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If you’re looking to travel to Europe with your cat, you’re in the right place. We love to travel, but also love our cat, and once she was comfortable flying shorter flights, we knew she would be okay for a longer flight flying to Europe from the United States.
However, it’s not just as simple as her being comfortable with flying. Taking a cat from the United States to Europe is a process!
I won’t say it’s a complicated one, because truly, it’s not. However, there are many steps that have to be taken in the correct order for it to be smooth sailing, or I suppose, smooth flying.
Flying With A Cat To Europe
If you’ve found this post, you’ve already considered bringing your cat with you to Europe, so I don’t need to dive into why you should or shouldn’t do it. So let’s jump right into the steps you need to take to bring your cat to Europe from the United States.
Step 1 | Buy your plane tickets + cat airfare.
I’m a little bit hesitant to put this as step one, as we purchased our tickets only a few weeks in advance and made sure the vet could get us in before buying plane tickets. However, since most people plan way more in advance than we do, I’m putting it here! Just be sure to give yourself plenty of time for the microchipping and vaccination requirements below!
When you purchase your ticket, be sure to pay attention to the following things.
- Ensure they allow pets in the cabin with the airline you choose, and check the price! Some airlines are much more spendy than others, expect around $150 each way.
- Avoid layovers in the UK, Ireland, Iceland, or other islands. This will make is much more difficult for traveling with your cat.
- Plan flights around potty times if you can. Ideally, after the morning bathroom because it may be hard for your cat to go potty in a new environment. And I’ve heard horror stories of cats pooping on planes!
- Try to make your final destination your first touchdown in Europe. In other words, don’t have international layovers.
Be sure to call the airline right away to book your pet in the cabin with you! One flight we were looking at didn’t have any space for more pets on board, so we had to cancel and rebook our flights!
I recommend spending the extra money to be able to change or cancel your flight in case something gets delayed in your health certification process.
Recommended Airfare Booking
I always recommend using Momondo when searching for airfare. The prices on Momondo are continually the best we’ve seen. For this specific flight, I suggest looking through Momondo (prices were cheaper this way) and then choosing to book directly with the airline itself.
Step 2 | Microchip your cat.
This may sound like a strange next step, but your cat must be microchipped to enter Europe. And, as an added bonus, the microchipping must be done before the rabies vaccine.
In our case, we microchipped Georgie before she got her rabies vaccine; however, the microchip number wasn’t on her vaccine certificate. So we had to go back to the vet to get the vaccination proof reprinted and signed by the vet with the microchip number added.
Step 3 | Get your cat updated on vaccinations.
The vaccinations your cat needs to enter Europe depend on the country you enter as your first entry point and where you’re traveling to. This means that if you have a layover before your final destination, you need to check the layover location as well as your final destination.
READ MORE | Find Your Destination Requirements Here
Most places in Europe only require the rabies vaccination. However, it’s important to note that the rabies vaccination must be done after your cat is microchipped and at least 21 days before arrival in Europe.
Step 3a | Collect all your paperwork from the vet.
You will need to carry a rabies vaccination document signed by your vet that includes the following information on the paperwork.
- Done on letterhead
- Name and location of the veterinary clinic
- Name, breed, weight, birthday, and color of your cat
- Microchip number
- Date of Rabies vaccine (if no proof of prior vaccine without a gap, the expiration date of vaccine is one year from this date)
- Signed and dated by the veterinarian
This paperwork is crucial to have not only while traveling if you get asked for it (we never have), but also for getting your health certificate approved. Your health certificate will not be approved it you do not have the rabies documentation with all the information listed above.
You will also need to print off paperwork of when your pet was microchipped. We were able to use the receipt of getting the microchipping down from the vet as proof for the USDA accreditation.
Step 4 | Schedule a vet appointment with a USDA-Accredited Veterinarian
If your vet isn’t a USDA-accredited veterinarian for international travel to Europe, you will need to find a vet that is. We live in a small town and quickly learned nobody in our small town could do the accreditation, so we had to search in neighboring bigger cities.
The vet must be accredited for international travel. For every place we called, I also asked for suggestions of vets they think may do the accreditation, and still, I was on the phone for multiple hours calling over 20 veterinarian clinics.
When you find a vet office that does the accreditation, I suggest asking them the cost, and when they can get you in to be seen.
It’s important to note, the vet visit has to be done within 30 days of the Health Certification, which has to be done within 10 days of your arrival to Europe.
READ MORE | Find a USDA-Accredited Veterinarian near you here.
Step 5 | Purchase a return shipping label
The vet will electronically submit all the information you need to the Health Certificate Endorsement Office. However, you will need to give them a prepaid return label, and this was one of the most confusing parts to us.
When purchasing the return envelope, you must put in your address as the sender and the receiver, which makes the estimated shipping date the next day, even for the cheapest shipping. DO NOT BELIEVE THIS! It registers as a quick delivery because the starting address and delivery address are the same.
You need to purchase priority shipping, or even overnight shipping if you need the endorsed health certificate within a week.
Other things to note about shipping…
- Your address needs to be the sender and receiver
- The weight is 1lb
- The dimensions are 1 x 12.5 x 9.5 inches
- The USDA Endorsement Office already has envelopes for your shipment
This return label along with the rest of the paperwork listed below, will be submitted by your vet to the health certificate endorsement office. From here, you just simply wait!
Checklist of Necessary Documents Printed for Vet Visit
- Rabies Vaccine from longer than 21 days prior to departure.
- Microchip paperwork dated prior to rabies vaccine
- Pet Owners Checklist for Shipping Health Certificate | find it here
- Credit Card Information Sheet for Payment of USDA APHIS Endorsement Fee | find it here
- Prepaid shipping label. We did ours at the vet to ensure we were doing it correctly. Then emailed it to the vet, and they used it for submission.
Cost Breakdown of Flying Your Cat to Europe from USA
Flying your cat from the United States to Europe is not cheap. But in a lot of ways it’s worth it.. especially if you will be in Europe for a long time or traveling by van or car instead of airplane once there.
Cat Fare on Flight
Each airline has a different cost associated with flying with a pet in cabin. When we’ve taken Georgie to Mexico and within the United States, she usually costs only $50 each way. However, for international travel to Europe, the cost on all the airlines was right around $150 USD each direction.
Meaning $300 USD total for a trip to Europe and back.
USDA APHIS Endorsement Fee
The endorsement fee for one pet traveling without any extra lab tests needing to be done is $101 USD. It’s important to note that this is a separate charge from the vet visit and consult fee below.
Read More | Pricing for Multiple Pets and Other Extras
Vet Visit and Health Consult
Holy Hannah! The health consult and vet visit was so spendy.. and we were quoted at prices starting at $199 up to $650. And that’s without the additional endorsement fee listed above.
Be sure to shop around for the health consult fee.. making sure that when you call, you can tell the vet which country you’re flying to for an accurate price estimate for the vet visit.
Return Shipping Label Fee
We made the massive mistake of paying for the cheapest return shipping label, thinking that the UDSA APHIS Endorsement Office was in Sacramento. However, the endorsement office used was actually in freaking Kentucky, so our package had to be shipped from Kentucky to California, making that cheap return shipping label not sufficient.
Pay for the overnight shipping label.. even though it will cost you $100-$200 USD. If you try to set up a business account with FedEx, you may get cheaper pricing.
Microchipping
This costs us around $40 USD. However, we did this years before flying. But certainly an expense to keep in mind.
Updated Rabies Vaccine
The rabies vaccine needs to be in your cat’s system for at least 21 days before arriving in Europe. We also learned that the rabies vaccine is only valid for 3 years if it’s the second shot, and more than one year has not lapsed before the revaccination.
This price varies by pet, but usually around $50.
Cat Travel Essentials
We have an entire post that goes more in-depth on these cat travel essentials, but here they are at a glance.
- Travel Backpack
- Lickable Treats
- Natural Anxiety Drops
- Poo Bags
- Harness and Leash
- AirTag or Trackable Collar
- Sealable Food and Water Dish
- Travel Litter Box
Financial Things To Consider Once In Europe
Securing a Pet Passport
Okay, not going to lie, we were super stoked about Georgie Girl getting a passport! Honestly, how cute is that!? We ended up not needing one for the traveling via train in Europe, but are going to be getting one when we return to Belgium next week. So, I’ll update this post with how that goes.
I’ve read that the pet passports cost around €30 – €60. But having the pet passport will make your cat be able to fly in and out of Europe without all the extra health certification next time.. or at least that’s what we were told by immigration officers in Belgium.
Cost of Flights For Travel Around Europe
While we originally planned to be traveling by van in Europe, our van had to go to the shop for longer than expected to get fixed, so we started searching for alternatives ways to travel. We quickly learned that cats are not allowed on the main budget airlines in Europe.
We did find that Transavia allows pets on their flights for a small fee. They’re a budget airline that flys to limited countries, but worth looking into for sure. You must have a pet passport when traveling via plane in Europe.
We opted for travel via train.. more on that below.
Train Pet Fee
The pet fee on trains varies by country… and in our experience it’s been extremely cheap.
In Belgium, the pet fee for train travel is €3 each direction. So when you’re booking a train from Point A to Point B, it will be an additional €3.. found under the supplemental charges. This charge is for each individual booking made.
In Germany, there are no pet fees.
In Austria, there is a dog fee, but no options for cats or even pets, so we haven’t paid extra for Georgie at all in Austria either… we have a few more travel days in Austria, so we’ll see if we learn the hard way that we have to pay for her.
All in all, the added pet fees for trains are minimal or non-existent, so don’t worry too much about higher prices here!
Hotel Pet Fees (and lack of accepting cats)
If we’re being honest, I was super nervous about booking hotels when traveling with a cat to Europe. With high pet fees and basically nobody allowing cats in the United States, I was worried we would be racking up the bills and having a hard time finding places that allow cats specifically.
But to our pleasant surprise, that has not been the case.
In our two weeks traveling in Europe with our cat Georgie, we have yet to pay for a pet fee. Most of the listings that allow pets say there is a fee associated with it, typically ranging from €3 – €20 per night, we haven’t gotten charged that fee.
I’m not sure if it’s because our pet is a cat instead of a dog, or if people just don’t care enough to charge the fee.. but knock on wood — she hasn’t cost us anything extra yet.
When booking accommodation, be sure that the pet policy allows cats. A good number of hotels have said, “pets allowed – dogs only”. So do your research!
Cost of Cat Food, Litter, and Treats
After traveling to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico with Georgie and experiencing super high prices for cat food and litter, we were wondering how Europe would compare.
And really, it shouldn’t come as a surprise with how cheap food is in Europe, that cat food, treats, and litter are all super cheap too! Think like $4 for a large box of litter. Under $2 for a pack of 8 lickable treats. Under $4 for a bag of food. It’s really inexpensive and has been fun to spoil Georgie with extra treats with how cheap they are.
Remember, Cat Comfort Comes First
Before you go booking your flights with your feline friend, be sure they’re ready for travel. After being a stray in the wild, countryside, Georgie has lived her entire life on the road. So she’s used to travel, being on the move, and adapting to new places.
Some cats just aren’t built for that, and your cat’s comfort needs to come first.
Try exploring locally before taking your cat on a big flight across the pond. And be sure you’re willing to sometimes skip the adventure if your cat is too afraid to join in.
It’s been amazing to have Georgie here in Europe with us. But we’ve had to also make sacrifices by doing things that best suit her, like making sure she’s comfortable and all set up in a hotel before going out to explore. Or, exploring a city without her, just to go get her and take her to places we know she’d be comfortable in.
It’s an adventure worth having.. but only if you can sacrifice for your kitty!
If you have questions, shoot us a message on @arboursabroad on Instagram! We’re happy to connect and chat more!
