Every autumn we get the same call. Somebody has a job starting in November, a flight booked for the week of Thanksgiving, and a question that sounds simple: is there a pet embargo over the holidays? The honest answer is that the thing that gets the most attention is not the thing that will stop a move, and the thing that will stop it is not on anybody’s radar.
The holiday problem is closed counters, not a pet embargo
There is no general airline embargo on pets over Thanksgiving or Christmas. What there is, on most public holidays, is a cargo warehouse with the lights off.
Alaska Air Cargo publishes its station hours for each public holiday, and the 2026 Labor Day schedule is a fair picture of what a holiday looks like across a network. Of the stations listed, 51 were closed outright and 46 kept normal hours, with a handful open on shortened schedules. Anchorage is the interesting one: closed for general cargo, open for live animals, which tells you how much of Alaska depends on air freight.
A closed counter does not just mean you cannot drop off. It means you cannot collect either, and a pet cannot sit in a warehouse overnight waiting for someone to open up. So the practical rule for a holiday move is not that your pet is banned. It is that the day itself is unusable at roughly half the stations in the country, and the days either side of it are the busiest of the season.
Summer heat embargoes run into the middle of October
This is the one worth reading twice, because it contradicts what the calendar says. Alaska Air Cargo states that its seasonal animal temperature embargoes generally run from 1 May through 16 October. Not to the end of August, and not to the equinox.
Some stations are stricter than the general season. Fort Lauderdale, Miami and Orlando all carry a full embargo on animal shipments in both directions from 1 May to 15 October. Ontario and Palm Springs run to 1 October in both directions, Sacramento to 1 October, Atlanta and Raleigh Durham to 1 October outbound, and Las Vegas to 30 September. A family moving out of Miami on 10 October is inside a full embargo, whatever the forecast says that morning, and the flight they have already booked is not going to carry the dog.
The rule underneath the station list is that animals are not accepted when temperatures are over 85F. American Airlines Cargo publishes the same ceiling and applies it at origin, connection and destination, so a mild morning in Chicago does not help if the aircraft routes through Dallas.
Cold-weather limits start before you expect them
The moment the heat embargoes lift, the other end of the thermometer becomes the constraint. American transports warm-blooded animals when ground temperatures are between 45F and 85F. Below that it requires a letter of acclimation signed and dated by a licensed veterinarian, which covers 20F to 44F, and it will not carry an animal at all below 20F. Alaska works to the same 45F line and accepts travel below it with a certificate of acclimation issued within ten days of travel.
Two things follow. A certificate of acclimation is a document you have to plan for, not something a vet writes at the airport. And late autumn is the one window in the year when both limits can bite in the same week: an early cold snap in Minneapolis and a late warm spell in Phoenix on the same itinerary.
There are fewer carriers than there used to be
Any plan for a fall move has to start from who will actually carry the animal. United has closed its PetSafe cargo program and now carries pets in the cabin only, with cargo kept for certain active-duty military and State Department moves. Delta has paused household pet cargo on the same basis, for active US Military and State Department Foreign Service Officers on permanent change of station orders, and does not accept brachycephalic dogs, cats or their mixes at all.
That leaves American Airlines Cargo, which still runs a public live animal program for domestic moves, and Alaska Air Cargo with Hawaiian, which runs Pet Connect. Two carriers, in a season when both are running temperature restrictions and holiday closures at the same time. Our US airline pet policies guide sets out where each one stands.
The booking window is shorter than the planning window
People often try to lock a pet booking in as soon as they book their own flight. You usually cannot. American recommends booking a minimum of 24 hours and a maximum of 10 days before travel. Alaska accepts Pet Connect reservations a minimum of 24 hours and a maximum of 30 days ahead, and wants interline or international bookings placed three to seven business days out.
So the sequence in a holiday season is uncomfortable. You commit to a date months ahead, and you cannot confirm the animal until the fortnight before, which is exactly when the network is fullest. The way to handle it is to have the paperwork, the crate and the acclimation certificate finished early, so the only thing left inside that window is the booking itself.
Connections get worse in winter, and there are rules about that too
Alaska requires at least two hours for a connection on its own aircraft and four on a Hawaiian transpacific service, and no more than six hours unless kenneling is arranged in advance by the shipper. A care stop, where the animal is fed, watered and checked, is required when the first flight is seven hours or longer and includes a connection, when the connection runs six hours or more, when a same-day connection is not possible, or when the whole itinerary exceeds 24 hours.
Winter weather turns a comfortable two-hour connection into a missed one. On a fall or winter booking we build the routing around the fewest possible connections rather than the cheapest fare, because every extra airport is another temperature reading that can stop the trip and another chance to fall outside those windows.
A month by month view of the second half of the year
September looks clear on a calendar and is not. Most of the southern stations are still inside their summer embargo, and the Florida three run to the middle of October. If you are moving out of Miami, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Phoenix or Las Vegas in September, treat it as a summer booking and fly at the edges of the day.
October is the changeover, and the most awkward month of the year to move an animal. The heat embargoes lift in stages rather than all at once, the northern stations start seeing mornings below 45F, and for a week or two an itinerary can be too hot at one end and too cold at the other. It is also when Alaska’s revised short-nosed breed rules take effect on 1 October, so a snub-nosed dog that was bookable in September may not be in November.
November and December are about capacity and closures rather than temperature. Cargo holds fill with freight, the counters shut on the holidays themselves, and the days on either side are the busiest of the year. January and February are the coldest and the quietest, which is a genuinely good combination if your dog can travel: fewer people are moving, and the constraint is a forecast you can plan around rather than a network you are competing for.
What happens if the flight is canceled
This is the question worth asking before you book, not after. If a flight is canceled and your pet is already in the system, somebody has to collect the animal, house it, feed it, and rebook it, and on a holiday weekend the counter that would release it may not be open until Tuesday. Alaska is explicit that all animals must be picked up within four hours of arrival, and that kenneling has to be arranged in advance by the shipper where a connection runs long.
When we book a move we hold a second routing and we know which kennels near the airport take a same-day booking. A self-arranged move usually has neither, which is why a two-hour weather delay in December becomes a three-day problem. It is also why the health certificate timing matters so much: if the rebooking pushes you past the ten-day window, the whole document set has to start again.
What we do differently between October and March
Fly midday in winter and early or late in summer, which sounds obvious until you notice the cheapest fares are usually at the wrong end of the day for the season. Prefer a nonstop even at a premium. Time the health certificate against the booked departure rather than the move date, because most are valid for ten days and a weather delay eats that quickly. Have the acclimation certificate in hand before it is needed. And keep a second date in reserve, because on this side of the year the first date is a plan rather than a promise.
For a wider view of a winter move, see our guide to relocating pets safely during winter. If you are weighing the road instead, domestic pet shipping covers where ground transport wins.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a pet embargo at Thanksgiving or Christmas?
Not as a pet-specific rule. What happens instead is that cargo counters close for the public holiday itself, and about half the stations in a typical network shut completely. Your pet is not banned; there is simply nobody there to accept or release it. Book around the holiday rather than on it.
When do summer heat embargoes actually end?
Later than the season suggests. Alaska’s animal temperature embargo season generally runs 1 May to 16 October, and Miami, Orlando and Fort Lauderdale hold a full embargo in both directions until 15 October. Early October is still summer as far as the cargo system is concerned.
What is a certificate of acclimation and when do I need one?
It is a document from a licensed veterinarian stating the temperatures your pet is acclimated to. American requires a letter of acclimation for ground temperatures between 20F and 44F, and Alaska accepts one for travel below 45F if it was issued within ten days of travel. Neither carrier will fly an animal below 20F with or without one.
Can I still fly my pet with Delta or United this winter?
In the cabin, yes, if the pet is small enough. In the hold, no, unless you are active US military or State Department traveling on permanent change of station orders. Both have closed household pet cargo to the general public, which leaves American and Alaska.
How far ahead can I book?
Not as far as you would like. American takes bookings between 24 hours and 10 days before travel, Alaska between 24 hours and 30 days. Everything else, the crate, the vet visit, the health certificate and the acclimation letter, should be finished before that window opens.
Is it safer to drive in winter?
Sometimes, and we will say so when it is. A shorter distance, a snub-nosed breed, a senior animal, or a route where every option involves two connections all point at the road. Beyond roughly 800 miles the calculation usually flips back to flying.
Where these numbers come from
Checked September 2026 against each carrier’s own published material: Alaska Air Cargo’s summer animal temperature restrictions notice and station list, its 2026 Labor Day station hours, and its Pet Connect restrictions; American Airlines Cargo’s pets and animals policies; Delta’s Shipping Your Pet page; and United’s traveling with pets page. Airline seasonal rules change without notice, and Alaska’s short-nosed breed rules change on 1 October 2026, so confirm the current position before booking.
Last updated 7 September 2026