I think you’d really need to contact the airline for that and explain your circumstances. I don’t know if pets need to be pre-booked or if you can just arrive to board with a pet in tow. Here in Australia, pets travel in the hold.

I don’t know if they can provide you with that info, as far as I know they don’t have a passenger pay the fee for an in-cabin pet until check in happens, and most airlines limit how many pets allowed on to 5 but not all airlines do plus this doesn’t include service animals which are numerically unrestricted, as well as present on a plane while out of carriers.

If they pay the fee at check in that’s the soonest they know of an individual bringing their pet in cabin. They pre book the human but as the pet rides on the floor with the carrier under the seat in front of them they don’t have to reserve a seat for the animal and it’s ‘first check in first allowed to come on board’.

This happened last September:link to newspaper article

"According to a policy on its website,
the airline can ensure that a customer with severe allergies is seated
far away from animals if notified of an allergy at the departure gate.
The airline cannot provide advance notification of animals traveling on a
particular flight."

summary of news article: a person claimed to be deathly allergic to animals (yet carried no EpiPen or meds -- so personally I don't find her claim to be credible), made a fuss, and was removed from the flight.

Matthias, I don't know what the answer is, but you're smart to consider your health needs in advance, certainly discuss them with a health care professional.

I had a dog in the seat behind me. Owner let the dog's face around the side of my seat, panting in my face. Yuck!! Steward made owner put dog back in cage UNDER MY SEAT. Seems anyone can can get a note saying pet is companion. Every flight seems to have dogs now.

Yes you can call and they will tell you if any pets are currently booked. They also tell you that could change. Anyone can add a small pet to put under the seat when they arrive if the max has not been met.

quote: Maximum number of pets: 5 carriers in the main cabin; 1 per passenger unless an adjacent seat is purchased, then a passenger may have 2. Price: $100 each way (cabin or baggage). Advance reservations: Recommended

I flew first class with a double amputee veteran sitting next to me. His large dog was on the floor. It was briefly resting on my feet. I love dogs and did not care but certainly others might.

I think all you can really do is prepare yourself as much as possible with allergy medications and alert the crew. Even if there are no pets on a plane, a service dog could come on completely unannounced and without a record since they don't have to do the typical pet booking/registration/payment.

bring extra allergy meds, and a breathing mask, and do tell at the check in, you have allergy reactions to pets. Ask to be moved, if a pet gets boarded near you. The latter works best if you alerted the crew/airline ahead of time.

Moni

I am very allergic to dogs and always have my asthma inhalers with me. You never know when you'll be exposed, so it's best to be prepared.

People first! Just because someone refuses to put Sweetiepie in the hold is not justification for making other people sick, trapped for hours in the recirculating air of an plane cabin.

Leave the animal at home. Drive. Put the animal in the hold, or don't fly.

How many genuine service animals are required by their owner who is SITTING ON A PLANE? A minority animals currently allowed in the cabin *are* service animals.

I am asthmatic and allergic to animal dander. I put Sweetiepie's comfort far below my own. I don't want to be required to use my emergency medication, and I could be suffering from inflamed sinuses for a week. And for what?

Service animals are used for more than just mobility. Blood sugar, seizures, cardiac problems, all sorts of issues that could happen sitting on a plane.

I have sympathy for asthmatics and allergy sufferers but there is always a risk on public transportation. People have options to fly, take a train, take a boat, charter a flight. Not always practical but still an option if one feels so strongly about sharing space with animals when it's allowed by the airlines.

An animal doesn’t have to be considered a service animal to be on the plane with the owner. The animal only has to be small enough to fit in a carrier that fits under the seat in front of them. It cannot be taken out of the carrier to sit in the owner’s lap or anything like that. It has to stay in the carrier under the seat in front

Even if there are no dogs on YOUR flight, I can guarantee you there will have been - at some point - dogs/cats/peacocks/llamas/whatever on that particular plane, and will have left behind fur/slobber/dander. Planes aren't cleaned often, nor are they cleaned well.

Did you read about the lady who tried to fly with her peacock.? Said it was a service animal. Thank goodness the airline refused to have it in the passenger compartment. Have you ever hear a peacock squawk continually? Unbelievable.

“Yes, my service peacock is specially trained to chase me around and corner me so I won’t bother other people. Please respect my need for my service peacock, it’s beneficial for others if I’m backed into a corner by this big squawking nightmare...uh I mean service peacock.”

IMO it's the pet people (a minority) who should take the train, boat, car, or leave Sweetiepie at home. I know airlines permit this, but I think they should not. There is no air worse than the recirculated air on a plane, even without fresh pet dander. (I can see the exception for *legally documented* Service Animals -- not for Sweetiepie, the 'pet'.)

I think most people are pet people. Most households (65%) in the US have at least one pet. It's just supply and demand.

I used to show my dogs and I can promise you that most breeders/handlers showing their dogs, will prefer to have them in the cabin if they can possibly fit. It's just not very practical if one lives in CT and wants to go to their breed club's show on the west coast, to drive all that way. They fly. And they pay dearly for that privilege. And no, their dogs do NOT earn FF miles for their flights (they should!).

The only time I traveled by plane with pets was when we moved here from Germany. One dog and one rabbit. Both were in the cargo area. I swear I heard my dog barking the whole time. We did give him something to calm him down, obviously this didn’t work. By the time we got him in Atlanta he had chewed the mattress he had in his carrier, the leash, water bowl. The rabbit was fine, not happy we had to discard all the hay we had in his carrier at customs. I am glad we had decided before to do the last leg by car. My daughter brought her cat a couple of times by plane. Whenever she books her ticket she also takes care they know Cosmo will be there. She did a couple of trips by car with him. It takes him a lot longer to recover from a 14 hour car trip vs a few hours on a plane. She is not bringing him for short stays, but being boarded in a cage for 3 weeks is not working. I do understand both sides, but it is not like you take your cat like your carry on and stuff under your seat. You do pay for it to be there.

Yes, I can believe 65 percent of people own pets. But the minority of the people think their pets are human and are their sons or daughters and have to go everywhere with them, dress them in silly clothes, buy them gourmay food, carry them (they do have 4 legs), and/or take them to the dogie beauty shop every week . The majority of us understand that their animal has an important place in their family, but understand that it is an animal and not one of their own babies. Plane travel is meant to transport human beings, first and foremost. Many people are allergic to animals some very severely. The airlines quit serving peanut due to some people having peanut allergies. Your not ever going to eliminate all allergens, but you can reduce the risk to humans. Peoples heath first. I think the airline needs to update there cargo bays for constant air condition or heat as long as there is a animal in the cargo bay. Make it as comfortable and as safe as possible for the animal. I don't think any animal should be in the cabin with people. On some airlines it is cheaper for the animal to ride in the cabin than in the cargo bay???? Airline charge between an $100- $200 one way for a animal to ride in the cabin. Make it the opposite and charge the $100-$200 for cargo and charge much more for the pet to ride in the cabin except for service animals.

You do realize that on most airlines the cargo area isn't heated, right?

And there is a huge difference between someone taking their pet on a plane with them and those who "think they're their sons and daughters and dress them in silly clothes and take them to the beauty shop". Puleeze. Exaggerate much?

If you read what I wrote, I said the cargo bays need updated to make the animals comfortable. Heat and air conditioned. It doesn't mater the reason they are taking their pet with them the animals should not be in the cabin. People health comes first. And no I am not exaggerating. If you also read what I wrote, I said the minority of people think of their animals as a son or daughter, etc.

For someone so concerned with the cruelty of taking animals on a plane, I'm surprised at your insistance on the cargo hold. It's colder, louder, more isolated and the animals won't have the comfort of their owners nearby who can talk to them and reassure them. Surely your concern for animals would want the least cruel option?

I get that you don't think pets should be on the plane. You say it's cruel but want to keep them in the extra-traumatizing cargo hold so you don't have to be around them. Doesn't add up.

Yeah, there was no way I was going to drive cross country with the dog when we moved, it was expensive enough just with the moving costs. I sold my car before we left and the mister’s employer shipped his work truck by freight so that it was at the new house the day after we arrived. California to Nebraska would have meant at least a couple nights en route at a motel, I suppose we could have rented a car but that’s an awful lot of extra effort that was unnecessary when there was a perfectly acceptable nonstop flight from LAX to Omaha which we paid the in cabin fee to bring the dog on.

The idea that one side or the other is supposed to travel some other way in order for the other group to get what they want in the transportation method of their choice is ridiculous. Not only are we distracted from the misery of airline decisions about the number of rows, the amount of legroom, fees, and crammed on a plane we pay a lot to even be on...we’re trying to dictate who gets to be on the plane with us and how it should be someone not us that must wait for another plane if a flight is overbooked or should travel by train/car/donkey. This is what’s wrong with the world - we’re there!

Just like pet friendly rooms in hotels, there should be a dedicated set of seats in the BACK of the plane for people who must have their pets with them. I did NOT like that dog panting in my face or being under my seat as I am allergic. People come first, not pets.

A heated cargo area would be better. Pets always used to go in the cargo area with a sleeping medicine and that worked until pets became PEOPLE in this society.

It is obvious that there is a major disconnect here between pet lovers and those who could care less. And I doubt there will ever be any sort of mutually acceptable agreement, so just agree to disagree :-)

Airlines are not just about transporting humans....they are about transporting whatever they can and making money at it. There are all manner of things I object to about air travel, the primary one being my fellow passengers - often loud, unmannerly, oversized for the seat accommodations, smelly and quite frequently, infected with some bug or germ which they freely share with the rest of the passengers. Personally, I'd rather travel with a planeload full of pets!!

This is not a perfect word and there will always be situations that are not entirely to your liking. Learn to deal with it!!

Even though the airlines have quite serving peanuts (for the most part), they have NO RULE at all about anyone bringing his own peanuts on a flight.

People fly with dogs/cats for as many different reasons as there are for people flying. When we lived in LA, we had 5 cats and 2 dogs; we went to Martha's Vineyard for 3 months as my teacher husband had a job there. We neither wanted to board all our pets for 3 months, nor could we afford to do so. They went with us on the plane, but in cargo. When one is flying a pet in cargo, there are various outside temp requirements which must be met - it can't be too hot or too cold or the animal cannot go on the plane. We were a nervous wreck that it would be too hot, but we were lucky. Our plane was large enough that there was access to the special cargo area (pets are not in with the luggage) where pets fly, and the flight attendant checked on them multiple times on our long flight.

I'm sorry you don't like to fly with pets, whatever your reason. I'm sure many people flying feel the same way about flying on long flights with infants and children. Yet, both are allowed.

Anyone with such a serious health issues would not do well on a plane - who knows who might be covered in dog/cat hair dander, or have brought an entire can of peanuts with them.

It is a sorry state that people believe the health, long term wellness, and psychical comfort of a pet takes priority over the health, long term wellness, and psychical comfort of an adult, child or infant. I am really surprised and saddened at the lack of empathy showed towards their fellow human beings.

What if it is a long flight and the animal has to poop or pee? How is that managed? Dog poop has a pretty foul smell.

Dear Chisue and others of like mind, you are travelling on public transportation in the scenario you mentioned. You are not above other passengers and who they choose to bring aboard and pay for. Next time, charter your own transport. get over yourself.

There are airlines that don’t have a policy for in-cabin pets, and pretty much all airlines don’t practice anything near adequate to relegate animals to exclusively their cargo holds.

People can care about their animals and care about humans simultaneously. Perhaps consider how so many manage to consider humans in the face of all those humans demanding their pets go in cargo.

Yes, I don't think it's a one or the other situation. I do think humans are more important than animals, and if I had to choose which one to save it would always be a person.

However, I do value my pet's life over the discomfort of a human for a few hours. If my pet had to fly, I would not put them in cargo. I am not risking their life in deference to allergies. I have allergies too so I sympathize, and I certainly don't want to make people sick, and I will do my part to minimize exposure but that's the choice I will have to make. If that makes me selfish, then I'm ok with that.

Now, if someone has very serious allergies then they shouldn't be on a public plane that allows pets. It's unfortunate but it's the reality of the situation

Well, I'm glad I found this out. I don't travel by air due to finances, however, I had decided that in a family emergency or death, I would need to get there quickly and would take a plane regardless of cost. But I see that I cannot risk getting on a plane. I had not known pet flight was so common. And I cannot find any domestic carrier that has a no pets policy.

With a little googling, I found out that "cat" is on 100% of domestic flight seats and on 16% of international seats. So their presence is pretty much always there. Also the lowest estimation I've found of the percentage people allergic to animals is 10%. Of course not everyone's reaction is life threatening, but people do die from asthma in the US every year--and that is with most people who have asthma carrying emergency meds with them. Asthma is not just an annoyance; it is serious. The CDC says 3447 people died from it in 2007. The Canadian Medical Association has taken a position against pets flying in the cabin due to the number of people who are allergic to them.

Is your asthma not controlled by meds? Do you regularly have to go to the ER? Unless you answer yes, to both those questions, you should be fine. I assume you do go out in public and are exposed to people who own pets and may well be covered in pet hair or their dander.

I have had asthma for 48 years and I also own pets. My medicines allow this.

I think I know much about my own level of intolerance, Anglophilia. I will not be getting on a plane.