SPECIAL FEE REPORT: Traveling with Pets

May 29, 2009 | Posted in: Airline Fees, Airlines, Pets

Since Southwest just announced it will soon start transporting pets – in the cabin, only – I thought this would be a good time to review the other airlines’ policies on pet travel. Here’s a list of 12 carriers and their domestic fees/charges for transporting Fido or Fluffy. Just click on the airline name, and you’ll be linked to that airline’s specific pet policy. NOTE! Do review the policy of your carrier before you and your best friend take off – some airlines won’t carry pets to certain destinations, and others don’t allow specific breeds at certain times of the year (United, for example, won’t transport “short-nosed” breeds – think Pugs – in the heat of the summer). AIRLINES PETS – CABIN PETS – CARGO AirTran $69 No Pets Alaska $100 $100 American $100 $150 Continental $125 Must Call Delta $150 $275 JetBlue $100 No Pets Midwest $125 $150 Northwest $150 $275 Southwest $75 No Pets United $125 $250 US Airways $100 $100 Virgin America $100 $No Pets See all airline fees on FareCompare’s U.S. Domestic Fee Chart – right here.

7 Responses to “SPECIAL FEE REPORT: Traveling with Pets”

1. Alexis says:

   May 30, 2009 at 11:49 am

   Your information on Continental is incorrect. They do take cargo pets you can even acquire frequent flyer miles with cargo pets. They have a service called PetSafe for tracking your pet. I personally don’t recommend cargo pets even PetSafe was a disaster in my experience but Continental does offer cargo pets.
2. Rick Seaney says:

   May 31, 2009 at 4:05 pm

   Alexis,
   You are correct and I have changed the chart accordingly.
   Rick
3. Pat says:

   June 2, 2009 at 3:13 pm

   I would like to see you address carrying ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) Dogs on planes. Thanks
4. Pat says:

   June 2, 2009 at 3:15 pm

   Please address what is required to take your Pet from the USA to Canada. Again, Thanks.
5. Rick Seaney says:

   June 4, 2009 at 9:26 am

   Pat,
   I am not an expert on this, but the FAA has the answers to many of your questions at this link (see in particular, their FAQ section): http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/rules/rules.htm#FAQ
   Also, they suggest you contact the U.S. embassy in your destination country, and here is the link to the U.S. Embassy in Canada: http://ottawa.usembassy.gov/content/index.asp
   Hope this helps,
   Rick
6. NotMe says:

   June 8, 2009 at 9:19 pm

   US Air doesn’t allow pets in its cargo hold at all.

   Did you honestly look up all the current policies on the websites?
7. Rick Seaney says:

   June 9, 2009 at 9:08 am

   NotMe,
   US Airways does carry pets in cargo, in a few instances — which is why we included it in our fee report. Please read this, from the US Airways website: “US Airways accepts dogs, domestic cats and birds as checked baggage on nonstop US Airways Shuttle flights in the BOS/DCA/LGA markets only. Connections are not permitted. The customer must travel on the same flight. Customers should advise US Airways when they wish to transport a pet as checked baggage on a US Airways Shuttle flight.”
   And yes, I can assure you, my research team checked out all the policies; they are human however, and sometimes make mistakes, but not in this case.
   Hope this helps,
   Rick