I want to travel with my pet from LA to NY and back and I have an airline approved pet carrier for him in which he fits perfectly and is very comfortable in. Him and the pet carrier weigh almost 16 pounds together and according to the box it came in the dimensions are 20" long x 11.75" wide x 11.5" tall. I was wondering if anyone knew of an airline where it would fit under the seat in front of me.
It is a soft pet carrier and I only bought the large pet carrier because he is 10.5 inches tall and he could only stand up comfortably in the long one. He would be comfortable even if the pet carrier were 17 or 18 inches long, so I was hoping maybe I could squish it in if necessary. Is that allowed?
Just to add I pulled out my measuring tape and he is 7" wide, 10.5" tall and just over 14 inches from nose to butt with his head held up.
You can take small pets on planes as carry-on’s. There is nothing new about that. I brought a large iguana on once. He jumped out of his bag at security and ran through the terminal with me chasing him. That was pre 9/11 though.
The problem with asking about different airlines is that most of them use several different types of planes. An MD-80 <> a regional jet and you might have to take a different plane than you bought a ticket for. LA - NYC obviously has non-stop flights but it limits your options in getting a cheaper flight through connections and it could be a problem if your itinerary is disrupted and you need to be rerouted. If you find an airline that will let you do it, you have to keep that possibility in mind.
There is a more fool-proof way to do it that they can’t refuse but it will involve you buying some dark sunglasses and a cane and teaching your dog to be a good actor.
Thank you Duckster I appreciate your help. I forgot to ask Jet Blue if they carried pets as “Cargo” but I assume that they have similar regulations as the others. The link you gave me seemed to be only for “carry-on” pets.
I don’t know if it fits with your plans, but I just saw an article about these guys recently. If your dog doesn’t absolutely have to travel with you, they do fly back and forth between New York and LA.
Little yippy dogs in soft purse-like bags are pretty common on airplanes now. Think dogs the size of a big house cat. I see one on board every 2 or 3 weeks.
Other than guide dogs for blind folks, pretty much everything else rides below decks in a hard-side pet carrier. I carry several critters each month. Yes, there are exceptions for certain service critters, but they’re pretty rare.
In a lot of cases the guide dog ends up needing a separate ticket and the pax & dog take up two seats. Which discourages travel with a guide dog.
OP: There is no underseat storage I can think of which would accomodate something quite that tall. And while I do NOT claim to be an expert on my airline’s critter-shipping policy, much less any/all other airlines’ critter shipping policy, I’d be amazed to read of a policy about snub-nosed dogs versus other types.
Overall, take a look at the links provided by automagic. You’ll notice there’s not much variation in the big picture.
Bottom line is that traveling with a pet is a total pain in the ass to be strongly discouraged. There are a lot of ways to be turned away on the day of your flight which will really foul up your travel plans. This is true whether you’re expecting to carry it on or check it below decks. People do it every day, but I sure wouldn’t.
As to “horror stories”: If we accept your pet, it’ll get to the destination alive & uninjured with about the same odds you have of arriving alive & uninjured. It might not be real happy, but it’ll get there. Your problems start if we *don’t *accept your pet and there you are, faced with cancelling your flight so you can do something else with the pet. And what if it’s your return flight & you’re supposed to be at work tomorrow?
Normally dogs are too large to travel with the carry on. I have seen cats, though small cats, on flights. As long as the animal can stand up and turn around it should be OK to travel in the carrier.
I see small dogs (i.e., lap dogs like lhasa apsos, toy poodles, chihuahuas, etc.) on planes on a semi-regular basis; they ride around in the same sort of carrier which cat owners use.
Amtrak does not allow any animals of any kind on its trains (nor does Greyhound or any other cross-country bus line) except for trained service animals assisting disabled passengers.
Unlikely; airlines won’t let you hold any large carry-on bag on your lap, at least not during take-off and landing. At those times, they specifically instruct passengers that carry-ons have to be stowed, either in the overhead bin, or under the seat.
(Why they let you hold an infant on your lap is another issue entirely…)