With a 5 hour direct flight to the Azores, my partner and I wanted to visit after hearing so many pawsitive comments about it from our friends with two legs and four so we decided to book a trip for my partner's birthday and bring our small dog Peru, who is also the PadsPass head of barketing.
Having met multiple pet parents who spoke highly of the service for pets on SATA we felt it was an easy choice with a direct flight from Bermuda and one that would get us to Europe for the first time as a furmily. I emailed SATA to let them know we'd be traveling with a pet in-cabin and despite receiving the confirmation to my email, we learned at check-in that the confirmation was attached to my partner's reservation and not mine. Something to be mindful of if you have multiple persons on a single booking. This slight confusion also kept us from being able to select seats to sit together, which proved an issue upon boarding the flight with the window seat I was reassigned to having less width than the middle or aisle seats for the pet carrier.
Did you know we’ve recently launched on the prototype our Prefurred Seat feature, which has all the flights to and from Bermuda with the aircraft type and personalised recommendations for traveling with your pet? Prefurred seat works to prevent these surprises upon emBARKation. Interested in learning more?
We were able to add our SATA seating experience to our newly launched Prefurred Seat feature after our first flight, which convinced us of always paying to book a seat to ensure Peru has a seat and his human he can fit in. Knowing our return flight was a busy plane we immediately paid to book seats for the way back.
Upon landing in the small airport of Ponta Delgada, Peru let out his first European bark which got the attention of a man in a red shirt who approached us and addressed us by our names. He was the government vet there to meet us, but more importantly Peru, and check his EU import paperwork.
We got our luggage and went to a small office off the baggage claim area. Peru was allowed out of his carrier and began inspecting all four corners of the office as thoroughly as the government vet was inspecting his paperwork. He asked if we had sent the paperwork in advance, and I had not but the Bermuda Government Vet knew that was a requirement and sent it on our behalf.
The EU import form is essentially the same for all countries but there are language variations which can make for some slight differences. Ours was in Portuguese since the Azores are part of Portugal. It also has to be endorsed in the first country of arrival, this can cause issues if you arrive in another country and the endorsement is not present.
The government vet mentioned the opportunity for an EU Pet Passport and so we decided to get one the next day at our vet appointment where we would be using PadsPass prototype in Portuguese.
Prior to depawture, we gave the PadsPass prototype a pupgrade based on user needs and translated the Health Certificate section into French and Portuguese.
We had our appointment at the Veterinary Clinic in Capelas the next day, where we handed our veterinarian Alexandria our iPad with the app on it and turned the language to Portuguese. I had the translated app reviewed once by a native speaker, but I still waited for one word to be caught out of place or incorrect but to my delight she just kept checking the boxes reading the requirements and then moved forward to add the information for the Health Certificate.
We got to the end and it took less than 15 minutes! In contrast it felt it took longer to receive the email with the Health Certificate to print than the time it took using PadsPass to create it.
I then got to tell her I made the platform she just used and she was impressed, said it was much easier than having to take time to review requirements and figure out how to create the necessary documentation themselves. It was a proud and calming moment knowing I had made her experience and mine as a traveling pet parent easier.
I followed up on the recommendation by the government vet and asked about an EU Pet Passport, and she was able to issue me one with no problem and she was pleased I had government endorsed vaccinations so she was able to put that into the passport. I had assumed he would need another rabies vaccination that day to complete the pet passport process but she assured me it would be acceptable for travel to and from the EU.
It wasn’t until we got back to the hotel that my pet travel brain grew concerned.
I turned to open the pet passport and checked the language used around the scanning of his microchip. She had crossed out "implanted" and left scanned with today's date. All of that was done correctly and she advised me well for travel within the EU. But my growing concerns were all centered around that pesky thing that happened a few years ago called Brexit.
Pads, my last dog and co-founder, had one of the last UK pet passports so I was familiar with the terms that came with it then. Sure enough even though the UK do not issue them any more, they still have the same requirements for anyone who does use them for entry: the EU Pet Passport is only valid for entry if the most recent vaccination was administered on or after the date of microchip implant/scan.
This human error was caught by another human that could account for all the variables involved in pet travel. One day, situations like this will be caught by PadsPass.
The vet wasn’t wrong, his pet passport would have likely been fine for travel within the EU but it would have been useless for our upcoming Christmas Pawliday back to the UK. Thankfully the island was small enough and the vet practice very accommodating so we booked in an appointment for him to get his vaccination at the end of our trip.
And then we had a Never Event happen…
In pet travel, I apply the term to referring to things outside of our control that should never happen, but due to a series of events, happens. While Peru was frockling in his very first vineyard we were touring the grounds, a glass of orange wine in hand late in the warm afternoon sun, I thought it odd it had been 2 business days since I submitted the paperwork to Bermuda Animal Husbandry and I hadn’t heard anything. We’d be flying back on one of the only direct flights of the season on Tuesday, and Monday the offices would be closed. Friday was the last day to receive the import permit.I sent off a quick email replying to the first one, confirming they had received it.
Hold my wine.
I learned the email wasn’t fully received because of the attachments, they had exceed the attachment amount allowed. They were very responsive and let me send the individual files again. By the time we got back to our hotel I received the import permit.
In the future, PadsPass will prevent never events like this one we experienced.
Similarly, very early on Tuesday morning a wonderful week came to an end; it was clear we were heading back to reality with the chaos of the airline check in queues. We spent over 90 minutes in the special assistance lane where anyone with dogs are directed to go. People were desperately jumping in front of us claiming their need was greater than ours. By the time we go to the front, nearly 20 minutes after check-in time closed, there was just enough time to take our bags and check-in our dog.
After all that anxious time queuing it was made a little more anxious by having the check-in agent ask to weigh Peru enclosed in his carrier.
He alone weighs 8kg, so I knew he would be overweight. The agent commented everything needed to weigh 8kg in total. I made a desperate attempt to take out his accessories from the pocket of the bag to lighten the load. Going through that motion was enough amongst the chaos for him to forgo the weight limit and ask me if I had pre-paid. I quickly handed over my credit card as fast as possible to complete the process before he changed his mind. Thankfully, he didn’t care to ask me to take him out of the bag but what a way to end an otherwise pawfect week.
Considering the noise levels produced by the gaggle of children on the plane, Peru definitely earned his spot on that flight despite his weight, by keeping quiet and sleeping the whole five hour flight.
Flying back, we realised how lucky we got with so many of the logistics.
Having traveled with a small dog for over 10 years I’m experienced enough to get ahead of issues that arise but sometimes all it takes is a busy airport, a check-in agent who could rightfully refuse you, or an email that’s too large to reach the receiver to cause serious disruptions to travel.
Trips like this reinforce why I’m so passionate about building a platform that will change pet travel furever.
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Watch for the next article in this series will go into how we spent our time in our week with our four legged furry loved one staying in one of the Azore’s newest pet friendly hotels, the DoubleTree Hilton in Lagoa.
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