another cargo area for the receiver to pick up. And really, MOST people know how to get to the actual airport. Sometimes it's very weird getting around the cargo areas. Good luck! JDN - US