Photo courtesy Chicago Tribune
The recent news about Delta Airlines doubling down on so-called support animals, as described by Back and Gone Again, is timely, as we recently helped our son move across the country, with cat in tow. Traveling with a kitty is a bit of a challenge and the logistics of getting to that point of actually being on the plane with cat carrier under the seat, can be daunting. (And, let me make it clear, our son’s cat is not a support animal.)
For starters, when making a reservation online, there is no pet option available. JetBlue was the only site I found that did show a link for info about pet travel, instructing the passenger they had to phone it in. I checked several other airlines, pretending to make a reservation but no option for pets showed up. Check the site for FAQs and you’ll find info there, and you’ll find that each airline requires a separate phone call…or two, or three.
In my son’s case, he made his reservation well in advance of his trip and, as it got closer, he mentioned he probably should call Delta and let them know that Buzz would be traveling with him. However, he didn’t realize that each airline sets a minimum, in terms of how many pets can be in the cabin per trip. In his case the limit was 4 and that number had already been reached. The rep stated that he would have to change his flight to accommodate the cat, which he did, along with having to pay extra fees to make the change.
The kicker here is that once the rep changed the flight and assured him there would be room for the cat, she said he would have to call back (the exact same number) to confirm the reservation for the cat and answer pertinent questions regarding weight and age of the pet, as well as carrier size, to “officially” secure a spot on the plane. This was so bizarre that he had to ask her to restate that a couple of times before getting off the phone and redialing the same number…with an extremely long wait time, by the way. This is a weird glitch that seems totally unnecessary, it should only take the one call to get it all arranged.
There is an alternative to changing his flight and incurring the fees. He could have booked Buzz on Delta Cargo. However, the cost is way more expensive than the $125 one-way charge to carry him onboard. Not to mention, the pet must be dropped off three hours prior to flight time, which is brutal when the flight itself is so long. Cargo was out of the question, especially after reading some of the comments about pets that didn’t make it alive to the other side.
End result, he got the confirmation and arrived at the airport 2 hours before flight time to check in (this is when you pay the extra pet charge). Of course, in the previous few days, the airlines had experienced major backups, as a result of bad weather. Our son’s flight wasn’t affected but, even at 5 a.m., the line to check-in looked to be at least 2 hours long. As he got in queue, I walked the length of the line to see if there was any other option – lo and behold, there was a “Special Needs” section and I was told he could come there with his pet.
At that point, the attendant handled everything beautifully, even giving me a pass to help him through security. Now the next challenge…Buzz had to be taken out of his carrier and held while walking through the metal detector. We had purchased a special harness-type collar to make it easier to hold onto him for fear he’d try to get away…it worked. Clutching Buzz to his chest, he got thru the checkpoint while I got all of his carry-on stuff through x-ray. Of course, getting the cat back into the carrier was a challenge but, between the two of us, we managed to get that last struggling leg back in and zipped up. Phew.
The rest of the trip was uneventful with a quiet kitty who didn’t poop or pee for 12 hours! However, the stress on the humans, leading up the actual journey, was a bit much and a lot of it seemed unnecessary. I do agree with Delta and their policy regarding “support” animals. As with anything, people tend to take advantage of a situation whenever possible, and what we saw in the “Special Needs” line looked sketchy.
Bottom line, if you absolutely have to put your pet through the trauma of flight, be prepared to pay through the proverbial cold, wet nose and practice jumping through hoops, cause it ain’t easy!
Checking out his new digs upon arrival.