Garrett Choi

Heh! Okay, believe it or not, these are serious questions:

Does anyone have any experience traveling with dogs on United? For example:

I understand that there are limited numbers of dog "seats" available for Economy and First Class. If I use an award ticket for First Class, can I travel with my dog using the First Class slot? If my dog is traveling with a friend and I upgrade her to First Class, can my dog take the First Class slot traveling with her?

What is the difference between the Economy dog slots and the First Class dog slots? Is there a difference in treatment of the dogs themselves, or is this just a way to control the number of dogs-per-flight?

Can the 1k desk help me with dog travel or would I just get shuffled off somewhere to a dog-travel-specialty-desk?

Would also be interested in hearing some experiences and tips from people who have traveled with timid dogs (especially on their first airline flight).

By the way, there is some UA Pet Travel info at:

http://www.united.com/page/article/0,1360,1048,00.html

zambonisk

My wife and I took our two dogs with us on a (TED) flight, we had no problems, except we had to pay $80 per dog per segement. Other than that we had no problems. I spoke to the gate agent and she made sure that we had an empty middle so we could spread out a bit.

exerda

My wife and I traveled with one of our dogs last year.

Two in Y, and one in F, I believe.

Yes, and yes.


Just a way to control # of dogs, to help potentially limit exposure for those who may be allergic, limit disruptions onboard (if only they had a per-flight baby limit! ), etc. No difference in treatment.

Dogs carried onboard must fit in their carrier under the seat in front of you (and thus you cannot have a bulkhead seat), and may not be removed from their carrier during flight.


The 1K desk can handle it. The 1P line took care of arrangements for me last year. They have to make sure there is space available on the flight, and will reserve a "slot" for the dog(s). You then pay at check-in; when we flew, it was $60 for our flights on UA (total for DCA-ORD-JAX), and $100 for our flights on US (total for JAX-CLT-DCA).

SNA1K

Does your dog really need a vacation?

I understand a person's love of their pets, however, for some of us it creates a severe medication problem when there are dogs in a small FC cabin. I have suffered on a couple of these flights due to people's lack of concern for those flying with them.

Their dog got a vacation...the first three days of mine were spent trying to overcome reactions to allergy-induced asthma.

formergr

Coming from a familywith several members who have severe allergy-induced asthma linked to pet dander I sympathize, believe me I do.

But it's been our experience that just sitting next to someone with pet hair on their jacket or clothing (where it's closer to your mouth and nose) can actually be worse than having a confined animal down at floor level. Since the animal is contained in a carrier it can't move and release dander into the air. So unless you are seated directly next to the animal on the floor, you shouldn't really have any problems. And if you are, I'm sure the FAs will accomodate a seat change, which is why the total number of animals allowed in the cabin are restricted.

JAaronT

I've reread the OP twice and even searched the page to be sure, but I can't find where he says he's going on vacation. You must have some knowledge to which the rest of us aren't privy.

I thought it was each way, not per segment.

drobbva

Yes, its one in first class and generally 3 in economy, I think 2 for regional jets. There is no difference in treatment between Y and F. You pay the $85 each way and the pet stays in the travel bag underneath the seat in front of you. No pre-departure beverage service or hot nuts but usually I hand my little guy a pretzel or two with the salt removed.

I typically go online and find the cheapest flights to where I need to go. I then call up reservations (I'm not 1k, so I just call the number on the back of my 1P card). I tell them I want to travel with a pet in cabin from city A to city B. I then ask if there are open pet in cabin spots on the specific flights I want. When I confirm space on specific flights I go online and book the flight. I immediately call back and add the pet to the PNR to reserve the in-cabin space. Nothing special required other than a couple extra phone calls. FYI - Once a pet is added to your PNR you will be bumped from exit rows or bulkheads. You also will not be able to use the chickens or on-line checkin, you'll need to check in with an agent so they can take your $85.

Knowing our dog would need to make some longer transcon trips, we first took him on a < 2hr flight. Just last month he did his first transcon with a connection each way and handled it fine. Every animal is different. We make sure we keep him on his regular feeding/bathroom schedule with time to urinate before entering the terminal. One we get to the airport he goes in his travel bag and only comes out to go through security screening (no x-rays for fluffy). He's then right back in until destination. We take some treats for to give him periodically and leave a nyla bone and toy in his bag to keep him occupied. I don't recommend (and vets do not either) giving them tranquilizers. We've never had to sedate the dog and also never get a peep out of him. In fact he's so used to it by now that we could probably just carry him on and no one would realize we had a dog, but I prefer to play by the rules (as ridiculous as they can be) on this one. Feel free to PM with any more specific questions.

Garrett Choi

I'm pretty sure that a first flight on a jet aircraft sitting for 7 hours in a cargo hold is not her idea of a "vacation" (although, it's certainly possible that she will have more seat pitch down there than in E-). Her idea of a "vacation" is staying home, eating snacks, and watching House (she likes his voice).

She's traveling for a different reason that has nothing to do with fun.

Garrett Choi

I just called the 1k desk and they were very helpful.

Apparently, the restriction on # of dogs is only applicable to the dogs that actually sit in the Y and F cabins vs. ride underneath the plane (our dog is much too large to fit in a carrier underneath the seat).

I let my friend keep the upgrade, though. Maybe this will mean that my dog's crate will receive a "Priority" boarding tag upon check-in (and therefore come out last).

SNA1K

DimSum--sorry if my comment about the "vacation" sounded flippant and in your case was not accurate. My flight in July to AMS was impeded by a dog seated in C which WAS going on vacation; a bit of seat readjustments by the GA and Purser made it OK, but it almost did not happen.

Glad to hear that your situation is different and you were able to handle it.

Sunnyhere

A few weeks back, an interesting couple seated behind me, in pseudo* p.s. C, JFK-LAX most certainly were not following the rules, as their Cavalier King Charles Spaniel ..... slept spread out on top of one of the fellas. As we deplaned, the little princess led the couple to the terminal, as the FA rolled eyes to say "Only in LA".

*pseudo because an international configuration 777 substituted for the 757.

Garrett Choi

Heh!

Well, this chapter of the story ends with an excellent 1k-desk story!

So, my friend calls up the general number, waits on hold for 15 minutes, gives her PNR, and says that she heard from [me] that there was no restriction on the number of dogs in the cargo hold, so she'd like to add a dog, please. The (offshore) call center tells her that information is incorrect, only two dogs are allowed in Y and one in F (and she's still only waitlisted for F). She argues with the call center guy for a few minutes that this only applies to dogs traveling IN-CABIN, and then in the middle, the guy HANGS UP ON HER!

So, one more call, around the world, same thing (including being on hold for another 15 min) They still wouldn't budge, apparently. 2 dogs in Y, 1 dog in F, doesn't matter if they're in the cabin or in cargo.

So, I conference her into the 1k line. We sit through the announcement about liquids, I say "reservations", type in my MP number, say my name, and "yes [I am traveling exclusively within the 50 United States]". Then the automated voice says the thing about getting a reservations agent for me and that the agent will be provided the information already given.

"Yeah, right!" my friend jokes, saying that she's sick of hearing "that United song" while "on hold forever."

Got lucky (and consequently got to show off):

Exactly one (1) ring, then "1k Desk! Is this Mr. [Dimsum]?"

Me: "Yes."

1k: "How can I help you, Mr. [Dimsum]?"

Me: "My friend is on the line with me and the offshore call center is telling her that the 2-dog-in-coach and 1-dog-in-first-class restriction applies both to dogs traveling in the cabin and dogs traveling in the cargo hold, so they won't let her add my dog because the in-cabin slots are full, even though my dog is traveling in cargo not in-cabin."

1k: "Whaaaaaat?? That's ridiculous." [Proceeds to add 1 dog to her PNR in about 30 sec, asks if she wants an e-mail confirmation, then asks pleasant questions about what type of dog is it, are they friendly, etc.]

^

Mountain Trader

Your concern for your dog's reaction to flying is admirable.

You should do a search on Flyer Talk, as there have been many posts by people (including me) on how they prepared their dogs for travel. There are also other websites specifically devoted to this topic-Google around.

You should make clear that your taking your dog as cargo. It wasn't clear from your original post and it's a whole different experience to prepare for and go through.

FightingIlliniUAL

ORD-DEN last week, a puppy jumped out of it's owner seat right after take off and started to run around the 777. Some people were definately frightened.

ajthegreat

There are other reasons for pets travelling other than vacations. Half the time you probably don't notice the pets that are on your flight. It is those few owners that break the rules and make it bad for the rest of us that properly travel with their pets...