Travelling with animals

Take your pet - a dog, a cat or a ferret - on a journey with you.

A woman traveling with her dog walking in the airport.

There are three options to transport animals:

in the cabin in a container,
in the baggage hold,
in the baggage hold – as cargo.

Where an animal may be transported - in the cabin or baggage hold - will depend on its weight and size. Other animals may be transported only as cargo.

We can take a limited number of pets on board our aircraft, so purchase of the service is subject to current availability. You can check it when you book your ticket on lot.com or later, up to 12 hours before departure, in Manage My Booking.

In order to ensure the comfort and safety of transported animals, we apply the standards of the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

The transport of animals (dogs, cats or ferrets) in a carrier on board the aircraft and in the hold is only possible for non-commercial purposes.

Transporting animals for commercial purposes (for sale or transfer of ownership) entails additional costs due to the requirement for a customs agency among other things, hence such transport is only possible as Cargo.

If you travel with your pet on board an aircraft in a carrier or in the hold you bear the full legal and financial responsibility for it.

1. Travel of dogs to the United States

The rules for transporting dogs to the United States have changed as of August 1, 2024. To transport your dog to the USA, please familiarize yourself with the new regulations introduced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Read the requirements introduced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):

Rabies-free and low-risk countries (opens in a new tab)

U.S.-vaccinated dogs from high-risk countries (opens in a new tab)

Foreign-vaccinated dogs from high-risk countries (opens in a new tab)

List of high-risk countries (opens in a new tab)

Send the documents, depending on the category established by the CDC, to us no later than 48 hours before departure. They are also required to be presented at the airport before the flight.

All dogs being transported to the United States must:

show no signs of illness,

be at least 6 months old,

have a microchip,

have proof of the necessary rabies vaccinations

Steps for booking dog transport service to the USA:

Compile all required documents and submit them through the form.

Document verification will take up to 48 hours. After verification, you will receive an email informing you of the positive or negative outcome of the review.

In the case of a positive verification, contact us to purchase the service. You can do this via messaging apps or through our hotline.

After purchasing the service, the dog will be added to your reservation. Remember to bring all the documents you previously submitted to us to the airport.

ATTENTION! The purchase of a dog transportation service to the United States is available no later than 48 hours before the flight, so we encourage you to contact us as soon as possible. The service is limited, and LOT Polish Airlines does not guarantee the availability of the service on every flight.

Please remember that due to CDC requirements, dogs traveling to the USA from high-risk countries (opens in a new tab) can only be accepted on flights to three airports in the USA: New York (JFK), Los Angeles (LAX), and Miami (MIA).
Send us the documents
In case of discrepancies in the submitted documentation, services will be denied.

If you already have an animal transport service to the United States in your booking, you still need to provide us with the documents required by the CDC.

How to quickly get approval to transport your dog? Here are a few tips!

Submit all the required documents in a single form. Don’t attach any documents that aren't listed on our website. For example, there's no need to send pictures of your dog.

If we inform you about missing documents, resubmit all the files through the form and complete any missing information.

If you're registering two dogs under the same reservation, submit all the documents in one form.

Don’t send the CDC Dog Import Form receipt as a text file (.doc) – we need it in PDF or image format. Make sure that all the information on the CDC Dog Import Form receipt is visible, and don’t leave anything out.

Carefully check the list of required documents and ensure nothing is missing. Only complete document submissions will be verified.

Fill out the forms and documents accurately – use the same information consistently (e.g., your dog’s microchip number, weight, arrival date in the US, reservation number, and age).

Before filling out the form, double-check the container dimensions. If the dimensions are incorrect, your request will be rejected.

If your CDC Dog Import Form confirmation shows that your dog has been in high-risk countries, be sure to send the required documents listed in the confirmation. They are necessary for verification, and without them, we won’t be able to accept your pet.

2. Travel of cats to the United States

Traveling with cats to the USA does not involve any additional restrictions. Standard documents are required at check-in, and in some cases, additional documents may be needed depending on the regulations of the specific country. Currently, the transport service for cats can only be booked through the Contact Center.