Consultette

My family has an upcoming trip planned and my cousin recently received a service dog which will be coming with us - this would be the dog's first trip on an airline with the family and possibly first plane trip ever. While he will not be needed at the airport, his presence would benefit my cousin immensely on the ground.

Given that this will be the dog's first trip, my family thinks it may be better for me to travel with the dog vs. my cousin who rarely flies and has major mobility considerations trying to navigate the airports with the new dog.

I have several questions and would love to hear your thoughts - especially if you have a service animal or have spent significant time around one.

1. Is it really more difficult to travel with a new animal in unfamiliar situations like an airport for the first time? The dog seems to behave very well in other situations, but I cannot think of anytime I have been around them in anything even resembling an airport situation. I would love to hear your thoughts on whether their fears may be founded.

2. This dog knows me very well, but I am not his handler. Do you think it would cause confusion or impact his behavior if he was to fly with me? Yet again, he is very well-behaved but my only basis for comparison is what I know my pets would do (not working dogs).

3. I called the airline and it seems like they would not have a problem transporting an "off-duty" dog in the cabin for a fee of $125 each way. It's a long shot, but does anyone know if this is actually the case?

4. Would we be better off somehow registering this dog to me before the flight? I know not all differences are visible, but I am concerned this dog may not get the proper respect from the airline or travelers will assume it is a pet if they see him with me. It may be silly, but I almost wonder if registering him with me as his handler would cause fewer hassles for all.

It was fairly expensive to acquire this dog - so risking checking him as cargo is not really an option. He's a wonderfully trained Belgian Malinois - am I overthinking this too much and he should be fine?

Any insights you have are greatly appreciated, thanks!

Katja

Have you consulted the organization that trained him? They would probably be the best source of information, in that they are familiar with the dog, the team (your cousin & the dog) and the legal climate.

Consultette

Thank you Katja! I don't know why I didn't think to do that. You are right, they probably could give me some good advice.

Georgia Peach

Why don't you travel with your cousin so you can help her, and eliminate the
charge for her dog?

GalleyWench

The only time they charge is for a cabin pet or cargo pet and the Belgian Malinois is way too big to be considered a cabin pet. True service animals are trained to fly in airplanes or be around a lot of noise and different situations so it shouldn't be hard for your cousin to handle at all. I didn't think they would let someone travel with a service animal that belonged to someone else.

Consultette

Unfortunately, the flight was booked too long ago (before he got the dog) and my cousin is on another airline. Otherwise, that would be the perfect solution if I could at least stand-by for his flight.

Consultette

I know you meant well, but I called the airline again. Yes, service animals can be transported for the cabin animal charge if they are not working (at least on US Airways) and they pointed me to the policy staying such so I could read it myself and have it printed in case it was needed at the airport. He would be allowed onboard as any service animals are and they said I should get to the airport early but this dog should not be a problem.

After speaking with the trainers, they should be fine and I will be backup if there is a problem since my flight is about 6 hours later. I agree with them that this is a good idea because it is not a long-term solution to travel with the dog since we only take a trip together about 1x/year.

I also learned registration means nothing really and to not waste money figuring out how to do that just so I could have the dog with me and not-working. It might make things a bit easier but it wouldn't be worth the paper it is printed on.

I wanted to correct the mis-information in the post above (at least re: US Airways policy for off-duty service animals).

Thank you Katja for suggesting I call the people who trained him, they were great at helping to explain things and thought up a solution that had not occurred to any of us.

Katja

I'm glad you got in touch with them and got good information.

So is plan A for your cousin to travel with his own SD? I hope everything goes well for him on the trip.

AFRguy

If money is not an issue by all means travel with the service animal. A service animal is treated the same weather on or off duty and is afforded the same rights. No matter how big your service animal it will be accommodated as it's law. Even if a passenger has to be bumped.

Your family member at time of checking or even prior (you can call now) can be listed as a MAAS (meet and assist) passenger. If he/she is taking the animal all they are doing is pretty much holding the leash. In my years of flying (I'm a flight attendant) I've never seen a service animal not obedient or disruptive inflight. I have seen them nervous but they always kept their composure.

As far as an off-duty service animal at US Airways I've only seen it charged for on 1 occasion. and was rather surprised. In most cases they don't charge unless that policy changed while I have been gone.

If you would like regulations or any other information I'd be more than happy to find out for you.

Consultette

Thank you so much! Sorry, I hadn't popped by to fill everyone in.

Pup traveled very well - "Plan A" went great and I did not need to serve as backup. It is good to know that there are options in case we need them at a later date for some reason.

Thank you AFRguy, it is great to have your perspective in case anyone needs it in the future.

Katja

I'm glad to hear that all went well, and thanks for reporting back.