Woman shares travel hack for taking your pets around the world

A woman flew her dogs from London to New York on an £8,000 private jet as she said it was cheaper than putting them in cargo.

Maddie Young, 31, wanted to make sure her 12-year-old pug, Violet, and one-year-old Golden retriever, Olive, could move to Brooklyn with her husband, who had landed a job in the city in January 2023

Ms Young started researching how they could travel the 3,470-mile distance from London and was shocked at the cost.

She said she was quoted £6,000 - £12,000 per dog by an airline for them to travel in cargo.

The PR freelancer started looking into other ways she could do it and came across a Facebook group arranging private charter jets for dogs.

The couple paid £10,000 for their two hounds Violet and Olive to travel in style – and were refunded £2,000 as the plane was filled so the costs were split further.

Ms Young said the experience was “smooth” and the dogs were even treated to personalised toys and dog cookies on board.

Maddie, from Balham, south London, said: “The quotes were crazily expensive.

“We were limited as airlines don’t like to fly flat face breeds as they can be more prone to breathing issues – although this is not the case with Violet.

“I Googled lots of stuff and found old news articles of people looking at different ways to travel and found a UK to US Facebook group from there.

“It was full of people organising flights and splitting the costs.

“We paid £10k including seats for us. But it was £8k in the end as we were refunded for filling the plane.

“It was the cheaper option. It was a no brainer.”

Ms Young struggled to find many options for them as the cargo flights were expensive and the cruise liner had a two year wait.

Having never flown privately before Ms Young was surprised a private charter flight she found on a Facebook group was £4,000 cheaper than taking a standard flight with the dogs.

The couple arrived just half an hour before the flight at Biggin Hill Airfield, Bromley, and said the dogs were given toys and cookies before the long journey.

Maddie and the other dog owners bought blankets to put down and protect the seats.

“The experience was so smooth. There were eight dogs and 10 humans,” she said.

“All the dogs were super well-behaved. They mostly slept, chilled and chewed bones.”

The plane had to refuel in Canada due to strong headwinds and it meant the dogs could relieve themselves after the eight-and-a-half-hour journey.

Ms Young did “anything to keep them calm” and tried not to feed the dogs too much so they didn’t need to go to the toilet.

The airline also provided puppy pads if they needed to relieve themselves.

Violet and Olive arrived safely in New York in April 2023 and are now settling into their new home.