Emotional Support Animals, Service Dogs and Comfort Pets: The Definitive Thread
May 28, 2017, 12:28 pm
#512
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May 28, 2017, 2:30 pm
#513
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May 28, 2017, 3:50 pm
#515
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The suggestion was to allow pets in the cabin providing that the owner purchases an extra seat if needed. I suggested that people with ESAs should also be required to purchase the second seat if needed.
May 28, 2017, 3:52 pm
#516
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It wasn't enforced on my most recent flight. Two people in C+ were relocated to the very back of regular coach so that an uncaged dog could stretch out in the bulkhead row. From the behavior, I assume it was an ESA.
May 28, 2017, 8:19 pm
#517
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Maybe it's not the money.
I think a lot of pet owners go to the effort and expense of getting the ESA letter so the dog can get out of the carrier and sit on their lap.
I think a lot of pet owners go to the effort and expense of getting the ESA letter so the dog can get out of the carrier and sit on their lap.
May 29, 2017, 4:47 pm
#518
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I do think that this would help cut down on some of the abuse of ESA. I think that people are really loath to put pets in the cargo hold with all of the horror stories out there about what can happen to them. I would certainly never do it to my dog. My animal fits perfectly under the seat, he is very small. I find the pet pricing to be infuriating.
May 29, 2017, 6:48 pm
#519
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The pet fee is just another example of a fee that has no realistic relationship to the actual incremental cost to the airline.
It is only that high because the airline is in position to unjustly dictate terms.
That said, I do not support the practice of declaring a pet to be an ESA in order to fraudulently avoid the fee.
Pet owners should be fighting the fee, not ducking it.
It is only that high because the airline is in position to unjustly dictate terms.
That said, I do not support the practice of declaring a pet to be an ESA in order to fraudulently avoid the fee.
Pet owners should be fighting the fee, not ducking it.
May 29, 2017, 6:55 pm
#520
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I mean things like french fries and sodas are sold in fast food establishments for significantly more than their incremental cost to the restaurant.If *everyone* wanted to travel with a pet then the price would probably rapidly approach the incremental cost. In the absence of that condition, an airline could just as well choose to price it high enough to discourage it if they feel it's a hassle and/or annoys other customers (whether said annoyance is justified or not)
May 29, 2017, 7:29 pm
#521
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The free market argument only goes so far with airlines, IMO. They form an essential part of the infrastructure of the country and are in various ways tax-payer subsidized (some airports and airlines more than others). They risk inviting more regulation the more obnoxious they become with fees.
May 29, 2017, 7:46 pm
#522
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The free market argument only goes so far with airlines, IMO. They form an essential part of the infrastructure of the country and are in various ways tax-payer subsidized (some airports and airlines more than others). They risk inviting more regulation the more obnoxious they become with fees.
*long-time pet owner, though currently between cats (and likely to remain so as long as I keep traveling frequently), though I haven't ever flown with a pet
May 29, 2017, 8:36 pm
#523
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... which is also known as "pricing" I mean things like french fries and sodas are sold in fast food establishments for significantly more than their incremental cost to the restaurant.
If *everyone* wanted to travel with a pet then the price would probably rapidly approach the incremental cost. In the absence of that condition, an airline could just as well choose to price it high enough to discourage it if they feel it's a hassle and/or annoys other customers (whether said annoyance is justified or not)
I mean things like french fries and sodas are sold in fast food establishments for significantly more than their incremental cost to the restaurant.If *everyone* wanted to travel with a pet then the price would probably rapidly approach the incremental cost. In the absence of that condition, an airline could just as well choose to price it high enough to discourage it if they feel it's a hassle and/or annoys other customers (whether said annoyance is justified or not)
over the past 30 years we have willingly paid whatever fees were required to bring a cat in an approved under-seat carrier on the plane with us ... none of the trips were hassle-free, but none of the hassles involved other passengers or FAs
pic is from Apr 2015, DCA-MSP-SEA
May 29, 2017, 8:45 pm
#524
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May 29, 2017, 9:10 pm
#525
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I'll tell you, but it would be a lie: