American Airlines - Mexico to Chicago

We took our home leave earlier this month, returning to Chicago.

We always fly American Airlines, since it has a direct route from Mexico City to Chicago...and because we are working on earning free flights with mileage points.

But, we were a bit disgruntled with American on our flight to Chicago.

Annabelle is two and we have to pay for a seat for her, which is fine, because then she doesn't have to squirm on our laps for four hours.

A few days before the flight, I looked at www.aa.com to refresh my memory on their baggage policies and children's policies. I was glad to see that we could take Annabelle's car seat on the plane to use, since Interjet had made us check the car seat.

When we got to the airport and were checking in, the person helping us told us we had to check the car seat. That we were not allowed to bring it on board. We argued, saying we needed it. She said "use the seat belt". We told her that Annabelle was able to get out of the seat belt. Her response "tighten it". Clearly she was not a mother, as any mother would know that at about age 1, children figure out how to unhook the seat belt on an airplane. The woman was relentless and made us check the car seat.

Once we got onboard, we asked the flight attendants about the car seat. They were baffled and said we should have been able to bring it aboard. Upon leaving Chicago to return to Mexico, the check-in attendant allowed us to keep the car seat with us and had no idea why the attendant in Mexico forced us to check it.

Needless to say, the flight back to Mexico went a lot smoother than the flight to Chicago. On the way to Chicago, sans car seat, Annabelle refused to sit in her seat with her seat belt on. A problem when the pilot told us to expect turbulence for two of the four hours. When we tried to keep her contained on our laps, she screamed...something the other passengers loved, I'm sure.

With the car seat, on the way back to Mexico, Annabelle was contained, couldn't escape and seemed to accept the confines of her car seat. She watched a bit of the movie playing onboard, played with the iPad, looked at videos of herself on the iPhone and ate snacks. Unfortunately, she also kicked the seat in front of us a bit, but settled down pretty quickly after being yelled at and told not to kick.

The ideal flight would have been to have the car seat and sit in the first row, where she would not have been able to kick the seat in front of her. Or, to have the flight full minus at least one seat, so that no one was sitting in front of her.

Next time, American Airlines in Mexico tells us no to the car seat, we'll ask to speak to a supervisor. Not only is it easier for the parents and other passengers to have children confined, but it is a LOT safer, especially when there is turbulence.

Dog to Mexico

Today we returned to Mexico City for our official move. No return flights to the U.S. in our near future, which meant it was time to bring our dog to Mexico.

We have been dreading bringing her to Mexico, anticipating that the experience would be ridiculous and complicated. It didn't help that the relocation company gave us a quote for them to ship her down to us for over $3,000...closer to $4,000 if we wanted that company to pick her up and deliver her from the airport(s). Said company also said they don't recommend you taking your dog thru customs without them. But, since my husband's employer wasn't footing the bill...we thought we'd take our chances and try and save a couple grand!

Prior to our departure, I called American Airlines three times and checked their website a couple more times. The website ended up being the most helpful, as it seems that is what the AA check-in people were using to guide them. But, calling was also imperative as the people on the phone were able to tell me what Mexico's customs would require.

In the end, I was told I needed a health certificate (not issued more than five days before departure), a rabies vaccination certificate, a certificate showing the dog is free from ECTO and ENDO, and then a letter from the vet stating the dog can fly if the weather is below 45 degrees.

In other departure city or arrival city, the temperature is not supposed to be below 45 degrees or above 85 for the dog to fly. I was very concerned about this, until I saw the information on getting a letter. Then, I became worried because Mexico City has been having very warm weather - mid 80's!

I was also told the cost would be $175, payable at the check-in, via credit card. And, food must be taped to the crate, with water and food dishes inside. The crate must also be a certain size, allowing the dog to stand up and turn around. PLUS, the dog and crate together can weigh no more than 100 pounds.

So...the day before our flight, my husband and our dog went to the vet. $400 later, with some Heartworm meds and allergy pills, we had the rabies vaccination and health certificate. Apparently everything but the rabies shot verification is on the "international health certificate". Very handy...and costly!

Regardless of how prepared we thought we were, we headed to the airport early. My brother drove us and we had him park and help us carry everything inside. Good thing, as he was instrumental in helping wrangle the dog, the baby, the luggage, and the crate!

The check-in line was very short...until we got up there. We caused a bit of a backup, since it took the AA attendants over an hour to check us (mainly the dog) in. They had no idea what was needed. I'm not sure if they'd ever checked a dog in before. So, they kept looking everything up on their computers. Then...they broke out the tape measure. The tape measure, or how the woman was choosing to measure the crate, almost ended Molly's journey.

She said the crate was over the allotted size and that it wouldn't fit into the plane. She told us we would board the plane and if Molly didn't fit, we would be taken off the plane and would miss our flight. A bit stressful.

In the end, the crate was NOT oversized. When measuring height, the tape measure should go straight up...not follow the curves of the crate. So, the crate was the last piece of luggage loaded onto the plane and the first thing off, to Annie's delight! Annie was sitting with me on a window seat, with a perfect view of them unloading the baggage. "Molly's crate! I see Molly's crate!"

Once we cleared immigration and got our bags, I set out to find someone with scissors, who could cut the zip tie that AA put on the crate door. Four people later, Molly was cut loose and walking thru the airport... until someone quickly told us dogs are not permitted to be out of their crates in the airport. So, she had to go back in, while we waited almost an hour for Mexico's animal customs to clear us...during which, at some point, she peed in her crate, as there are no designated places to let your dog go outside and find some grass.

In the end, the process for bringing the dog to Mexico City was long and tedious, adding several hours to our time in the airport(s). Would we do it again? Yes. But, will we take her every time we travel back and forth to the U.S.? NO!! ...especially when I have just learned of a dog kennel in Mexico City that comes highly recommended and that will pick-up and drop-off your dog, bathing her before the drop off!