Carriers for In-Cabin Pets

Old Apr 9, 2008, 8:00 am
  #1  
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Carriers for In-Cabin Pets

Hey

I was wondering if anyone happened to know what the general rules are regarding the carriers for pets who are flying in-cabin. I know it must fit under the seat, be leak-proof, and large enough for the pet to get up and move, but are there any other standards that I should be aware of?

I have this bag http://item.rakuten.co.jp/pd/rpd-ca0005/ and I would like to use it when I fly a United flight (Tokyo to Los Angeles) this July. The thing that I think may disqualify it is that the bottom is the only "sturdy" part. The rest is soft and doesn't stand straight up, though it doesn't collapse on my dog.

I really don't want to have to buy another bag for in-flight, but if I have to I have to. Does anyone have experience flying United internationally with an in-cabin pet and can give insight?
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Old Oct 20, 2014, 7:29 pm
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612 views but no replies.....
I am about to take two small dogs on a three leg domestic trip on United in December (with my wife).
I do not seem to be able to find any threads with useful discussion about traveling with pets on any airline, let alone United.
United's listed max dimensions for a pet carrier (soft sided) are:
18 inches long x 11 inches wide x 11 inches high
Will that fit on A320's, 319s and Boeing 737"s.
Since my wife and I will both be flying each with a dog, how do we manage upgrades to first? It looks like United allows only one dog in first (and only on certain aircraft). Do we need to split our reservation if we want to get the upgrade?
Are their planes that are better or worse?
Are their airports that are better or worse?
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Old Oct 21, 2014, 12:51 pm
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I have flown United domestically with an in cabin pet, using a soft carrier with enough built in support to keep it from collapsing on the cat. With a trip that long, you're going to want some replacement bedding; puppy training pads work well. There's also a sub-forum on FlyerTalk for traveling with pets where you might post this question.
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Old Oct 22, 2014, 3:31 am
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Originally Posted by JohnMacWW
612 views but no replies.....
I am about to take two small dogs on a three leg domestic trip on United in December (with my wife).
I do not seem to be able to find any threads with useful discussion about traveling with pets on any airline, let alone United.
United's listed max dimensions for a pet carrier (soft sided) are:
18 inches long x 11 inches wide x 11 inches high
Will that fit on A320's, 319s and Boeing 737"s.
Since my wife and I will both be flying each with a dog, how do we manage upgrades to first? It looks like United allows only one dog in first (and only on certain aircraft). Do we need to split our reservation if we want to get the upgrade?
Are their planes that are better or worse?
Are their airports that are better or worse?
The best airports to connect in with a pet are those with airside pet relief areas . Of the UA hubs, I only know IAD having those.
As for planes: Although a carrier sized within UA's published limits does fit under the seat in all their mainline aircraft, their 737s with IFE and in-seat power have diminished underseat storage space because the electronics boxes for the system and the power outlets are placed under the seats. Traveling with a pet, I'd rather choose their Airbus fleet (no IFE) which has unimpeded underseat storage.
UA doesn't allow pets in premium cabins on all aircraft with flat-bed seats, so you can't upgrade on any of the domestic routes they fly with the 787.
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Old Oct 22, 2014, 9:52 am
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Carriers for In-Cabin Pets

http://www.united.com/web/en-US/content/travel/animals/in_cabin.aspx
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Old Oct 22, 2014, 4:16 pm
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Originally Posted by GalleyWench
http://www.united.com/web/en-US/content/travel/animals/in_cabin.aspx
I have read that page pretty closely, but it lacks some information like the post previous to the post I am replying to, which offers guideance on both airports and on planes.

Still the UA page is pretty straight forward and does spell most everything out.
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Old Oct 22, 2014, 4:18 pm
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Originally Posted by Megn
I have flown United domestically with an in cabin pet, using a soft carrier with enough built in support to keep it from collapsing on the cat. With a trip that long, you're going to want some replacement bedding; puppy training pads work well. There's also a sub-forum on FlyerTalk for traveling with pets where you might post this question.
It looks like this thread got moved to the sub-forum you mentioned, but my thread was really UA focussed. There was a UA pet sub-forum/ thread but it was locked from pre-merger days and is no longer available. Maybe that thread should be moved to the post merger UA forum or a new general Pet thread started in the new post merger UA forum?
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Old Oct 23, 2014, 6:48 am
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Considering how little traffic this general pet travel forum sees, personally, I don't think it's a good idea to have what sparse information is out there scattered around different airline forums...
That said, there already is a post-merger UA pet thread (albeit not as comprehensive as the old one) you could have used - maybe ask the mods to move your post there.

Last edited by bhomburg; Oct 26, 2014 at 9:06 am Reason: typo in linked
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Old Oct 23, 2014, 8:37 am
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Originally Posted by JohnMacWW

I do not seem to be able to find any threads with useful discussion about traveling with pets on any airline, let alone United.
A search will show many threads regarding pet travel in this forum. If you have a UA specific pet travel question that you cannot locate by search in this forum you may wish to ask the question on the UA board.

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Old Oct 25, 2014, 11:22 pm
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Originally Posted by bhomburg
Considering how little traffic this general pet travel forum sees, personally, I don't think it's a good idea to have what sparse information is out there scattered around different airline forums...
That said, there already is a post-merger UA pet thread (albeit not as comprehensive as the old one) you could have used - maybe ask the mods to move your post there.
The link doesn't work: Page not found.
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Old Oct 26, 2014, 9:05 am
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This one:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...ch-2012-a.html

Last edited by bhomburg; Nov 1, 2014 at 2:49 pm
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Old Oct 30, 2014, 5:23 pm
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This one does not work either
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Old Oct 31, 2014, 5:59 am
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http://www.united.com/web/en-US/cont.../in_cabin.aspx
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Old Oct 31, 2014, 7:15 am
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The link the OP had posted was supposed to be a post-merger United pet policy/travel thread.

This link is to United's pet policy page.

But I see that the OP has edited the post and corrected a typo in the link. It now works!
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