Getting mom plus cats from Chicago to Arizona
June 16, 2020 5:53 PM Subscribe
My mom is in her 70s, but cognitively has struggled greatly since the lockdown began and has some early stage memory loss. We don't feel she's safe at home alone anymore. My brother in Phoenix and I in Albuquerque want to get my mother and her two cats from Illinois to Phoenix without having to fly or drive out there and back.
My brother has already traveled there and back once, and was greatly stressed by out, so he is trying to avoid doing it again. I'm high-risk and am not comfortable flying or driving there and all the way back. She can't fly alone and she cannot drive. We've been trying to think of a way to get her and her cats to Phoenix without us having to travel with her. Are there options we aren't aware of?
My brother has already traveled there and back once, and was greatly stressed by out, so he is trying to avoid doing it again. I'm high-risk and am not comfortable flying or driving there and all the way back. She can't fly alone and she cannot drive. We've been trying to think of a way to get her and her cats to Phoenix without us having to travel with her. Are there options we aren't aware of?
Put out the call on your networks. Surely there is someone out there in Chicago/Indiana who would like to get to (home/family in) Arizona or California without flying and maybe don't have the car or cash to drive, or enough of an impetus to pull the trigger. Put the word out among your AZ/NM networks, and do some legwork to see if you can rent a good-sized passenger van, or minivan if nothing else, where one or ideally two people can lay down on a bench seat/floor with room for cat carriers, and a porta-potti in the back.
posted by Lyn Never at 7:05 PM on June 16, 2020
posted by Lyn Never at 7:05 PM on June 16, 2020
There are companies that do long-distance patient transportation.
posted by FencingGal at 7:11 PM on June 16, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by FencingGal at 7:11 PM on June 16, 2020 [1 favorite]
How much money are you able to throw at this problem, and are you willing to let her fly with a companion? I feel certain that there are folks in Chicago, especially out of work performers, servers, and even licensed childcare and eldercare workers who would fly with an elderly lady from Chicago to Phoenix as long as you paid for their expenses, including their round trip plane ticket, parking at the airport, food, etc. plus cash on top. If you arranged an early morning flight from ORD-->PHX, and a same-day return trip for them, that would literally be just a day's work for someone (albeit a long day). You might consider posting on MeFi jobs.
As for the cats, I'm not sure I'd personally want to deal with taking the two cats on the plane at the same time, but I guess that would be an option, for your mom to take one in a carrier and the guest to take one in the other carrier. As long as they fit under seats that could be fine. Another option if it's okay for your mom's cats to arrive separately from her would be to contact an organization like Catz Meow.
posted by juniperesque at 7:41 PM on June 16, 2020
As for the cats, I'm not sure I'd personally want to deal with taking the two cats on the plane at the same time, but I guess that would be an option, for your mom to take one in a carrier and the guest to take one in the other carrier. As long as they fit under seats that could be fine. Another option if it's okay for your mom's cats to arrive separately from her would be to contact an organization like Catz Meow.
posted by juniperesque at 7:41 PM on June 16, 2020
Best answer: Travelers Aid is program at O'Hare through Heartland Alliance to assist vulnerable passengers. (However, please note that this organization has a branch operating youth ORR residential facilities for unaccompanied minors who enter the US so you may not want to use that service because of the association).
posted by AlexiaSky at 9:35 PM on June 16, 2020
posted by AlexiaSky at 9:35 PM on June 16, 2020
amtrak has sleeping cars between Chicago and Flagstaff(with a 2 1/2 hour drive to Phoenix)but she wouldn't be able to bring the cats on them.
posted by brujita at 2:43 AM on June 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by brujita at 2:43 AM on June 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
There are services like Royal Paws that provide pet transport. It seems to me that it might be best/easiest to get a health aide or similar as others have posted, for your mom to fly to you, and hire a pet transport service to move the cats separately. Flying with a person who needs significant support + two pets that are going to be unhappy and hard to manage doesn't sound like a great idea.
posted by Medieval Maven at 7:14 AM on June 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by Medieval Maven at 7:14 AM on June 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Just a note if you go the flying with a companion route: At security, you can request to take the cats to a room to have their carriers x-rayed rather than having to hold the cats in their arms in the security line while the carriers go through the x-ray. One person can go back with both cats. They'll need to take one cat out of the carrier at a time, and security will take each carrier through the x-ray.
posted by amarynth at 8:47 AM on June 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by amarynth at 8:47 AM on June 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
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posted by oceano at 6:09 PM on June 16, 2020 [1 favorite]