San Francisco to Helsinki

by **Richmond44** » Fri May 18, 2012 12:42 pm

Hello everyone! This is my first post here, but I have been reading fro a while now, and have gained some valuable information from everyone!

My family and I are moving from San Francisco to Helsinki in October and are bringing our boxer dog with us. Has anyone had any experience flying their dog from the west coast of the US to Helsinki? I know about all documentation and shots he needs before the trip, but I was wondering what airline you used, how much it cost, ect. Any information would be extremely helpful! I want to get as much of a head start on this as possible.

Thanks!

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by **Pursuivant** » Fri May 18, 2012 3:04 pm

Hi, what I suggest to you is contact your man in San Francisco"Phil" - he doesn't post here so often any more, but hes and American expat who moved to SF from Helsinki about a year ago (after he wrote this infamous book "How to Marry a Finnish Girl", we think he left before he got deported

) . He did the move (with his dog) the other way about 10 years back, but otherwise he can tell you the latest 9 yards of "how stuff works" in Helsinki and the ins and outs of "what to bring" and what not.

by **californiagirl** » Wed Jun 06, 2012 11:02 pm

We moved from San Francisco to Finland last Summer and brought our cat with us. Similar process I am sure. First couple things with the vet, for a cat those steps involved a general check-up, worming, few shots, and micro-chip installation. The vet had to sign a health certificate. I had her sign the US certificate and the Finnish certificate, just in case since even teh Sacramento office didn't seem to be sure which one was needed. You can print the Finnish certificate form from the EVIRA site and read about the requirements in general. Then I had to have the certificate endorsed by the official US Veterinarian. The closest office to us was the South San Francisco office.
I flew with Air Berlin and then with Finnair. $200 for the cat's ticket. A bit of a hassle with the airlines overall. Call well ahead to make sure they have room since they only have a few spots in each plane.