LOL the fun of having all your baggage and 2 huge crates in an airport. We were lucky cuz we got to check in our 2 dogs as baggage too before they changed the rules. (that is with Air Canada) now any dog that is over 70 LBS has to fly cargo. So we won't be flying Air Canada anymore. And they changed the price for animals from $80 per dog round trip to 200 on way!
Anyway enough ranting about that... Ok I find what works best is no food or water past midnight, so that they won't mess in there crates. Also have a blanket in the crate for padding and to catch any mess if they happen to have an accident. Also ask what the temperature is going to be, like if traveling in the summer, you don't need a thick blanket but if in the winter you would need a thicker blanket to keep them warm. ( I have traveled in both summer and winter and both my pups were fine) It is easier to take the crate into the airport and then put Lily and Raven in there crates, then you can get everything settled for them. Also I recommed if it is going to be a really long flight, get one of those travel water bottles that attach to the crate(and the whole thing on the inside of the crate, or it will break off, happened to my brother when he traveled with his dane) If your friend is bringing Lily the next day I would suggest she has someone help her. It is alot to carry a crate and then go back and get Lily and put her in the crate ect. makes it easier if there is 2 people. Also I think I mentioned this but try and get a crate with steel doors and one that locks, we had to use plastic zip tie things to make sure they couldn't get out. Harley can get out of those dens that don't have the steel doors.
We also made sure that we got to the airport extra early, as it takes a long time to check in animals, forms to fill out ect, and where yours is international flight it might even take longer than normal. hmm that is all that I can think of for now, hope it helps
Nina.
Oh I'll see if I can find a pic of that water bottle. (what my brother did was fill up 1/2 of it with water and froze it and before he left he filled the rest up so that she would have cold water the whole flight, oh and if you do get one, this may sould silly but test it to make sure they know how to use it, it took my brother an hour before she figured out what it was. LOL )