Flying with Dogs (Literally)
 

Heh! Okay, believe it or not, these are serious questions:

Does anyone have any experience traveling with dogs on United? For example:

I understand that there are limited numbers of dog "seats" available for Economy and First Class. If I use an award ticket for First Class, can I travel with my dog using the First Class slot? If my dog is traveling with a friend and I upgrade her to First Class, can my dog take the First Class slot traveling with her?

What is the difference between the Economy dog slots and the First Class dog slots? Is there a difference in treatment of the dogs themselves, or is this just a way to control the number of dogs-per-flight?

Can the 1k desk help me with dog travel or would I just get shuffled off somewhere to a dog-travel-specialty-desk?

Would also be interested in hearing some experiences and tips from people who have traveled with timid dogs (especially on their first airline flight).

By the way, there is some UA Pet Travel info at:

http://www.united.com/page/article/0,1360,1048,00.html

My wife and I took our two dogs with us on a (TED) flight, we had no problems, except we had to pay $80 per dog per segement. Other than that we had no problems. I spoke to the gate agent and she made sure that we had an empty middle so we could spread out a bit.

My wife and I traveled with one of our dogs last year.

Two in Y, and one in F, I believe.

Yes, and yes.


Just a way to control # of dogs, to help potentially limit exposure for those who may be allergic, limit disruptions onboard (if only they had a per-flight baby limit! ;) ), etc. No difference in treatment.

Dogs carried onboard must fit in their carrier under the seat in front of you (and thus you cannot have a bulkhead seat), and may not be removed from their carrier during flight.


The 1K desk can handle it. The 1P line took care of arrangements for me last year. They have to make sure there is space available on the flight, and will reserve a "slot" for the dog(s). You then pay at check-in; when we flew, it was $60 for our flights on UA (total for DCA-ORD-JAX), and $100 for our flights on US (total for JAX-CLT-DCA).

Does your dog really need a vacation?

I understand a person's love of their pets, however, for some of us it creates a severe medication problem when there are dogs in a small FC cabin. I have suffered on a couple of these flights due to people's lack of concern for those flying with them.

Their dog got a vacation...the first three days of mine were spent trying to overcome reactions to allergy-induced asthma.

Coming from a familywith several members who have severe allergy-induced asthma linked to pet dander I sympathize, believe me I do.

But it's been our experience that just sitting next to someone with pet hair on their jacket or clothing (where it's closer to your mouth and nose) can actually be worse than having a confined animal down at floor level. Since the animal is contained in a carrier it can't move and release dander into the air. So unless you are seated directly next to the animal on the floor, you shouldn't really have any problems. And if you are, I'm sure the FAs will accomodate a seat change, which is why the total number of animals allowed in the cabin are restricted.

I've reread the OP twice and even searched the page to be sure, but I can't find where he says he's going on vacation. You must have some knowledge to which the rest of us aren't privy.

I thought it was each way, not per segment.

Yes, its one in first class and generally 3 in economy, I think 2 for regional jets. There is no difference in treatment between Y and F. You pay the $85 each way and the pet stays in the travel bag underneath the seat in front of you. No pre-departure beverage service or hot nuts but usually I hand my little guy a pretzel or two with the salt removed.

I typically go online and find the cheapest flights to where I need to go. I then call up reservations (I'm not 1k, so I just call the number on the back of my 1P card). I tell them I want to travel with a pet in cabin from city A to city B. I then ask if there are open pet in cabin spots on the specific flights I want. When I confirm space on specific flights I go online and book the flight. I immediately call back and add the pet to the PNR to reserve the in-cabin space. Nothing special required other than a couple extra phone calls. FYI - Once a pet is added to your PNR you will be bumped from exit rows or bulkheads. You also will not be able to use the chickens or on-line checkin, you'll need to check in with an agent so they can take your $85.

Knowing our dog would need to make some longer transcon trips, we first took him on a < 2hr flight. Just last month he did his first transcon with a connection each way and handled it fine. Every animal is different. We make sure we keep him on his regular feeding/bathroom schedule with time to urinate before entering the terminal. One we get to the airport he goes in his travel bag and only comes out to go through security screening (no x-rays for fluffy). He's then right back in until destination. We take some treats for to give him periodically and leave a nyla bone and toy in his bag to keep him occupied. I don't recommend (and vets do not either) giving them tranquilizers. We've never had to sedate the dog and also never get a peep out of him. In fact he's so used to it by now that we could probably just carry him on and no one would realize we had a dog, but I prefer to play by the rules (as ridiculous as they can be) on this one. Feel free to PM with any more specific questions.

I'm pretty sure that a first flight on a jet aircraft sitting for 7 hours in a cargo hold is not her idea of a "vacation" (although, it's certainly possible that she will have more seat pitch down there than in E-). Her idea of a "vacation" is staying home, eating snacks, and watching House (she likes his voice).

She's traveling for a different reason that has nothing to do with fun.

Update: Restriction on # of dogs per plane only in cabin, apparently!
 

I just called the 1k desk and they were very helpful.

Apparently, the restriction on # of dogs is only applicable to the dogs that actually sit in the Y and F cabins vs. ride underneath the plane (our dog is much too large to fit in a carrier underneath the seat).

I let my friend keep the upgrade, though. Maybe this will mean that my dog's crate will receive a "Priority" boarding tag upon check-in (and therefore come out last). :)

DimSum--sorry if my comment about the "vacation" sounded flippant and in your case was not accurate. My flight in July to AMS was impeded by a dog seated in C which WAS going on vacation; a bit of seat readjustments by the GA and Purser made it OK, but it almost did not happen.

Glad to hear that your situation is different and you were able to handle it.

A few weeks back, an interesting couple seated behind me, in pseudo* p.s. C, JFK-LAX most certainly were not following the rules, as their Cavalier King Charles Spaniel ..... slept spread out on top of one of the fellas. As we deplaned, the little princess led the couple to the terminal, as the FA rolled eyes to say "Only in LA".

*pseudo because an international configuration 777 substituted for the 757.

Heh!

Well, this chapter of the story ends with an excellent 1k-desk story!

So, my friend calls up the general number, waits on hold for 15 minutes, gives her PNR, and says that she heard from [me] that there was no restriction on the number of dogs in the cargo hold, so she'd like to add a dog, please. The (offshore) call center tells her that information is incorrect, only two dogs are allowed in Y and one in F (and she's still only waitlisted for F). She argues with the call center guy for a few minutes that this only applies to dogs traveling IN-CABIN, and then in the middle, the guy HANGS UP ON HER!

So, one more call, around the world, same thing (including being on hold for another 15 min) They still wouldn't budge, apparently. 2 dogs in Y, 1 dog in F, doesn't matter if they're in the cabin or in cargo.

So, I conference her into the 1k line. We sit through the announcement about liquids, I say "reservations", type in my MP number, say my name, and "yes [I am traveling exclusively within the 50 United States]". Then the automated voice says the thing about getting a reservations agent for me and that the agent will be provided the information already given.

"Yeah, right!" my friend jokes, saying that she's sick of hearing "that United song" while "on hold forever."

Got lucky (and consequently got to show off):

Exactly one (1) ring, then "1k Desk! Is this Mr. [Dimsum]?"

Me: "Yes."

1k: "How can I help you, Mr. [Dimsum]?"

Me: "My friend is on the line with me and the offshore call center is telling her that the 2-dog-in-coach and 1-dog-in-first-class restriction applies both to dogs traveling in the cabin and dogs traveling in the cargo hold, so they won't let her add my dog because the in-cabin slots are full, even though my dog is traveling in cargo not in-cabin."

1k: "Whaaaaaat?? That's ridiculous." [Proceeds to add 1 dog to her PNR in about 30 sec, asks if she wants an e-mail confirmation, then asks pleasant questions about what type of dog is it, are they friendly, etc.]

^

Your concern for your dog's reaction to flying is admirable.

You should do a search on Flyer Talk, as there have been many posts by people (including me) on how they prepared their dogs for travel. There are also other websites specifically devoted to this topic-Google around.

You should make clear that your taking your dog as cargo. It wasn't clear from your original post and it's a whole different experience to prepare for and go through.

ORD-DEN last week, a puppy jumped out of it's owner seat right after take off and started to run around the 777. Some people were definately frightened.

There are other reasons for pets travelling other than vacations. Half the time you probably don't notice the pets that are on your flight. It is those few owners that break the rules and make it bad for the rest of us that properly travel with their pets...

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What the hell was it doing un-boxed and on a seat/lap? Even better yet, what was the flight crew doing? I don't hate dogs (large rats I dislike) but why is it that people with pets, in many instances, act as if their pet should be treated like, or better than, human pax? I sort of understand why some people with young human beings act like the rest of the plane can go pound sand as we were all little kids once, but animals?

Also was a proposal to make Pet Travel a separate forum last month :

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=591198

I would have been furious if this happened on one of my flights :mad:

How incredibly rude and disrespectful. :td:

Slightly OT, but I love doing that, especially in front of friends/coworkers who don't seem to appreciate the value of having status. "Oh, you've got a problem, let me get reservations on the phone; it will only take about 30 seconds." :) (or currently 1.25 minutes due to the silly liquid announcement) I'm merely a humble 1P but still can't remember the last time I had to listen to United's music (which I actually kind of like) on the reservations line.

Yeah, to make it worse, the crew made subsequent jokes of the situation. Whenever the fasten seat belt sign was illuminated, the crew would ask passengers and dogs to take their seats.

I don't see how that makes anything worse.

Well, I think he means that it just showed that the crew didn't take it seriously. And that is unacceptable, in my opinion.

Why is it that people assume everyone likes dogs or think they're cute?
Why do they think it's OK for them to jump on people or run around in a plane?

IT'S NOT OK!!! :mad:

I don't think anyone said it was OK. But anyone who is afraid of a puppy running around has a bit of a problem. Would you be afraid of a 2 year old running up and down the aisle of a plane? To be clear, I am saying "afraid" not "annoyed.

Jesus H. Christ, maybe I am reading FT too much this week, but the amount of whining is getting out of control. Everyone who feels any bit of inconvenience for reasons within or without their control, feels that they need to have a resolution that fits their "narrow view of the world." Guess what...the world does not revolve around you and your needs...

Chill out, think about what is really happening, and if it is really making a serious impact on your well being...Do you think the person with the puppy or 2 yr old really WANTS to have people annoyed with them? Do you think, if they could, that puppy or child would be running around out of control?

The person probably made a mistake. On a fairly long flight, very possible. Maybe he or she was tired. People sometimes need to fly. With a puppy, or a small child, you can't just leave them alone or find a babysitter. People without kids or dogs just don't want to understand this.

And for the FA's that tried to make light of it...give me a break. 99% of the passengers prbably appreciated an explanation with a bit of humor. Again, just because it didn;t fit YOUR view of how things should work does not mean that they did not take it seriously.

Jeez...

fduvall

Ok, which is worse, a yelping dog or crying baby?

Well, they're both annoying, but I'm not allergic to babies. ;)

I just wanted to applaud you for saying what most of us are probably thinking. This is another reason why I do not post as often as most- it gets so tiresome when people overuse these forums for their petty complaints instead of the great source of information that it is.

:rolleyes:

I am not AFRAID of puppies.

I am ALLERGIC to them.
It is a HEALTH RISK TO ME for a person to let their puppy run around the plane.

If you see nothing wrong with that, then that DOES make me afraid...

Would you be upset if someone started smoking a cigarette in the seat next to you? Would you find that acceptable?
It's the same thing for me, or for anyone else that is allergic to animals.

If defending myself from having inconsiderate pet owners cause me to be sick, makes me a whiner, then I guess I'm a whiner.

1) I don't consider my health being endangered a "petty complaint."

2) I hope you realize the irony of your post which contains no useful information and is itself a petty complaint.

I would have been delighted, the sight of a playful puppy warms my hearts and comforts my soul.

Letting a dog loose on a plane is against airline rules. Don't do it, and it isn't cute, if indeed it really happened.

There are also a few folks truly alergic to being next to animals, and they should have medicine to address that issue (which will arise in and out of planes). On the long chance they are seated near enough to an animal to iriitate their condition, they or the animal and its owners can switch seats and avoid the problem.

There are others who just want to vent against traveling animals. They should call NetJets-all else is called public transportation.

Ok-that covers just about everyone. The OP was about cargo carriage of animals-I doubt that has ever made anyone sick, though I bet it's made someone indignent.

Sometimes things just happen. The fact that UA allows dogs in the cabin means that sometimes there will be unfortunate protocol violations.

Unless I'm missing something, I don't think that everyone who brings a puppy on board let's it run all over the place. In fact, I would guess this is a rare occurance. If UA didn't believe that the occasional infraction was acceptable, they would just ban in-cabin travel for pets completely. You can't enforce 100% compliance any more than you can ensure nobody is ever going to poach the blocked E+ seat next to you.

Furthermore, I'm sure that people with kids who have nut allergies are not thrilled with warm nut service in C and F, but many fly the friendly skies anyway. Since you know that UA allows pets in-cabin, and you know that occasionally infractions will occur, maybe you should choose another airline.

For the record, as a dog owner, I think it was horribly irresponsible for that person to let their puppy loose on the plane (even by accident). If I had been on board, I would have told them so very sternly. However, I also believe that in this thread, you are seriously overreacting.

I don't think we should make assumptions about cargo class. For all we know, cargo has better IFE than domestic Y... :)

On my recent flight to PEK a woman had her cat in a bag under the seat. The first thing that sprung to mind was thank goodness I wasn't allergic to cats. To make things worse, she kept taking it out and giving it food and water. When she tried to shove it back into that carrier it freaked out and crawled all over me. Needless to say I was displeased, but I cracked a "let the cat out of the bag joke" to ease the mood. She wouldn't even give me the pleasure of a smug grin. I still can't believe animals are allowed.

I really think that having animals on a plane should not be allowed....I guess people could just walk a trained attack dog on if they wanted too....but we can have no shampoo in our carry-ons? What's next...pet snakes on planes? :D

A poodle attack dog :D

DimSum

Thank you for your polite response - it's a shame others on this board can't be as polite. To clarify, my comments were absolutely NOT directed at you. I have no reason to doubt that you are a responsible pet owner.
I was simply reacting to the situation FightingIllini described, which I found to be disturbing (and apparently others do too).

Whenever I give my opinion about pet travel here, I inevitably have people accusing me of being a heartless baby seal clubber. I never personally attack anyone, yet I always get personally attacked. :(
For the record: I don't have a problem with UA's pet policy - it is the same as EVERY OTHER domestic carrier. I have never ever had a problem with an animal being on one of my flights. If the owner is respectful and responsible, and keeps it in its carrier, it shouldn't be a problem for me - I may have to move seats, but that's OK. I do carry allergy medicine with me, just in case.

All I ask is that people be respectful of their fellow passengers and take responsibility for the behavior of their pets.

I'm allergic to cats and if someone has a cat sitting next to me its worse than an animal underneath the seat. I'm sick of people banning peanuts and inconveniencing everyone just because they have an allergy - in fact I'm allergic to sitting in y class . . .

LOL!!!

I have had it with these mutha*$%$#@ snakes on this mutha@*&@$% plane!!

Sorry, couldn't resist :p

Several posters have mentioned the rules about several animals being allowed in-cabin in Y, and one in F, as long as they are under the seat in front of them. I've only been in F once or twice ever, so I might be misremembering, but is there actually an under-the-seat? I think I may be getting mixed up with International C, but where does the carrier go?

Do not worry about how many are allowed, it is a first come-first served thing, and it depends on the type of plane. Call and see if there is space available, if you have it reserved it will stay yours.

It is RUDE to take the dog out of the carrier. Rude to the dog and to other passengers.

My dog is way too large to fly in the cabin, he travels in Cargo, and he came out of international travel BETTER than me and my Mom in C class. I did help friends book flights with and for dogs, which usually was just saying "we have a dog with us" on the phone. When flying with Murphy it was more complicated as I was interlining and flying part of the way on a turboprob, but I found an incredible agent who called all involved finding out if there is the needed space.