Flying meat home?

[280rem]

So you can pack the meat and drop it off with air cargo unfrozen?

The airport has freezers too.

 

[Djacker]

So you can pack the meat and drop it off with air cargo unfrozen?

You could, there is a freezer in the cargo area. I don't know how long they will hold your cargo. I just used freezer storage for 1 night at Anchorage Airport. The drop off/pick up was in the baggage claim area. It's a separate business to Alaska Air cargo, similar to renting freezer space from another business. Just more convenient being its at the airport.

 

[2PBC22]

I was able to become a known shipper almost immediately with Alaska Airlines based on a company I own. Headed up to Alaska shortly, I’ll keep you posted if I get lucky.

Whole process seems pretty straightforward only gotcha I’ve found so far is meat/antlers may not arrive together - could be an issue if need to pickup from airport a couple hours from where you live. Fairbanks has a freezer where meat is stored until it leaves, but most places in the states just have a cooler so you’ll need to be able to pick it up within a day or 2.

Max 100 lbs per package. Planning to use 48 qt coolers - a little more expensive but should keep the meat frozen if any delays.

 

[Crjones8]

Just check in with delta flying back with a caribou. I used a yeti hopper and a cheap Walmart backpack cooler for my carry on and personal item with my frozen meat in it.

 

[fuzzymarindave]

Good info here. We are heading up next week via Fairbanks airport. One night in hotel before flying home so we might be able to access a freezer for meat in checked bags. On another trip I had frozen meat completely filled in my carryon bag. Must have been 60 pounds. TSA folks had to inspect after it went through x-ray.

 

[Djacker]

Good info here. We are heading up next week via Fairbanks airport. One night in hotel before flying home so we might be able to access a freezer for meat in checked bags. On another trip I had frozen meat completely filled in my carryon bag. Must have been 60 pounds. TSA folks had to inspect after it went through x-ray.

Great idea about the carry on.

 

[Jwknutson17]

Alaska Air Cargo is the way to go. Little bit of a setup process if you are not already TSA approved as a known shipper. Dropped off my already packaged meat in boxes and I just scheduled the shipment for the following day. Because it was classified as Frozen food/meats/etc it sat in their freezer for 24 hours just about (Planned it that way) before it made its way to Denver. It also sat in the Denver freezer before I picked it up. Was just about a dollar a pound for the shipment. (Your rates may vary as this was my business rate) That was overnight from SCC to DEN with cold storage on both ends.

You have to have everything packed up completely and all antlers wrapped up covering every tip with carboard and plastic wrap. Nothing can leak, etc. We brought all of the packaging supplies with us, and a lot of it. Some spill kit absorbent pads to set under the skulls before we bagged and wrapped them.

Like others mentioned, make sure that whatever airport its coming from, if there is a layover, and the destination all have cold storage, or you may be in for a surprise. Throw an air tag in there also for peace of mind.

 

[280rem]

You have to have everything packed up completely and all antlers wrapped up covering every tip with carboard and plastic wrap. Nothing can leak, etc. We brought all of the packaging supplies with us, and a lot of it. Some spill kit absorbent pads to set under the skulls before we bagged and wrapped them.

Did you include the antlers in the air cargo shipment? Were the antlers by weight or was there any dimensional charges involved with them?
Wife and I were successful, just got out of the field today, so will be going forward with this route. I, like you, have a business so know shipper number only involved a few minutes on the phone.

 

[Jwknutson17]

Did you include the antlers in the air cargo shipment? Were the antlers by weight or was there any dimensional charges involved with them?
Wife and I were successful, just got out of the field today, so will be going forward with this route. I, like you, have a business so know shipper number only involved a few minutes on the phone.

Everything was on the same pallet including antlers. All charged by weight. Super easy and straightforward.

 

[2PBC22]

Bump to add my lesson's learned.

Everything went flawlessly, only some small lessons learned. I'll put all my assumptions/best guesses in italics because I don't know if my assumptions are fact.

I became a known shipper through an LLC I have. This LLC is the loosest of LLCs, but it worked. Whole process took less than a day - the approval process appeared automated.

Shipped out the meat on Tuesday morning, Sep 3rd (they were closed on Monday for labor day).

Dropped 3x 48 quart coolers of frozen caribou meat, and 1x package of antlers. Wrapped antlers in paper towels (still a little blood from stripping velvet), then shrink wrap, followed by foam pipe insulation on antler tips and cardboard over the caribou paddles, followed by green bubble wrap, then finally more shrink wrap. In hindsight, would have used cardboard over all the points, and bypassed the foam pipe insulation.

At Alaska Air Cargo in Fairbanks, they took the 3 coolers and antlers and put them in their back room to run through the x-ray machine. Lady asked some very basic questions - known shipper number, company that was doing shipping, how the meat was packaged etc. From there she selected the flights to expect the meat and antlers to ship on. Antlers always ship space available so their is no guarantee the meat and antlers will arrive together. If you know Alaska airline flights you would like the meat to ship on, they may be able to add realtime. I reached out to Alaska air cargo after the fact and tried to get the meat/antlers on a sooner Seattle to Philadelphia flight that aligned with the time my dad landed, but was too late (they need a 3 hour heads up for changes).

In the backroom, they banded the coolers with their machine so they wouldn't come open. They put frozen stickers on the coolers. I assume the meat went into the freezer in Fairbanks, and in their freezer in Seattle (8 hour layover) before Philadelphia but can't be sure. Meat arrived in Philadelphia 28 hours after dropping it off, and was still frozen solid.

Total cost of the shipping was $304.53 for 202 pounds at their lowest priority of shipping. We were billed at 276 pounds. I believe this was because of the bulk of the antlers and they have a minimum charge per volume. The package dimensions were 3 coolers at 14.0x13.0x24 and the antlers at 48x29x29.

I wouldn't hesitate to use this service in the future, and was definitely cheaper than checking as baggage.