jmhardy

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Viewing 15 posts - 16 through 30 (of 35 total)
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  • in reply to: Where to buy an airline approved dog carrier? #184696
    jmhardy
    Member

    The airlines all seem to have different guidelines, which adds credence to what David said earlier. Anyway, in case it’s helpful to anyone, here are a couple of airlines which fly to C.R. and their kennel regulations. That said, these things are not cheap, and if you can buy one from your specific airline, guaranteed to be acceptable, that’s what I’d do.

    Delta:

    Kennel Requirements

    To transport your pet as checked baggage or cargo, you must use a shipping kennel approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The kennel must have enough room for your pet to stand and sit erect without the head touching the top of the container and turn around and lie in a natural position. These kennels are available at most Delta Cargo locations, as well as many pet supply stores. You should check with the local cargo facility for availability of the size kennel you need in advance of the date of travel. Kennels are for sale for booked Delta passengers and shippers only, not the general public.

    Due to seasonal weather conditions, we do not accept pets as checked baggage from May 15 through September 15. You can, however, ship your pet as cargo with our Pet First® program.

    All kennels must be capable of loading upright in the aircraft bin as required by the Animal Welfare Act and the International Air Transport Association Live Animal Regulations.

    Also, USDA rules state that the kennel must:

    * Be constructed out of rigid plastic, wood, metal, or material of comparable strength with solid roofs. No cardboard kennels.
    * Have wheels that can be removed or made inoperable [applies to wheeled kennels only]
    * Have functional handles on the kennel’s exterior to prevent tilting and any direct contact with the animals.
    * Close securely, but not lock, allowing personnel to open it in case of emergency.
    * Have labels with the words “Live Animal” in letters at least 1-inch tall on the crate’s top and on at least one side.
    * Have upright arrow labels indicating kennel’s correct Delta Air Logistics can provide these labels.
    * Contain some type of bedding, either shredded paper or towels, to absorb any “accidents.”
    * Contain two dishes (one for food and one for water) attached to the inside of the kennel door. They must be easily accessible to Delta agents without opening the kennel door.
    * Display feeding instructions and food, if applicable. These instructions should be affixed to the top of the kennel, along with shipper and consignee information.
    * Not be made entirely of welded mesh, wire mesh, wicker, cardboard or collapsible materials.

    US Air:

    Approved Carriers
    US Airways accepts hard-sided carriers up to 17 inches long x 16 inches wide x 8 inches tall and soft-sided carriers up to 17 inches long X 16 inches wide X 10 inches tall on all flights.

    * Carriers must be leak-proof and escape-proof.
    * Carriers must be ventilated on at least two sides, but not allow any part of the animal to protrude outside of the container.
    * Carriers must provide room for the animal to stand up and turn around.
    * Carriers can be made of the following materials: metal, wood or hard plastic/composite. Exceptions are made for soft-sided containers made specifically for pet carriage.

    in reply to: Escazu Sports Bar #184630
    jmhardy
    Member

    I guess the question which comes to mind is….you say you want to feel the flavor of Escazu and eventually retire to C.R…..why would you want to only mix with Americans?

    in reply to: Internet Service (high speed) #184480
    jmhardy
    Member

    Theoretically, cable service should provide more bandwidth (allowing you to “burst” to very high speeds) but DSL can provide more consistent bandwidth (but you’ll get exactly what they tell you you will and nothing more).

    From what I’ve heard, however, neither of them provide the kind of bandwidth we’re used to in the States and elsewhere, so it may not make much of a difference…

    in reply to: TIVO in Costa Rica? #184484
    jmhardy
    Member

    I don’t live down there yet, but have done some research on this topic because I have the same addiction. I’m not sure whether the cable company can provide you with a DVR, but I know you can get one if you get satellite, because you can use any equipment the Dish Network supports. These people http://www.sunsattv.com are one of the companies that do sat installs in Costa Rica, among others. You could purchase a Dish Net DVR box in the states and it can be connected down in C.R. Not only that, but you can probably receive much of the same programming Dish Net subscribers in the US get because one of the main satellites they use is visible from most of C.R.

    Another option (if you’re really desperate and don’t want to deal with satellite) is to buy a cheap Windows PC with Media Center on it. It can take the feed out of a cable box and record it on the PCs hard drive. You can watch it back on the PC, or on any TV or monitor that has a PC or VGA input…

    in reply to: Americans Residing in Costa Rica (ARCR) #184398
    jmhardy
    Member

    Also….you must not have searched the Discussion Forum for ARCR, because there are a wealth of entries on this subject. Don’t click Search in the Orange banner across the top of the screen, click Search Messages in the blue banner a couple lines below that while you’re actually in the Forum.

    in reply to: Costa Rica Weather Radar #184351
    jmhardy
    Member

    This is a good site I didn’t know about…but alas, no radar…:( Maybe I’m spoiled…!

    in reply to: Costa Rica Weather Radar #184350
    jmhardy
    Member

    You don’t have to convince me….I’m in the same situation (though I just purchased my C.R. home…)

    in reply to: Hotels in Playas del Coco or Ocotal Area #184099
    jmhardy
    Member

    Thanks to both of you for your suggestions…although their website says green season rates are $100 a night for a standard room, I got quoted $80 when I actually put the request in. Not too bad for a place as nice as this….

    in reply to: Moving Dogs To Costa Rica #183678
    jmhardy
    Member

    I can’t remember now which do and don’t allow the XL crates because I’m not planning on doing this until late next year, so I was just kind of casually looking. But every airline site (American, Continental, Delta, etc.) have all that information on their websites and if it’s not obvious, just do a search on their site for “dog” or “pet”. As I recall, Continental does allow the XL crates, but as David said there is an international standard for these crate sizes and you need to make sure you get them from somewhere that guarantees they are the right dimensions.

    I am also looking into the possibility of using one of the pet transport services David mentioned, but they are very expensive (relatively speaking) so it’s all a question of whether your wallet can afford it. Of course, as any pet-lover would ask you, how much is it worth to make sure that your dog gets there safely and securely?

    Here’s a couple of sites that talk about this. I haven’t used either and can’t vouch for either, but you may want to do some research on them.

    http://animalsaway.com/overview_services
    http://www.ipata.com/page.php?rp=19&ca=0&cn=163&aironlysearch=ric

    in reply to: Moving Dogs To Costa Rica #183674
    jmhardy
    Member

    I also am going to bringing my three large dogs and a cat down to C.R. One of the problems with REALLY large dogs (over 100 pounds) is that several of the airlines will not take the XL crates required to house a dog this big….it all has to do with the height of the dog and insuring that the dog can stand up and turn around, so be sure to check into that aspect of things before you book….

    in reply to: Christopher Howard Tour – Recommended ? #183697
    jmhardy
    Member

    We took a tour with George last year, and I can personally highly recommend him. We didn’t have time for his normal four-day tour, so he customized one for us that was two days. Lots of good information and advice, and a great contact to have in the future when/if you decide to move to C.R. Just be aware that four days or even six days isn’t really enough to get a “comprehensive” tour of C.R. for the purposes of deciding where you want to live. There’s just so much variety in terms of climate, terrain, proximity to larger shopping areas, etc. that you may not find you have enough information after one trip to decide. It took me three trips to decide on the Tilaran area — just west of Lake Arenal as my future residence…

    in reply to: Costa Rica’s Electricity and Water Problems #183124
    jmhardy
    Member

    Is anyone aware of Google’s tools for auto translating Spanish to English? I’ve found them invaluable because now I can go to websites like ICE’s, etc. and actually be able to make some sense of their sites. Not a replacement for actually learning the language if you’re going to live down there, but certainly a nice stop-gap.

    Here’s what you have to do to get it: go to toolbar.google.com and download and install the toolbar itself.

    Once the toolbar is loaded, go here: http://google.com/translate_buttons?hl=en

    You’ll see a bunch of buttons for different translations. Drag the Spanish to English button onto your browser bookmarks area.

    Now, alongside your other bookmarks you have a button that says Spanish to English. If you go to a Spanish Language website and click on it, viola, it’s translated. It’s not perfect, and remember it is a literal translation so grammar’s going to be off, but you get a pretty good idea of what the site is about by using it.

    in reply to: Scott…best way to search new postings #183318
    jmhardy
    Member

    As far as I know there’s no way to search or sort by last date updated, however each topic has beside it the last date updated, so you could easily just page down and find the dates after you last read everything. Also, if you’re interested in a particular topic and don’t want to miss something, reply to it and then check the box that asks if you want emails when there are updates.

    in reply to: VOIP Concern #182986
    jmhardy
    Member

    Well, If ICE is doing this, it’s unbelievably short-sighted….especially since it doesn’t use any more bandwidth than many chat applications…
    I’m not sure this is even true…I haven’t seen any confirmation of this, just rumors as far as I know.

    in reply to: New 10% tax for money transfers? NOT TRUE! #182918
    jmhardy
    Member

    Definitely not true on wire transfers…I just did one last week — US to a Costa Rica bank…no taxes withheld.

Viewing 15 posts - 16 through 30 (of 35 total)