Flying to Argentina from Mexico with (An Emotional Support) Dog

Each of the times I have flown with my sweet Luna Love–my buddy and indeed my emotional companion–from Mexico to the States and back during our 12 years as permanent residents of Mexico, it was always with Volaris.

The convenience of crossing the Tijuana/San Diego CBX footbridge to ultimately make my way to my family’s home in La Jolla, made Volaris an easy choice–that and the ease of their policy on flying with an emotional support dog. 

Being able to have my Luna Love in cabin, on my lap (with leash and harness on), and not in a carrier under the seat in front of me is an allowance that I do not take for granted nor advantage of. The fact that Luna is an excellent traveler makes the process even that much more possible. Luna and I have this flying together thing down to a science and it has just became a normal part of my travel plans, because, wherever I go, Luna goes. 

When Frank and I decided to travel to South America (beginning our adventure in Argentina), we needed to determine which airline could best accommodate our needs based on flight route (for example a short layover in Mexico City vs. an overnight in Colombia), if our luggage would be checked all the way through to our final destination of Buenos Aires, price, and the most important detail–which airline would allow me to fly with Luna in cabin as my emotional companion.

We ultimately decided on Aeroméxico for all of the aforementioned considerations for our flight from Puerto Vallarta (with a short layover in Mexico City) to Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Traveling by plane, let alone to an entirely new continent, is involved enough, I’m sure we could all agree to. Add to that making the necessary accommodations (now with a new and unfamiliar airline)– being sure to follow each and every one of not just Aeromexico’s protocols but also, Mexico’s SENASICA and Argentina’s SENASA to a T for traveling with Luna–required its fair share of research, steps, and yes, a bit of stress…but ultimately all worth it! 

In the month leading up to our July 21st departure from Mexico, I literally spent hundreds of hours researching, reading, printing out documents, taking notes, underlining, highlighting, and then taking notes of my notes–keeping nothing short of a minimum of 15 tabs open on my laptop at any given time–communicating directly with our Puerto Vallarta vet, SENASICA in Mexico and SENASA in Argentina (all of whom were incredibly responsive, helpful and cordial–mil gracias, mil gracias!)

If you too are considering a similar adventure–that of traveling from Mexico to Buenos Aires, Argentina with your emotional support pup–I hope the information and links in this article are of help to you! 

If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comment section below and I will get back to you pronto!

Ciao,

Katie 

P.S. Tomorrow marks almost two months since we arrived Argentina. We are loving our time in Buenos Aires, have been walking, discovering, eating, learning a new Spanish, meeting incredible people, and well, having a fabulous time in this new chapter of our lives. Frank and I invite you to follow along here on Los O’Gradys in South America as well as our Facebook page.