Thursday, February 18, 2010

When will we be back?

I really have no idea.

Just when we thought things have improved:
Mr Liow found out that ANA can transport dogs till before July 1st so we can go back as a family. He even made a reservation with the agent, got a number and reserved spots for Baileys and Maen. And then he was told that if we were to 'upgrade' to ANA (from whichever airline will be cheapest when we go back), we will have to top up the difference of USD$1700 (excluding the cargo fees for the dogs).

This is ridiculous! We were prepared to pay the difference but USD$1700 is enough to pay for a return ticket for another human being!

Mr Liow checked online and found ANA tickets to cost no more than USD$1200 after taxes for the period of June. Imagine, it cost more to top up the difference than to get a ticket back! Yet we were not allowed to purchase tickets from anyone else other than the 'agent' who charges this much, and charges agent fees on top of that!

So, we will not be able to take ANA now :(

And United Airlines has just updated that their summer restriction starts from May instead of June (WHY?????), so that means we will have to return by end of April and Mr Liow has to remain in Tucson on his own to pack and return on 14th June....

The only worry is, if we were to return end April, Baileys and Maen MAY have to be quarantined for 30days according to their categorization. I'm hoping they will not need to be there for too long. I know it's a new quarantine centre and facilities are supposed to be newer and better...but the wife of a pilot here mentioned her dog developed skin problems from the old quarantine centre ever since his quarantine few years back and has never recovered... I've put in lots of efforts in keeping under control, BM's skin sensitivities since they were puppies and I really am not keen to have problems come back!!!!

Still, if we have to return by April, we just have to :(

Latest news from Mr Liow is, EVA Air and Emirates seem to not have any restrictions on transporting dogs under any condition. He's called in to check with EVA Air and has been given a confirmation that they will be able to take Baileys and Maen. The same procedures apply (get a reservation number, call in to reserve 2 places and that is all). We've not checked with Emirates yet though.

We're praying that the agent will not quote us sky-high prices for air tickets back by any of these 2 airlines and that we do not need to top up ridiculous prices for the difference this time. Online, EVA Air tickets cost only USD$802 each (maybe USD$1K with taxes), so the price difference should not be too great.

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