Pets: First Class
 

I'll start by saying I'm generally put off by people who bring dogs in the cabin, but now that it's me travelling with my grandmother's dog, I have no choice but to break my own rules.

With that out of the way, what is the situation for taking a small dog as a carry-on in FC?

With status and a paid FC ticket, does the dog count as a piece of luggage or is there an additional charge?

If so, how do I make the reservation? I don't see an option on the website's advanced search option to reserve a pet.

Thanks.

You have to call DL. It does count as your carry-on, I think it's $125-150, and you have to make sure the flight you're on does NOT have lie-flat seats, otherwise you cannot take the pet.

If I recall correctly, the dog has to fit in a carrier under the seat, there is a fee, and you need to call ahead to make sure the dimensions of the carrier for that particular flight and to make sure that there are no more than 2 pets already in 1st for said flight... Also yes it counts as one of your carry-on pieces.


As a side note, some FAs seem totally fine with non ESAs sitting in laps, but others will throw a fit. I once saw an adorable chihuahua nearly bite the hand off a fellow FC passenger and then an FA who got too close to its owner.

Thanks!

Our little princess has never flown coach. Too bad dogs don't accrue miles, she'd be at least a GM by now.

Call DL. Tell them you're booking a pet in cabin - there's a $125 fee, which you pay at check-in (IIRC, you can't do OLCI when traveling with a pet).

http://www.delta.com/content/www/en_...ons.html#carry

$125 counts as a carry on, even though you pay!
Your pet must be small enough to fit comfortably in a kennel without touching or protruding from the sides of the kennel and with the ability to move around.
The kennel must fit under the seat directly in front of you.
Maximum carry-on kennel dimensions are determined by your flight. You must contact Delta Reservations to determine the appropriate kennel size.
Your pet must remain inside the kennel (with door secured) while in a Delta boarding area (during boarding and deplaning), a Delta airport lounge and while onboard the aircraft.
Your pet must be at least 10 weeks old for Domestic travel.
Your pet must be 16 weeks old if traveling to the U.S. from other countries and must be at least 15 weeks old for European Union travel.
Your pet counts as one piece of carry-on baggage. Pet in Cabin fees still apply.
One pet is permitted per kennel with the following exceptions:

@ShopAround

She is adorable!!

It's $125 and you have to call Delta.

If it's flat bed seating you won't be allow to have the pet and it can't be a bulkhead since the carrier has to go under your seat in front of you.

Even though the animal is suppose to count as your carry on, I've never had any issues bringing a carry on roller bag and my backpack on with me when travelling with cats but I'm sure others haven't had as good of luck. I think the policy is stupid seeing you are paying a high fee to travel with the pet anyway and if someone is with their pet the last thing they want to do is spend more time checking a bag and retrieving it after.

I'd definitely use a soft side carrier instead of a hard plastic one.

You are eligible for upgrades with a pet as well if you don't want to buy a first class ticket, only thing is you can't sit in an exit row.

I've had a couple people complain when flying with cats in First Class claiming cat allergies so you may have that with a dog. Both cases the other passenger had a complimentary upgrade. One time I was on a paid first class ticket and the FA or GA said since they were on a complimentary upgrade and I was on a paid first they would be happy to move the next person on the upgrade list forward and give them their seat and the other time I was on a complimentary upgrade and I was a diamond and the other passenger was a lower tier and they offered to move the passenger to C+ or Y. Amazing in both cases they were able to cope with their allergies in first instead of moving back to coach:)

Thank you. She knows it, too. ;)

It should be mentioned that making a proper reservation for your pet will put a notation in your ticket that will prevent you from being able to use OLCI. As such you will be forced to get your boarding pass from a ticketing agent. That agent is supposed to charge you the $150.00 fee.

I've had agents ignore the fee based on my status, and I have sticklers insist on charging the fee. Make sure whatever status you have is properly conveyed to Delta in your reservation. Don't remind the agent you have the pet if you can avoid approaching the counter with it, all the better.

I suppose you could try to sneak the dog on, especially if it will remain in its carrier under the seat. But the penalty for getting caught could be worse than just being charged the $125 or whatever fee. I *think* there are limits to how many cabin pets can be on an aircraft, and so if there are others already paid, they may deny you (or your pet) boarding.

We have snuck our papillons on in the past but not lately. If you are caught, they can deny boarding (no reservation, too many animals already, not enough time to process collecting fee at gate, etc.). My guess is if boarding is denied Delta could treat it like you no showed and cancel the rest of the ticket.

Absolutely agree with the soft sided carrier, the space under seats is rarely a rectangular box so some give makes it fit easier.

The fee really annoys us for two reasons - the dog counts as one of your carry-ons and the airline does almost nothing for the money, just keeps track of animal inventory on the plane.

There is a limit of two per cabin on mainline (not sure if it's two carriers or two pets total). It's may be a lower limits for RJ operated flights. Not sure why Delta has that policy since that fee is very easy income for them. Now that they have a C+ cabin I am interested in knowing if they allow two carriers in C- and two in W

I've never had an agent not charge me due to status. I think that could be a nice benefit, waive the pet fee for one or two flights a year for high tiers and/or have a lower pet fee. Even if they dropped it to $75 for diamonds and plats it would be a nice benefit and Delta is still making $75 pure profit.

I don't think this would work. When my wife bought a dog out of state, she had to go to Special Services to check in and they collected the fee and put a special tag on the carrier. I'm not sure that TSA will let you though w/o the tag. Maybe, but agreed that the consequences would be far more than the fee. Especially considering this sounds like a one time event and not a regular occurrence.

The reservation and payment of the fee assures you that one of the two slots is yours. Without both, you are at risk of anyone walking up with their dog, paying the fee and bumping your dog which means you.