We live in France. I am due to pick up our puppy at the beginning of February and have been thinking about the best way to get him home. The breeders live an 8 hour drive from us (which will be a lot longer with traffic and rest stops) which I think might be too stressful for the puppy so I looked into flying there, picking him up and flying back.
Air France says on their website that they accept puppies but just to make sure I also called their helpline and asked. They confirmed it was no problem, I should book online and then call them to add the dog. Which I did...but having booked the tickets I was now told I couldn't add the dog there and then but had to wait 48 hours for the departure airport to confirm it would accept animals as "it is a small airport". No mention of that in the first conversation.
So I called back again 48 hours later (they charge for the phone calls and I have to wait in a queue before they pick up every time). This time I was told it was Air France who had to accept the puppy (I was calling Air France) and they don't work weekends (!!!) so I had to count two working days, but better make it three working days to be sure!
I paid €512 for a domestic flight and return and they can't even deal with a simple request! I am never going to get this puppy home am I? Am I entitled to a refund if they refuse the dog? I really don't need the flight if I can't bring back the puppy and i bought the ticket under that understanding.
AIBU?
Air France winding me up
Booboostwo · 28/01/2017 19:52
I give up. If a puppy won't melt your hearts I don't know what will. 
I am off to a dog forum for some hugs.
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He is a German Shepherd and he is very spesh! 
. A lot of people here breed them for protection which is not what I want, I want a family dog and this breeder had the show lines I liked (bred for temperament rather than protection). Also the breeder was the only one I found who tested for degenerative myelopathy. I lost my last GSD to this awful disease and I don't want to go through that again, if possible.
He will have had his first vaccination by the time of travel and yes he will go in the hold as he will already be too big for the cabin. This is not ideal but it is a short flight, 1.5 hours, so I am hoping less stressful than a long road trip. His travel crate is already with the breed, picking up his mum's scent, and he is getting used to being in it. If I were to drive him I would be alone and he would need to spend much longer in the crate in the boot of the car, so it seemed that flying is the least bad option.
At least in the car he can hear/smell/see you! In the hold he's be all on his own 
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