Taking a Hamster Cross Country

My fiance and I are moving from LA to NC this summer. She's got a hamster that she adores and wants to bring but gosh dang, it's tough to find info on travel tips with hamsters. We've found that only Frontier airline will let you bring hamsters and seems like they suck. We could drive, but seems risky, this boy's real old (getting to 3 years) and she'd be peak traumatized if he died in the car ride. Any advice on how to get this old geezer cross country safely and humanely?