Here we have a topic about flying and PETS!
So I'm within the limits of this site.

I would say on the issue of earning miles,
you don't have to tell the airline the
other members are of the "non-human" variety.
I list my cats by their first names and
my last name (Eddie's longer... he's registerd as Sir Edwin Landseer-Blanchard!)
There's no rule that says only humans can
earn miles (or hotel points... the car rental
thing would present problems though.)

I have two cat carriers that are soft and
airline approved. They are also expensive but if I ever have to travel with the cats
I will do my best to have them as my carry
on's and stick them under the seat in front of me. My vet can give them a mild transquilzer to handle the flight. (If they
go into baggage I would probably go into
hysterics.)

I thank everyone for not attacking this topic. And MEOWS to all you CAT and Pet people out there! CATMAN

Catman - I assume that you have something like the Sherpa carriers, which are expensive, but if I were a cat, I'd want to be in one of those! (Basically a sports-bag, with lots of mesh around it for the animal to look out, various handy pockets especially designed with pet accessories in mind, a flap in the top which can be unzipped so that the pet can look out, a hook to attach collars/leashes to so that they don't jump out, and a fake-sheepskin lining for comfort)

I think that animals can adapt to travelling quite happily - the vet did give me tranquillisers for Murphy, but I didn't need them. He was so good that the person sitting next to me didn't realise that I had a cat in the carrier until halfway through the flight, when I took out some treats for him. If you want to take both Yaz and Eddie with you in the cabin you will need to take another human too - the airlines have a one pet per person rule.

How do you get Yaz & Eddie to earn miles?

I have not tried to get miles for Yaz and
Eddie. I thought about it because earlier
this year I was offered a job in Atlanta,
and taking it would mean taking the cats and
bringing them up a few times a year to see
all their friends (and my friends) up East.

Again, I don't see any provision in frequent
flyer programs that says animals can't earn
frequent flyer miles. Or that they are
transferrable to the owner? What about the
Fancy Feast Cat? She must fly a lot!
CATMAN

I hate to burst this bubble ( I usually do though) BUT unfortunately our pets can't earn FF miles because you are not actually purchasing a ticket for them.

on Swiss railways for dogs (not so for cats, birds or whatever) you have to buy half-prized-tickets (the same as for children under the age of sixteen). No I wonder if cats or the dogs should feel discriminated by that rule.

and here a true story combining the themes travel-tickets and animals.

we have a Chalet at the ski-resort Wengen (for 18 years now). access to Wengen is only by train (no cars allowed). local people get special rates to ride the train, also special low-prized winter-season-passes (but only people making their living at Wengen - we don't, nor did our dog Ginger).

We were bored to buy for Ginger at every weekend half-prized-return-tickets and when the next ski-season started we bought (by mail) ski-season-passports for the whole family and asked for Ginger the same (but at the much more favorable "Einheimischen"-tarif = the tarif for the locals).

The administrators of the railways accepted, and for that winter-season Ginger did wear proudly his season-pass with photo and signature (gingers-thumb-stamped with ink!) around his neck - he was THE attraction for visitors and locals and made it even to the local newspapers.

Catman, I am preparing a comment about cats and dogs...give me a day to finish it..look for it on Thursday.

Yes, Jeyna, u r right. But what if (tongue firmly in cheeck, here) we DID buy tickets for them?

They not only get the FF miles, but we get a true blue companion in the seat next to us who doesn't take up much room. They aren't going to be spilling over into our space and they are much more interesting travelers than the hoi poloi that we're usually stuck with...excepting unaccompanied children, who are probably (with some notable exceptions) the best people there are to fly with.

This is not a completely serious topic; I'm just saying, "Consider the possibilities."

And, good to have you back.

-Harry

I had a cat - ONCE. I was a teenager and this wild-eyed mut of a cat adopted me. It pretty much came and went as it wished, slept in my bed and rubbed itself all over me every time I walked in the room. Then, one night I was laying in bed and rolled over and felt something squish under my hip. I was startled and hopped up. Then I was sickend to see a cardinal laying in a bloody heap in the bed with me. I (after a LOOONG shower) surmised that the **** cat gave me the dead bird as a present. I was trying to figure out what to do about it the next day when my brother pointed out to me the furry squish mark in the middle of the road in front of our house. Yep, el gato.

Anyway, the whole experience soured me on cats, and my wife's allegies sealed their fate in my book. So we have a four-year old pound-adopted lab-shepherd-chow mut named Buddy (Clinton stole the name). He's a true and loyal friend and is real good at keeping the possums and coons out of our garbage!

OK, I'll get off the couch now. Feel free to send the therapy bills to:
EmmitS
Corprit Xsecutive
Rolings Gulf Cumpiny
1 Dead Bird Way
New Yourk, Texis 0U812

On a more serious note, we are taking our 5 month old puppy (some puppy at 60 lbs already, half German Sheppard and half Black Lab Mix .... yes he is cute!) to the in-laws for Thxgiving. We are flying CO. Anybody with experience flying larger animals out there? We will ask the vet for something to "mellow him out", but how do you deal with the food and water bit? Fortunately it is a non-stop, direct flight (let's not get into that topic again - I am sure about this one).

TCrazy

TravelCrazy... here are some tips I've read
in pet magazines (really cat ones but they
can apply to dogs:)

*Call CO ASAP and find out their procedures
for handling dogs and if there are extra fees
involved.

*Get to their airport Earlier than usual. At
the CO terminal in EWR I've seen lines stop
because of people with big dogs and luggage
people having problems dealing with them.
(CO can also help on this.)

*Also before your dog goes into cargo find out where you are supposed to pick him up.
I've also seen panicked people at EWR wondering where their dog will be dropped off.

These tips may be obvious, but this is what
my friends with dogs and I have experienced.

Matt: that was the most depressing story I have read in awhile. I'm going to hug my
cats. CATMAN

TCrazy - definitely contact the airline in advance to book your puppy (what's his name?) on the flight & find out how much it will cost. Some airlines have restrictions on the number of animals allowed aboard a given flight, so you want to make certain that he can travel on the same plane as you.

Most animals don't like eating or drinking when travelling - perhaps give him a (rawhide?) bone to gnaw to while the time away, but don't give him any food, and don't worry too much about water, as he will just step in it/spill it everywhere. Above all, make certain that you don't feed him before you travel, as you don't want him to have any nasty accidents! When we took Murphy travelling, we fed him the night before, but he had to go hungry in the morning. Ask your vet to confirm details of how long before the flight you should stop feeding him.

You might also want to sedate him - my vet wasn't keen on this option, though he did give me some cat-sedatives, which I didn't use after all. It depends on how excitable the animal is: my kitten is a pretty mellow creature.

And, since your puppy will be travelling separately from you, make certain that you give him his favorite toy/an old shoe or t-shirt of yours, just so that he doesn't feel lonely and abandoned - that'd probably be the scariest thing for a small animal.

Matt - your story is really sad, but cats aren't all bad. True, they are hunters by nature, but you can teach them to bring their offerings to the doorstep, NOT inside. It's a sign of cat-love that your cat wanted to give you his dead bird.

Matt Wald, I know this is off the FF topic, but I just had to comment.

A cat bring humans dead animals because they perceive humans as bad mousers and are trying to teach us how to "mouse". A cat has a maternal instinct to teach their young how to mouse - they do this by bringing their catch to their young. ...Or maybe your cat just wasn't hungry enough to eat the whole thing and was saving it for breakfast *s*.

I fully confirm baobabs and aubies remarks about the (our) cat's nature.

Before I put my policeman's uniform back on,
as a proud cat owner... My Yaz occassional
brings me little "presents" of the rodent
variety. To whit I scream and shake my whole
apartment building.

Cat's are like most of the Feline variety,
they bring "prey" to their "masters" or
"daddies."

ANd on that note let's get back to Frequent
Flyer Talk!!! CATMAN

I drove with my cat (Tutah) once from CLE to Chicago, and flew with her from CHI to TPA. Veterinarian gave me tranquilizer for the flight--it made it much easier. Fortunately Tutah is tiny (only about 8 lbs) so the cat carrier fits underneath the seat.

Separately, had an interesting experience last month with hurricane Georges here in Tampa. I live in a slightly low-lying area which is officially an evacuation zone when the windspeeds get over 123 mph. The kennels more inland are official pet sanctuaries during hurricanes, because animals aren't allowed in shelters. Anyway, I boarded Tutah 2 days early to be sure I got her in somewhere before I left for vacation. They asked for all kinds of information, and for you to bring water, but in the end, the hurricane missed TPA, Tutah was fine, and boarding was actually cheaper than having someone come for a week to look in!

Bravo Murphy Animal Hospital, Tampa, FL