Scotland w/ cat via London-Gatwick?

AndiReySim wrote:

Hi All,

I am planning to fly directly into London-Gatwick airport with my cat.  I know what I need to do for that....but, from there?

Does anyone here know the best route to get to Scotland fast with cat from London - Gatwick? Do local airlines there accept cats on board for flights to Scotland?  Would train be better?

Thanks much.

Andi

Hi and welcome to the site & forum

If you have brought your cat from a far distance the last thing he/she will want is another travel through the air. Although air travel might be cheaper, for the cats comfort train all the way is best. Pay in advance and it will be cheaper.

This is coming from a Cat Lover and owner.

Great tip!  Thank you for the feedback and warm welcome!  Much appreciated! 

A good site for trains, book in adance for the best prices.
https://www.thetrainline.com/train-times
All the best

Andi,

Please let us know how you get on. Your experience may well be of help to others.

Not sure you noticed as I edited the post, but gave a link to where you can buy train tickets

Thank you for the link, I'll have to do a bit more research as there are no trains from the London-Gatwick airport that I could find through that site.

Not all trains accepts cats it seems, though they do accept dogs. 

I'll have to get to the closest train from that site and double check about the specific train regarding cats I guess.

Hi and welcome to the Forum.

When searching for train details from London-Gatwick on the website that SimCityAT suggested, just type Gatwick in the box; London-Gatwick is a name used by airlines to try and trick people into believing that the airport is actually in London, when in fact it's 30 miles to the south near a place called Horsham in Sussex.

There is a train service, but it's quite a journey (I just checked) and involves 3 changes.  Why not fly direct into Scotland; there are direct flights into Scotland from the USA; this link will take you to a web-page that lists the operators that provide this service.

The problem will be your cat and whether any airline will accept them in the cabin; the dog rule came about because they had a medical assistance tag (blind dogs etc) that enabled people to argue the logic of some other small breeds being permitted, but airlines don't have to accept them and many just will not do it - too much potential for hassle and law-suits from other affected passengers for a myriad of reasons.

It is quite safe for your cat to be transported in the aircraft hold.

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team