Bark Air Launches Journey Concierge Service for Canine House owners

It’s 2025, but touring together with your canine can nonetheless be a problem. Airline insurance policies and costs fluctuate broadly. Pet-friendly lodging may include dimension or breed restrictions. Vaccination guidelines and well being certificates add additional complexity to worldwide journeys.

One firm’s total enterprise mannequin is to make that entire course of a bit simpler, beginning with flights. Since launching in May 2024, Bark Air has put greater than 1,000 canines on 142 plane throughout “book-by-the-seat” choices and shared or personal charters. Travelers can e book on Bark Air’s website for a seat on a scheduled flight (service is presently out there on flights from New York to Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, Paris, Madrid, and Lisbon), or the corporate can coordinate one-off full- and partial-charter personal flights. Pricing begins at round $6,000 one-way.

However, the “dog-first hospitality brand” completely informed Afar that it’s increasing past high-end air journey preparations. This month, Bark Air is debuting a standalone concierge service designed to deal with the logistics of journeying together with your furry, four-legged good friend.

Dubbed “Companion Concierge,” the providing coordinates related canine journey wants, like managing animal laws and paperwork, crafting metropolis guides and pet-friendly itineraries, and arranging canine chaperone providers. Pricing begins at $500 for an hour-long session and is open to anybody—not simply those that fly with Bark Air.

It’s a pure evolution, says Michael Novotny, president of Bark Air. “We’ve heard customers say to us they want our personalized service, the ‘getting to know the dog and understanding what they need’ in a broader travel environment.”

Novotny notes that they’re already dealing with difficult logistics, like reserving vet appointments overseas and reviewing data prematurely to substantiate in case your canine is eligible to fly. Bark Air additionally sources dog-welcoming accommodations, eating places, and experiences. On the bottom, it could actually present transport choices and join with trusted native distributors, from veterinarians to groomers. All of those providers are actually out there as a part of the brand new concierge providing.

The firm doesn’t personal the planes, however as a substitute leverages its experience within the pet business to create a bespoke expertise. Bark Air is owned by Bark, which dates again to 2011 and is thought for its BarkField month-to-month supply service of toys and treats.

Now, it’s utilizing what it has discovered previously 12 months of working Bark Air and its insights into how touring with a canine may be difficult, like figuring out in case your canine is eligible to fly, to launch a standalone concierge program. “We actually see a lot of one-way demand for international [travel with dogs] whether that’s relocation or extended stay travel,” Novotny provides. Whether canine house owners are shifting from the United States to Europe or planning a leisure journey to Shanghai, the corporate says it’s in a position to help.

Starting at $500 (which incorporates an hour session plus itinerary creation and assist), the Companion Concierge is a lower-barrier-to-entry possibility than flying with Bark Air for vacationers wanting to extra seamlessly discover the world with their canines. But there are additionally add-on providers. Chauffeured automobile rides that mirror the Bark Air flight expertise begin at $350. (A canine’s music choice and movement illness necessities are taken under consideration.) A devoted canine chaperone providing personalised care, like canine sitting and strolling providers, begins at $100 per hour.

As a degree of comparability, flying one-way on Bark Air from New York to Los Angeles begins at $6,575 (a ticket contains “one dog and one human companion”). One-way flights from New York to London clock in at $8,900. For vacationers who e book Companion Concierge and select to fly Bark Air, they’ll obtain the $500 session price again as credit score for a flight.