Back in the USA and traveling with a parrot
Romeo and I have made it safely back to MA, but not without some snafus along the way! We left the condo a little latter than I had hoped, and then there was traffic on the way to the airport, so we wound up getting there an hour latter than I had hoped. Vlad and I still needed to get Romeo’s vet certificate translated and I need to get checked in. Vlad found the place to get it translated which was up stairs, and since I had my bags and stuff, Vlad decided to take my passport, ticket and Romeo and go up with out me. He came back a few minutes later and said he needed to get permission from the airline to bring Romeo on. It was about an hour and a half before my flight was scheduled to leave, so I was getting anxious. He went to the airline counter and was told that they already had two animals flying in coach, so they weren’t going to allow another animal. At this point I wasn’t checked in yet and I was starting to panic. Vlad went back to the customs office where the certificate was to be translated and apparently, he was told that if he up-graded my flight to business class, they would allow me to bring Romeo on the flight. Luckily, Vlad agreed to pay the extra $300 dollars for the upgrade, plus another $100 to bring Romeo on the plane. Since I had been there for 6 ½ months, I had an extra suitcase that was also and additional $100. I won’t even go into how much I left behind. While Vlad was running around trying to get Romeo approved to get on the plane, they were making announcements for people to get checked in for the flight to NY JFK, adding to my anxiety!
So I got to the first security point with all of my stuff, and had to send it through an x-ray machine. Vlad was not allowed to go to this point, so I had to say good-bye and thank him for the upgrade so I could bring Romeo with me. One of my suitcases was about 70 lbs. and the others were quite heavy as well. I had to heave each one off the cart, send it through the x-ray scanner and pick it up at the end and throw it back on my cart. I had to go to FOUR security checkpoints and pull my heavy my luggage from the cart onto the scanner and pick it up again and put it back on my cart! I was regretting the fact that I had not continued with my free weights lifting, for the time I was in Kiev! Yes, my back is still sore!
At one checkpoint, security found something odd looking in my suitcase and made me open it. I had brought a number of refrigerator magnets from my collection; many were from places I had gone to with Vlad before he left the US. Decorating one’s refrigerator with magnets is very American, and I wanted to have a bit of “home” with me when I had decided to move to Kiev. One of the magnets was also a bottle opener and I think that is what they wanted to see. I have to say, it’s never fun having strangers go through your luggage! I know its necessary and appreciate their thoroughness, but this was about 40 minutes before the flight was scheduled to leave and after the ordeal with Romeo, my adrenaline was pumping. I’m sure my anxiety was making me look suspicious as well, so I did my best to appear calm while my hands were shaking!
Finally, I got my luggage checked to go on the plane; the only thing left was to find my gate. I found a sign that said the flight was leaving from gate two. I asked a woman who looked like a flight attendant where gate two was and she responded with the typical Ukrainian hospitality, letting me know it was not her problem or responsibility to let me know where the gate was. Luckily, the airport is fairly small and I was able to find it quickly.
Once I got on board and stowed Romeo’s carrier under the seat in front and my carry-on in the bin above, I settled into my seat. Let me tell you how much more comfortable the seats in business class are compared to coach! I remembered when I had flown the nearly 11 hour flight to Kiev in coach, I was so uncomfortable. I swear if I ever fly overseas again, I will not go unless I can afford to fly business class! The flight attendants brought us beverages immediately, the food was good, and they even had really tasty warm dinner rolls! Mmmm, warm bread!
While I was enjoying my lunch however, I felt the familiar sensation of something climbing my leg. Romeo had discovered how to open his carrier! Apparently, he thought what I was eating looked pretty good too! I called the flight attendant to take my tray away, so I could move the seat tray away and get Romeo back in his carrier. I gave him some bread which he ate a bit of, but he was very nervous about flying, and his carrier is a bit small for him, but I wanted one that would fit under the airplane seat.
After a while, I felt Romeo climbing up my leg again and realized he had once again escaped! I held him on my hand and he stretched a bit and I realized he was pretty uncomfortable in there. Then he started to lean over, which is his way of letting me know he wants me to flip him around on my hand, sort of like twirling a baton, using a parrot instead! He finds this great fun, and luckily the other passengers found it amusing to watch and a few came over to see him! Many people are afraid of birds, so I was thankful I was flying with people who found him amusing. It turned out the man in the seat next to me, had a number of parrots at home that he and his wife had taken in that had been rescued from abusive homes. Talk about luck! Romeo was so much more comfortable; he ate more than he had on the flight out to Kiev, which was one less thing for me to worry about.
Let me just mention, flying internationally with a parrot is not easy. There are many forms, documents and fees required. I had obtained the required CITES permit and vet certificate prior to leaving the USA. When I was getting ready to return, I had contacted the National Fish & Wildlife Services to find out what was required to bring him back. They said I would need to have a vet certificate and CITES permit from Ukraine and let them know when I would be returning, my exact time of arrival, flight number and airline so they could meet me at the airport when I arrived. They also needed to do their own examination of Romeo. I think I mentioned that I got Romeo examined before leaving Kiev and that customs would not issue a CITES permit because he had come from the US and was returning to the US. They gave me an authorization number instead. I was also told that it would cost $300 to have him examined at the airport in NY and that price would go up considerably if I got in after 3:30pm or on a weekend. All flights on Aerosvit Ukrainian Airlines arrived at JFK at 3:10pm! The reason I flew Aerosvit is because many airlines won’t allow a parrot on board! One airline told me that I would need to transfer flights and that he would have to fly in the pet cargo area. They needed 5 hours to transfer a pet from one plane to the next and the layover was only 3 hours which meant he would have to be boarded at the airport kennel over night and I would have to pick him up at the airport the next day. The cost of boarding him was almost as much as MY airfare! Aerosvit has direct flights to Kiev from NY, which is why I flew in and out from there instead of Boston. They also allowed me to bring him on the plane instead of flying in cargo, which would have been much more traumatic for him.
When I boarded the plane, I had an envelope with me that had all of Romeo’s documents. When I showed the documents along with my ticket and passport for boarding, the security person put everything in the envelope for me. I stuck the envelope in the pocket on the seat in front of me. Let me just say NEVER put anything in that pocket thinking you will remember to take it out when you land! Especially if you find traveling stressful and flying with a parrot or something else increases your stress level to a point that you might forget you stuck something extremely important in there!
When the flight landed at 3:00pm, I was ready to move quickly. I figured since I was in the front of the plane, I would be able to get off quickly and get through customs ahead of the crowd and be able to meet the people from F&W services before 3:30 and save the addition fees that were adding up to be about the same as my airfare!
Well, I got to the customs booth in record time and that is when I realized I left the envelope with Romeo’s documents as well as my passport in the pouch of the seat in front of me! Talk about panic! Luckily I found someone who was able to get someone to go on the plane and retrieve it.
I met with the people from Fish & Wildlife. One man inspected the documents and the other was a vet who inspected Romeo and took a poopy sample to make sure Romeo is still healthy. I was told he is not allowed to leave home for 30 days. No promblem! The document inspector however, was none to pleased that Ukraine didn’t issue me a CITES permit. He said he would have to talk to his boss and decide if they are going to fine me!
My parents met me at the airport and drove the jeep 70 miles back to the campground. NY rush hour traffic made this a 4-hour trip! We did stop at Wendy’s for dinner. I just love their salads! I had almost forgotten just how good lettuce is! It made me think of a story my friend Shiloh had told me about when they took a Russian woman with them to the US and she kept going back to a salad bar piling lettuce on her plate. She said, “This American cabbage is really good!” lol! Romeo thought it was pretty good too!
We drove back to MA the next day. Although it was a long drive, we all made it home safely. I am adjusting to the time change and Romeo seems pretty happy. I think I would have to reconsider traveling abroad with him again due to all of the expenses and additional stresses.
So I got to the first security point with all of my stuff, and had to send it through an x-ray machine. Vlad was not allowed to go to this point, so I had to say good-bye and thank him for the upgrade so I could bring Romeo with me. One of my suitcases was about 70 lbs. and the others were quite heavy as well. I had to heave each one off the cart, send it through the x-ray scanner and pick it up at the end and throw it back on my cart. I had to go to FOUR security checkpoints and pull my heavy my luggage from the cart onto the scanner and pick it up again and put it back on my cart! I was regretting the fact that I had not continued with my free weights lifting, for the time I was in Kiev! Yes, my back is still sore!
At one checkpoint, security found something odd looking in my suitcase and made me open it. I had brought a number of refrigerator magnets from my collection; many were from places I had gone to with Vlad before he left the US. Decorating one’s refrigerator with magnets is very American, and I wanted to have a bit of “home” with me when I had decided to move to Kiev. One of the magnets was also a bottle opener and I think that is what they wanted to see. I have to say, it’s never fun having strangers go through your luggage! I know its necessary and appreciate their thoroughness, but this was about 40 minutes before the flight was scheduled to leave and after the ordeal with Romeo, my adrenaline was pumping. I’m sure my anxiety was making me look suspicious as well, so I did my best to appear calm while my hands were shaking!
Finally, I got my luggage checked to go on the plane; the only thing left was to find my gate. I found a sign that said the flight was leaving from gate two. I asked a woman who looked like a flight attendant where gate two was and she responded with the typical Ukrainian hospitality, letting me know it was not her problem or responsibility to let me know where the gate was. Luckily, the airport is fairly small and I was able to find it quickly.
Once I got on board and stowed Romeo’s carrier under the seat in front and my carry-on in the bin above, I settled into my seat. Let me tell you how much more comfortable the seats in business class are compared to coach! I remembered when I had flown the nearly 11 hour flight to Kiev in coach, I was so uncomfortable. I swear if I ever fly overseas again, I will not go unless I can afford to fly business class! The flight attendants brought us beverages immediately, the food was good, and they even had really tasty warm dinner rolls! Mmmm, warm bread!
While I was enjoying my lunch however, I felt the familiar sensation of something climbing my leg. Romeo had discovered how to open his carrier! Apparently, he thought what I was eating looked pretty good too! I called the flight attendant to take my tray away, so I could move the seat tray away and get Romeo back in his carrier. I gave him some bread which he ate a bit of, but he was very nervous about flying, and his carrier is a bit small for him, but I wanted one that would fit under the airplane seat.
After a while, I felt Romeo climbing up my leg again and realized he had once again escaped! I held him on my hand and he stretched a bit and I realized he was pretty uncomfortable in there. Then he started to lean over, which is his way of letting me know he wants me to flip him around on my hand, sort of like twirling a baton, using a parrot instead! He finds this great fun, and luckily the other passengers found it amusing to watch and a few came over to see him! Many people are afraid of birds, so I was thankful I was flying with people who found him amusing. It turned out the man in the seat next to me, had a number of parrots at home that he and his wife had taken in that had been rescued from abusive homes. Talk about luck! Romeo was so much more comfortable; he ate more than he had on the flight out to Kiev, which was one less thing for me to worry about.
Let me just mention, flying internationally with a parrot is not easy. There are many forms, documents and fees required. I had obtained the required CITES permit and vet certificate prior to leaving the USA. When I was getting ready to return, I had contacted the National Fish & Wildlife Services to find out what was required to bring him back. They said I would need to have a vet certificate and CITES permit from Ukraine and let them know when I would be returning, my exact time of arrival, flight number and airline so they could meet me at the airport when I arrived. They also needed to do their own examination of Romeo. I think I mentioned that I got Romeo examined before leaving Kiev and that customs would not issue a CITES permit because he had come from the US and was returning to the US. They gave me an authorization number instead. I was also told that it would cost $300 to have him examined at the airport in NY and that price would go up considerably if I got in after 3:30pm or on a weekend. All flights on Aerosvit Ukrainian Airlines arrived at JFK at 3:10pm! The reason I flew Aerosvit is because many airlines won’t allow a parrot on board! One airline told me that I would need to transfer flights and that he would have to fly in the pet cargo area. They needed 5 hours to transfer a pet from one plane to the next and the layover was only 3 hours which meant he would have to be boarded at the airport kennel over night and I would have to pick him up at the airport the next day. The cost of boarding him was almost as much as MY airfare! Aerosvit has direct flights to Kiev from NY, which is why I flew in and out from there instead of Boston. They also allowed me to bring him on the plane instead of flying in cargo, which would have been much more traumatic for him.
When I boarded the plane, I had an envelope with me that had all of Romeo’s documents. When I showed the documents along with my ticket and passport for boarding, the security person put everything in the envelope for me. I stuck the envelope in the pocket on the seat in front of me. Let me just say NEVER put anything in that pocket thinking you will remember to take it out when you land! Especially if you find traveling stressful and flying with a parrot or something else increases your stress level to a point that you might forget you stuck something extremely important in there!
When the flight landed at 3:00pm, I was ready to move quickly. I figured since I was in the front of the plane, I would be able to get off quickly and get through customs ahead of the crowd and be able to meet the people from F&W services before 3:30 and save the addition fees that were adding up to be about the same as my airfare!
Well, I got to the customs booth in record time and that is when I realized I left the envelope with Romeo’s documents as well as my passport in the pouch of the seat in front of me! Talk about panic! Luckily I found someone who was able to get someone to go on the plane and retrieve it.
I met with the people from Fish & Wildlife. One man inspected the documents and the other was a vet who inspected Romeo and took a poopy sample to make sure Romeo is still healthy. I was told he is not allowed to leave home for 30 days. No promblem! The document inspector however, was none to pleased that Ukraine didn’t issue me a CITES permit. He said he would have to talk to his boss and decide if they are going to fine me!
My parents met me at the airport and drove the jeep 70 miles back to the campground. NY rush hour traffic made this a 4-hour trip! We did stop at Wendy’s for dinner. I just love their salads! I had almost forgotten just how good lettuce is! It made me think of a story my friend Shiloh had told me about when they took a Russian woman with them to the US and she kept going back to a salad bar piling lettuce on her plate. She said, “This American cabbage is really good!” lol! Romeo thought it was pretty good too!
We drove back to MA the next day. Although it was a long drive, we all made it home safely. I am adjusting to the time change and Romeo seems pretty happy. I think I would have to reconsider traveling abroad with him again due to all of the expenses and additional stresses.