Tarantulas on airplanes?

[Nanchantress]

Has anyone had experience taking tarantulas on airplanes? It appears that each airline has its own rules about it (found this information on each airline's website - but I haven't confirmed anything with customer service):

Frontier - no arachnids allowed
United - spiders allowed as checked baggage only
Southwest - only dogs & cats allowed in cabin and no pets in cargo area
US Airways - only dogs, cats, & birds in cabin and no pets in cargo area
American Airlines - only dogs & cats

I am thinking about going to the ATS conference in Tucson and I am wondering what I will do if I just can't resist buying a tarantula there. Ship it home?

 

[Fran]

Ship them home, that will be the cheapest option.

 

[KoriTamashii]

Has anyone had experience taking tarantulas on airplanes? It appears that each airline has its own rules about it (found this information on each airline's website - but I haven't confirmed anything with customer service):

Frontier - no arachnids allowed
United - spiders allowed as checked baggage only
Southwest - only dogs & cats allowed in cabin and no pets in cargo area
US Airways - only dogs, cats, & birds in cabin and no pets in cargo area
American Airlines - only dogs & cats

I am thinking about going to the ATS conference in Tucson and I am wondering what I will do if I just can't resist buying a tarantula there.

Probably safest to ship it to your house.

 

[PrimalTaunt]

Bring a friend and you each drive four hours one way.

 

[JC]

ship them home, that will be the cheapest option.

+1 .

 

[jgod790]

My brother lives in Tucson, just drop them off at his house, and let me have them!!! Jk, uh yea you probably just want to mail them to your house, or drive. It could be a fun road trip. Or fly with United?

 

[pocock1899]

Messing with the airline regs and the TSA is a recipe for disaster. They have no sense of humor about things like spiders in the cabin. On the off chance you get stopped and searched, or that the spiders were seen on the xray, it's a fair bet you might not make your flight.

I doubt whether they'd go so far as to put you no the no fly list, but I wouldn't be surprised to find that you get thoroughly stopped and searched every time you try to board an airplane for the rest of the forseeable future.

 

[pyroklown]

1. Buy hundreds of tarantulas, including a few that you want.
2. Get Samuel L. Jackson on the flight.
3. Bring a camera crew.
4. Release all the tarantulas mid flight, except the ones you want to keep.
5. Claim they're filming the sequel to "Snakes on a plane"... Tarantulas on a plane.
6. Make millions off the movie.
7. Get your tarantulas home safe.

The millions of bucks is a slight bonus, on top of getting your guys home without incident. Plus you get to laugh as everyone recoils in fear.

:}

Na man ship 'em home or drive em home yourself.

 

[Nanchantress]

I see now that was a dumb question. Sorry, I only have 5 T's so far and all were bought in local pet stores.

 

[Dreadz]

Yeah I agree that the easiest thing to do would be to ship them. Or use the airline that lets you have tarantulas on checked baggage.

 

[Pociemon]

I see now that was a dumb question. Sorry, I only have 5 T's so far and all were bought in local pet stores.

There is no dumd questions, only dumb answers!

 

[NikiP]

I see now that was a dumb question. Sorry, I only have 5 T's so far and all were bought in local pet stores.

I don't think it's a dumb question either.

The airline that will check spiders as baggage is certainly interesting. Though I wonder, depending on the species, if you'd need paperwork to prove they are CB? Like B. smithi.

 

[zonbonzovi]

Nan, I'll be there and would be happy to help you pack anything that you purchase, as would many of the attendees.

 

[paassatt]

So when taking the box inside the UPS/FedEx store to ship it home, what if they ask about the contents?

 

[Nanchantress]

Thank you, zonbonzovi! That is very kind of you!