DO's and DONT's of flying with your pets - Page 2

Double check the number of animals allowed per flight.  It's often not per person but maximum number on an individual flight.  If an airline has a policy no more then three crates in the hold per flight that could affect you.  Many also have a maximum per flight allowed in the cabin area.

Good luck and as Sue said, please let us know how it goes.

I wll make sure to check that out

Couple of throughts:

• Pay for the dog both ways before the trip. The agents will LOVE you and there will not be any confusion about the dog and costs when you check in. 
• Get the stickers prior to flying and get everything filled out.

We do this every time

I recently flew with my dog on Frontier.  It was a very good experience, even with changing planes.  I made sure to let the check-in person at the gate and the flight attendant know that I had a dog and wanted to make sure he was on board with me.  A couple times  I was able to stand there watching the plane board and could see him being loaded.  They always made sure to come tell me, or announce over the loudspeaker that my dog was on board.  In fact, one time I couldn't see at the gate, so I made sure to tell the flight attendant as I boarded.  One of the flight crew happened to be standing right there.  He left the plane and from my seat I watched him chatting with the people loading baggage.  When it came time for my dog to be loaded, he actually helped the guy lift him onto the loading ramp.  When he came back, he announced that my dog was on board.

The only surprising thing was when I first arrived at the airport and was checking in at the airline counter, the TSA employee came over and did the crate inspection right there.  That meant I had to take my dog out in a very crowded little area.  Not a big deal for him, but it was slightly obnoxious.  The TSA employee then asked if the dog was friendly.  He needed to pat him down around the neck area.  For what, I don't know!  But again, I was glad it happened to be this particular dog.

I did have a packet of info taped to the top of his crate.  It included my cell phone number, shot records, an extra copy of his health certificate, and a picture of my dog with his call name.  Also, I had written his call name on the outside of his crate.  Every time they told me my dog was on board, they used his name, which happens to be kind of a goofy name for a big GSD....I think that helped more than anything.  Much better than a name they can't pronounce or something like "Killer" or "Cujo."

On the last leg home, after the plane was loaded, I could hear him barking underneath us.  He barked all the way down the runway.  I couldn't figure out why he was barking since he hadn't on any of the previous legs.  When we landed and I saw the baggage unloaded, the first thing they took out was a bunch of crates of "exotic birds" and then my dog.  Guess he had company!

I just hope it all goes well. Im sure it will be fine now that i have had so much help.