carlosdca

Do you think that a vest that says a service dog makes the animal a service dog? You can get those on amazon for $15.
They are pointless.

hawkfan7314

AITA? Flying HNL-DFW have a service dog. Buy three center bulkhead seats 26D,E,G all together so my dog can lay down in front of us. Person butt hurt I stop them from crossing the cabin infront of us when dog is laying down instead of going back to the galley to cross the cabin.

sky_throwaway

Hi! We have a small 14 lb dog that travels with us often. We always call ahead and make a reservation for him and the rep gives us a "pet record locator". Never any issues.

On a recent trip this week at check in, the agent let us know that we just made it as he was the fifth pet and that the pet record locators don't really matter as it's "first come, first serve" at check in when it comes to cabin pets (limited to five)

Ie. If we call ahead, make a reservation for our dog and arrive to check in one hour before our flight and five other passengers arrive with cabin pets. We won't be able to fly.

Asked another check in agent today and they confirmed it for us.

Curious what the point of the whole pet record locator / reservation system is, if it just defaults to first come first serve.

Should we not bother for future flights and just arrive early?

Appreciate any insight or advice!

Gaucho100K

OK, so I recently completed an itinerary MIA - DFW - GJT with our miniature poodle. We had an "interesting" situation with AA and our Pet Carrier when we started out journey at MIA a couple of days ago. At first, the Check-in agent said our dog was not legit to fly, because even though he is well under the max allowed weight and fits in the AA approved soft carrier bag that we had purchased, there was the "discussion" about whether the animal was able to turn around inside the carrier while standing up.... to make a long story short, after a 15 minute conversation, a supervisor was brought to the scene and they reviewed the situation, they offered a solution to purchase another pet carrier that had a "dome shaped" top cover and that was considered to allow our pet to move around with the freedom that is required by the AA rules of this specific situation.

So now to my specific question.... in about 12 days, I will be checking in for my return trip from GJT to MIA, and Im hoping that this will not (again) become an issue. I will of course have the "new" carrier which was approved at MIA for travel. Is the fact that the MIA station approved the new carrier I have for travel a solid argument I can use in case that I encounter issues upon check-in at GJT airport...?

Hope that some of the regular AA flyers with Pets can shed some light on this issue.... we had a very stressful experience on our outbound flight and would want to avoid a similar situation on our return. Thanks for any insight or advice that you all would have.

Cheers,
Alex / Gaucho100K

Gaucho100K

Wow... thanks for sharing this. Im in the middle of a trip with our dog and this is valuable info. It seems strange that if you call in advance and have your Pet flagged in your reservation that you would still be liable for not being allowed to fly because of this first com first served policy..... (weird)

sky_throwaway

I would guess we have around 50 trips with our dog. For the first time ever this week, we experienced something quite similar to your experience

In short, it entirely depends on the person checking you in.

This week : First leg. No problem

Second leg (overnight stay, had to check in again). Check In agent seemed unsure. Asked us if our dog could turn around. We said "yes". Agent dinked around for about 5 minutes and finally called a supervisor. Supervisor came over and said "he's fine". Kind of stressful but supervisor was there maybe 10 seconds.

Third leg. Super stressful and almost a major problem. Check in person said we could not fly with our pet bc he was too big (14 lbs) and that we didn't have a per record locator (we did). Then decided that he could not turn around in his carrier because our dog does not turn around on command. Just by luck, he happened to turn around. She told us we were "lucky" and any other gate agent would not have let him fly today. I should have left it alone but told her this was the first time in 40+ flights that we ever had an issue at check in. That definitely didn't help matters .

I have a good friend who was stranded in upstate NY this summer. Flew with his dog across country no problem. On the return, check in decided he was too big. Small airport, so that was the final word.

He had to rent a car and drive down to NYC and book a new flight on AA to get hone. Check in there w the pet was no issue

It really all depends on the person checking you in
in general I can say we have never had an issue on the west coast while east coast airport staff can be a bit more snotty about a dog flying

BlueGirlGoes

I'm trying to get myself and my cat to Cancun (CUN) from Denver (DEN), and have never been more confused in my life.
My carrier: Delsey Chatelet soft side: 15x17x10 (42 linear inches)
AA soft side dimensions (listed as "recommended," and says that carriers "may be a bit larger): 18x11x11 (40 linear inches)
AA hard side dimensions: 19x13x9 (41 unsquishable linear inches)

Both flights will be on an A321. Which Main Cabin seats should I choose to make sure the 12 lb / 5.5 kg. cat fits? Thank you!

wk989

Hello all,
Have a slightly odd one: will be flying tomorrow from DFW, domestically, with my pet (carry-on). The AA site says to be there 2 hours before departure, but that seems like their standard advice, not a hard minimum. Is there a hard minimum check-in time other than the standard 40mins (-3) that is generally true for domestic check in?
Thanks for any advice, as this is my first flight with a pet!

lrdpenn

Checking in by the min checkin time (45mins) is fine. Keep in mind you must checkin with an agent (and there may be a line) and the paperwork/payment itself takes at least a couple mins to process with a good agent.

skylady

45 mins may be the boarding tiime, I would go with the 2 hour checkin time

carlosdca

I would arrive 2 hours before. You never know how busy the line for seein an agent will be.
Ideally, you will have some spare time, so you can take your friend for a last walk outside before heading to security.
Your doggy should be trained to stay inside the kennel for at least 4 hours. If the doggy has had a good exercise day and is used to the kennel he will sleep all the way through.

chavala

First flight with cats in a few days and I’m getting nervous. (from DFW, 2 pax, 2 cats, Domestic FC A320, partner is ExPlat)
I read everything (AA, FT, Reddit- everything!) and finding conflicting info.

I see mentioned needing to have a separate record locator for them? We added them onto our reservation, but there isn’t a separate locator. Do I need to call?

I read to get to the airport extra early, because even though I have a reservation, anyone who beats us to check-in will have priority, and only 7 pets are allowed. AA says service animals don’t count. Really? How early?
And will the agent really want my cats to stand up and turn around??? They’re very well behaved, but… cats.

I read I need to have a health certificate written within 10 days, but AA has no mention of this and my vet never heard of it. I have their last vet visit record from a month ago along with their rabies tags. Is this enough?

I was thinking of requesting a private screening room at TSA. (One of them is a real scaredy-cat and I’m afraid he may have an accident when he sees and hears the chaos)
Has anyone ever done this? Is it considered an odd request?

Any tips or advice appreciated. We’re moving cross-country, so it’s already stressful enough!

weezl

Just booked a one-way award flight on the phone with an agent, and reserved a slot for our dog. We pay at the airport, that is when they determine the size and fit for your animal to be allowed on board. You don't have a separate locator, you don't pay in advance, just make sure to tell them when you make the reservation that you have your animals.

lrdpenn

There is nothing further you need to do. Personally I don't even do the "pet reservation" as there's really no upside if it's true that it's first come first serve. You'll be blocked from online checkin. You do not have to arrive super early, just however long you expect the counter queues to be plus 5 mins. I aim to arrive at the checkin lobby ~65 mins before departure: usually it's 5-10 mins in the priority line max + 5 minutes to process the paperwork max. Without bags/cat I aim to arrive ~35mins before departure, so I'm also that type of person. Pick the arrival time you're most comfortable with knowing your home airport.

It's possible (as it's in the rules) but very unlikely. Unless your cats are very large or bulging from the carrier, I would not worry about this.

This is not required domestically for carry-on pets. You don't have to provide any documentation.

I have not done this, although you are certainly able to request (any passenger can.) Personally I think it's best to get it over with quickly especially if you have precheck. You have to walk through the metal detector with your cat. Just pull out your cat from the carrier right before it goes into the xray machine, hold onto them tight, and deposit them quickly on the other side of the xray machine

You cannot select bulkheads. I suggest not feeding the cats within ~10 hours of your flight. Digestive system may be slow and turbulence can make them queasy. Check the carrier zippers every once in a while to ensure they are still tight against the edge...if the cat finds the smallest hole they might open it. Good luck with your move!