Originally Posted by
carlosdca
OP:
It seems to me you had a lot of expectations, which you formed based on what YOU think should happen
not what the airline actually offers regarding service animals.
And if on the respective webpage (
https://www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/...ce-animals.jsp) they don't mention MCE or priority boarding, then I would have assumed that in fact nothing was going to be offered (whether it makes sense to you or not).
I think you misunderstood me. It's not that I expected anything extra or special at all. I didn't. I would actually be shocked if AA gave out MCE seats for free for service dogs. However, I have seen accommodations made in other cases, so I was curious to see if anyone had experience. When I've traveled with elderly relatives in wheelchairs in the past, they were given preferred seats for free so their walk through the aircraft would be minimal, although I didn't see it written anywhere that this would be offered. My thought was that maybe others have had something offered for service dogs.
My curiosity really came based on the fact that after flying for the first time with a service dog (and having fully read the link you sent multiple times, as well as spoken with special assistance on the phone multiple times), I was surprised that the experience in person felt inconsistent. It was made very clear to me in advance that procedures for service dogs have to be followed to at T on our end. For example, just getting the forms approved in advance was a surprisingly involved undertaking that required total attention to every minor detail. It wasn't that I wanted or expected special treatment, it was just simply something new to me that I'm trying to understand for the future. It's no different than if I had kids and was traveling with them for the first time and just wanted to understand how things work with car seats, strollers, boarding, etc. Without having done it before, it was hard to know what the baseline experience is supposed to be.
Originally Posted by
carlosdca
OP:
About the check-in, I don't know what's required but it makes sense to me that they require in-person check-in. What if you say you have a Golden Retriever and you have a dragon instead? That the dog you filed papers for is the dog you are actually traveling with probably needs to be checked at some point, not last minute as your boarding pass is scanned at the gate.
Agreed - I don't mind checking in if I have to, it was simply inconsistent between two airports and compared to what I was told on the phone (i.e. that no check-in was necessary if the dog was pre-approved). Either way, I had all our paperwork with us, waited where I was told to, and produced everything that I was asked to produce.
Originally Posted by
carlosdca
OP:
I can just smile at the comment of the friendly/unfriendly FAs.
I am glad the first group of FAs treated your dog better than some FAs treat humans.
What you wrote could be perfectly applied to a passenger. See below. It happens.
100% agree - your edits are spot on! Somehow I actually found the rude treatment of my dog worse than if the treatment was directed at me....go figure. But it's not surprising and I truly don't care. I call it a win that the FAs were so kind on the first flight.