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Photo Friday: Chloe and the field

This week we visited my in-laws, gathered in Eastern Tennessee on the Cumberland Plateau, and a good time was had by all, especially Chloe:

The stubble looks low, but it's actually shoulder-height on Chloe, so she bobbed around the field like a porpoise.

Here she is, exhausted and happy. Please note that she is off-leash, for the second time ever. The next day she lost her off-leash privileges after she failed a couple of recalls, but today she’s having the time of her life.

I’d love to see how you and your pup spent your time together this week — please post your photos on Dog Jaunt’s Facebook page so we can all see them!

Pet relief area at Baltimore Washington International Airport (BWI)

According to the airport’s website, BWI’s pet relief area “can be found at the end of Concourse E near the International Terminal, adjacent to the light rail station.” Happily, the light rail station is easy to find, because there is literally no signage for the pet relief area until you reach the exit door. [8/7/13 In 2013, BWI added a second pet relief area, and it’s more centrally-located. Here’s a reader’s report about it.]

Here’s what you do: Walk down to the baggage claim level, turn right, and walk to the end of the terminal. You’ll pass the last baggage claim carousels (13 and 14) and you’ll keep walking. You’ll walk all the way through the international arrivals area. You’ll walk, in fact, until you run out of building, at which point you’ll find yourself in front of Door 19.

Door 19 — see the pet relief area sign to the right? That is the only sign for it inside the terminal.

Exit Door 19, turn right and follow the signs for the pet relief area around the corner. Here’s what you’ll find:

And here’s a better picture, looking back at the pet relief area and at the path you walked up to get to it:

The area is partially fenced. There is a patch of grass and a patch of gravel. There is a poop bag dispenser and a trash bag, both on a green pole. There is a bench.

It’s perfectly pleasant, in fact (though I prefer a fully-fenced area, and it lacks the water faucet that the best pet relief areas have). It is, however, a heck of a long walk from anywhere but flights arriving at the international concourse or at the D gates (currently Cape Air, Continental, Delta, Jet Blue, United, and U.S. Airways). If you’re on other airlines, you might be wondering about alternatives. There are some, but they are tricky (indeed, a bit dangerous) to get to. Walking back to the Southwest concourse from the official pet relief area, I noticed a thin strip of grass across from Door 10:

There’s another strip of grass across from Door 8:

And there’s a third strip of grass across from Door 4:

The problem with all of these alternatives is that they are across the airport roadway, and you’ll be taking your lives into your own hands (and paws) crossing over to them. It’s not impossible, and if you’re in a rush it may be necessary, but please be careful. And, of course, be sure to clean up after your pup.

I looked for alternatives on the ticketing level as well, but there’s nothing useful up there.

This post is part of an ongoing series of reviews of airport pet relief areas we’ve visited. To see others, visit Dog Jaunt’s handy guide to airport pet relief areas.

Reader’s report: Pet relief areas at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) and the Charleston International Airport (CHS)

Last week I posted half of reader Mia’s report from a recent trip (“Flying with an in-cabin dog on a Delta CRJ-200“). Here’s the other half, describing the results of her searches for pet relief areas at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) and the Charleston International Airport (CHS).

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport

According to the website, DCA has four pet relief areas: Two outside Terminal A at either end of the big traffic half-circle, one outside Terminal B across from the entrance to the Metro station, and one outside Terminal C across from the entrance to the Metro station. Sounds straightforward, but our man on the street (actually, our woman and dog on the street) was baffled:

I looked and looked and looked at Washington Reagan National Airport for their pet relief areas at Terminals B & C but I just couldn’t find them! The one for Terminal A is exactly where their map says it is, and I’ve been there before — you just exit the terminal at the main entrance, turn left, and it is the grassy area with the bench on the left, with the pet relief area sign.

Mia apologized, but she shouldn’t have — this is clearly a situation that cries out for more, or better, signage.

Charleston International Airport

According to the website, CHS has two pet relief areas, one “just outside of the ticketing lobby” and the other “just outside the baggage claim area of the terminal.” They’re keeping the information close to their chests, however — I had to search hard to find it, and Mia reports that pet relief areas aren’t shown on any of the airport maps, and she didn’t see any signs. She decided (not knowing what the website said) that there must just not be an official pet relief area:

Perhaps this is because there is so much grass outside the airport they thought having an official area would be redundant. The terminal is small, and so is the area outside of it — just walk across the two pick-up lanes outside the terminal, across to where the parking garage is, and you’ll find huge grassy areas where your pup can relieve herself. Callie really appreciated the short distance between the terminal and the grass, and I was happy to find trash cans nearby (on the way into the parking garage or back outside the terminal).

Here’s her picture of the lawn at the Charleston airport, across from the pick up/drop off area, just before the parking garage.:

"The airport is tiny so you literally just walk across the street to short and long term parking."

Thanks so much, Mia! I really appreciate your taking the time to let the rest of us know what you found, and how to retrace your steps. I’ve added this post to Dog Jaunt’s ongoing series of reviews of airport pet relief areas. To see others, visit Dog Jaunt’s handy guide to airport pet relief areas.

Chloe’s Clicks: This week’s best dog travel links

It’s a very miscellaneous week on Chloe’s Clicks. One link, though, hearkens back to a past Chloe’s Clicks — remember that I told you about musician Danny Kean, who tours North America (and elsewhere) with a piano and a dog named Mo? How surprised I was to learn that they came to my neighborhood in Seattle — I totally missed them, but they were here.

There’s a bit of continuity, too, in a clutch of links about New York City — starting with a great post in mycityway.com about living in the city with a dog (or, in the author’s case, two dogs). The New York Times contributes two articles, one about strategies for finding a good dog-friendly apartment (many of the tips are useful no matter what city you live in), and the other about “choosing an apartment dog.”

And then it all unravels. You bounce from a post about a restaurant in North Redington Beach, just west of Tampa, FL, that welcomes dogs one Sunday each month for brunch (menus for you and your pooch), to a reassuring article from The Art of Slow Travel about rabies and the dogs of Bali (“There IS rabies on Bali, but I found the possibility of being bitten by a dog highly unlikely unless I had actually done my best to step on a dog”).

Kazor.com reports that Australian dog owners now have a new resource, takeyourpet.com.au, offering “the nation’s largest comprehensive list of pet-friendly accommodation, off-leash parks, dog beaches, travel tips and expert advice.”

Janine, of PAW (Pet Accommodations Worldwide), tweeted a link to a Forbes article for the private jet crowd: “Wondering how your pet family members will be able to accompany you without becoming a real hassle?” The answer, apparently, is to hire a pet flight attendant. No, I am not kidding.

And finally, my friend Mary Haight, the blogger behind Dancing Dog Blog, wrote a post praising the calming effects of the music recordings offered by Through a Dog’s Ear. Chloe doesn’t get car-sick (thank you, Baby Jesus), but plenty of dogs do — if yours is one of them, you might want to consider trying out a CD.

Photo Friday: Tater the Yorkie, and a bullet dodged

This week’s photo was sent to me by reader Kristin, who travels all over the U.S. with Tater, her Yorkie. Here he is, in what looks like a medium Sherpa carrier, on their recent trip to Portland, OR.

And the bullet dodged? Kristin mentioned how miffed she was that American now charges $175, and requires a health certificate, for in-cabin dogs. Astonished, I checked the web site, and it turns out that the agent she spoke to got his or her wires crossed, and booked Tater as a cargo dog, not an in-cabin dog (never fear, in-cabin dogs needn’t have a health certificate on American, and the in-cabin fee remains $125)(which is still crazily expensive, I agree). Kristin sorted the situation out, but it’s a good reminder that agents, especially at this frenzied time of year, can get it wrong….

I’d love to see how you and your pup spent your time together this week — please post your photos on Dog Jaunt’s Facebook page so we can all see them!

Reader’s report: Flying with an in-cabin dog on a Delta CRJ-200 (50 seater)

Reader Mia recently took two trips on a Delta CRJ-200 (50 seater, two seats on each side of the aisle) with Callie, her cockapoo. Callie’s the same height as Chloe, but a little lighter — she’s 12″ tall at the shoulders, and weighs 9 lbs. Mia used their large SturdiBag for the first time on these two trips, and it worked well (more about that below). She sent me a report that I’m going to break into two posts — today’s describes the under-seat space available on her flights, and her experience with Delta.

I made an in-cabin pet reservation on the phone when I booked my flights with Delta (I looked up the flights I wanted online, called to check there was in-cabin space, booked online and then called back to reserve). Delta doesn’t allow online check-in for those with an in-cabin pet reservation on file, which I didn’t know until I went to check in for my flight, which was very worrying at first, since I did not have an assigned seat on either of my flights (that is what last minute holiday booking gets you!). I called Delta in a panic, and I was able to book a preferred seat for my first flight over the phone paying only the same $9 I would have paid online. Thank goodness as, it turned out, the window seat had about 1.5-2 inches of less width space for the carrier.

During check-in at the Charleston airport, the Delta agent didn’t even look at Callie’s carrier before having me pay for her and issuing me their green in-cabin pet tag. He was the friendliest airline agent I have EVER met, and gave me a preferred seat on my return flight for FREE, so I was in a row 2 aisle seat going out and coming back.

On the plane, Callie’s carrier fit with a little compression (as you will see from the pictures), so I would say the under-seat space is 11.5 inches tall. Like I mentioned, the window seat has a ledge that juts out, which reduces the space on that side width-wise by about 1.5 to 2 inches. Since the under-seat space is undivided though, it won’t really matter, as long as you have no seat partner, a cooperative one, or one without under-seat luggage.

Callie’s large SturdiBag, oriented left-to-right

Another view of Callie’s bag oriented left-to-right

On my return flight, my neighbor had a very large (over-sized if you ask me) under-seat bag which actually protruded into my under-seat space, creating a bit of a problem since the only non-flexible part of the Sturdi is width/length. Luckily, I was able to turn Callie’s carrier lengthwise, and it still fit under the seat enough as to not gain any objections from the flight attendant. The pictures shows pretty accurately that it stuck out an inch or two, but not unreasonably so.

The return trip — Callie’s bag oriented front-to-back

I can’t tell you how many pictures I’ve taken that look just like that last one — how other passengers must wonder! The first two pictures in particular highlight how useful it is that the top and sides of the SturdiBag flex. Here’s what Mia says about their new carrier:

We used our large SturdiBag for the first time and she loved it! It is much better made than our former carrier, a medium Sherpa carrier. My favorite parts are, of course, first how flexible it is, not only for under-seat storage reasons but because the flexibility against one’s side makes it more comfortable to carry, which brings me to my second favorite part, the four point straps with shoulder pad, which are a life saver when carrying my pup a long way through the airport. Callie’s favorite parts are the inside height which allows her great turning-around room and the fantastic cushy pad on the bottom.

And nope, Mia doesn’t get a kickback from SturdiProducts either. Thanks so much, dear lady, for providing such great details and pictures! Hopefully other travelers can use them not only to make their own plans, but also, if they have a similar carrier, to show a concerned airline agent that their pup will indeed fit in the available space.

This post is part of an ongoing series recording under-seat measurements of the various planes we fly on. Keep in mind that most domestic and international airlines have rules about the maximum size of in-cabin pet carriers they allow on board (see Dog Jaunt’s handy charts under the “Taking your pet on a plane” tab above).

Tip from a Dog Jaunt reader: Treats for flight attendants

The blog has taken a back seat to wrapping packages and writing cards, but happily you guys have picked up the slack. I have three reader’s reports to share with you over the coming days, and here’s the first. Chelsea and her husband are Americans living in Vienna, and they recently traveled back to the U.S. for a vacation with Pico, their 6.5 pound pup, possibly a Jack Russell/Chihuahua mix.

One of their tips you’ve heard before: Ice cubes are a great way of delivering a small quantity of water at a time to your in-cabin dog. Chloe simply won’t drink water in the air, no matter how I deliver it to her, but she will lick ice cubes from my hand, stuck into her carrier. (It’s just as well, I suppose, because whenever I’ve tried to give her water, the container has caught on some part of the carrier and things have gotten very damp indeed.)

But this one is new to me:

Treat the flight attendants, not just the dog. On Budget Travel’s Confessions of a Flight Attendant, I read that flight attendants appreciate getting sweets and snacks from customers. So I brought them some. And they really did love it! I don’t know if it got us any special treatment, but I wanted them to be positively predisposed to us in case Pico misbehaved. Fortunately, he was a sweetheart, so we didn’t have to test their patience, but we did feel that we were treated quite well. In any case, I felt like it was a great way of saying, “I know your job is hard, and having a dog on the plane can make it harder; thanks in advance for your forbearance.”

How to pull this off? Wait until boarding is completed and the attendant in your section is doing a last walk around the cabin. Stop him/her, say, “Excuse me, this is for the crew,” and hand him/her the gift. Easy. If all travelers with dogs did this, flight attendants would look forward to having dogs in the cabin!

Brilliant, right? Now why didn’t I think of that? I may not do it on a short hop, but I’ll certainly do it traveling across the U.S. or internationally. Aside from the benefit to your soul of being kind where it’s not expected, this may well buy you and your pup some tolerance when she whines, or support when another passenger objects to her presence. It might even win you a blind eye to forbidden behaviors, like letting her head poke out of her carrier.

I asked Chelsea what she chose to bring for the flight attendants, since I figure they must be wary of taking food from strangers, and here’s what she said:

I brought packs of nice chocolates in separately sealed packages. That way each crew member could decide whether to eat it right away or save it for later. On the way back, I also brought a package of fancy granola from Whole Foods, with the idea that flight attendants are probably pretty health-conscious folks. I saw one flight attendant eating a piece of granola within minutes of getting the package, so I felt that it was appreciated. Seriously, anything would probably fly, as long as it’s not a pack of salted peanuts on pretzels! Flight attendants have to eat that darn airplane food EVERY DAY. Imagine.

We definitely did consider the ‘wacky passenger’ problem. That’s why we opted for me — and not my husband — to give the gift. Perhaps your husband could give tips on how to do it as a man without it seeming like a come-on. Somehow they didn’t seem to be too concerned about poisoning or whatever, but the packages were sealed and I look pretty harmless (or so people say).

Now that I’ve thought about it some more, I suspect that flight attendants are pretty savvy about human behavior, and can spot the sleazy passengers while they’re still on the jetway. Also, they’ll understand what you’re up to, especially if they’ve noticed your dog carrier as you boarded — and appreciate it.

One last note: Chelsea and her family traveled on Austrian Airlines, and had nothing but good things to say about their experience. Chelsea also reports that Vienna is a marvelously dog-friendly city, and I hope to get her to tell me more about that…. Thank you so much, Chelsea, for a great idea, and the details of how you thought it through and executed it!

Chloe’s Clicks: This week’s best dog travel links

This was shaping up to be an epic Chloe’s Clicks last week — and then I missed posting it — so now it’s epic times two. Here we go, in no particular order.

The oldest link in the collection is a report from Laura Stephenson about her post-college road trip from Guatemala to Nicaragua and back — which I include because of its general can-do attitude and because she traveled with her dog Chispa. Also off the beaten track? Zuma’s Paw Prints describes the history of the Alcan Highway (between Alaska and the Lower 48), traveled by Iditarod contestants and Ellie, the author’s Black Lab, among others. The link I’ve provided is to Part 1 — look for Parts 2 and 3 for more history and personal experiences. And hardly anything could be more off the beaten track than a cruise on the Queen Mary 2 — heartfelt thanks to The Road Unleashed for two wonderful posts (Queen Mary 2 Kennels: Embarkation and Queen Mary 2 Kennels: Frequently Asked Questions), with great photos, about the kennel accommodations on that glorious ship.

Looking for something more accessible? Check out NorthJersey.com‘s report on northern New Jersey‘s dog-friendly Saddle River County Park Bike Trail, as well as petswelcome.com‘s blissful review of Vermont’s North Cove Cottages, located just outside Middlebury, VT. If you’re in the Boston area, take a look at DailyCandy.com‘s list of off-season dog-friendly beaches, including options in Ipswich, Gloucester, South Boston and Wellfleet. Speaking of beaches, The Palm Beach Post reported that West Palm Beach‘s vegan restaurant Darbster was voted the area’s most dog-friendly restaurant (holding off a late challenge from O’Shea’s, an Irish pub). On the other side of the country, check out Kyle Merwin Cheney’s recommendations, via the Travel Oregon Blog, for dog-friendly options in Bend, OR, as well as the Take Paws team’s joyous post about two day trips in the Lake Tahoe area. Very close to home (mine, anyway!) the youdidwhatwithyourweiner team found snow at Source Lake. Chester? Yes, still brave, but aided this time by a handmade neck cozy and a puffy bed to stand on when admiring views.

Now that you’re on the West Coast, take a look at the Mountain Democrat‘s review of a new book from Debbi Preston, called Dog-Friendly Trails for All Seasons in California’s Foothills and the Sierra Nevada (an even smaller subtitle explains that the trails are located in California’s Alpine, Amador, Butte, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer and Yuba Counties). The reviewer praises the book for including not only “directions to the trail, trail difficulty level, trail descriptions and information about whether the trail is shared with mountain bikers and equestrians” but also “tidbits like ‘Before the hike’ — a plug for local breakfast spots” as well as post-hike burger spots.

The next group of links I have for you this week are blogs I hadn’t seen before, and was happy to find, including Travels with the Blonde Coyote (author Mary Caperton Morton has spent the past 6 years traveling the U.S. with her Border Collie mixes Bowie and Dio), 3 Pups in a Pop-Up (a couple traveling in a pop-up camper with rescued pups Chance, Roxie and Kismet), and Road Dog Tales (a South Carolina couple taking road trips with their five dogs — ranging from Chihuahua mix Taz to German Shepherds Gracie and Aspen).

And that brings us to a collection of wonderful posts that defy categorization. My favorite, of course, is from long-time Dog Jaunt reader Patty, who wrote a very useful post about her recent trip with Truffles (remember Truffles?) from Victoria, B.C. to Nassau, in the Bahamas — don’t miss the photos of Truffles in her large SturdiBag under seats on a WestJet 737 (Victoria to Toronto) and an Air Canada A320-2 (Toronto to Nassau). Speaking of flying, a Dallas outpost of CBS reported that “the Paradise 4 Paws Pet Resort, the only pet hotel located on DFW Airport property, will operate seven days a week, 24-hours-a day.”

I was fascinated by this post from Planet of the Blind, about a couple of the author’s experiences traveling with his service dog — though what really grabbed my attention was his suggestion that “disability [does not] make[ ] for a different experience of the social circle, but that it simply intensifies the experiences. This is because of the inherent stigma associated with physical defect on the one hand, and the compensatory decency of civilized people on the other hand — but both principles involve something heightened, a mode of human activity that’s spurred by symbolism.” By contrast, I was not a bit surprised to be told, by seattlemag.com, that Seattle is crazy about dogs. Also crazy about dogs, according to Montecristo Travels? Italy, and the MT team has four more posts about their recent trip for you to savor: Siena, Florence, Fiesole and Rome.

I’ll leave you with a positive review of the EZDog harness and seat belt, from my friend Mary Haight, writing at Dancing Dog Blog, and some very good suggestions for planning a home visit with your dog — so useful at this traveling time of year — from Shannon L. Hill. As you may recall, I wrote a post on the same topic a couple of months ago, but now that I’ve read her post, I wish I could have a do-over!

Adding your in-cabin dog to your plane reservation: The major U.S. airlines

When I first started writing this post, my main concern was that most U.S. airlines won’t allow you to add your pet to your reservation on-line, so either you make your reservation and quickly call to add your dog (hoping that one of the limited number of in-cabin spaces is available), or you call to make your reservation and risk being charged an extra fee, and possibly losing out on on-line-only deals or bonus frequent flyer credits. I wanted to find out which airlines were doing the best job of helping passengers with this problem.

Since then, I learned about U.S. Air’s wretched new first-come-first-served pet policy, and got hints from readers that other airlines might have similar policies, so I decided to ask more questions: Do you keep an in-cabin pet listing for each flight? When I add my pet to my reservation, am I guaranteed that she will have a reserved in-cabin space on my flight? If not, what will happen if I learn at the airport that there are no in-cabin slots left for my dog?

Here’s what I’ve learned. The big surprise was that Southwest, an airline I love(d) and fly on constantly, also has a first-come-first-served pet policy. I just can’t tell you how disappointed and shocked I am. This, from the “bags fly free” airline? The “no change fees” airline? I’ll keep on flying on Southwest, because I have to, but I’m a lot more nervous now — and the Southwest offerings that were meant to improve my pre-flight experience (EarlyBird check-in, etc.) have lost most of their sheen, since I’ll need to arrive crazily early to ensure that Chloe joins us on our flights.

The rest of the airlines fall into three camps: (1) The airlines that let you reserve an in-cabin place for your pet on-line (highlighted below), at the same time that you make your own reservation (Continental and Virgin America); (2) The airlines that don’t have a phone booking fee, or that waive your phone booking fee, so you can call and make your own reservation, adding your dog at the same time, without incurring a financial penalty (Allegiant, Frontier, JetBlue and Sun Country); and (3) all the rest of the airlines, which don’t waive the phone booking fee. Please note that every other major U.S. airline, aside from Southwest and U.S. Air, guarantees that your in-cabin pet will fly with you, once she’s attached to your reservation.

AirTran — The web site says, “[T]o book pet travel, please contact the AirTran Airways reservations desk at 1-800-AIR-TRAN (1-800-247-8726).” The customer service rep I spoke to told me that to add a pet to my reservation, I’d either have to incur the $15 phone fee, or make an on-line reservation and then call to add Chloe to my reservation. She suggested calling first to make sure that there’s still room for your pet in-cabin (AirTran allows 6 in-cabin pets) — then quickly make your on-line reservation and then quickly call to add your pet to your reservation. When you add your pet, you’ll be asked for payment — which guarantees that your in-cabin pet has a place on board.

Alaska/Horizon — “Space for pets traveling in the cabin or in the cargo compartment is limited and subject to availability. For air travel on Alaska Airlines, Pen Air and ERA Aviation, please contact Alaska Airlines Reservations at 1-800-ALASKAAIR (1-800-252-7522).” The agent I spoke to had the same suggestion as the AirTran agent (above) — to avoid the $15 phone booking fee (and to take advantage of on-line-only offers), call ahead to see if a flight you’re interested in has room for your pet, book your flight on-line, and then quickly call to add your pet. Alaska and Horizon do keep a log book of pets for each flight, so your pet will indeed be attached to your reservation, and a spot will be reserved for her on board. You’ll pay her fee at the airport, or during web check-in.

Allegiant — ”To book a reservation with a pet, please contact the Allegiant Reservation Center [the best number I could find is 702-505-8888] and use option 1 and tell the agent you are booking with a pet. The per segment Booking Fees will be waived.” And sure enough, when I spoke to the agent, she confirmed that the $15 booking fee would be waived because I am, essentially, forced to call to make sure my pet can travel with me. Allegiant handles the in-cabin pet situation by not having a maximum number of in-cabin pets. Their only concern is that pets be spread around the cabin, not concentrated in the same rows. She assured me that my pet would get on the plane with me.

American — “Pets traveling in the cabin require a reservation to ensure no more than seven pets are booked on any single flight. For this reason, it is recommended that you make arrangements for your pet in advance by contacting Reservations.” The customer service rep I spoke to told me that if you make your reservation over the phone, you will incur a $25 fee and it will not be waived. As above, I’d call ahead, then book on-line, then quickly call to add your dog to your reservation. American does keep a log of in-cabin pets for a particular flight, so once your pet is attached to your reservation, she has a place on board. You’ll pay for her at the airport.

Continental — “Pets can be booked online or by calling Reservations for assistance.” At Continental’s home page, click on the “Reservations” tab and select “Make Flight Reservation.” The resulting “Flight Search” page is organized as a list of questions; the third question is “Who is traveling,” and includes a box to check if you want to include a pet in your reservation. The next page (“Add Pet”), asks for the number of in-cabin pets you propose bringing, and then you’re on your way.

Delta — “Call Delta in advance at 800-221-1212 to arrange to bring your pet on board.” Delta too charges a fee for phone reservations — it’s not waived in this situation, and the agent suggested (this should be familiar by now) calling in advance to see whether a flight has room for your dog in-cabin, then quickly making your on-line reservation and calling back to add your dog to it. Delta does keep an in-cabin pet listing, so a spot will be reserved for your pet. You’ll pay the pet fee at the airport.

Frontier — “Make advanced reservations on the phone. Pets can’t be booked online so please call our Reservations Department at 800-4321-FLY (800-432-1359) so we can ensure availability and reserve space for your pet.” Frontier doesn’t charge a fee for making your reservation over the phone, so no problem there. They do keep an in-cabin pet listing, so your pet truly is added to your reservation, and will have a place on board. You’ll pay the pet fee at the airport.

Hawaiian — Hawaiian is tricky, of course, because in-cabin pets aren’t allowed on flights to Hawaii (they’re allowed on inter-island flights, and on flights leaving Hawaii). The agent I spoke to told me that the ticketing fee is not waived — you know the drill by now — but that Hawaiian does reserve spots for in-cabin pets, so once your pet is attached to your reservation, she’ll get on board with you. You’ll pay the pet fee at the airport.

JetBlue — “To book your pet, call 1-800-JETBLUE (538-2583). Please note: Pets cannot be booked online.” When you call, tell the rep that you’re calling because you’re traveling with an in-cabin dog and remind them that you shouldn’t be charged the usual fee. Also, JetBlue will give you the extra credit frequent flyer credit you would have gotten if you’d made your reservation on-line, because in this situation you were compelled to make your reservation over the phone — but remind the agent to, because they won’t think about it without nudging. [6/16/14 Happy news! JetBlue now allows travelers to book their pet’s reservation online: “Pets can be booked online or you can call 1-800-JETBLUE (538-2583).”]

Southwest — “Reservations for small cats and dogs can only be booked by calling Southwest Airlines at 1-800-I-FLY-SWA (1-800-435-9792).” I was astonished to learn that Southwest has the same lame policy as U.S. Air (see below): You may call ahead and add your pet to your reservation, but in fact, the in-cabin slots are allotted on a first-come-first-served basis at the airport on the day of your flight. The agent assured me that the airline has never had a situation where 7 pet owners tried to board a flight (Southwest allows 6 in-cabin carriers), but that’s little comfort to a traveler, especially as pet travel becomes more popular, and especially during holiday travel. What happens to the seventh, unlucky pet owner? Southwest will try to call and notify you that six other pet-owners have checked in, and will discuss with you over the phone (or at the counter, if you only learn of your fate then), what your options are. The agent mentioned, as an option, changing flights, but would not go so far as to say that you’d get a refund. You’ll pay the pet fee, by the way, at the airport.

[11/26/13 I just got a message from reader Mia telling me that “Following what it says on Dog Jaunt, I didn’t bother calling to add Callie to my Southwest reservation since it’s first come first served at the airport anyway, but when I arrived at the airport the desk agent told me that it isn’t first come first served, you need to call ahead to add your pet and that the limit for the flights is 4 in-cabin pets! Luckily, there were no other pets on the flight and the lady put Callie on my reservation then and there for me after I expressed my concern that this completely goes against what it says on their website.” Perhaps this particular agent used to work for AirTran? And perhaps something triggered the provision that “from time to time, circumstances may allow for more (or fewer) than six (6) pet carriers per scheduled flight”? It takes just a few minutes to call and add your pet to your reservation, so I plan to continue doing it.]

The only bright spot during the conversation — and this from an airline that I previously adored! — was the news that Southwest does not charge a fee for booking over the phone (query, however, whether there’s any real point to adding your pet to your Southwest reservation ahead of time, since the rubber only hits the road on the day of departure, at the ticket desk).

Spirit — Spirit does not waive its $10 phone booking fee, so here again, you may prefer to call ahead, see if there’s room on your flight for an in-cabin pet, book on-line, then quickly call back to add your pet to your reservation. Spirit does keep an in-cabin pet listing, so once your pet is added to your reservation, she’s guaranteed a place on board. You’ll pay the pet fee over the phone, when you add her to her reservation.

Sun Country — “[T]o arrange to transport your pet on your flight, please contact Sun Country Reservations toll-free at 1-800-359-6786 or 651-905-2737 for Minneapolis/St. Paul local calls.” Sun Country, bless ’em, does waive (for pet owners) the $15 phone reservation fee they ordinarily charge. They also actually reserve a space for your dog on your flight. Bless ’em some more. You’ll pay the pet fee over the phone, when you make your own reservation.

United — “If your pet will be traveling as carry-on or in a kennel as checked baggage, please call United Reservations at 1-800-UNITED-1 (1-800-864-8331) to make the necessary arrangements.” United does not waive its $25 phone booking fee, but after reading all these entries, you know what to do. The airline does keep an in-cabin pet listing, so once your pet is added to your reservation, she’s getting on board with you. You’ll pay the pet fee at the airport.

U.S. Air — “Please check with an agent at the airport to coordinate your travel plans.” U.S. Air has the same dreadful pet policy that Southwest has (above). I wrote a post about it just a few days ago, which includes all the details you can stand.

Virgin America — “Please call reservations at 1.877.FLY.VIRGIN (1.877.359.8474) to make arrangements for traveling with pets. You also may add a pet when booking your reservation on our website, either during booking or by clicking ‘Anything Else?’ when viewing your itinerary.”

U.S. Airways: Disastrous in-cabin pet policy, and rate hike

Alerted by reader Mia, I just called U.S. Airways to talk about the airline’s in-cabin pet policy. The customer service representative I spoke to confirmed that today, U.S. Air increased its fee for in-cabin pets to $125 each way (it had previously been $100). That’s unfortunate, but not unexpected, given that United, Continental and American all charge $125 for in-cabin pets.

What really disturbed me was hearing confirmation that U.S. Airways does not keep a cabin pet listing ahead of time. Instead, a traveler with an in-cabin pet must arrive at the airport she’s departing from early enough to ensure that her in-cabin pet has one of the available slots on board her flight. How many slots are available? U.S. Air has never specified a number — in the past, they said there was “limited” availability, and as of today, the relevant web page doesn’t even say that.

The customer service rep I spoke to suggested that I purchase a seat for my pet, if I wanted to be perfectly confident that she’d make it on board. Really? Is that the answer? I should pay hundreds of dollars for an empty seat? In fact, it’s not the answer, because having a second seat reservation would in no way guarantee that my in-cabin pet would be allowed on board. (Keep in mind, too, that even if I did purchase a companion seat, Chloe’s carrier would still be slotted in its under-seat space.)

I called U.S. Air again, a few hours later, because I realized that I hadn’t asked what happens to a traveler who learns that her in-cabin pet cannot travel on her flight. The customer service rep I spoke to told me that in the past, U.S. Air only allowed 2 in-cabin pets per flight (which really is “limited”). Now, they’re allowing 6 in-cabin pets per flight. She told me that the airline has never had a situation where a seventh pet owner showed up at the ticket counter. Pet travel is on the upswing, I told her — what will happen to that seventh owner? She told me that the owner’s trip would be canceled and that an airline credit would be issued for a future flight.

I was astonished and dismayed by our conversation. When I expressed my concern — and I did so with unusual moderation, given how astonished and dismayed I was — the customer service rep suggested that I leave a written comment with U.S. Air’s customer relations. Here’s the link, in case you want to leave your own comment. Please note that U.S. Air makes it difficult: You have to specify your upcoming flight date and destination to have your comment accepted, but I just typed in a generic departure date and destination. Until this policy changes, we will certainly not be flying on U.S. Air — and I can’t recommend that you do either.