Corporate Pet Relocation Services
For HR and global mobility teams, relocation management companies, and the employee who is moving with a dog or cat. We move the pet as part of the relocation package, within the United States, abroad or into the US, and send the quote to whoever is paying for their written approval before anything is booked.
Pet Travel Advisors plans the route, books the airline, arranges the crate, prepares the export and import paperwork, checks the pet in at the departure airport and meets it on arrival. A company can buy the whole door-to-door move for an employee, or only the parts its policy pays for.
Who is employee pet relocation for?
Three people usually have a hand in it, and each needs something different from us.
HR and Global Mobility Teams
You approve the cost and want it to match the policy. You get a quote broken into parts, and the employee gets a plan to follow.
Relocation Management Companies
You run the household move and need a pet partner for one part of it. We work to the dates and the approval rules on your file.
The Employee Being Relocated
You know the pet. We need its details, its vet records and your travel dates, and you hear from us at each step from the first vet visit to the handover.
How do approval and billing work?
The quote goes to whoever pays for the move: the employee, the employer or the relocation company. Nothing is booked until that payer has approved the quote in writing, so the company sees the cost before the employee commits to dates.
Each part of the move is its own line, which makes it simple to match the quote against a policy cap or an expense claim:
| Quote line | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Airline freight | The airline’s charge to fly the pet as cargo, set by the size and weight of pet and crate together |
| Travel crate | A crate sized to the airline’s rules for that pet |
| Documents and endorsement | Preparing and checking the export and import paperwork, and the government endorsement where the destination asks for one |
| Ground legs | Home to the departure airport, the arrival airport to the new address, or a road move state to state |
| Arrival | Meeting the pet at the arrival airport, clearance on arrival where the route calls for it, and the handover |
If the employee pays and claims the cost back, the paid invoice keeps the same lines, ready to go with the expense claim. If the policy caps pet costs, the lines show where the cap falls, and the payer decides what to do about the rest before anything is booked.
What can delay an employee’s pet move?
Mostly timing. The business sets the employee’s start date, while the pet’s travel date is set by the destination’s rules, the airline and the weather:
- Paperwork with a clock on it. A destination that asks for a blood test and a waiting period, or for a certificate endorsed shortly before the flight, decides the earliest day the pet can leave.
- The breed. Some airlines restrict snub-nosed dogs and cats, which narrows the routes on offer.
- The season. Summer heat and winter cold close some routes to animals in the hold, at either end or at a connection.
- The crate. A large dog’s crate decides which aircraft can carry it, and so which flights are possible.
None of these has to hold up the relocation itself. The pet can follow the employee once its paperwork is ready, and the plan shows the earliest date the pet can travel before anyone approves the quote.
What do relocation packages cover for pet transport?
More of them cover it than a few years ago. A 2026 study by AIRINC and Starwood Pet Travel, published on June 30, 2026, found that 49 percent of the 166 companies in AIRINC’s Long Term Assignment Survey provided pet shipment to the host location in some form in 2025, up from 37 percent of surveyed companies in 2022.
Among the companies with a pet benefit, the same study found the most common limit was on the number of pets, at 43 percent, followed by a cash cap at 29 percent and a limit on the type of pet at 20 percent. Those are the three limits a quote is checked against, and a quote in parts makes the check quick.
For HR teams and relocation companies
If you are moving an employee who has a pet, send us the file before the dates are fixed. Tell us:
- The employee’s name and how to reach them
- Where they are moving from and to, and the target date
- The pet’s species, breed and rough weight, if you have them
- Who approves the quote, who pays, and the email address the quote should go to
- Any limit in the policy: the number of pets, a cash cap or the kinds of pet covered
Reach us through the contact page, by phone at 1-877-540-0555 or by email at info@pettraveladvisors.com. The employee works with us on the pet’s details and the travel day, and the payer gets the quote to approve and the paid invoice.
How does a corporate pet move work?
The same five steps whether the file comes from HR, a relocation company or the employee.
1. The File Arrives
The route, the target date and the pet, from whoever is organizing the relocation.
2. A Plan and a Quote in Parts
The route, the documents in the order they happen, and each cost on its own line, sent to the payer.
3. Written Approval
The payer approves the quote in writing. Only then are the flight and the crate booked.
4. Vet Visits and Paperwork
Each appointment with the employee’s own vet is dated back from the flight.
5. Travel Day and Handover
The team checks the pet in, the flight is followed, and the pet is met and delivered at the other end.
What do we need from the employee?
- The pet’s vet records: the rabies certificate, the microchip number and any test results
- The pet’s measurements, so the crate fits the airline’s rules
- The addresses at both ends, and the employee’s own travel dates
- Someone at the destination who can receive the pet if the employee is still on the road
Every country we move pets to is on the destinations index, and moves within the country are on the domestic pet shipping page. For a first idea of the parts before a quote, the cost calculator breaks a route down.
Government employee pet relocation: federal civilians and the Foreign Service
Federal civilians claim pet costs under different rules from a company policy. The Federal Travel Regulation, as rewritten on December 8, 2025, pays the miscellaneous expenses allowance under each agency’s own relocation policy, as a lump sum or, where the agency authorizes more, against paid bills. DoD civilians follow the Joint Travel Regulations, whose paragraph 054103 lets cat and dog transportation and quarantine charges be claimed under that allowance when it is claimed as actual expenses. Either way, the paid invoice with its separate lines is what goes with the claim.
Foreign Service pet relocation comes up often. In its July-August 2022 issue, AFSA’s Foreign Service Journal put the share of Foreign Service members who travel with pets at around 40 percent, and noted that the Fly America Act limits government-funded tickets to US carriers or their codeshares. Delta’s pet shipping page, read October 24, 2026, takes pets as cargo only for active US military and State Department Foreign Service personnel with active PCS orders. Service members have their own page on military pet relocation.
Diplomatic pet relocation works the same way. Embassy and consulate staff posted to the United States, or leaving at the end of a posting, can book the move with us, the US end of an arrival included: meeting the pet at the airport and delivering it to the residence.
Ask for a Quote for an Employee’s Pet
Frequently asked questions
Can a company pay for only part of the pet move?
Yes. Every part can be booked on its own, so a policy that pays for the flight and not the ground legs, or the other way round, can be quoted that way. The quote shows which lines the company pays, and each payer approves it in writing before anything is booked.
Are you a relocation management company?
No. We move pets, and we work alongside the relocation company or the household goods mover handling the rest of the relocation, to the dates on the file.
Can the pet travel before or after the employee?
Yes. A pet flying as cargo does not have to be on the employee’s flight, and it is met at the arrival airport and taken to the address on the file, which can be temporary housing.
Which pets can you move for an employee?
Dogs, cats, birds and small exotic pets, subject to what the airline and the destination accept for each species. Breed matters too, because some airlines restrict snub-nosed dogs and cats.
Do you handle moves into the United States?
Yes, the US end of an inbound move included: meeting the pet at the arrival airport and delivering it. A dog entering the country has to meet the CDC’s import rules, which our pet transport page explains.
What happens if the employee’s dates change?
Tell us as soon as they do. The plan is rebuilt around the new dates, and if the cost changes, the payer gets a revised quote to approve before anything is rebooked.
Does the policy have to cover the pet for you to help?
No. If the relocation policy pays nothing toward the pet, the employee can book with us directly and the quote goes to them.