Veterinary Falcon
Pet Clinic LLC
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Why the crate costs more than the cat
Nobody publishes how a pet move is priced, which leaves owners comparing numbers that are not comparable. This page explains the mechanism — what the airline charges on, what sits inside a quote, and what actually moves the figure. We will give you the number for your own move; what we will not do is make one up on a web page.
Airlines charge on space, not on the animal
An aircraft hold runs out of room long before it runs out of lifting capacity, so air freight is charged on whichever is greater: what the shipment weighs, or how much room it takes up. For a pet in a box, the room almost always wins.
Length × width × height in centimetres, divided by 6,000, gives the volumetric weight in kilograms.
6,000 is the usual air-cargo divisor. Some carriers and some express services use a different one, which is among the things we check for your route rather than assume.
The same cat, in two different boxes
A four-kilo cat. On the left, the crate somebody bought because it looked comfortable. On the right, the crate the measurements actually called for. Nothing about the animal changed.
The oversized box
The measured box
Three and a half times the chargeable weight, on every leg of the journey, for the same animal. This is why we measure before anybody buys a crate, and why the crate page is worth ten minutes of your time.
The parts, and who is actually paid
A relocation quote is not one price, it is a stack of them. Knowing which is which is the only way to compare two quotes honestly — a cheap one usually has fewer things in it, not cheaper things.
Veterinary work
- Examination, microchip and rabies vaccination
- The rabies titre test and the laboratory fee, where the destination needs one
- Any extra tests a country demands — Australia asks for three more
- Parasite treatments on the destination’s timetable
Government paperwork
- The MOCCAE export permit
- The health certificate, written after the final examination
- Government endorsement of that certificate
- Destination import permits and clearances where they apply
The flight
- The airline booking, on the right one of the three options
- Charged on volumetric or actual weight, whichever is greater
- Handling agents at departure and, on most routes, at arrival
- Seasonal surcharges on some routes at some times of year
Everything on the ground
- The crate itself
- Collection from your home and the run to the airport
- Quarantine, where a country requires it
- Clearance and delivery at the far end, if you want that too
What actually moves the number
- The destination, more than anything else
Australia carries a titre test, four extra laboratory tests and ten to thirty days of government quarantine. The United Kingdom carries none of that. Same animal, different orders of magnitude. - A crate larger than the animal needs
Charged on every leg. The single most controllable item on the list. - A snub-nosed breed
Ten per cent more crate, fewer carriers willing to take it, and less competition on the route. - Transit rather than direct
Each change of aircraft adds a handling agent and, on some countries, an approval from the transit authority. - Travelling in high summer
Heat embargoes on the ground at either end narrow the flights available, and the ones left are not the cheap ones.
- Starting early
Almost everything expensive about a pet move is a consequence of being late. Rushed endorsements, the only remaining flight, expedited laboratory work. - A correctly measured crate
See above. This is the one you control completely. - Travelling on the same flight as your pet
Where the destination allows checked baggage, it is usually cheaper than cargo. - Two small animals who already live together
Sometimes one box legitimately serves both, if they are each under 14 kg. Sometimes it costs more, because the box gets wider. We work it both ways before advising.
And how you pay us
At the end, as with everything else here. No deposit to start a file, no card held against the work. Airline and government fees are passed on at what they cost us, with the receipts.
Questions about the money
Why will you not put prices on the page?
Because any number we printed would be wrong for most people reading it. The destination, the size of the animal, the crate, the season and the route each move it substantially. A figure on a page would be a marketing number; the one we send you is the actual one.
Can you match another quote?
We can tell you what is missing from it, which is usually more useful. Quotes for the same move routinely differ because one includes the titre test, the crate and the destination handling and the other does not. Send it over and we will line the two up item by item.
Do I pay the airline or you?
Us, as one invoice, with the airline and government charges passed through at cost. You do not end up standing at a cargo counter with a card.
What happens if the move falls through?
You pay for the work that was done — the veterinary visits, any tests, the permits already filed — and nothing for what was not. Nothing is taken upfront, so there is nothing to argue about getting back.
Send us the move and we will send you the number
Destination, rough date, the animal’s weight and breed. That is enough for a real quote rather than a range, and it costs nothing to ask.