Air Travel or Car?

[JetDragon6]

Right now I'm in a position where I will be moving to another state. I'm deciding whether it will be less stressful for a 40+ hour drive to my new location that would take maybe 5 days or a 7-8 hour flight. I have seen pros and cons to this in a lot of areas but main cons I have seen to flying are referring to articles where pets have died in the cargo area and not as carry ons. I have two birds in question and if I were to fly I would have two carry ons and other person coming along as airline limits own pet/carry on per customer. Once I get their new travel carriers I will be testing them out in them to get them more familiar with it and on car drives. What has everyones experiences been on this? Air flight or 5-7 car drive across country with staying at multiple places?

 

[dollfish]

The road trip could be an adventure but it can be stressful due to the lenght if your bird will not be able to take nice breaks in between when you stop for the day on a leash or something. On the other hand, I have heard that you need to get them out of their cages to go through security. But it is a shorter trip overall. Also if your bird has never been in a car for that long before, he may freeze and not eat and drink for the entire duration of the ride and imagine this going on for 4-5 days. I'm not an expert though and I'm interested in hearing other people's opinions.

 

[sunnysmom]

I would only fly if it's an airline where you can take the birds in the plane with you, not in cargo. And I think it depends on the particular airline's practices what you can do. Some require specific carriers too for airplane travel.

 

[JetDragon6]

I would only fly if it's an airline where you can take the birds in the plane with you, not in cargo. And I think it depends on the particular airline's practices what you can do. Some require specific carriers too for airplane travel.

Have only considered flying airlines if they would be in the cabin with me. Would personally never put them in cargo as that would be very stressful I feel for any animal and I want them by me of course to give those scratches and see that they are alright . As for a carrier, I have looked into the dimesions needed for those depending on the airlines. Primarily looking to get one of Celltei carriers (airline approved one or larger carriers for car travel depending on what I decide) since I have seen mostly positive reviews on their products and want a carrier with a perch stationed in it.

Thank you for your feedback! Been going back and forth with the idea of both and any input is great!

 

[JetDragon6]

The road trip could be an adventure but it can be stressful due to the length if your bird will not be able to take nice breaks in between when you stop for the day on a leash or something. On the other hand, I have heard that you need to get them out of their cages to go through security. But it is a shorter trip overall. Also if your bird has never been in a car for that long before, he may freeze and not eat and drink for the entire duration of the ride and imagine this going on for 4-5 days. I'm not an expert though and I'm interested in hearing other people's opinions.

Was thinking it would be an adventure with all of them there for the ride. Only one of them is leash trained at the moment and I know my green cheek conure would love either car or plane ride to meet new people (very curious one). Don't know how many breaks or stops we will be able to make along the way with COVID as well since even for food it would mostly be drive through. Another main hold up on car travel besides it being potentially stressful due to the length is them being in a carrier/smaller cage for that time frame as their original cages are impossible to travel with assembled.

I also had a friend of mine that went through a similar car ride had issues finding motels that allowed pets in certain areas but they were able to travel with their birds in the original cage for them. They would normally chirp during the ride when it was later in the day and were messed up with going through multiple time zone differences. They knew some people along the way to stop at as well where it was a safe place to let them fly and explore. I am afraid of one freezing and not eating/drinking well for that long of a time. :/ Currently asking the airlines I'm thinking about getting tickets with if they will have to be taken out for security. Ones that have mentioned yes say you can ask for it to be in a room for when you take them out especially if there are other animals around.

Thanks for your feedback!

 

[dollfish]

Was thinking it would be an adventure with all of them there for the ride. Only one of them is leash trained at the moment and I know my green cheek conure would love either car or plane ride to meet new people (very curious one). Don't know how many breaks or stops we will be able to make along the way with COVID as well since even for food it would mostly be drive through. Another main hold up on car travel besides it being potentially stressful due to the length is them being in a carrier/smaller cage for that time frame as their original cages are impossible to travel with assembled.

I also had a friend of mine that went through a similar car ride had issues finding motels that allowed pets in certain areas but they were able to travel with their birds in the original cage for them. They would normally chirp during the ride when it was later in the day and were messed up with going through multiple time zone differences. They knew some people along the way to stop at as well where it was a safe place to let them fly and explore. I am afraid of one freezing and not eating/drinking well for that long of a time. :/ Currently asking the airlines I'm thinking about getting tickets with if they will have to be taken out for security. Ones that have mentioned yes say you can ask for it to be in a room for when you take them out especially if there are other animals around.

Thanks for your feedback!

Also my bird not being used to car rides usually pants for 4-5 hours straight in the car. A friend of mine said that they get used to it after a couple go's but I don't know. Let us know what you have decided on and how it goes.