Reader Heather recently sent Dog Jaunt’s Facebook page a series of quick reports from the air about the under-seat spaces she and her pup encountered on several domestic United flights.  She kindly agreed that I could re-post them here (thanks, Heather!). Not being an obsessed dog travel blogger, Heather didn’t have a tape measure on hand, but you can get an idea of the spaces involved if you know that her pet was traveling in a large SturdiBag carrier, which is essentially 18″ long and 12″ high and wide, but will flex to fit into a space that’s, say, only 9″ tall.

United 737-700

Heather and pup were seated in the Economy section, and the large SturdiBag “fit just fine. Even on the aisle.”

United 737-800

Once again, Heather was in an aisle seat in Economy, in row 34. “I’m now on a 737-800, no issues on the aisle, but a box on the center seat. The SturdiBag fit pretty decent anyway, but only just.” She sent a picture of the partly-obstructed middle seat space:

It looks to me like Chloe’s large SturdiBag carrier would fit in that space lengthwise, but if the aisle seat works that’s always a more comfortable choice. Please note that Heather did not report on the window seat space.

United 757-200

I added Heather’s report on this flight to a post I wrote back in 2010 about the under-seat space available on a United 757-200, because she had a different experience on her flight than I reported. I had found lots of space under the middle seat, and a workable space under the window seat, but Heather wrote that “there are electrical outlets between all the seats, so there is a big chunk from both aisle and middle seats. A good 5-6 inches is taken up. I think the window is unaffected.” She sat in row 36, in the Economy section, and she sent this picture:

Photo taken from the aisle towards a port-side window, showing the obstruction under the middle seat. The window seat space does indeed look clear.

I initially thought that there was an easy explanation — I was traveling international, and she was traveling domestic — but I when I re-read my post, it was clear that I’d been on both a domestic and an international flight on a United 757-200, and my domestic flight just looked different than Heather’s. It has been four years, though, since I wrote my report; it’s not unlikely that United has changed things up a bit. I’d go with Heather’s report, and choose a window seat when traveling on a United 757-200.

Thank you again, Heather, for taking the time to let other travelers know what you encountered! I’ve added this post to Dog Jaunt’s 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).