Starwood Pet Travel Reviews 23

If you want pain and confusion choose Starwood. If you want stressed animals choose Starwood.
Before I paid I was repeatedly told that a direct JFK → Lisbon flight was possible and would be explored. That mattered in my decision making, because why would I choose a layover option that would create more physical and mental stress for my cats? Why would I choose more cargo handling, more confinement, a 5 hr layover for no reason, and more cabin-pressure changes?
Especially since there are multiple direct flights a day from NYC to Lisbon (6 hrs total)-where the 2 cats and I were moving.
Only AFTER payment did it become clear that a Lufthansa flight-an unnecessarily prolonged journey—two extra hours of flying, a five-hour layover in Frankfurt, and then an additional three-hour flight back to Portugal. Was always the intended plan. Was the only plan. The owner said it was for “safety” and only when I contacted customer service was I shown it would be breach of contract if I don’t go through Germany. That I was powerless in this “premium” pet relocation service to provide the kindest trip for my cats. This was only the beginning.
I spoke to the owner and customer care because I could not get ahold of my coordinator Gemma by phone after her initial promises. My emails seemed to not be read or responded to.
* my name was repeatedly misspelled,
* incorrect links were sent,
* documents had to be resent multiple times,
* important information was buried in fragmented emails and fine print,
* the portal had glitches
* and getting clear answers was nearly impossible.
And this disturbed me: I later learned that my coordinator Gemma was away for approximately two months while OTHER staff members continued to communicate with me using HER name and email signature.
Excuse me? That’s not professional or premium and possibly not ethical.

But this is not the worst of it.
What happened next was so painful that I think any pet owner would be horrified.
I arrived alone in Portugal after an exhausting international move believing my cats were arriving on the expected schedule. I had been told (after much fighting my premium cat service for it-which is really how you want to spend your time when you are moving internationally) that the cats were on my flight. I arrived, opened my GPS tracker and saw they had been LEFT BEHIND n New York City.
I should have been concerned when Jeary came to pick them up and didn’t understand why they were going to a holding center instead of the airport. I should have been concerned when I got no photos and couldn’t get on the portal. But an extra day in an undisclosed location? And I thought a layover would be stressful for them. Where was this place they were? Why were they not with me?

And NO ONE was answering the phone.
The US office was closed for the holiday, but I had been told that the UK office would absolutely answer the phone if anything happened. THEY DID NOT. I left emails. I waited forever by the carrossel for good WIFI being so worried and waiting for Starwood to call me back. Nothing.

The explanation was another offhand comment from Gemma the coordinator three days before the flight about a POSSIBLE airline strike. Not that they were changing the cats flight, but if there was a strike THEN the cats flights would change. Of course, I said. If there’s no plane - they can’t get on it. But I knew there was no strike. Why? Because I called the airline. Did Starwood call the airline, no, they could not be bothered. Did they clarify with me that I understood that the cats would not be flying and arriving with me, that they would be kept somewhere I was not told about, for a whole extra day? No (I could’ve let a friend take care of them as opposed to being stressed somewhere they don’t know in a crate.) Did anyone communicate:
“Your cats are not arriving with you.”
“Your cats will be held.” or even better “this is where your cats will be held, this is how they will be taken care of in this facility”
“Your cats may arrive days later.”.

Did I sign anything that I understood and approved they were being held somewhere in a crate for an extra day and what flight they were on? No 100% no. But again Starwood gets you with the flyaway comments and the fine print while it’s the 2 days before you are moving your life internationally. No kindness. No consideration. No follow up. No photos of the cats. Nothing that was promised. Their carrier boxes smelled like piss and poop when they arrived. For what? There was no strike. I knew this days before the flight. But Starwood didn’t care. From beginning to end. The only person who treated me kindly was Ryan Bole throughout this whole process. I hope she finds a better paying job with better people.

If you love your animals stay away from this company. Dear god for the sake of your own peace of mind stay away from Starwood.

Starwood Pet Travel provides detailed options and pricing for various levels of service. General information and instructions were clear and customer support by staff (Rosie) was excellent. There were no hidden fees or surprises in the process of relocating our dog and two cats from the US to France.

After a few initial problems, Cassidy was assigned to help us move our two cats from Philadelphia to England. We ran into some paperwork problems and she was super responsive and helpful in making sure they were solved promptly. This really lessened the stress of the experience for me, as one of the cats was elderly and the other extremely timid,

I cannot recommend Starwood Pet Travel highly enough for transporting my miniature Schnauzers from the US to Scotland. From start to finish, the experience was handled with professionalism, care, and genuine compassion for both pets and owners.

In particular, my agent Cassidy Ryan was exceptional. When unexpected challenges arose due to issues with the original vet surgery, requiring a mid‑process switch to a partner vet, Cassidy navigated the situation calmly and efficiently. What could have been a highly stressful setback was managed seamlessly, with clear communication, practical solutions, and unwavering attention to detail throughout. Cassidy’s dedication and expertise gave me complete confidence that my dogs were in the very best hands.

The only small callout is that the approved tracking system was ultimately rejected by the partner airline and therefore not used, which meant I was unable to track the dogs during transit as anticipated. That said, this was handled transparently and professionally, and Cassidy promptly arranged a refund for the unused service.

Overall, Starwood Pet Travel delivered an outstanding service during a complex international relocation, and Cassidy Ryan went above and beyond to ensure a positive outcome. I would not hesitate to recommend Starwood to anyone looking for a trusted, knowledgeable partner for international pet transport

Shipping pets to New Zealand has extra challenges and Starwood was across all of the special vet protocols, timings, quarantine and paperwork hoops to jump through. It was very important to us to be able to trust them with all of this. It gave us confidence that what looked daunting and insurmountable at the beginning, could actually be achieved! Also super important to have regular and personal comms. Their portal is also very useful. The comms after we dropped the pets off, to them reaching quarantine, were very comforting - that is a very stressful time and it was so great to receive photos of the cats and dog looking fairly comfortable and relaxed.

We recently relocated to New Zealand, from New Hampshire USA. Moving around the world is hard enough but planning the transport of, not one but, two very large dogs is a challenge. From the beginning to the very end, Starwood Pet Travel guided our every move. We worked with Sage, who was friendly, extremely knowledgeable, and a quick responder. All details were handled down to the finest point and the transport went forward smoothly.

It was hard to be away from Fergus and Silas for so long but the quarantine facility provided frequent updates and photos, which helped us feel connected to the boys. Our reunion was happy, the dogs looked great!

Since our reunion, Fergus and Silas have not left our side. As senior dogs, we were worried about their flight and time spent in quarantine, but Fergus and Silas seem rejuvenated. Coming from New Hampshire, where the weather is not as pleasant, they are loving the temperate climate. We are taking them on long walks, through lush parks and sandy beaches. Fergus and Silas have never walked so much before in their whole lives!

Thank you Sage, and Starwood Travel, for guiding us through this experience and providing such attentive care to our canine family members. They are SO HAPPY to be with us. We are looking forward to our future here together!

Overall good experience and successful in importing my two cats.

I had a great experience with starwood. My vet had just got certified to do world travel and I was the first one they processed. My vet told me they were very grateful for starwood because they made it super easy for them. I also found the website user friendly and the my rep Cassidy was helpful and quick to respond to emails. My pet was flying out of DFW.

Starwood made moving our Boxer and Chinese Crested much easier than if we had done it ourselves. Of course, it was necessary to use a service since we were moving a Boxer from Los Angeles to France and the airlines don’t allow brachycephalic dogs to travel without the services of a company like Starwood.

Everything was completely smooth from start to finish. The portal that Starwood provides really helps simplify the process by ensuring that the required documents and processes are done within the timeframe required to get everything accomplished in an orderly fashion. From uploading Rabies vaccines and certificates to ordering the appropriate crates, as well as the pickup and delivery of our dogs to our AirBnb in Nice, France. Our dogs were well taken care of throughout the travel process.

I would not hesitate to recommend their services to anyone in need of such a service.

Relocating from USA to UK my Aunts Dog after my Aunt died. Not able to be in USA so needed 100% of the work done by Starwood. Starwood's web-base client system is a great concept but over promises and never lived up to the expectation, so the data was incomplete, and unresponsive. As series of prompts it was fine but that could have been a email. The premium package was a disappointment. The package over promises (or poorly describes) bedding and such like which was more like a 1inch think scouring with a blanket on top (probably so if you pet pees they are elevated above the pee sloshing around beneath them). Probably needless to say I was deeply disappointed at the being the premium offer. The pet tag system was a total waste of money. Whats important to understand is Starwood manage the process and do so very well but contract out all of the handling of your pet to third party providers so its not always clear who is actually caring for your pet and what their quality rating . So you could find that a company you are wary of, actually ends up handling your pet. I had to speak direct with one of the thrid-party companies (a kennel) and they tried initially to present as Starwood so when I then I pushed for the name of their facility (Sparky was there 5 days) and was fobbed off with a generic "the kennel" then googled it and it had a horrendous set of reviews, they had to come clean and give me their real name and facility details. Its a shame really as I lost faith at that point. The 4 starts are because we were in a pinch and Starwood made it happen al be it at a vary high pice of $9K+.
The whole process is about trust and I think explaining the third party usage and how you vet them and monitor would have been more transparent (or was I just naive? )

Every step of the way we were met with kindness, expertise, and clarity - we were very anxious about the process of shipping our border terrier, Harry, from NC to Hawaii. We are so grateful for Ryan and all of the Starwood team for all they did to inform & assure us, no matter how big or small our questions or concerns were. They were also clear, thorough and assuring with our vet, who’d never experienced the process of shipping a pet to Hawaii. Harry was in good hands throughout!

Moving my two large dogs from USA to Spain was something I was very concerned about. I did my research and spoke with several others who did the same. The name Starwood came up many times as highly recommended. They were not the cheapest however they did an excellent job walking us through the process and procedures. I enjoyed the videos they show you to make sure you understand from the dog’s point of view. During the process picking up and flying them and overnight stay and transporting them to our new home Starwood provided up to date videos and photos and tracking information. When you go through this process you worry what if something goes wrong ( ie canceled flights ) what would you do. Starwood gave me a good feeling knowing IF something went wrong Starwood knew how to address the issue to make sure my babies where well taken care of. I highly recommend them.

My husband and I are helicopter parents when it comes to our dog so we entered the experience with a ton of questions and a fair amount of questions. Starwood Pet Travel put them all to rest and delivered our boy safely. It was a great experience from beginning to end and I highly recommend their services.

I would definitely recommend Starwood Pet Travel! We have used them to get our dog to and from Europe to USA, and I would not do it any other way. The staff is really helpful and attentive to the pets and very responsive to all questions! They send pics and updates all along the journey! Best way for a pet to travel!

I was very nervous when I knew my dog had to fly and came upon Starwood and they were the best decision for our dog's move! Ryan was always great at communicating with us, lifted a lot of logistical burden and paperwork off of us. She was transparent, caring, understanding, and flexible with our needs. Moving itself was already stressful but Ryan and the Starwood team was there for every single step to help our dog move. I couldn't wish for anyone else than Ryan to help us get our dog relocated from the US all the way to Bangkok.

Without Starwood Pet Travel, I really believe our attempt to transport our dog Lucas from Los Angeles to London Heathrow would have been a disaster. There were so many ways to get something wrong, and our coordinator Cassidy guided us and the veterinary clinic performing the health certificate through the process with amazing calm, competence, and professionalism. On top of all that, Lucas was transported to LAX by Starwood Pet Travel, then at the end of his flight, an affiliate collected him from Heathrow and drove him a considerable distance to my relatives in Britain, who looked after him for a few days until we also arrived and were settled in our new home. He is enjoying his new life in Britain, seemingly unaffected by his adventure over the Atlantic. I can't recommend Cassidy and Starwood Pet Travel enough. They were worth every penny.

I needed to move from the United States to Southern Spain and I have two wonderful cats who are my children. I was very nervous about them traveling without me because they don't even like to be put in a crate and taken to the vet. It's very upsetting to them, so I thought this trip would be very traumatic. Honestly, it's the thing I worried about most.

I have to say, Starwood and their partners were absolutely wonderful in every way. They took pictures of us together at the start of the trip, sent me updates with pictures when the cats were at their comfort stop in Frankfort, and they even took a picture of me and my cats reuniting in Madrid.

In addition, they were very thorough in making sure that all of our paperwork was correct, working directly with our vet to get everything done. They also helped me and choosing the correct crates and accessories so that there would be no problems along the way.

And I was even more impressed with how they handled the move in my absence. The two regulation bowls were not very secure on their metal crate doors, so without my knowledge one of the associates with Starwood changed out their bowls to ones that were much more secure and even zip tied them into place so that my cats would never be without water on their long trip. In addition, they replaced some of their bedding after it was soiled and returned the old bedding - including a couple of my old shirts that I had placed in their crates to make them feel more secure.

My cats and I are incredibly happy with the successful trip that Starwood provided us with. I would definitely highly recommend them.

From the day I requested a quote, the Starwood team was friendly, responsive, and accommodating. They were clearly knowledgeable and really helped me feel comfortable putting my cat in their hands. When the Lufthansa strike caused them to have to rebook my cat's flight just a few days before travel, they contacted me right away with a backup flight/airline option and organized everything on very short notice. My cat's trip went off without a hitch, and she arrived in the UK happy and healthy. If I ever have to move my pet again, I will absolutely work with them the next time. It was worth every penny spent to make sure everything was handled by the professionals which greatly reduced my stress level during our move!

I am so impressed with this company during the whole process of my fur babies travel the staff were always communicating with me to let me know my babies were safe and well looked after. Definitely recommend this company for any pet travel thank you so much Ryan, Jodi, Nadine, Toinette, Zaytoen and Mavric you guys did an amazing job my babies are happy and safe back with me again thanks to Starwood Pet Travel and Global Paws 😀

I used Starwood to transport my dog and cat from California to the UK. I had a really good experience, despite some issues caused by my Vet relating to the pet Health Certificates. Which Starwood helped resolve quickly. Rosie was amazing and really made the experience much less stressful. She was clear with her communications and always available if needed. I am happy that my pets have joined me in the UK!