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05-04-2024
WASHINGTON: In a recent update, American Airlines has eased its pet policy which will now allow pet owners to bring their furry friends with their full-size carry-on bag inside the cabin! Till now, travelers with pets had to pay a fee of $150 (INR 12,507) to carry them into the cabin. With that amount, only a small item that would fit under the seat was allowed. For any other bigger luggage, a $35 (INR 2918) fee was taken from the passengers but with the revised policy, now passengers could bring their pet in the cabin along with their regular carry-on bag or any other personal item (but not both bags).
The old policy was causing a lot of pain to passengers as it was unfair as they were already paying a pet fee. Sill the pets were not allowed into the cabin, and even after paying pet fee passengers wanting to take their pets with them were still needed to pay some amount. The new change took effect on Thursday.
A travel blogger, Gary Leff was the first one to write about the new pet policy, where he mentioned his travel experience years ago with a Yorkshire terrier. He wrote, “It was always frustrating that the dog counted as the carry-on even though I was paying the extra (pet) fee that was sometimes more than the ticket for me”.
He further mentioned that he thinks this changed policy will also minimize the urge for travelers to wrongly claim that their pet is a service animal that flies for free, allowing them to bring a carry-on as well.
There’s no doubt that travelling with pets requires much planning and research. There are several factors that could not allow Fido or Felix breeds from being allowed into the cabin. One of the main factors is that there is a maximum total number of pets allowed per cabin, and it depends on the type of aircraft.
Delta, American, Southwest, Alaska and Frontier are some of the other prominent US airlines that allow pets on board.
Larger items, such as a carry-on bag with wheels, required checking, which cost $35. They could also put the pet in the cargo hold.
Now, American Airlines is permitting passengers to bring a pet in the cabin and a carry-on bag or personal item, but not both bags.
Some pet owners criticized the old policy for unfairness, since they were already paying a pet fee.
Gary Leff, a travel blogger who first wrote about the change, recalled traveling years ago with a Yorkshire terrier.
“It was always frustrating that the dog counted as the carry-on even though I was paying the extra (pet) fee that was sometimes more than the ticket for me,” he said.
Leff said he thinks American’s change will reduce the urge for travelers to falsely claim that their pet is a service animal that flies for free.
An American spokeswoman confirmed that the rules change took effect Thursday.
“We made the change to provide a more convenient and comfortable experience to customers whose pets fly American,” she said.
“The new pet policy provides convenience for travelers and lowers the cost for bringing the pets and a carry-on bag on board. It could also potentially reduce the false claims of Emotional Support Animals by travelers who want to bring their pets for free,” Yu says. “Anticipating the new pet policy by AA encourages a steady increase of passengers bringing their pets in the cabin, airlines have to strictly enforce the pet rules on board as not to affect the experience of other passengers (smell, animal dander, etc). Airplanes with pets in the cabin need to be thoroughly vacuumed and cleaned before the next flight.” (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
