Horses travel on a DHL Cargo plane.Lazcar International

It is that time of year again, when the global show jumping circuit makes the annual migration from all over the world, back to the United States. Namely to Wellington, Florida for the Winter Equestrian Festival.

Thousands of sport horses will travel all over the world every year to get to destination competitions on the global show jumping circuit. How do they get there? They fly of course! The only way this happens is through the well-run business of equine air transportation, and with the dedicated teams who manage every aspect of the horses’ wellbeing.

Horses loading on to a cargo planeLazcar International

The journey begins like any other, the equines load onto trailers and travel from farms to one of the major airports with specialized facilities for livestock transportation. One of the most travelled routes is between Amsterdam in The Netherlands and Miami, Florida. Another major hub is The Ark at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York. The $65 million facility has 48 state of the art stalls, 24 hour reception center and a speciality quarantine facility for import/export horses. The goal of all sport horse transport is to have the horses travel as smoothly as possible so that once they are off the plane, they can perform at their full potential at the destination competition.

Upon arrival to the airport, the horses are loaded into specialized containers for the flight. Owners can opt for coach, business or first class for the precious four legged cargo. The smaller horses can fly three to a container, and the larger show jumpers will fly “business” with some extra leg room. Flying frequently with the horses is Mary Elizabeth Kent, business manager and director of Laura Kraut LLC. Ms. Kent states that it is quite comfortable for smaller horses to ship three to a container, with the larger horses fitting nicely in a two stall. Once the horses are secure in the containers, the boxes are lifted into the cargo bay of the airplane. The Boeing 747 is a popular model in equine air travel as the upper deck is well designed for human passengers (vets, grooms, farm managers), while the lower deck fits horses and cargo efficiently. In terms of cost, owners can expect to pay in the four figures per stall for transatlantic flights.

Horses in flight, traveling on a cargo plane from the USA to EuropeLazcar International

In addition to individual attendants from the respective farms, the airlines have specialized assistants who are trained to coordinate and fly with equestrian passengers. On a recent MartinAir cargo flight from Amsterdam to Miami, two attendants were on board in addition to other personnel. Kevin Nairne, founder of  horse snack company Kelcie’s Treats who flew with the horses, noted that the grooms aboard the airlines likely spend more than 50% of their time flying all over the world with these animals.

A horse loads onto a shipping container before a flight.Lazcar International

Despite what some might think, most competition horses are very good flyers – some even nap on the flight! However, horses are not sedated as they need to remain alert enough to balance on all fours. Just like a precious package, the horses have quite a bit of padding, with leg wraps to offer compression and protection, and halters lined with fluffy wool. The in-flight snack of choice is of course carrots, which also helps the horses stay comfortable, as chewing equalizes their ear pressure.

Just like their human teammates, they are accustomed to a life on the road as traveling athletes. Even so, these horses are meticulously monitored in-flight to ensure they are comfortable, calm and have plenty of hay and water during the journey. Jet lag for horses is generally not an issue; however, the FEI (International Federation of Equestrian Sport) Code of Conduct for equine welfare requires appropriate rest period between travel and competition, depending on length of the trip.

This jet set lifestyle may seem glamorous, but it also takes an incredible amount of planning and teamwork to ensure these valuable athletes arrive safely and in top form. The logistics for a horse’s travel is certainly a bit more complicated than a human’s, given the sheer volume of the passenger (a sport horse weighs 1,100 pounds on average), and also due to the quarantine regulations. Upon arrival in Miami for example, the shipping agent Lazcar will greet the plane, handle unloading the horses, and the transport to USDA quarantine where the animals are required to stay for 48 hours to make sure no surprise illness made the journey with them. Once released, the horses will be shipped in a trailer to their destination barns, and so begins the next round of competition and training.

In showjumping, inertia is certainly never part of the equation.

The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) and Aéroports de Montréal presented a list of security tips to follow.

Traveling by plane isn’t always comfortable. Often times it can be cramped, or the temperature isn’t right, or you’re sitting in a noisy area.

But if you’re traveling this holiday season, keep in mind there are places to sit on the plane that are more optimal than other seats, says a flight attendant.

Best place to sit if you’re always cold:

If you hate being cold on a flight, do not sit next to the emergency exit windows. The outside air seeps in the most in those seats.   

Best place to sit if you hate loud noise:

Planes are notoriously loud, but if you need more of a quiet seat, chose one that’s away from the kitchen, where the flight attendants work most.  

Best place to sit if you want a lot of leg room:

I think we’re all guilty of propping our feet up on the seat in front of us, because we’re cramped. So, if you want a lot of leg room, chose the bulkhead seats, the seats right after the cabin divider or the emergency exit window seats.    

Best place to sit if you hate turbulence:

Turbulence on a flight is never fun, and if you get anxious, sit closer to the front of the plane. That way you won’t feel the bumpiness as much as you would in the back. 

Depending on the flight experience you’re looking for, a great website to check out before booking your next flight is called Seat Guru, where you can browse seat maps to over 1,100 aircrafts. 

Someone over at Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen’s marketing department has a sick sense of humor. For Philly fliers, the fast food chain is offering “Emotional Support Chicken” which are specially-marked, chicken-shaped carrier boxes filled with, yep, fried chicken.

The box reads:

This chicken provides comfort and nourishment during stressful air travel. Unlike other chicken, it is marinated in real Louisiana spices for 12 hours and must be permitted to fly without restriction. Do not leave unattended, as Popeyes’ is not responsible for lost or stolen chicken.

From its press release:

Emotional support animals provide comfort and companionship, especially during a highly stressful time like air travel. However, according to recent headlines, some travelers are pushing the envelope with the types of animals they try to bring on flights and classify as “emotional support animals,” including the likes of peacocks, squirrels and tarantulas. Knowing this, Popeyes decided to launch its new “Emotional Support Chicken” to bring holiday travelers some humor to what is one of the most stressful places to be during the holidays – the airport.

“Emotional Support Chicken” is ONLY available at the Gate C31 Popeyes in the Philadelphia airport.

image via Popeyes

(Cosmo)

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Rusty Blazenhoff

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To rub that fact in our faces before the holiday travel season, Genfare, a company that offers fare solutions to transit agencies, conducted a survey of 2,000 Americans who fly at least twice per year to determine the worst offenses when it comes to flying.

According to the survey, 64% said it’s okay to take their shoes off on a plane, which is somehow fine if they slip them back on before using the bathroom. Things really fall apart, though, over this statistic: 20% of you monsters out there thinks it’s perfectly okay to take your socks off on a plane. It’s not. No one wants to be sitting next to someone while they lift their knee up to their face to peel their socks off in the confined space of an airline seat. Plus, when the socks come off, odor is sure to waft, and 26% of those surveyed said that the inescapable scent of body odor was the biggest plane travel annoyance.

A Motorcycle Tour Guide’s Principles of Air Travel

Fly over the straight roads and the wet stuff

You want to ride the best vistas, the best curves and have thrilling adventures in far off lands. Perhaps you lack the time and money to scour the globe for decades on two wheels or maybe you just want to skip ahead to the good stuff.

Also two-thirds of our little rock is covered in water so sooner or later as a motorcyclist, you’re gonna have to fly. Leod Escapes founder Cat MacLeod worked in airfare and we book a lot of airfare ourselves for our guides. Here’s our tips for fellow touring riders.

Principles not rules

There are so many variables in the marketplace for airfare that there really are no rules. There are however principles based on the balance of probability and even that doesn’t conform to a standard distribution.

Advanced mathematicians put together the pricing algorithms to try to keep airlines running in the black and even they fail sometimes. So buying airfare is more about what you understand than a precise prescription of what you should do.

Good things come to those who plan ahead

Start looking at the airfare market about 10 months before you want to fly. Yes it’s sometimes possible to get exceedingly cheap deals last minute but those are rare. Get familiar with the airlines that commonly service the route you are interested in.

At Leod Escapes we start poking around the airfare market as soon as we have tour dates. That can be up to a year in advance. We typically use kayak.com as it’s interface is pretty good and they do a good job of aggregating airline fares and consolidator fares. We generally follow their advice on when to purchase because their fare forecaster is pretty good.

No such thing as the cheapest fare

People always say they want the cheapest fare, until they see what they’d have to endure to get it. When the cheapest fare from San Francisco to Munich involves 30hours of flight time with a 5 hour layover in Copenhagen and another 10 hours in Istanbul, suddenly that price isn’t worth it.

One of the reasons airfare is so complicated is everyone has different thresholds of what they are willing to pay. How much more would I pay to fly with Air New Zealand over United? How much more would you pay to fly KLM instead of WOW (Icelands Low-cost Airline). Is a direct flight with 5 hours chopped off the travel time worth an extra $400? Should I use my points and save $500 but have to pay $700 more for the flight? If you start shopping early, you will face questions like these.

Your home airports, their home airline

Chances are there’s more than one major airport within an acceptable drive time of your home. Smaller “secondary” airports have cheaper gate fees (what the airport charges the airline) and can play host to discount airlines. Do not overlook them. A business class seat on a discount carrier out of a secondary airport can be cheaper than an economy class seat on a major carrier out of a bigger airport. Airports and national airlines are heavily subsidized by tax dollars.

As such, Alitalia pays less to park it’s planes in Rome than United Airlines. Lufthansa pays less than Delta to park a plane in Munich. Sometimes countries want your tourism dollars and increase the incentives through subsidies to a national carrier. Even if the prices are the same, you’ll generally get a better flight experience for your money via an airline based in the country you are visiting.

Beware the codeshare

Airlines form alliances for a number of reasons. One of them is to try to get around the higher gate fees charged to “foreign” airlines. Airlines within the same alliance are not equal, so keep an eye out for that. For example, that Air New Zealand flight is actually “operated by United”. This is called a codeshare and it can be disappointing if you’re not watching for it.

Timing your landing

As tour operators we’ve seen clients make this mistake a lot. There are 24 time zones on the planet and the damn globe revolves at 900mph. Pay close attention to the local times of your departure and arrival, that includes the date, as crossing the international date line can make things fun. Consider that the best time to arrive in your destination is late morning to early afternoon, so you can check into your hotel and get a shower and then try to walk off a bit of that jet lag.

50 Pounds of Fun

Checked baggage is limited to 50 pounds per bag. As a rider you’ll discover that sport touring jackets and pants as well as track racing suits are more bulky than heavy. Look for large lightweight cases or duffle bags with wheels. Don’t count on luggage carts being available in your destination. Aside from issues of availability, they are often coin operated and usually when you arrive you don’t have any local coins. When shopping for bags and cases, consider that there is another sport that frequently travels with very bulky gear… hockey players.

Your Supersuit is flying to

It’s easy enough to replace shirts and a toothbrush but replacing motorcycle gear can be tough when you are forced to do it in a rush. So it’s really vital that your gear arrives with you. Checking in early increases the probability that your luggage will make it on the plane. Avoid short layovers where your bags may not have the time to make it from one plane to the next. A good layover time is 2 hours.With taxiing time, getting everyone out, boarding time for your next flight, if you have less than an hour you will be running and your bag won’t make it.

Should your bag get misrouted, you want to make it is easy for people to discover it. Make sure your luggage tag is solid. Put a printed itinerary inside your bag and take a photo of your bag so you can show it to the appropriate personnel. Finally, avoid the temptation to ship your gear bag. Aside from the wary question of who is going to receive it, importing items into other countries is fraught with many variables and paperwork can sometimes hold things up considerably. You’re the hero of your own story, keep your supersuit close to you.

Preparing for Thieving Spurious Associates

As frequent global travelers we’ve seen a lot of security lines. It’s useless theater to provide the illusion of safety. The ever changing and completely different standards at different airports around the globe at least give it a sense of variety. What’s more troubling than the show you participate in, is the one that goes on with your checked bags. DO NOT leave expensive consumer electronics of any kind in your checked bag. You will undoubtedly be taking a camera or two with you, make sure the expensive hardware is in your carry on luggage. Things like knives, emergency roadside tools and such need to be stowed in your checked luggage but buried well inside helmets, socks, boots and multiple zippered compartments. The TSA has taken a number of GoPro cameras and Leatherman tools out of our checked luggage over the years so we’ve learned. If they are going to take things out of your bag while searching it, at least make them work for it, bury those items deep.

The best way to see the world

This all seems like a bit of a hassle until you let the clutch out for the first time and take off down a foreign road. No cages, or cattle barges for you, you’re a motorcyclist and your adventure starts now.

This is helping to keep ticket prices low, which also drives demand, especially among leisure travelers. According to data from the travel booking platform Hopper, round-trip domestic ticket prices for holiday flights are averaging $304, a drop of nearly 10 percent from last year. (Prices for international flights ticked up a bit, rising $66 on average.)

“If you actually look at the average price of tickets in real terms adjusted for inflation, air traffic continues to be more and more affordable,” Mr. McKone said.

With ticket prices lower, more Americans will be flying, and Hopper estimates that overall spending will be 6 percent higher this holiday season than last. “Having lower prices definitely does drive demand,” Mr. McKone said.

Airlines for America, the industry trade organization, estimates that domestic airlines will add, collectively, 143,000 seats daily to accommodate holiday travelers, and according to Patrick Surry, chief data scientist at Hopper, much of that capacity is being added by the major carriers at large hub airports.

Southwest Airlines, for instance, announced new routes last month in Northern California and the Washington, D.C., area, as well as to popular warm-weather vacation destinations. United Airlines, which expects to transport roughly half a million passengers — a 4 percent increase over 2017 — on its peak holiday travel days, is increasing the frequency of flights to locations like the Caribbean and ski resort areas, and plans to add nearly 20 domestic wide-body aircraft to help manage full flights over the holidays, an airline spokesman, Charlie Hobart, said.

A record 45.7 million passengers are expected to fly on domestic airlines from Thursday to Jan. 6. But unlike holiday seasons past, they are unlikely to be standing in nightmarishly long lines.

“My hope is this Christmas will be a better, less stressful, more hassle-free airport-screening experience than last year,” said Henry Harteveldt, founder of Atmosphere Research Group, a travel-industry analysis firm in San Francisco.

Why? Better technology is one reason. The Transportation Security Administration has installed more effective equipment, like improved conveyor belts and 3D scanning machines, which give screeners a better view of the contents of travelers’ carry-on bags. The airlines and airports are testing biometric screening of passengers’ passports or other photo IDs.

Passengers whose flights are delayed or cancelled, or who are denied a plane seat due to overbooking, will be eligible for compensation under the federal government’s new proposed regulations for air travel.

The so-called passenger bill of rights marks the first time the government has laid out specific requirements for airlines to follow when passengers are inconvenienced.

However Gabor Lukacs, founder of the passenger advocacy group Air Passenger Rights, questions what would stop airlines from pinning delays on emergency maintenance to avoid paying up.

“It’s not simply a loophole, it’s a big gaping hole. Airlines will have to pay nothing and they will definitely use that. When you look at the most common causes for flight delays, it’s weather and maintenance issues,” he said.

The rules spell out a minimum rebate of $400 for a three-hour delay of a large commercial flight, rising to $1,000 for a delay of nine hours or more. Lower minimums are in place for smaller operators, including ultra-low-cost services.

Passengers bumped from flights due to overbooking or scheduled aircraft maintenance would be eligible for an immediate $900 in compensation, with $2,400 on offer for passengers delayed nine hours or more due to those issues.

Compensation would not be required in cases where delays are caused due to unforeseen events such as inclement weather, emergency maintenance, airport operation issues and medical emergencies.

The proposed guidelines were detailed Monday by Transport Minister Marc Garneau at an event at Ottawa International Airport. Once finalized, they will apply to all passenger flights originating or landing in Canada.

With files from Saron Fanel

OTTAWA — Air passengers who are bumped from overbooked flights or forced to sit through long delays could receive up to $2,400 in compensation — cash or something more than a pile of coffee coupons — under proposed regulations for the government’s long-promised passenger bill of rights.

The proposed compensation will use a sliding scale, with larger airlines and longer delays requiring bigger compensation payments. Payments to passengers whose flights are delayed will max out at $1,000 and cancellations at $2,400 — but it will be up to the passenger to file a claim with the airlines.

Once draft regulations are published Saturday, Canadians will have 60 days to comment — meaning there may be one last battle between consumer advocates and airlines over the breadth of the proposed regulations.

Consumer advocates said Monday that they planned to push the government to further tighten rules around tarmac delays and when an airline can get out of paying compensation.

“We want to make sure that the government doesn’t take any steps back in what they’ve already announced, and, if possible, we can move them forward even further,” said Ian Jack, managing director of communications and government relations for the Canadian Automobile Association.

Gabor Lukacs, with the advocacy group Air Passenger Rights, said the proposed rules don’t make it easy for passengers to receive compensation when things go wrong.

“The public is being deceived here by the government. This has been an industry-friendly legislation that the minister cynically calls an air passenger bill of rights,” Lukacs said.

The draft regulations lay out the minimum standards airlines will have to follow for situations in their control — or face a $25,000 fine. The aim is to have the rules take effect by next summer.

Aside from situations beyond their control, there are loopholes that could allow an airline to get off the hook for compensation — specifically mechanical issues as defined by the airlines that make it unsafe to fly. Advocates are already calling for a tighter definition so the loophole isn’t abused.

Transport Minister Marc Garneau was adamant airlines won’t mess around with safety and dismissed the idea that companies will look for ways to get out of compensating passengers.

“If that were to happen — and I don’t believe for one second it will happen — there would be measures taken to penalize them,” Garneau said.

The regulations would also force airlines to automatically seat children under age 14 near their parents rather than require them to pay an additional fee to select their own seats. The rules allow airlines to select seats one seat or one row away from parents for older children.

The regulations would also require airlines to provide food, water, air conditioning and use of bathrooms during tarmac delays, but not require a flight unload passengers until a delay hits three hours.

However, the three-hour limit can get one 45- minute extension if the flight is likely to take off during that period.

A Senate committee recommended no more than 90 minutes after a high-profile incident at the Ottawa airport where two Air Transat flights sat on the sweltering tarmac for hours.

“We chose a time of three hours that…will be applicable to all airlines that we think is fair and that basically achieves that balance between recognizing that at some point you’ve got to let people off; and on the other hand the other part of it is, people do want to get to their destination,” Garneau said.

Scott Streiner, the chairman of the Canadian Transportation Agency, says a key aspect of the rules is an expectation that airlines clearly communicate with passengers about the status of their flight.

A federal analysis pegged the cost to airlines of the new regulations at $2.75 per passenger, and Streiner said it’s not clear if airlines will pass those costs along to consumers.

On compensation to passengers, Streiner said the airlines asked for levels that wouldn’t be “punitive.”

“Many Canadians came forward and proposed various levels of compensation. I have to say that we did not, in fact, when we consulted Canadians on this, get very many people proposing extremely high levels of compensation,” Streiner said.

Six things to know about what the Liberals are offering in draft rules

1) For larger airlines, compensation for delays and cancellations is based on how many hours late you arrive at your destination — so long as the reasons for the delay were within the airline’s control and not related to safety issues. All the figures, once finalized, will increase with inflation.

For delays between three and six hours, compensation is $400. Between six and nine hours, $700. And over nine hours is $1,000.

Compensation rules are different for smaller or low-cost airlines, particularly for airlines that service the North. Passengers can receive $150 for delays of three to six hours. The payments go to $250 for delays between six and nine hours, and $500 for delays of nine-plus hours.

2) If you’re denied boarding, a similar sliding scale of payments apply. If you’re bumped from a flight and the ensuing delay hits six hours, you can receive $900. Delays between six and nine hours equal a $1,800 payment. And over nine hours is $2,400. But unlike delays or cancellations, an airline would have to pay up in cash, for instance, on the spot.

3) Bag lost or damaged? The Liberals want to require airlines to pay up to $2,100 in compensation — rules that are already enshrined in an international travel convention. The proposed regulations would also require airlines to refund any baggage fees.

4) The regulations would require airlines to provide food, water, air conditioning and use of bathrooms during tarmac delays, but not require a flight unload passengers until a delay hits three hours — or 90 minutes more than a Senate committee recommended. However, the three hour limit can get one 45 minute extension if the flight is likely to take off during that period.

5) Airlines will also be required to seat children near their parents, eliminating the need for parents to pay an additional seat-selection fee. The rules give the airlines some leeway based on age. Children under five must be seated right beside their parents. Children five to 11 must be in the same row, separated by no more than one seat. Children 12 and 13 years old cannot be separated by more than one row.

6) Violations of the rules could cost airlines up to $25,000 in fines. If, for example, airlines don’t communicate quickly and simply what is going on with your flight, or don’t rebook you onto a flight promptly, they will be penalized.