The Pet Travel Checklist: What to Do Before You Fly With Your Dog

Flying with a dog is mostly paperwork and timing. Get those two right and the day itself is easy: you check in, you hand over a bag or a crate, and a few hours later your dog is walking around somewhere new. Get them wrong and you find out at the counter, which is the worst possible place.

This is the checklist we use. Work through it from the top and nothing should surprise you.

Before you book

• Check that your airline takes your dog at all. Not all of them do, and the ones that do have their own weight and bag limits. Our free Dog Flight Checker takes your dog's weight and shows which of 27 airlines will carry it in the cabin or the hold.
• Book your dog's spot with your own ticket. Airlines take only a few animals per flight. On busy routes those places are gone weeks ahead, and a ticket without a confirmed pet booking is worth nothing on the day.
• Check the rules of the country you are flying to, not just the airline's. They are separate things, and the country's rules are the ones that can turn your dog away at the border.
• Think about connections. Several airlines will not carry a dog in the hold if you change planes. A direct flight is worth paying for.

Four to six weeks before

• Microchip first, then rabies. The order matters: a rabies vaccination only counts if the chip was already in place. Do it the other way round and the vaccination has to be repeated.
• Rabies vaccination, in time. Inside the EU it has to be at least 21 days old on the day you travel. That waiting period is the single most common reason a trip gets cancelled.
• Get the pet passport sorted. Your vet fills it in and signs it. We wrote the whole route down in the EU pet passport guide.
• Ask your vet about the destination. Some countries want a tapeworm treatment, a health certificate issued within a set number of days, or a blood test. The United Kingdom, Ireland, Finland, Malta and Norway all ask for tapeworm treatment given 24 to 120 hours before you arrive.

Two weeks before

• Have the bag or crate in the house and open. Feed your dog in it. Put a blanket that smells of home inside. A dog that already sleeps in its bag travels calmly; a dog meeting it for the first time at the airport does not.
• Measure your dog, do not guess. Airlines check the bag, and check-in staff have the last word. Which carrier bag is really airline-approved explains what they actually look at.
• Check the tag and the chip registration. A tag with your phone number, and a chip whose registration still lists a number you can be reached on. An out-of-date chip record helps nobody.
• Print everything twice. Paper copies of the passport, the booking and the vet certificate. Phones run out of battery in queues.

The day before

• Trim the nails. Long nails catch in mesh and crate doors.
• Freeze the water. A frozen bowl of water clipped inside a hold crate does not slosh out at loading and thaws into drinking water in the air.
• Do not sedate. IATA advises against it. Sedatives lower blood pressure and so does cabin pressure at altitude; together that is a risk, especially for older or anxious dogs. Ask your vet about calming options that do not sedate.
• Pack the small bag: lead, a few poop bags, wipes, a spare absorbent pad, treats, and a spare set of the papers.

The day itself

• Feed lightly, and early. A small meal at least two hours before you leave, not right before.
• Walk your dog properly before you go in, and again outside the terminal. A tired dog settles; a fresh one does not.
• Arrive early. An hour ahead is the usual minimum for a dog in the cabin. For a dog travelling in the hold, most airlines want you there two to three hours ahead, because the crate has to be checked and labelled. Confirm the time with your airline.
• Last toilet stop before security. Once you are through, the chances drop sharply.

At the airport

• Expect to take your dog out of the bag at security. You carry it through the scanner while the empty bag goes on the belt. Keep the lead on and clipped to the harness before you open anything.
• Have the papers in your hand, not at the bottom of your rucksack.
• Find the pet relief area if there is one. Many larger airports have one after security. It is worth looking up before you fly.
• Keep the bag under the seat in front of you, not on your lap. That is the rule on every airline we know of.

When you land

• Water first, food later. Offer water straight away; wait a while before a meal.
• Walk before you travel on. Even ten minutes outside the terminal resets a dog.
• Keep the papers with you until you are through the border. Some countries check on the way out as well as on the way in.
• Let your dog sleep. Flying is tiring for them too. A quiet first evening is worth more than sightseeing.

Not sure whether your dog can fly at all?

Start with the weight. Most European airlines take a dog in the cabin up to about 8 kg including the bag, and heavier dogs travel in the hold in a hard crate. Flat-nosed breeds are refused in the hold by most airlines. Our free Dog Flight Checker answers all of that in a minute, and works out the bag or crate size you need.

Open the Dog Flight Checker →

Going by car instead? Read Road Trips With Your Dog: Safety, Packing List & First-Time Tips. Comparing airlines first? See our comparison of 27 airlines.

Checked September 2026. Airline and country rules change often — always confirm with your airline and with the official authority of the country you are flying to before you book.