divemaster

Mrs. Divemaster and I were booked on AA#4, LAX-JFK on 10/17. Both of us were on the upgrade list. At 72 hours, 15 of the 30 business class seats were showing as open [but no C availability on EF]. Made the call to the AAdvantage desk and got the expected revenue answer. No big deal. 4 hours before departure, my phone buzzes, e-mail says my wife's upgrade has cleared. Make a call once again. No more upgrades. OK, no problem, she got lucky. Checked in anyway at the LAX AC. Everyone had checked in. No upgrade for me.

My wife settles in in 11D, I'm back in row 25 [at least it was an aisle seat]. After the plane takes off, my wife notices that there's an empty seat in business and asks the FA why I didn't get the upgrade. Apparently, the gentleman sitting next to the empty seat had purchased the empty seat for his dog and it was manifested accordingly. However, the small dog was in a sherpa bag under the seat in front of him and the seat remained empty. As some of you know on this board, I love dogs, travel with mine all the time, and have the occasional disagreement with FT members about flying with dogs. However, I had NO idea that you could actually buy a seat for your dog.

Which got me to thinking: on runs where AA competes with the LCC's, it's actually cheaper to buy your dog/cat/whatever a seat ON the plane instead of flying them cargo under the plane. $100-$157+ each way is not an uncommon fee for flying an animal in cargo. I figure that I can actually buy a r/t seat on a route such as LGA-FLL for about half that amount and not have to worry one iota about how they are handling live cargo or the worries of cold or heat problems. I went through AA.com and didn't find anything that stated that you COULDN'T buy a ticket in the cabin for a non-service animal.

I wonder if I can apply for his very own FF#?

Just an observation.

[OK, FLYA02 - let loose ]

Spiff

You can also pay $75 for a small animal that will fit in a carrier under your seat. No separate seat required.

If you must travel with your friend (pet), I highly recommend you do this instead of sending them via cargo, provided your friend fits under the seat. There is a limit on the number of pets that may travel in each cabin.

highandlow

"Only individual persons are eligible for AAdvantage program membership. Corporations, other entities, animals or blocked-seat baggage are not eligible to become AAdvantage members or to accrue AAdvantage miles."

Too bad, though this is clearly an instance of species discrimination.

I wonder if one was the type to fly their animal friends enough to make EXP, if they might not be able to argue a few VIPOWs from a friendly AAgent?

divemaster

Yup. It's usually $80 each way for under the seat. My last trip two trips to FLL and PBI on AA were $100 r/t and $138 r/t - cheaper than $160 r/t.

I just found this as a somewhat amusing observation.

I'll betcha the dog's business class meal was better than my $3 taco snack box, too!

ja_user

Although this may be the policy, in practice, your dog can have a FF#, and if your on a MR for pure Miles, Might was well take them with you on another ticket. Especially if they are PLAT. Seems like I ought to be able to get a pet goldfish (not noisy), or maybe 5, and then I could block 5 seats in Y for myself. Mega-MR.

Spiff

Ah, the price has gone up. @:-)

gilpin

Please don't be so quick to recommend this. I am severely allergic to cats and if one is anywhere in the vicinity I cannot breathe. I think allergy to cats is fairly common, maybe even more common than allergy to peanuts, and we all know what happened to those!

I know people love their pets dearly, but the welfare of the other pax must also be considered. If there is a problem with the way pets are shipped as cargo (I have no idea whether there is or not), then that should be rectified. But having your pet accomodated at the expense of my misery isn't fair.

oiRRio

Similar problem here, I've a mild allergy to the little critters. More than 5-10 mins in the vicinity of cats and I start sneezing and get red, itchy eyes. I certainly wouldn't fancy sitting near one on a transcon. But do I for a moment think it will stop people bringing cats into the cabin?

swag

Last weekend, as I was paying $100 one way to fly in in-cabin pet, I too was wondering if a R/T ticket might not have been cheaper...

seaskybound

Highandlow,

Please don�t use derogatory terminology on this public forum. The politically correct term is �Canine-American�

chartreuse

Seems like everybody's allergic to everything these days

oiRRio

True, even being put on hold causes an adverse reaction in some people.

777-DCA

If it is better to buy your animal's own ticket compared to paying for them to be stowed, I would buy the extra ticket. By doing so, the seat next to you will be empty! ^

divemaster

I had a similar $20 overcharge by a surly TA at LGA on a flight in July. Wrote AA Customer Service. Received a $20 credit on my next credit card statement.

gemac

How do you get a government-issued picture ID for the pooch? It seems one would be needed to check the pooch in, in order to get FF credit for the flight.