QueenEsoterica

There has been a lot of news recently about traveling with dogs, so I thought I would describe my recent saga with Austrian. First, I'll say that in general, I like traveling with Austrian, and prefer it to Lufthansa, particularly on the route I fly from IAD to PRN (Lufthansa routes you through Frankfurt, mostly, which involves like an hour of walking for only an hour and a half layover).

I was needing to travel with my dog in the hold from IAD to PRN. I was also traveling with my 70 year old mother-in-law for whom this was her first trip out of the US, which is why I chose to fly through Vienna instead of Frankfurt (see above). When I called to ask if my dog would fit, they said "yes, probably, but we have to confirm because it's a smaller aircraft." They told me to call back the next day to "confirm." Before I had a chance, they wrote me an email saying:

"Dear Ms. Olmstead,

We kindly inform you that the transportation of your dog in hold can not be confirmed for your flights due to small aircraft type.
We do advise you to contact Lufthansa cargo service in order to confirm the transportation.
You can reach them using this phone number: +1 800 542 274.
Should you require any further assistance, please, do not hesitate to contact us.

Yours sincerely,
AUSTRIAN AIRLINES"

So, maybe this is just me, but "confirm" with Lufthansa I read as "call them and ask whether your crate will fit." Now, why Lufthansa would know better than Austrian on one of their own flights, I didn't know, but I figured they are partners, and maybe Lufthansa was in charge of cargo transport on the ground. I called Lufthansa and asked if my crate would fit and they said "yup!" I reported that back to Austrian, and they said "that's nice." And I kind of left it at that (probably my fault, as I should have gotten a firm "confirmed" before letting it go).

Flash forward to a few days before the flight: I thought I would reconfirm my pup's place. The conversation went something like this:
"We told you we can't confirm!"
"Well, you told me to confirm with Lufthansa, and they confirmed that my crate should fit."
"We have nothing to do with Lufthansa."
"Then why did you tell me to confirm with them that my crate would fit?"
"Yes, confirm with them."
"I don't get it, should I just show up at the airport then, and see if it works?"
"No, we cannot confirm at this time due to the small size of the aircraft."
"What are you saying? What precisely does the word confirm mean to you? Can I bring my dog or can't I?"
"We cannot confirm at this time, and don't take that tone with me..."

Needless to say, I did not take my dog on that flight and it took me over a month to find another flight that I could get her out on (as high season approaches, Austrian flies bigger planes to Pristina, so they had room for the pooch the next time. Thankfully we had someone in DC with whom she could stay for a month.

So, I admit, after the fact I can hear that the "confirm with Lufthansa" thing could mean something else, but why wouldn't they just say "sorry, we can't take your dog, make other arrangements?" Customer Service WOULD NOT use the word no, only "we cannot confirm." Is it just to be frustrating? Is there some liability they're trying to cover?

Anyway, moral of the story is check the equipment on your route before booking when traveling with a dog. I know a lot more about airplane sizes than I did before!!