If you find a dog, cat or turkey next to you on your next flight, it probably has a right to be there. If sitting so close doesn't work for you, let the flight attendants know—they will try to help.
If your dog is flying in the cabin, it has to travel in a TSA-approved pet carrier (soft- or hard-sided) that is well-ventilated and can fully fit under the plane seat in front of you. Each airline has its own size restrictions on pet carriers; make sure to check in advance that the carrier you plan to use fits.
Make sure your pet fits
This carrier must fit under the seat in front of you or you cannot fly with your pet. There can only be one pet per carrier, and they must be able to stand up and turn around while inside. The only animals allowed on planes without a pet carrier are service animals.
Carrier requirements may change from airline to airline, but dogs should be able to stand naturally and turn around inside it without touching the sides or top. Can my cat or dog sit on my lap? No. Pets are required to stay in their carrier throughout your domestic flight, stored under the seat in front of you.
As loving pet parents, we want to ensure the best possible travel experience for our furry friends. That's why the American Veterinary Medical Association strongly advises against using tranquilizers or sedatives. In fact, airlines won't even accept sedated or tranquilized dogs and cats.
Just like humans, a dog's ears are vulnerable to high altitudes. Flying can cause mild pain for your dog if it has trouble equalizing its ears. Luckily, the dog's outer ear canal equalizes pressure in the dog's ear naturally, so if your dog's ears hurt during the flight, it will pass within a few minutes.
Line the carrier with an absorbent “puppy potty pad” in case your dog needs to urinate or defecate during travel.
You must stow the crate (with your dog inside) under the seat in front of you for taxi, takeoff, and landing; otherwise, you can hold the carrier on your lap or, if you purchased an additional seat, you can place it on the seat next to you.
This is because they usually require dogs to fit in a pet carrier that must fit underneath the passenger seats. The rules and regulations have been set out by International Air Transport Association (IATA) ensure that dogs are comfortable when travelling.
Adult dogs and cats easily make it through the night without having to relieve themselves, so your pet should also be OK on most very long flights.
Domestic Pet Friendly Airlines
Qantas and Virgin allow pets to fly in their cargo area. REX allows pets as checked baggage on some flights. Jetstar doesn't allow pets at all. If you want to fly with your dog or other pet in the cabin with you in Australia, you're out of luck.
Travelling in Australia with your dog or cat is simple; if you are flying with your pet, you can check your pet in as excess baggage. Customers in Australia will need to enlist a pet relocation agent for domestic travel only if they are not travelling on the same flight as their pet dog or cat.
You can travel with a pet on most flights up to 12 hours or flights to / from select locations: Within the 48 contiguous United States. The U.S. and Canada* Alaska.
Many airlines allow pets to fly in the cabin as a carry-on, so long as they stay inside a carrier that's small enough to fit under the seat in front of you for the duration of the flight. Southwest, Alaska, United, American, Delta, Hawaiian, Spirit, and Frontier are some of the airlines that allow pets as carry-ons.
With the exception of service animals, pets in the airport terminals must be kenneled and ready for travel. Service animals are permitted on AirTrain. Leashed animals are permitted in other areas of the Airport, such as Animal Relief Areas.
Window and Middle seats usually have wider space underneath the seat in front of you between their supports. Underneath the aisle seat is typically more narrow. If it were me I would recommend the window seat that way no one will jostle the dog if they get up to use the restroom during the flight.
While most animals flown in the cargo area of airplanes are fine, you should be aware that some animals are killed, injured or lost on commercial flights each year. Excessively hot or cold temperatures, poor ventilation and rough handling are often to blame.
4. Take a potty break before you board the aircraft. As with little kids, let your dog have a potty break immediately before boarding. “I've had a dog poop on my plane and it wasn't good,” Ballone says.
Try a sleep aid
Over-the-counter options include Dramamine (bonus: it will also help if you have motion sickness), melatonin (a hormone that can help with sleep and prevent jet lag), any antihistamine containing diphenhydramine (such as Benadryl), and medicines designed for insomnia, like Unisom or ZzzQuil.
Most airlines require that pets travel with a small zip-lock bag of their food attached to the top of the crate - but they are not provided food to eat during the flight. Again, this is to avoid an upset stomach or going to the bathroom inside the kennel.
Dogs can find all sorts of narcotics, like marijuana, opium, cocaine, and heroin. These drug dogs always work in conjunction with a handler. They walk through security checkpoints sniffing the air around passengers and their luggage.
Food and water
Avoid giving your pup food for about five hours before the flight, although a little water is okay. Potty breaks are tough at the airport. If your dog is going to be staying in the cargo area, fasten a bowl for water and a bowl for food to the inside of the carrier.
Motion sickness occurs when your dog's sense of balance in their inner ear gets disrupted. This can be caused wherever there is motion, like on a car or a plane ride.
As with humans, animals can also experience barotrauma when traveling by plane. This injury is caused by an imbalance between the environmental pressure inside the aircraft and the pressure inside the middle ear cavity.