A woman who flew her beloved pet dogs thousands of miles to New York on a private jet said the £8,000 outlay was worth every penny.
Maddie Young wanted to make sure her 12-year-old pug, Violet, and her one-year-old Golden retriever, Olive, could join her and her husband Stephen Whitworth, 32, in Brooklyn, New York.
After the couple made the move to America in January, this year, for Stephen’s work, she began looking into how she could get her beloved pooches across too.
But Maddie, from Balham, London, was left shocked to discover that flying her two dogs 3,470miles by an airline would cost her £12,000 - £6,000 per dog.
Desperate to get her dogs to join her, she began exploring other ways to get them over to the US.
It was then she came across a Facebook group that arranged private chartered jets for dogs.
Maddie, a PR freelancer, and Stephen, who runs a tech startup, paid £10,000 for Violet and Olive to travel in style but were refunded £2,000 as the plane was filled up, so the costs were split further.
She said: "The quotes were crazily expensive. We were limited as airlines don't like to fly flat face breeds as they can be more prone to breathing issues - although this is not the case with Violet.
"I Googled lots of stuff and found old news articles of people looking at different ways to travel and found a UK to US Facebook group from there.
"It was full of people organising flights and splitting the costs.
"We paid £10k including seats for us. But it was £8k in the end as we were refunded for filling the plane.
"It was the cheaper option. It was a no brainer."
Maddie said the experience was "smooth" and the dogs were even treated to personalised toys and dog cookies on board.
She added: "With Violet being older, it would have been a worry her being in cargo.
"I was nervous beforehand. I'd never flown private before. The experience was so smooth. There were eight dogs and 10 humans.
"All of the dogs were given personalised toys and a bag of dog cookies which was quite sweet.
"All the dogs were super well-behaved. They mostly slept, chilled and chewed bones."
The plane had to refuel in Canada due to strong headwinds and it meant the dogs could relieve themselves after the eight-and-a-half-hour journey.
Maddie did "anything to keep them calm" and tried not to feed the dogs too much so they didn't need to go to the toilet, but the airline provided puppy pads if they needed to relieve themselves.
Violet and Olive arrived safely and stylishly in New York in April 2023 and are now settling into their new home.
Maddie said: "It was a great experience - once-in-a-lifetime.
"If we go back, we will do it again. There's no shame for people who put them in cargo. That's fine if it works for you.
"But with a nervous young dog, an old one and it being cheaper it was a no brainer.
"They are both acclimatising well."
