The German Adventure Begins
Our adventure of flying to Germany for Christmas with my wife and Service Dog.
The adventure of flying to Germany for Christmas with my Service Dog.
Ok then. Seven AM Pacific Time, Monday, December 12th. The Paddy Wagon is here to take us to the airport. Kid you not. Our ride company’s name is Paddy Wagon. The service was started for those over tipplers at the local Bonney Lake Tavern. A way for them to get home without the official Paddy Wagon.
I digress. We loaded our bags into the SUV and set out for Seatac airport. We were on our way to Germany where we will be spending Christmas with our daughter’s family.
We were leaving early for an eleven am flight, but I know what traffic on 167 can be like in the morning. I wasn’t disappointed. Halfway to the airport traffic was backing up and slowing to a crawl. Our driver decided an abrupt route change was in order which allowed us to arrive at United Departures with plenty of time to spare.
Security
Another reason to leave early was to avoid the lines at security. Seatac received a lot of bad press because of the queues for security during Thanksgiving. In response the airport has upped their game. They have put in place services that will move people through quicker. One such service is Spot Saver. This service is free, but it requires you to put their app on your phone. I had reserved an 8:45 spot with the service. Because of our early departure and our driver’s attention to traffic, we finished baggage check early and were way early for our reserve time. The spot queue was empty and we asked the attendant if we should come back. To the contrary. No waiting. We were escorted through the door to the security line, but at the head of the line. It felt deliciously wrong; to be treated like a rock star and jump the line ahead of all the other plebs.
Then there was TSA. On showing our passports and Global Entry cards (these also qualify for TSA Precheck), we were handed pink — call it get out of jail free — cards. Toss our bags into the bins. Empty our pockets. No need to take off the shoes. No need to pull the little shampoo bottles or laptops out, just put the bags on the belt and step away. Heading to the x-ray machine with card in hand “no sir” the TSA person says, “over here please”. Liddy goes through the metal detector and I follow. It was great.
Once clear of TSA, we found a restaurant where we enjoyed a good breakfast before finding our departure gate. While June watched our bags, I took Liddy down the way to find the pet relief station. All major American airports have them now. Typically they are a small room with tile floors and plastic turf thrown over part of it. When we arrived, an English Sheepdog was cowering behind it’s owner not wanting to go in. Its owner said it refused to use the place. Liddy agreed with the sheepdog and made it very obvious that this was not her cup of tea either.
Paperwork
When we travel with Liddy to Hawaii, there is some paperwork involved, none of which required more than her veterinarian’s signature. To get her into Germany, we were advised we would need export papers certified by a local office of the US Department of Agriculture. We hired a company recommended by our vet. The company prepared export documents for the vet to complete certifying Liddy was rabies free and good to travel. We saw the vet a week before our departure. The documents were sent to the Olympia USDA office for certification. The official documents complete with seal of approval were in our hands two days later.
So, come time to board our flight, I was expecting to be asked to show the documents at some point. Assuming I would be asked now, at boarding, I asked the gate attendant if she would want to see the papers. Nope, just passport and boarding pass. What the attendant did offer was for us to join the pre-board crowd (us). Of course, we would. Full flight, lots of bags, push through a crowded aisle with a dog, damn straight I’m going to preboard.
The Second Leg — Denver to Frankfurt
In Denver, we were last off the plane. This was more by choice as we had lots of time between flights and the gates were close by. Denver Airport’s pet relief station was across the hall from our departure gate so, again with June watching our bags, Liddy and I went over to see what would come out. Again, Liddy didn’t want anything to do with this situation. Ok then girl, I thought, “just don’t wet the mat halfway to Frankfurt.”
Again, I checked in with the gate agent, and again were rewarded with permission to preboard and at the appointed time we marched down the aisle to the back of our bus, a 787.
Nine not so wonderful hours later we landed in Frankfurt. It used to be that one could recline an economy seat into the lap of your fellow passenger behind. Not so anymore. The recline button gave a small token of tilt and was done. Sleeping in the vertical position not being among my accumulated set of life skills, it was nine hours of mental ”are we there yet?”
Arrival by bus
Our flight arrived on time. Unfortunately, there were no gates available to park the plane at. We would deplane via air stairs and then be taken to the terminal by bus. This, I thought, would provide an opportunity for Liddy to irrigate the tarmac and thus take some pressure off. Nope. Not happening. We boarded the bus.
The Bus delivered us to the terminal, and we began the expedition to find our way out through the maze. I figured that the baggage claim signs would be a good guide, so off we went. Up stairs, down corridors, turn left, turn right, down stairs, more corridors… thank goodness for those signs.
After a few lefts, rights, ups, and downs, June was beginning to worry. She, rightfully so in my opinion, thought we should have found a customs desk by now. Here we were mingling with so many other travelers, but we hadn’t cleared immigration yet. The thing is, Frankfurt is a major European hub. Flights come in from all over. We were in the large international area. As long as you don’t want to get out into the Deutschland, nobody really cares.
Finally, we were able to follow the baggage claim signs to the immigration queue. It moved along at a good pace and, after presenting our passports, answering a couple of questions, purpose of visit and when are you leaving, we were released to the actual baggage claim area. While I adjusted my backpack and put away our passports, June collected our checked bag.
A conversation with the customs officer
By this time I had also contacted our daughter to let her know where she should expect to meet us. I was ready to be done with this journey. Tired, disorientated, and generally less than one hundred percent. I wanted out and I wanted Liddy to have a chance to pee.
Looking about, the only exit I saw was one with a green sign reading NOTHING TO DECLARE. Well, I had nothing to declare I thought… Wrong. I had to declare Liddy. The customs officer at the door took pitty on us, gently chastising us for not knowing the rules. We should have gone to the exit with the red sign. It may have said SOMETHING TO DECLARE, but I never saw it.
This then, was the moment. The moment I provided our certified documents from the USDA. Our new friend called a fellow officer over with a wand and Liddy’s microchip was scanned. Finding Liddy’s ID matching her paperwork, and all of that in order, he welcomed us to Germany.
EU Pet Passport
We will be visiting a local vet tomorrow. There we plan to get Liddy her own pet passport. This passport will be used every time we cross a border in the EU, and the next time we fly over from America. It will eliminate the need for the USDA paperwork. It won’t eliminate that first declaration on entering the EU from outside however, she will still need to be declared. The EU pet passport will be good as long as only an authorized EU vet administers her rabies shots and makes notes in the passport.
So… Baggage claimed and Liddy declared, we stepped through the door into Germany where our daughter was waiting with great hugs and kisses.
Now, remember back at the beginning of this story I mentioned it was seven am pacific time when we began our journey. I figured by now Liddy would accept any bush or plant to pee on. Nope. Not until we drove some miles down the autobahn to a rest stop with real grass did our girl finally decide this was a good place to let go. And after damn near twenty hours, go she did. The girl has a cast iron bladder.