Pets

I recall the cost being minimal (although it varies b/w airlines), approx. $35 per carrier. Check with Southwest and have them indicate on your ticket that you will be travelling with pets. Our airline had a maximum of carry-on animals per flight, so you need to get your ticket marked to reflect that you will be travelling with carry-on pets. Confirm again a few days before your flight.

Big hint: Get some anti-anxiety meds from your vet. When my hubby and I moved down here, our airline only allowed 1 cat carrier per traveller and we had 3 cats to transport. You guessed it, that meant that 1 cats had to travel in one carrier together. We gave all the cats meds 1/2 hr. b/4 the flight, but b/c the cats were resisting it so much we ended up having to give them another dose. The fur was flying, there was a lot of low rumbling and plenty of hissing. Be prepared to spend your entire flight trying to ease very unhappy kitties and getting odd looks from fellow passengers and flight attendants. Try to find the shortest and most direct flight possible. When all was said and done, our cats took only one day to forgive us...not bad.

Onika, I have a pet question. My cat is too tall to fit in an under seat carrier. When I researched the cargo option for him, AA said they won't accept cats if the temperature in departure or arrival city is 75 degrees or over. I plan to move to St Croix in November and will be flying from Miami. Do you know about this requirement and did you experience the same problem? AA says the under seat carriers may be 23"L x 13" W x 9" H. Now, that works for my Chihuahua but not my cat. Do you have any ideas about this problem? Thank you all so much for sharing your expertise!

Mary,

OK, first of all, how big is kitty that he can't fit under the seat? Or is this really a cougar/lion/tiger cub you are trying to pass off as domestic house cat? haha.

That said, I have rather bodacious felines myself (bengal cats) and they required a soft-side carrier for on-flight travel, rather than a hard carrier. The soft-siders look less imposing to the airline personnel (so they don't really know what size it is) and are more malleable under the seat. (If you are short on $$, I can lend and send you one of ours---used only once). Also, even if kitty is a wee bit uncomfortable, I imagine the Miami--STX flight (nonstop) is under 2.5hrs? Kitty can be on your lap until you start taxiing and can be on your lap again as soon as you land. And, with the help of meds he probably won't even notice the difference. If you can make it happen as carry-on, do 'cause going as cargo really sucks.

As far as temp. restrictions in cargo, check with AA again. That temp. seems awful low. I recall that we were told max. 85. At that rate, you can never bring animals here in cargo. Also, I knew that they had the max. temp. rule, but I thought it was only in operation during the summer months (meaning: May to September). If they confirm 75 is the max. yearround, you might run into trouble b/c weather.com reflects a mean temp. of 81 on STX in November and an average low of 74. If worst comes to worst, book the earliest flight or the latest flight of the day. That's what we did for our dog to make it cooler...6:45am flight was murder on us, but the better deal for the pooch.

Finally, I hope you are travelling with someone b/c you can only have one carry-on pet per person. So it will have be to be Chihuahua or Tall Kitty. Also, have them note your ticket and pay the fees in advance b/c they have max. animal carry-ons per flight.

I hope I answered some of your questions. Good luck and let us know how you, the Chihuahua, and Tall-Kitty arrived.

Thanks Onika! Tall kitty (AKA Beethoven) is 14" tall at the shoulders. My Chihuahua's (Raul) crate is the under seat size given by AA so I attempted to shove Tall kitty into it without success. LOL I will try a soft sided one as you suggest because I can't see how the temperature thing would work. Also, I would prefer not to send Beethoven as cargo. He hates traveling any way so would not enjoy that! My kids (human) are very sad that one of them will have to fly to St Croix with me to help with the gang. It's a tough job but someone has to do it 🙁 Thanks again! Mary

Hi Mary and Onika,
I work for AA and here is some info on the pet charges and embargoes. Pets cannot travel on the commercial fleet from May 15-Sept 15 due to extreme heat. However AA cargo excepts year round. The weather cannot exceed 85 degress on the ground in the city you are arriving. The charges are 80.00 USD per container and theses charges are each way. You may have 2 cats in one container, but they both have to be able to turn around easily. Otherwise you will need 2. Most of our fleet have a 1 or 2 pet allowance for carry on pets so if you are thinking of carrying on make sure you ask the agent if there is room for carryon pets in the cabin. The fees are the same for carryon and checked. I am not sure about the cargo rates. Hope this helps you out.

Hi Lisa,
Thanks for chipping in the official AA word (well as official as you can be on a message board). Here's my question: If I understand and recall correctly AA has a max. carry-on animal allowance per flight. Does AA mark the passenger tix as accompanying carry-on animals before you get to the airport? How else do they know whether the max. animal carry-on capacity has been reached? Or, does AA just operate on a first-come first-animal-served policy? I'm curious to know how AA monitors and controls this max. issue, especially for people who are relocating and can't just send the dog and/or cat home if the flight has reached max. capacity.
Thanks for your help.

Hi Lisa,
Thank you for the info! Mary

Yes there is a max allowed. Each aircraft is allowed 2. (Not sure about American Eagle) It depends on which aircraft your on on those. But as far as AA when you make your reservation you will tell them you are bringing your pet. They will ask you some questions and advise you of the charges, then they will check the aircraft you will be on to see if there are any other pets scheduled. If not then they will make a pet reservation and link it to yours and give you a confirmation code for the pet. Once there are 2 in the cabin AA will reject any others. So when you check in at the airport you will give them your record locator and the pets then you will pay the service charge. You can pay with cash, personal check (which I love!!) transportation voucher and credit card. And that is it. You and your pet proceed to the gate. I had the opportunity to work some flights out of DFW to San Juan, Puerto Rico for a dog show and I had 14 English Bulldogs to oversee. I loved those babies!!! They were ADORABLE!! i WANTED TO KISS EVERYONE OF THEM!! Hope this helps ya!!

I know AA charges 80.00 USD each way for domestic flights. It is a first come first serve basis. Limit 2 pets per aircraft (normally) payable at the airport with cash, check, credit card, transportation voucher.