Shout out to Pet Lounge! I used them as well to get our dog here from FL. Originally, we were going to try and do everything ourselves, but it seemed like such a hassle and wasn't going to save us that much money considering we would have rent a car, find a hotel that allows pets, fly her and someone else, pay for transportation to the house here in CR...so we investigated companies that could do it for us. The main problem was that lots of airlines don't fly pets cargo. Our dog was too big to fly in cabin - she is a 4-year-old Blue Healer. Also, the airlines that could fly her only flew out of Miami and that was over 4 hours from where she was. Pet Lounge ended up essentially doing a concierge service for us from my mom's house in FL to our house in CR. The only thing we needed to do was get our dog from our beach condo to my mom and they took care of the rest. Thy could've picked her up from the condo, but we saved a little money by getting my brother to do that. Anyway, they picked our dog up, drove her to Miami, boarded her for three days, got her on the plane, got her off the plane in CR and through customs and then drove her to our house in CR. This cost us about $4000. We could've saved a bit more money by not having her boarded for so long, but it was a timing thing. All in all, the process went smoothly and our dog is happy to be reunited with us and is living her best doggie life!

Our experience of being a small dog down as a tourist in 2020: The prep was a hassle. I had to call the airline a couple of times. The was a lot of uncertainty about our seating. Getting the USDA certificate was a hassle. No good communication from the USDA. My wife had to drive 3 hours to drop off the application. The certificate arrived only a day or two before departure. Once we got to the airport, everything went smoothly. The airline employees treated us well. We found pet friendly hotels. We could bring the dogs into most restaurants. The ticos loved to pet our dog and show us photos of their dogs.

@yourpuravida

8 ай бұрын

Thanks for the comment! Yes, this is a pet-loving country to be sure. And one of the reasons my USDA was easier was because I used a company to help expedite all that. Was very little hassle other than filling stuff out...

Wow, that’s crazy, my process luckily was much easier. My dog is 16 pounds and she came on board sat in my lap as a pet from Miami to San Jose. Paid about 200 bucks to get her USDA certified to get into Costa Rica and that’s it. All in all under 500 bucks and my dog now lives here

@yourpuravida

8 ай бұрын

Yea ... the benefit of a smaller pet!!! 🐶 So glad your pup is with you here!

A very useful video regarding pets and Costa Rca. Thanks for posting.

Great video and topic. We have been living here permanently since moving here so we brought 2 chihuahua mixes and 1 cat from USA. There was 3 of us so because our pets were small we all had a pet as our carry on which made it much easier because they were with us the whole flight. We own our home here and I am involved with pet rescue here in CR too so we since have adopted rescue dog. The veterinarian care at our Refugio is so much cheaper than the USA. Plus there are veterinarian clinics everywhere here with good vets !! I worked as a veterinarian technician in the states and I can tell you that veterinarian care prices are half at least of what we paid in USA..Pura Vida 😊

@yourpuravida

8 ай бұрын

I am a big dog person but from a flying perspective, I envy those who can bring in the cabin! I agree on vets and their quality and abundance. In my town, there are easily 9 vets!

i’ve gone through the same task that you have and trying to find a way of bringing my 110 pound German Shepherd to Costa Rica from Dallas. I found it I cracked it and I’m setting it up now through the process for about 1200 bucks. Fingers crossed. It works out well he thinks so puda vida

@jblo76

3 ай бұрын

Hi, if you can please provide the names and details of which service and airline you used for flying your German to CR fur $1,200 that would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Hola - Patrick here. A few things I saw when watching this back that I wanted to clear up: (1) I note I couldn't bring via commercial carrier. Clarification: I couldn't bring the dogs down through a US-based commercial carrier. We ended up using Volaris cargo to get them down. (2) On my travel, I COULD have had a cargo company drive the dogs as part of our "package" from Denver to LA. I chose to drive them because it was less expensive to drive them vs. having others drive them (and made them less nervous).

@caityP

6 ай бұрын

Thank you for sharing your experience! Are the commercial carriers temperature regulated? Is there anyone on board to supervise the animals? We have two Boxers and because they are snub nosed I am very nervous.

@elisalyles1466

3 ай бұрын

Where did you drive from? How was it to go through all the borders?

@jblo76

3 ай бұрын

Thanks for the video and comments. You said it was 14 hours from the time you locked them in kennel to getting them back in San Jose. Can you explain that? The flight from LAX to San Jose CR is only 5.5 hours. Did you put them in a kennel the night before the flight, is that what you meant? Or you couldn’t get them out of a kennel in San Jose airport until a day after they arrived? Please clarify, thanks.

@yourpuravida

3 ай бұрын

@@jblo76 yes, it's more than just the flight. In my example, they were crated at a facility just off the runway. They had to be in their crates around 6pm so they could get all the documents reviewed, the crate processed as cargo, etc. I saw them put onto the plane around 11:30pm. just as I was boarding. The flight flew from LAX to Guatemala City. We were on the ground for about 45 minutes. Then on to Costa Rica. As "cargo" there is a longer process. But the team I worked with met them at SJO customs and got them acclimated until I got there. BTW, we are also going to answer this in our monthly Q&A video later this month!

@jblo76

3 ай бұрын

@@yourpuravida thanks for the reply. Wow, crated at 6 for an 11:30 flight! That’s a long time. So I’ve been researching and Alaska Airlines seems to have the most pet friendly planes/services for dogs both in-cabin and flying in cargo. They fly direct from LAX to SJO which is what I would take. When I called Alaska they just said I’d need to get there a couple hours before the normal airport arrival time for int’l flights to do paperwork and get the dog situated and crated. So I guess my other question to you is, if I go with an airline like Alaska with a strong dog travel reputation, would it still be necessary or advised to use a pet transportation company? Alaska made the process seem pretty straightforward. But I’m wondering if you know of other people who have flown Alaska with dogs and what their experience was? Thanks

Thanks for this video. I also have a big dog - a german shepherd / malamute cross. I think I'm just going to have to set aside a huge amount of cash in my moving budget to accommodate a private charter!

@yourpuravida

6 ай бұрын

You can for sure do that 😊 but you can for sure also do via shipping. My dog needed the XL crate and it was no prob!

@elisalyles1466

3 ай бұрын

Xl crate such as 48"? I'd need a height extender at a minimum.

Great video … we have two small but senior dogs and I think for now we are just going to go one at a time . We are ready to buy a place but we will be in USA for a few years before we moved permanently… I’m a little nervous but excited , we moved away from CR over 40 years ago and now going back … full circle 😊

@yourpuravida

6 ай бұрын

What a wonderful story! We are excited for you!!!!! 🐶

@alejandrarivera1087

6 ай бұрын

@@yourpuravida thank you!!

We have 2 standard poodles 75 pounds each is it easy to find groomers?

@yourpuravida

26 күн бұрын

@@jw6496 - depends on where you live but: yes!

What about bringing 4 dogs, and 2 cats

@yourpuravida

Ай бұрын

I'm not sure if there are any restrictions to the number of animals one can bring - you'd need to check on that. And be prepared for the cost...

How do you find great dog food? What do you feed? $?

@yourpuravida

3 ай бұрын

There are tons of brands - both specialty and more bulk/generic. You don't have a "fresh pet" or "farmers dog" subscription but there are good wet and custom foods as well. and I have gotten back to feeding home-cooked meals as well to the dogs.

@elisalyles1466

3 ай бұрын

I supplement kirkland food with fresh etc.. I want a farm near atenas/ san Ramon/ naranjo . Want to rent for a while to determine area. Will I find rental that accepts extra large dogs biggest 120#.

@yourpuravida

3 ай бұрын

@@elisalyles1466 for sure you will. we offer all of this consulting, scouting and relocation services - feel free to set up time to speak! hola@yourpuravida.com

i just booked my flight with Jetblue for me and my cat "beachy" from Orlando to san jose, the flight was $360 round trip and an extra $150 for the Cat. I have to see the vet 10 days before i fly to get the "USDA certificate" which will cost $300 on average, so for around $800 i am flying with my cat to my new ex-pat life in march of 2024!! so excited

@yourpuravida

8 ай бұрын

Yep - sounds oh so familiar! 😸 Let us know how it goes with the trip and reach out to us when you get here!!!