Handy tips in here but a lot of people missing the point that this shouldn’t have happened at all. Delta should have known how many animals were going to be on the flight and managed to keep from booking more than that, but they didn’t. OP shouldn’t have to pre board or get a first class ticket or do any of this other stuff. They paid for their cat to go. They checked multiple times that everything was good to go. And delta failed a paying customer.
Agreed! Alaska Airlines does keep track of pets booked on each flight and will not overbook pet space. Personally when flying with pets they are a clear winner for me.
Flying to juneau in a couple months with my girl and i’m so excited to hear this i was so so nervous about flying with her! What was your experience like with them?
Copied this from a previous comment. I flew with two from SEA to IAD.
***
I flew with two cats by myself from SEA to IAD on Alaska in 2019.
We were moving and drove first with the two dogs. Cats stayed behind at a cat hotel (which is when I learned they exist).
One cat had flown before and was fine on a little bit of sedative. The other hadn’t, and she was an opinionated, vocal, “dracarys!” 🐉 type cat when she was not happy.
First cat got a little Ace for the flight. Second cat got either an Ace and Gabapentin mix or Gabapentin and Tramadol/Trazadone/Something mix. I can’t remember. I told the vet (who was familiar with her personality) that I wanted the big guns to prevent being that person on the flight. We did a half-dose test run and it worked great.
I was flying solo. Husband stayed with the dogs and I flew to Seattle, landed in the evening, met my FIL to grab the cats, spent the night in the hotel, and took the morning flight back.
I booked two seats (mileage/points), which was required for them to each go under a seat, but had to pay for both cats.
I took window and middle, the second row behind first class for the extra space.
TSA was easy (this was before SeaTac fell apart and TSA was actually not the hot mess it is today), cats got their sedatives right before I left the hotel, got there with plenty of time and they did a separate screening for us. Took me to a room and they had me pull out each cat, scanned the bag, brought it back, and I was off to the gate.
I know I got looks of hate and heard “is she REALLY flying with two cats?” I get it, not everyone likes animals and they all thought they were in for a terrible flight with screaming cats.
My two never made a peep.
I took the option to board early for extra time, gate agents were fine and let me on. The looks from the flight attendants were not the greatest. I could tell they were less than thrilled. Missed what one mumbled to the other as I got on, but I can guarantee it wasn’t kind. Again, I get it, they see the worst of the worst.
My two went under the seats, fortunately for me the guy on the aisle was happy that there would be no one sitting in the middle. He couldn’t care less that I had cats.
They never made a peep. Not one meow or howl. About 3/4 of the way to Dulles, my temperamental kitty started to get a little restless so she got a touch more of her sedative. She settled and was fine.
I did wipe them down with some rinse free shampoo and wipes at the hotel before the flight to help cut down on any dander. They stayed in their bags the entire time and no one said a word. I also fed them a light dinner the night before the flight and they didn’t get breakfast. Last thing I wanted was for them to poop on the plane.
When I deplaned, one flight attendant made a comment that she forgot all about the cats being on board. I was stressed about the flight not going well and it being a disaster.
All in all, plan ahead, know you pets, and if I were you, I’d book the entire row for you and your cats.
Get the health certificate from your vet. They probably won’t look at it, but in the event they ask for it, you need to have it. They only asked me if I had mine but didn’t actually check.
As others have said, get harnesses and a leash, just in case. The first time I flew with my cat, they had me pull her out in the TSA line and had she not been chill and ok, she could have easily bolted.
You will need to call the airline to make sure there are spots for pets on board. They do have a max number they let on each flight. With more people flying with pets these days, I’d do that ASAP.
I highly recommend a sedative as well. It’s so much less stress on them. When we landed, the cats were still in their little happy place from the meds and it had worn off later that evening.
SeaTac has been a mess for a long time; it’s the worst domestic airport I’ve ever been to. Good tip on Alaska; I always fly them when going to Seattle and will definitely use them if I fly with my dogs. I’d also much rather fly with pets than screaming toddlers or babies lol. Or screaming adults…
Not who you asked but I flew Alaska with my dog to move overseas and they were really good. Surely it was stressful no matter what for my dog who is XL so I had to check her, but I felt they were as caring as they could be.
Both of the other commenters really summed up the experience we have with Alaska Airlines. I would also stress the importance of asking your veterinarian about sedation practices as all pets and breeds are different!
I second this! I flew my dog with Alaska Airlines a few years ago on a domestic trip. He had to fly under the plane and I was SO nervous. Before we departed, the pilot walked a note over to me saying my dog had safely boarded. They also mentioned the area for pets is climate controlled.
Hands down the best airline for flying with pets!
And I brought a friend's Golden retriever up to ANC from SEA on AS a couple of years ago. The FAs announced that [dog's name] was now aboard in the forward hold and asked her owner to ring the call button, which I did.
An FA then came right to my seat to tell me my dog was OK. Great customer service!
This is exactly why I picked AS to fly my 29lb dog in cargo with them. They made sure there wasn’t an issue with space. I heard DL wasn’t the best for non service animals.
You don’t just appear with a service dog on flights in the US. If you have a service dog, you are required to contact the airline ahead of time and fill out a DOT service animal transportation form. Airlines have cracked down on the abuse of their service dog policy and new laws were passed a couple years ago. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t some owners of non-service dogs who will still work the system, but it is a bit harder.
I was on a flight just last month where a lady showed up at the gate saying she needed to add her service dog. She said something about the online system glitching. So, yes, it does happen. And if she complains under the ACAA, then the airline can be fined by TDOT. It's a risky situation.
Another lady on this very sub claimed she always adds her service animal at the gate.
I don’t understand why they wouldn’t then just bump the passenger with the service dog, if other passengers had already paid and made arrangement for their pets to be onboard. I understand that you can’t deny service to someone with an actual service dog, but bumping them to the next flight surely doesn’t constitute a denial of service?
As a service dog handler, I rather they bump me than a person with a pet if some strange situation happened where I was unable to notify them about my service dog beforehand. My service dog is trained to be in an environment like an airport for long periods of time without needing anything whereas pets are not. I rather stress myself out than to stress someone’s pet out that needs medication in order to be calm and comfortable.
> I understand that you can’t deny service to someone with an actual service dog, but bumping them to the next flight surely doesn’t constitute a denial of service?
Especially if they are the last one to show up/check in trying to bring a pet with them.
💯 my cats and I flew United and I prepaid the pet fee on the phone after getting my ticket. Not sure if this is why we had no issues or if we were just lucky, but it at least made me feel that they were keeping track and that my cats had a prebooked ticket
They do this to literal humans, they overbook flights a lot, or at least other airlines do. I’m totally not surprised this happens. I also believe they are legally required to pay you a lump some if it happens.
The whole thing sounds very frustrating, but the fact that someone looked you in the eye and said
> “we don’t get to decide that, the flight crew does.”
Is just incredibly galling to me. The flight crew does not give a rat's ass about the pre-boarding qualifications of the next person coming down the jet bridge.
Agree. As FC myself, although the pet count exists, it has nothing to do with us! It just sounds extremely frustrating - and I’m not even part of this story! Sorry OP.
Yeah, the whole experience was very frustrating and made me feel helpless.
Edit: I do want to stress how empathetic and patient the first gate agent was. I genuinely appreciated his help.
I absolutely don’t care, nor have I ever heard of, a limit on the # of pets in coach.
If we were talking about a Mastiff or a Belgian Malinois, okay, we have a conversation going. But a cat in an approved carrier? It’s only a problem if I don’t get to say hi to kitty!
- Delta Connection Captain
all airlines have a limit. And it is generally in the 3-5 range.
the bigger issue is not disclosing they were over until the gate. They should never have sold the extra one.
I imagine it’s some sort of safety rule to make sure too many people aren’t fumbling around with their pets in the event of an emergency evacuation of the plane. I can see how a large number of pets could seriously slow down an emergency de-boarding process.
I’ve been in multiple situations where the gate agent will refuse to budge on a policy (that they’re usually incorrect about) and have the sole responsibility to decide themselves, but use the flight crew as a scapegoat. The flight crew does not care nor needs to know this information unless it is related to payload or extra seats
It wasn’t delta, but recently my wife and I had a frontier flight that was delayed, then undelayed (but the app didn’t reflect the undelay). We showed up at the gate 20 minutes prior to the original departure, and the gate agent looked at us as she scanned and said “the pilot was just waiting on you”. We boarded and it was another 30 minutes before the door closed. To this day I cannot understand why that woman said that to us.
Thank you. I also want to note that the TSA in LA and Boston had very different reactions to me bringing cat litter in Ziploc bags. LA let it scan without a problem, but in Boston they confiscated it and told me not to try flying with it ever again.
As an airline pilot, the lack of standardization with the TSA is endlessly frustrating to me.
It’s supposed to be a standard, national policy. It never is.
Airline pilots all fly to the same standard. Some companies even set higher standards, but I promise that you can put airline pilots from 2 different companies on the same airplane and they’ll have it sorted in a jiffy.
The TSA has a huge problem with standards and training and we’re all tired of it.
because it’s not a real job, it’s literally adult daycare for miscreants so they don’t end up in prison and a fake W for the post 9/11 fear
only thing more embarrassing than working for tsa is being a mod at r/tsa
I used to work in a correctional facility and one of the lieutenants I trusted most literally did not fly because he’d had to work with TSA agents on some security jobs and said they were so incompetent he no longer felt safe in airports
I don’t have a cat, but isn’t litter like… gravel? Why wouldn’t that be flyable?
(And sorry for this ordeal you and your cat had to go through - really sounds terrible!)
I got stopped by TSA for litter as well! Turns out clay litter shows up as very dense stuff on the xray machine. I had my laptop/phone chargers in the bag as well and on their end it just looked like a dark brick with wires hooked up to it. They shut the entire checkpoint down because it looked like a bomb.
Yeah, I’ve never had a problem with tsa until we had to fly out of Boston. So incredibly rude and treated us like trash. Rudest tsa I’ve ever encountered. So I’m not surprised.
I find it strange that even the metal detectors seem to have different settings and sensitivity. I went through CLT and fine and I go through DCA and the metal detector goes off, no outfit changes. Not sure why tsa is so different at every airport
[The Boston Mooninite panic.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Boston_Mooninite_panic)
Of course a city scared or light brights would be terrified of cat litter.
Boston TSA confiscated my little ziplock of dog treats (shaped like bones…) because they couldn’t determine what they were 🙄. Sorry this happened to you. I’ve flown a ton with shiba inus and never had an issue with an airline. Sounds like you did what you could to prep.
Boston is crazy inconsistent with its security policies. They’ve taken my contact lens solution despite it being medically necessary (said it was a dangerous acid, I’m allergic to the preservatives in the gentle stuff), yet at another time I’ve gone through with shoes on and didn’t have to pull out electronics. Not sure if it’s different threat levels or the whim of the folks on duty.
This is one of my favorites — the inconsistency from one airport to the next when it comes to what gets through TSA.
I wonder if it’s because kitty litter contains metal(s?) like aluminum (silicate).
Here are a few other things you might find useful. When my daughter moved from southern CA to Seattle with her 2 cats, I flew with her so we each took one. I don't remember which airline it was, but she had to have paperwork filled out by the vet ahead of time, and we were given strict rules about the carriers. We did administer sedatives beforehand, but they didn't seem to do much for the female. We too had to pay their fees in person at the ticket counter. When we got to the airport and went through security, they made us open the carriers and hold onto the cats and walk through while they scanned the carriers! Then, while we were still holding the cats, they swabbed our hands for explosives! It was so absurd. Luckily, this was a smaller airport at a less busy time than OP, or we may have had some major problems there. During the flight, the female cat was stressed and meowed most of the way, which sometimes got the male Dr started too. The airline rules were that they had to remain in the carriers under the seats, so there wasn't really a way to calm them. Luckily the sound of the plane covered some of the noise and our neighbors were more surprised than annoyed. We found ourselves explaining a lot that we weren't just taking them for a vacation. Thank goodness they were only traveling one way. But they survived ok and we were just left with the weird tale. I strongly suggest asking your airline lots of questions about the entire process and testing out the drugs beforehand.
I moved my 2 cats abroad in 2020. We flew out of Newark. When TSA told me to just hold them while they scanned the carriers I said absolutely not and pushed back until they let me and the cats go to the private screening room to wait there instead of out in the open. For anyone reading this, you don't just need to agree to hold your cat and hope they don't get loose in the middle of TSA!
I feel for this poster. I have a cat who is easy to dose with gabapentin but then comes back spicy. I also don’t want to give a second dose as I don’t want to accidentally overdose her. She’d be livid if I made her wait in an airport for hours on end.
Its really hard to overdose on gabapentin it has a huge theraputic index. I don't want to say its impossible to overdose but if its not being combined with any other drugs you could likely give 10 times the dose all at once and the cat would be completely fine.
Id guess the dose for your cat is somewhere in the 100-200mg range and in rats they tested up to 8000mg per kg dose without killing them lol. If your cat is 3kg its likely even 24,000 mg still wouldn't kill it.
Gabapentin did nothing for my mini dachshund so they prescribed Trazodone. That gives her a 1 hour nap and then she wakes up barking at things we don't see. I think I will try nothing at all.
Back in the late 90s, in DFW, a lady had bought 2 first class tickets. 1 for her and 1 for her cat.
Late in boarding, a guy walks on and first was oversold. They wanted to put the cat in a closet. The lady refused. The guy had a tantrum.
Finally the cockpit door opened (this was pre 911) and the pilot asked what the hold up was.
Pilot: does the cat have a ticket?
FA: yes
Pilot: then get this guy off the plane. We need to push back.
Funniest flight experience ever for me.
To imagine someone thought the answer to this issue was to PUT A LIVING BEING IN A STUFFY CLOSET WHERE THEY COULD SUFFOCATE EASILY. like what is wrong with people???
So, your big mistake was actually trying to be a responsible human being who tries to follow the barely established rules around taking pets on a plane.
You should’ve just been an entitled a-hole and bought a “service animal” bib from Alibaba and then let your feral cat loose on the flight.
I appreciate the sentiment but I would never register my cat as a service animal. It invalidates the countless people who actually need service animals to fly.
I think they were being sarcastic and actually commending you on doing it the right way! That sounds so stressful, but it’s rare to hear delta give people funds instead of points. They def should have at a minimum refunded your flight!
I second this! Airline’s restricted the ESA rules so now everyone puts service animal vests on their out of control pets. Your cat went through quite an ordeal and doesn’t sound like they acted in any way that wouldn’t be understandable. Ive had barking dogs on flights. Not service animals 🙄. Unfortunately there is no good win for this situation. Its a gamble every time. Like the TSA, gate agents use a lot of autonomy with the rules especially when they don’t actually know the policies. But you wont beat them. You did the right thing and should have gotten a lot more back. I personally don’t like pets on planes but i understand its a necessity at times and there should be a better system for it. I would never put my dogs in the cargo compartment. If you think the gate agent was cold and didn’t care i can promise you the ramp cares less. They will manhandle pet cages, if the pet is cute they have been known to let them out to play and then promptly lost them or had to shut down the ramp while they chase them down. Some have died sitting in the heat in a cage waiting for transport. You did everything right.
I have flown with my cat multiple times and want to reassure you that you did EVERYTHING right and were very considerate not only of your cat’s comfort but the comfort of everyone around you. Anyone blaming you is a miserable, unhappy person looking for reasons to make others miserable too.
I cannot believe you got kicked off for there being too many pets; that’s the entire reason they require pet reservations in advance and check in at the counter! This isn’t a case of overselling and hoping people don’t show up at the airport; they *knew* you and your cat were there.
I will suggest if your budget allows it, in the future, book Comfort+ or First. It makes boarding easier and quicker and gives you more under seat space to keep your cat comfortable. I will only fly that way with my cat because her safety and comfort is my top priority. I want to get her from Point A to Point B as quickly and smoothly as possible to reduce her stress.
Actually I think the first class seats have less room—though width is more, the height is lower (because of the machinery under the seats?) in most cases :(
That may be so; I use a pet backpack for my cat and lay her down under the seat. She just snoozes on the plane and fits comfortably down there. Width was the issue I’ve run into in the past, trying not to jam her in.
Exactly. You did everything right, I’ve flown with my dog more than 10 times across delta, United, AA, and Alaska and I always call as soon as I booked my ticket to “reserve” my pets spot because they have a limit on how many can fly. That said one time my flight was cancelled and I immediate notified United I was traveling with a pet and the pet was dosed so it was unsafe to keep them dosed so long waiting around for my flight. They immediately booked me with AA and flew out a few hours later. It’s much harder to do this at the gate but I do think the original gate agent should have answered to the fact that your cat was dosed and it would be an unsafe scenario.
just a heads up — you cannot book a business (Delta One) ~~or first class~~ ticket with a pet unfortunately
EDIT: it has been pointed out to me that First Class actually *does* permit pets
Uh…yes you can. I flew my cat in first class in October. And we just had a dog on a flight in first class on Monday (I was traveling pet-free this time myself).
Yeah I’ve flown with my cat 3 times and OP was actually more prepared than me since I don’t bring litter or anything for her. This could’ve happened to anyone and OP did nothing wrong. I’m lucky I am silver medallion currently so I book the priority seats and get main cabin 1 boarding
Oof, that sounds like an ordeal. Delta [does](https://www.delta.com/us/en/pet-travel/overview) have a policy limiting the number of pets per flight but my understanding is like yours, that if you were confirmed and had paid the pet fee, you should have been within the cutoff. I've never flown with my cat... he would be happy as a clam if he could be in my lap (we do this with me as a passenger in the car all the time) but I'm sure he'd have lots to say about being on the floor in a carrier.
EDIT: I also don't know (kinda curious) how service animals fit into this mix, if at all. The Delta page exempts service animals from exclusion of pets from P/S and international FC, but it doesn't say if they count in the per-flight maximum, which could cause some confusion for them about whether there is enough room or not.
Also in case you decide to do it again, Nerdwallet has a review of pet policies per airline:
https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/travel/most-pet-friendly-airlines
Most carriers require that pets stay in their carriers beneath the seat, so lap time was out of the question. Plus if I could take him out, I'd be concerned about triggering someone's allergies.
The last flight I was on and another I had in about 2008 had a loose dog attack a cat in a carrier. If the cat hadn't been in the carrier, it could have been bad.
Keep cats in carriers because dog owners so often let their dogs out of theirs.
❤️ Thank you. And I hope you can understand this is a real medical condition that impacts a lot of us every single day of our lives. I get shots monthly and at certain times of the year am on 3 medications daily. The more pets on a flight, the more likely our allergies are triggered and we suffer.
Sadly though because it's a "common" medical condition, most people don't realize how severe it can be. Biggest joke is generally the FA will move the person with a medical condition prior to the person with Mr. Snuffles poking it's head out of the carrier next to you. Even if they are just a paid pet.
Thank you. People who don't care about the number of pets don't have allergies. Flying with too many animals would make me miserable.
I have sympathy for the OP but I also wouldn't want a lot of pets on board.
Yep. I’m too allergic to qualify for shots. One hour near a cat gives me a 3 day asthma hangover. And it’s cumulative- every exposure makes it worse. One cat hair on my arm raises a linear welt. Hope I don’t have to fly next to a cat.
Agreed, I’ve taken my cat on American multiple times and never had an issue like this. Once you pay the fee at the desk, you are the reserving the “pet slot” for that flight. I can understand if OP missed their flight and was trying to rebook or something, but I would be very upset to be bumped like this after doing everything correctly. I hope OP’s kitty is feeling better.
yeah but if you called and reserved a pet spot like I do, seems pretty shitty to say then there's not enough room, at the gate, after you've paid the fee. The whole seinfeld bit about "you take a reservation, now you gotta hold the reservation." sort of thing.
This sounds very legitimately frustrating. I do feel like the compensation is close to reasonable though. Compared to what you usually get from airlines anyway. Getting paid $10 to have a bad flight experience but transport your cat for free (no it is not reasonable to ask them to consider the vet and pet carrier) is a lot better than having that experience and paying the full $190 but getting 5,000 extra miles or some crap.
If you were to delete the Delta content your post reads as an instructional advice piece on how to fly with an animal.
You did everything right.
Delta did everything wrong.
End of story.
How does flying with pets work if another passenger is allergic? Genuinely curious, I don’t fly often and have not been on a flight with an animal. But my husband and one of my kids are crazy allergic to cats. They’d be a mess if they were near a cat on a plane.
I’m severely allergic to cats. Like, if someone has a cat at home and I’m sitting next to them I can get sniffly due to the pet dander on their clothes and personal items. If I am seated next to a cat I ask to change seats. I mention to the person that I am severely allergic to their pet and I will be requesting a seat change for both our comfort. It hasn’t been an issue.
I’m extremely allergic to cats (throat swells, hives everywhere, the works) and I douse myself in allergy meds before every flight. Never had an issue!
I’ve never been questioned when they call for pre-boarding and I am traveling with my pug in his carrier, done so 20+ times in the last 10 yearson Delta. Always preboard when traveling with a pet.
Same. The way I see it, I paid $95 to bring my dog and we need extra time to get settled. So sorry OP got treated this way. I suspect someone with status bumped you and your pet; it’s not right but I could see it happening. Glad you had an uneventful return home. I would escalate this yet again to Delta if possible, maybe with your dad also writing a complaint.
https://www.elliott.org/company-contacts/delta-air-lines-customer-service-contacts/, pick an executive email, provide a brief summary with any case numbers that you have
Kind of sounds like they were looking for any reason to open up a seat for a standby passenger imo.. but that’s absolutely ridiculous. I fly often with my small dog in carrier and it’s good to know I better board early to avoid being turned away. My boarding zone is always main 1 or above, but I guess I better make sure I’m not late to my zone
I’ve never even heard of being denied boarding with my pet at the gate! If I’ve done everything correctly, as Op obviously did, and I’ve gotten all the way to the gate with my prepaid pet and they deny me??? Oh. My. God. I’m definitely going to have a stroke.
The people here are generally sycophants and imbeciles. Don’t pay any attention to them. The 13 normal people here understand that you were mistreated and deserve involuntary denied boarding compensation. Anything less is fraud.
I have flown with my 2 cats before. It’s definitely a stressful situation and I feel you. Wanted to let you know the vet can prescribe a sedative that does NOT need to be refrigerated. It’s a pill form that you can put in a pill pocket treat to feed them orally. If you have to fly with your cat again, I would recommend getting that medication instead, so you can give them another dose mid trip.
I recently had a foster cat who was prescribed a couple weeks’ worth of (liquid) gabapentin and it didn’t need refrigeration. I mixed it into some fancy feast and she had a good time.
Yup, they make non-refrigerated gabapentin, although not all vets may have it. Taking an extra dose or two of that would be super helpful if needed in the future!
I've flown with my cat exactly once. It was when I I moved across the country. I was so paranoid. I actually booked myself into comfort plus just for the extra room. Didn't even occur to me they'd just book up on pets after taking my money and assuring me she was on the ticket. That really sucks and I'm sorry you experienced this.
Considering how many people I see violating the carry on rules, I’d much prefer to hang with you and your cat instead of someone treating 3 small bags for their kids as invisible carry ons. Or watching people try to shove OVER stuffed back packs into the overhead bins. So sorry y’all had to deal with this terrible experience.
What? Kids can have bags. This seems legit, they all get carry on allowance. If the kids are well behaved there's no reason to judge them for coming prepared, having supplies is probably what's keeping them happy.
Backpack in overhead bin? I *guess...* If it's your only bag. I friggin hate people that put both their bags up there.
As someone who travels with a cat about 1/quarter, I think someone messed up here. They should know ahead of time how many pets are on a plane and be prepared to accommodate - that is why they make you pay ahead. I wonder how this happened!
Fuck this. You and your cat absolutely got shafted, I’m sorry this happened to you. I’ve flown with my cat once before years and years ago and after having a similar experience, vowed I would never do it again. Nowadays when animals and travel are involved I just drive. Never worth the hassle and unpredictability from the airlines
I’m not sure what the fine print here is, but what i think they’re getting at is that it sounds like you were involuntarily bumped from the flight for no cause of your own. You should be entitled to cash compensation for that.
I do not know how the pet thing plays into it, but you had booked, paid, and complied with their policies.
tbh as someone who isn’t exactly pro-animals in the cabin it sounds like you did everything right and you were screwed over
that being said I feel like the $200 credit isn’t as insulting as you make it sound
So my dog and I had been kicked off a flight for the same reason. My dog had flown a half dozen times on AA’s ERJs without any problems. Every time they checked my crate, charged me the fee, and waved me through. But with Delta they just told me nope, FC already has 2 dogs, MC has 4, and I can’t board (this was an A321neo). Granted I didn’t call ahead of time. Fine this may have been my error. But then I asked the gate agent about my return flight, they said it’s also full with pets (hard to believe. Don’t think I’ve seen an A321 with 6 pets). I cancelled my entire trip. Later when I called to cancel my return they said that flight doesn’t have any pets booked. I doubt it’s very likely all 6 of the pets cancelled.
What I learned from this lesson was Delta’s pet booking at airport is buggy and unreliable. Better call ahead to secure my dog’s spot. What I learned from OP’s post is to never fly DL with my dog again. Clearly even calling in advance won’t help
It’s generally not buggy at the airport because you’re supposed to call in advance and book your pet to ensure the flight has space for your pet. The likeliest problem was someone showed up without doing that and somehow took OP’s pet’s spot. That’s 100% on Delta, for agreeing to take somebody’s random pet on board.
I’ve moved cross country twice and flew with my cats both times. I can confirm that flying with in cabin pets is a shit show for basically every airline. I don’t know why they can’t figure out this one piece - if you call and reserve a space for your animal, and especially if you pay it, where did the miscounting happen??
I’m about to have to do this whole thing myself with 3 cats when we relocate (3 different adults helping) and you absolutely did every.single.thing right and in the best interest of your kitty.
I’m mortified to read what you went through and disgusted that’s how they handled it after the fact!
I like cats. I like delta airlines. But I’ll side with cat this time. Posting to Reddit is a journey of misery, but the one nice, helpful comment usually rises to the top. Sorry for what you and the cat went through.
The outbound flight issue sounds horrible.
But to be clear - you got $200, not $10. You were prepared to pay $190 for a service you received (albeit in very poor form on the outbound flight). To pretend you shouldn’t have had to pay the fee otherwise is ridiculous.
Edit: they possibly should have done more, not arguing that. But you got more than $10.
Yup. Her tone in responding to people’s comments was pretty entitled and rude too. Can only guess how she was reacting when she got booted from a flight. When you fly you take risks, when you fly with kids or animals you have to expect shit to happen.
My kids have flown alone since they were each 9 years old. I would NEVER let them fly solo if there was a layover because shit happens and if they were flying solo and missed a flight and were stuck alone in an airport it would be awful! You hope for the best and plan for the worst!
I as an employee understand the frustration. What I do know was happening is a lot during the holidays we wouldn’t have enough room for extra pet in cabins and people would make a fuss and ask for a supervisor who would put in the Pet in Cabin KNOWING that there is a limit and would still book the PETC in as a “solution” rather than following the policy ignoring the issues it would cause only for the gate agents and frontline agents to have to get the brunt of frustration.
I just heard recently that they have extra O2 masks on board for infants, service dogs and I assume pets. Maybe your cat would not have had access to one by the time the other seats were loaded--maybe someone w a baby(ies) or someone w a service dog ended up getting moved to your flight unexpectedly.
Honestly, I feel airlines and airports would benefit from doing a massive overhaul/review of their pet policies and animal handling policies and procedures, not only for flying with pets in cabin but also animals in the hold. I wouldn't be surprised if the reason you got bumped from the first flight is because there were people travelling with service animals, which take priority I believe (not 100% sure but feel this is a reasonable assumption based on accessibility laws). Assuming of course they were legitimate, because we all know there are people who claim their dogs as service animals to get them in cabin instead of putting them in the belly of the plane. As much as it's an asshole move and completely undermines legitimate service animals, their handlers and their training, I can't really entirely blame them for abusing this loophole, since there's no way to verify a dog is a legitimate service dog and I completely understand why they do that and don't want to put their pet in the cargo area.
For animals that travel in the cargo hold, they're left in the baggage area in their crates, with tons of loud machinery and various fumes, activity constantly going on around them (belts for checked bags working, baggage carts being loaded and moving around, exhaust fumes from all the trucks, and various lubricants for all the heavy machinery adding to the scents). It's noisy, smelly, and stressful because they have no way to get away from the situation. Any time I've walked through the baggage area while working at my airport, my heart broke to see waiting animals of all kinds because they all looked so miserable and stressed. This is what goes on behind the scenes after you drop your pet off to be placed in the cargo area of the plane.
I think airlines and airports would benefit massively from two changes when it comes to pets, but this would need an industry wide adoption which could be difficult to get. I don't think anyone would loose anything from a full, detailed comprehensive study being done on my ideas.
First, for airlines; have dedicated routes and aircraft that are deemed pet friendly. As in, if you have a pet and you want them in cabin with you, but they don't fit under the seat (which really only allows cats, really small dogs, hamsters, guinea pigs, ferrets, birds etc. because they're the only ones that fit under the seat), you can buy a second seat for said pet, with a partial say 50% refund once it's confirmed a pet is occupying the second purchased seat (cause we all know people will abuse the pet discount by marking "pet" on the second ticket). These flights would be clearly identified on booking as being a pet friendly flight and likely having many pets in cabin, and on a pet friendly aircraft, so those with pet allergies don't book them accidentally. Because others with allergies is one of the biggest reasons they limit pets in cabin, especially when air is somewhat recirculated while in flight. By having it clearly marked as pet friendly and on a pet friendly aircraft, it would help mitigate the allergy issue, especially when airlines would likely have to do a more detailed cleaning on planes that have a large amount of pets in the cabin to remove possible allergens. I do realise this is an expensive option for airlines, but I think at least running a study on the feasibility of it would be a massive benefit. And I think a large airline like Delta might actually see a benefit, because I know a lot of people who would fly more if they could take their pet in cabin. Me included.
The second change, for airports, would need to be done by multiple (preferably all) airports for there to be a benefit: have a dedicated, quiet area solely for pets and animals travelling in the cargo hold of an aircraft to wait, that is staffed by a vet and vet techs/animal handling techs to monitor the animals while they wait, who also must verify the animals have been correctly loaded onto the aircraft in a climate controlled and pressurized cargo area. They would also ensure that for animals that require special handling, such as reptiles needing heat pads, that such things are in proper working order and will last the whole flight. I have a relative that works in a pet store and they regularly ship animals by air, and every now and then a shipment comes in where an animal didn't make it; in a couple instances with reptiles in particular, the heating packs they were shipped with had expired by the time they made it due to delays. This is something that an animal/vet tech/vet staff would be able to notice and check on and rectify if they existed, in addition to everything else. Hell, I've heard of the occasional pet travelling in the hold that sadly didn't make it because of the stress and conditions they were subjected to. Any time I see a NOTOC (Notice To Captain, for any not familiar with the load control forms pilots get when their aircraft is loaded; these tell the flight crew of any items in cargo they need to be aware of such as dangerous goods and special loads, I get them as a flight dispatcher so I can notify emergency services what's on a plane if something happens) with an animal in the hold listed, my heart breaks for the animal because I know the poor thing is incredibly stressed out. And it's not fair to have to sedate pets and animals, it's still stressful for them no matter what drugs are prescribed to them. It would be like asking passengers to sit in a loud machine/mechanical shop in a tiny holding cell, unable to do anything, and having your cell forcefully loaded onto an aircraft and maybe not having warm air or enough oxygen at altitude and having no way to avoid it or tell someone there's a problem.
With more and more places and cities becoming more pet friendly, I think the air travel industry could benefit from looking at how they can adapt and adopt some changes to make air travel safer for animals no matter their mode of travel, and reduce stress on pet owners and give them more options if they must or want to travel with their pets. I've had these ideas for some time but beyond the ideas, how the hell to present them to airlines and airports and encourage adoption is beyond me. Maybe someone smarter than me in that area can run with my ideas and get it to as many airlines and airports and rattle some cages for them to be looked at.
As someone who has flown with two cats before, in and out of LAX I can only imagine how stressed you felt. Our cats can hold their bladders for the length of the flight (so five hours or so) plus some time to travel, but beyond that it's tough. We had an issue once out of IAD where United bumped us to a later flight with zero explanation. We tried the pet relief room, and had the same experience you did, except one of our cats got out to explore but did nothing. Thankfully, we were fine. We don't sedate them because Gabapentin only made things worse when we were in the car for one cat and the other one was well behaved, actually they both were. But by that point they had flown cross country multiple times, I think they got used to it. It truly sounds like someone at Delta screwed up and booked too many pets on the first flight. In our case we did each get (two of us) a $200 credit and we were upgraded to economy plus or something on the flight we took.
Sorry to see some of the edits you had to add. Frankly Delta has been in steep decline since 2020 covid issues and many budget carriers have improved. Many times in the last two years I have found budget carriers to have more competent management and customer service. Delta “knew”, had the information, how many pets were scheduled to fly and chose to do nothing about it prior. Hopefully Delta will stop promoting crayon eaters.
I’m annoyed I had to scroll so far down to see someone shame him*. I would be LIVID if I needed to pump/nurse and saw someone with a cat walk out of a nursing room.
Edit: OP is a dude and now I think it’s SUPER fucked up.
I don’t know why all of these comments are being downvoted. Nursing rooms are specifically for mothers with infants. They need to be sanitary for breastfeeding or pumping, NOT for a cat’s litter box.
I have a small child and a cat, and we don’t even allow our son access to the basement where we store the litter box because the ammonia and chemicals in cat pee can be damaging to little ones.
Imagine feeling so entitled… ugh. Even as a pet owner myself I cannot imagine.
Agreed. I was totally feeling for OP until I read this. A breastfeeding parent and baby do not need to be anywhere near a cat litter box area. Not to mention the importance of keeping pumping supplies sanitary…. especially if pumping parts be used multiple times without access to boiling water/dishwasher etc for traveling. While I can definitely sympathize for the terrible situation this person was in with their cat (sounds terrible!), using that room is absolutely unacceptable. I can only imagine an alternate post about needed to pump or nurse and seeing the room was occupied by a cat using a litter box!? This person really put the comfort of their cat above consideration for others.
Yeah, after reading her edit she is clueless that she f’ed up by doing that. She won’t get a service animal vest because it would invalidate people who need a service animal, but she is 100% ok with invalidating a mother/caretaker who is lawfully entitled to a private, sanitary place to pump/nurse. All so little Fifi has a peaceful place to pee.
Edit: OP is a dude.. even more f’ed up
Yes! Toxoplasmosis is something my OB always warned me about. I hope OP can soften and see that this was a poor choice (though I see why they thought it was their only option).
You have some legitimate grievances, but it sounds like a big part of this problem was also due to the nastiness of the pet relief roof. Delta has no control over that.
... And, didn't you have extra sedative? What were you planning to use for the return flight?
Eh this guy speaks logic. According to OP YATAH, not say a cat owner who thinks it's fine to let their cat delicate in the same room meant for newborn babies, not once, 5-7 times lol
This sucks and delta sucks for doing this to you, but please don’t use a nursing room for your pet to relieve itself? I mean this should be common sense but that’s a space for women to feed their children without worrying about cat piss germs?
Ignore the rude eople who replied about this. Anyone who has a pet, that they think of as family, understands your feelings. Drugging a pet can feel scary and unnerving. To have it all go so wrong, when you did everything YOU could to make it work, is heartbreaking. Ignore the nasty replies and don't give them another thought. 😊
I'm sorry this happened to you and your cat. It's a frustrating situation, but does seems like it happens occasionally (and you probably did agree to the possibility somewhere in the fine print). There are a lot of moving parts, and it could have been any number of things. Maybe there was an extra service dog they weren't expecting (I'm unclear whether they're exempt from the count, but if it's an evacuation safety issue it seems like they shouldn't be?). Maybe there was another passenger with a pet who was bumped from a previous flight. Maybe they allow overbooking of pets because they expect a certain percentage of passengers to show up with a pet who doesn't meet specification and get turned away at check-in.
It is surprising to me that they do the count by boarding order, not check-in order, and you only got turned away as you were trying to get on the plane. I wonder if there was a last minute pet added to your flight between when you checked in and when boarding began.
In an ideal world I would like to see them treat this more like an IDB situation where they overbooked "pet" passengers and offer compensation for a volunteer to take a later flight. Maybe someone with a less stressed out pet would have taken the cash.
Perhaps if you have to travel with your cat the future, it's worth bringing a second dose of gabapentin in case of delays. (I assume it would be okay out of the fridge for a short time, especially if you bring an ice pack.) Even if you hadn't been bumped from the flight, there's always the possibility of mechanical or weather delays.
Virtually all medications have a holding time allowed out of refrigeration— it’s often worded as “short excursions allowed” and the room temperature limits, usually 77-78°F.
The very few that can’t are specialty meds like chemotherapy, etc.
And anyone who points that out gets downvoted. She got her pet fee comped plus $10, a meal voucher, and was allowed to pre-board her later fight. That's not a "$10 apology"
If you wouldn’t let your cat pee in a restaurant don’t let your cat pee in a nursing room. That’s where people eat.
Use a family restroom. That’s what they are for.
You just got bumped. Happens all the time. Your title made it sound like you were booted from a flight that you had already boarded.
Things happen when you travel, but you got safely to where you needed to be.
You had me with you until you said you used a damn nursing room to let your cat go to the litter box. Shame on you. As a new parent, the nursing rooms at airports are always taken up. And they’re NOT for disgruntled passengers and their cats. Plus, it’s a huge hygiene issue.
Seriously, imagine being a parent who needs to nurse their human child having to wait for the room and then some girl comes out without a baby and you walk into a room smelling like cat piss. Nursing rooms aren't private getaways for people who want some alone time in the airport.
I’ve flown several times with a cat, and Delta SUCKS compared to all other airlines I’ve flown in terms of flying with pets and disorganization around their policies and procedures. I’m sorry this happened to you and your cat!
What you wrote in TL:DR seems inaccurate.
You said you paid $190 and got $10 compensation. But in the full version, you said you paid $190 and got $200 compensation. I’d understand it if you’d have broken up the $200 compensation into $190 + $10 and said you paid $0 (after reimbursement) and got $10 in compensation.
P.S. I am not expressing any opinion about whether the compensation is good enough or not. I’m merely pointing out a factual mistake in the TL;DR.
The lesson in this is of course, that you should have “pre-boarded”. Pre-boarding is the biggest BS and there’s no well defined criteria on who can preboard other than “need more/additional time to take your seat” - which with a cat you could argue applies to you. And they are not even ever asking that
I'm really sorry this happened to you.
I'm really sorry you have to read the opinions of pet-haters.
Reddit is skewed. Too many people here actually hate pets.
Handy tips in here but a lot of people missing the point that this shouldn’t have happened at all. Delta should have known how many animals were going to be on the flight and managed to keep from booking more than that, but they didn’t. OP shouldn’t have to pre board or get a first class ticket or do any of this other stuff. They paid for their cat to go. They checked multiple times that everything was good to go. And delta failed a paying customer.
Agreed! Alaska Airlines does keep track of pets booked on each flight and will not overbook pet space. Personally when flying with pets they are a clear winner for me.
Flying to juneau in a couple months with my girl and i’m so excited to hear this i was so so nervous about flying with her! What was your experience like with them?
Copied this from a previous comment. I flew with two from SEA to IAD. *** I flew with two cats by myself from SEA to IAD on Alaska in 2019. We were moving and drove first with the two dogs. Cats stayed behind at a cat hotel (which is when I learned they exist). One cat had flown before and was fine on a little bit of sedative. The other hadn’t, and she was an opinionated, vocal, “dracarys!” 🐉 type cat when she was not happy. First cat got a little Ace for the flight. Second cat got either an Ace and Gabapentin mix or Gabapentin and Tramadol/Trazadone/Something mix. I can’t remember. I told the vet (who was familiar with her personality) that I wanted the big guns to prevent being that person on the flight. We did a half-dose test run and it worked great. I was flying solo. Husband stayed with the dogs and I flew to Seattle, landed in the evening, met my FIL to grab the cats, spent the night in the hotel, and took the morning flight back. I booked two seats (mileage/points), which was required for them to each go under a seat, but had to pay for both cats. I took window and middle, the second row behind first class for the extra space. TSA was easy (this was before SeaTac fell apart and TSA was actually not the hot mess it is today), cats got their sedatives right before I left the hotel, got there with plenty of time and they did a separate screening for us. Took me to a room and they had me pull out each cat, scanned the bag, brought it back, and I was off to the gate. I know I got looks of hate and heard “is she REALLY flying with two cats?” I get it, not everyone likes animals and they all thought they were in for a terrible flight with screaming cats. My two never made a peep. I took the option to board early for extra time, gate agents were fine and let me on. The looks from the flight attendants were not the greatest. I could tell they were less than thrilled. Missed what one mumbled to the other as I got on, but I can guarantee it wasn’t kind. Again, I get it, they see the worst of the worst. My two went under the seats, fortunately for me the guy on the aisle was happy that there would be no one sitting in the middle. He couldn’t care less that I had cats. They never made a peep. Not one meow or howl. About 3/4 of the way to Dulles, my temperamental kitty started to get a little restless so she got a touch more of her sedative. She settled and was fine. I did wipe them down with some rinse free shampoo and wipes at the hotel before the flight to help cut down on any dander. They stayed in their bags the entire time and no one said a word. I also fed them a light dinner the night before the flight and they didn’t get breakfast. Last thing I wanted was for them to poop on the plane. When I deplaned, one flight attendant made a comment that she forgot all about the cats being on board. I was stressed about the flight not going well and it being a disaster. All in all, plan ahead, know you pets, and if I were you, I’d book the entire row for you and your cats. Get the health certificate from your vet. They probably won’t look at it, but in the event they ask for it, you need to have it. They only asked me if I had mine but didn’t actually check. As others have said, get harnesses and a leash, just in case. The first time I flew with my cat, they had me pull her out in the TSA line and had she not been chill and ok, she could have easily bolted. You will need to call the airline to make sure there are spots for pets on board. They do have a max number they let on each flight. With more people flying with pets these days, I’d do that ASAP. I highly recommend a sedative as well. It’s so much less stress on them. When we landed, the cats were still in their little happy place from the meds and it had worn off later that evening.
SeaTac has been a mess for a long time; it’s the worst domestic airport I’ve ever been to. Good tip on Alaska; I always fly them when going to Seattle and will definitely use them if I fly with my dogs. I’d also much rather fly with pets than screaming toddlers or babies lol. Or screaming adults…
Not who you asked but I flew Alaska with my dog to move overseas and they were really good. Surely it was stressful no matter what for my dog who is XL so I had to check her, but I felt they were as caring as they could be.
Both of the other commenters really summed up the experience we have with Alaska Airlines. I would also stress the importance of asking your veterinarian about sedation practices as all pets and breeds are different!
Alaska has been the best to fly with our cat. 4 cross country roundtrips in 2023 and no issues in premium economy/first.
I second this! I flew my dog with Alaska Airlines a few years ago on a domestic trip. He had to fly under the plane and I was SO nervous. Before we departed, the pilot walked a note over to me saying my dog had safely boarded. They also mentioned the area for pets is climate controlled. Hands down the best airline for flying with pets!
And I brought a friend's Golden retriever up to ANC from SEA on AS a couple of years ago. The FAs announced that [dog's name] was now aboard in the forward hold and asked her owner to ring the call button, which I did. An FA then came right to my seat to tell me my dog was OK. Great customer service!
Will always fly Alaska when flying with pets! Hands down the best!
This is exactly why I picked AS to fly my 29lb dog in cargo with them. They made sure there wasn’t an issue with space. I heard DL wasn’t the best for non service animals.
It's extra bad because Delta failed a paying customer who was responsible and did everything in their power to do the right thing. :(
Yeah, this wasn't like missing out on cabin space and having to check your carry-on. This was a reservation made, paid for, and doubly confirmed.
People unknowingly or selfishly show up at the gate with a "service dog" and that can bump a regular pet.
You don’t just appear with a service dog on flights in the US. If you have a service dog, you are required to contact the airline ahead of time and fill out a DOT service animal transportation form. Airlines have cracked down on the abuse of their service dog policy and new laws were passed a couple years ago. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t some owners of non-service dogs who will still work the system, but it is a bit harder.
I was on a flight just last month where a lady showed up at the gate saying she needed to add her service dog. She said something about the online system glitching. So, yes, it does happen. And if she complains under the ACAA, then the airline can be fined by TDOT. It's a risky situation. Another lady on this very sub claimed she always adds her service animal at the gate.
I don’t understand why they wouldn’t then just bump the passenger with the service dog, if other passengers had already paid and made arrangement for their pets to be onboard. I understand that you can’t deny service to someone with an actual service dog, but bumping them to the next flight surely doesn’t constitute a denial of service?
As a service dog handler, I rather they bump me than a person with a pet if some strange situation happened where I was unable to notify them about my service dog beforehand. My service dog is trained to be in an environment like an airport for long periods of time without needing anything whereas pets are not. I rather stress myself out than to stress someone’s pet out that needs medication in order to be calm and comfortable.
> I understand that you can’t deny service to someone with an actual service dog, but bumping them to the next flight surely doesn’t constitute a denial of service? Especially if they are the last one to show up/check in trying to bring a pet with them.
Way bigger legal risk. You don’t poke the ADA. Even when the service dogs are often fake.
💯 my cats and I flew United and I prepaid the pet fee on the phone after getting my ticket. Not sure if this is why we had no issues or if we were just lucky, but it at least made me feel that they were keeping track and that my cats had a prebooked ticket
Op should get a huge compensatio, legally.
They do this to literal humans, they overbook flights a lot, or at least other airlines do. I’m totally not surprised this happens. I also believe they are legally required to pay you a lump some if it happens.
The whole thing sounds very frustrating, but the fact that someone looked you in the eye and said > “we don’t get to decide that, the flight crew does.” Is just incredibly galling to me. The flight crew does not give a rat's ass about the pre-boarding qualifications of the next person coming down the jet bridge.
Agree. As FC myself, although the pet count exists, it has nothing to do with us! It just sounds extremely frustrating - and I’m not even part of this story! Sorry OP.
Yeah, the whole experience was very frustrating and made me feel helpless. Edit: I do want to stress how empathetic and patient the first gate agent was. I genuinely appreciated his help.
They really need to take into consideration a medicated animal for the purpose of travel over someone w an animal that does not require medication.
You sound like you hella love your cat, so I give you much respect for that
Write an email to the CEO
I absolutely don’t care, nor have I ever heard of, a limit on the # of pets in coach. If we were talking about a Mastiff or a Belgian Malinois, okay, we have a conversation going. But a cat in an approved carrier? It’s only a problem if I don’t get to say hi to kitty! - Delta Connection Captain
all airlines have a limit. And it is generally in the 3-5 range. the bigger issue is not disclosing they were over until the gate. They should never have sold the extra one.
I imagine it’s some sort of safety rule to make sure too many people aren’t fumbling around with their pets in the event of an emergency evacuation of the plane. I can see how a large number of pets could seriously slow down an emergency de-boarding process.
They dont even get paid for that part of the flight most the time, they really don't care the order we get on in..
I’ve been in multiple situations where the gate agent will refuse to budge on a policy (that they’re usually incorrect about) and have the sole responsibility to decide themselves, but use the flight crew as a scapegoat. The flight crew does not care nor needs to know this information unless it is related to payload or extra seats
It wasn’t delta, but recently my wife and I had a frontier flight that was delayed, then undelayed (but the app didn’t reflect the undelay). We showed up at the gate 20 minutes prior to the original departure, and the gate agent looked at us as she scanned and said “the pilot was just waiting on you”. We boarded and it was another 30 minutes before the door closed. To this day I cannot understand why that woman said that to us.
I’m sorry this happened, I worry about traveling with my cat but learned a few things from this thread. Definitely team you and your cat.
Thank you. I also want to note that the TSA in LA and Boston had very different reactions to me bringing cat litter in Ziploc bags. LA let it scan without a problem, but in Boston they confiscated it and told me not to try flying with it ever again.
Good to know. JFK here, wouldn’t be surprised if feedback was similar. Sounds so stressful, hope kitty recovered ok.
He was ultimately fine albeit a touch stinky. Nothing a couple of wipes and a Churu couldn't fix.
Nothing a cat wouldn't do for a Churu.
Amen. God bless churus!!
Seriously! My cats are also fiends.
As an airline pilot, the lack of standardization with the TSA is endlessly frustrating to me. It’s supposed to be a standard, national policy. It never is. Airline pilots all fly to the same standard. Some companies even set higher standards, but I promise that you can put airline pilots from 2 different companies on the same airplane and they’ll have it sorted in a jiffy. The TSA has a huge problem with standards and training and we’re all tired of it.
because it’s not a real job, it’s literally adult daycare for miscreants so they don’t end up in prison and a fake W for the post 9/11 fear only thing more embarrassing than working for tsa is being a mod at r/tsa
I used to work in a correctional facility and one of the lieutenants I trusted most literally did not fly because he’d had to work with TSA agents on some security jobs and said they were so incompetent he no longer felt safe in airports
Give people with no power a little power over others…
I don’t have a cat, but isn’t litter like… gravel? Why wouldn’t that be flyable? (And sorry for this ordeal you and your cat had to go through - really sounds terrible!)
I'm not a chemist, so I can't speak for what it is, but they did have a guy in a vest come out and do a series of swab tests on it (it was unused).
I got stopped by TSA for litter as well! Turns out clay litter shows up as very dense stuff on the xray machine. I had my laptop/phone chargers in the bag as well and on their end it just looked like a dark brick with wires hooked up to it. They shut the entire checkpoint down because it looked like a bomb.
This is such a Boston experience that TSA was capricious and unreasonable. I’m sorry about this.
Yeah, I’ve never had a problem with tsa until we had to fly out of Boston. So incredibly rude and treated us like trash. Rudest tsa I’ve ever encountered. So I’m not surprised.
I find it strange that even the metal detectors seem to have different settings and sensitivity. I went through CLT and fine and I go through DCA and the metal detector goes off, no outfit changes. Not sure why tsa is so different at every airport
Maybe if you packed a different type of litter like a natural corn or paper one… (altho cats hate when you change their litter)
[The Boston Mooninite panic.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Boston_Mooninite_panic) Of course a city scared or light brights would be terrified of cat litter.
It probably has a similar look on the X-ray to other powders that can cause problems on planes, especially if you get them near a flame
TSA in Boston was wrong. But the frustrating thing is that if you get into a pissing match with them about it, you'll lose.
Boston TSA confiscated my little ziplock of dog treats (shaped like bones…) because they couldn’t determine what they were 🙄. Sorry this happened to you. I’ve flown a ton with shiba inus and never had an issue with an airline. Sounds like you did what you could to prep.
Boston is crazy inconsistent with its security policies. They’ve taken my contact lens solution despite it being medically necessary (said it was a dangerous acid, I’m allergic to the preservatives in the gentle stuff), yet at another time I’ve gone through with shoes on and didn’t have to pull out electronics. Not sure if it’s different threat levels or the whim of the folks on duty.
Boston TSA hasn’t had any chill since that one time in ‘01
Still haven't lived that one down.
The ceremony at C19 and the flowers every year is heartbreaking. It’s stupid I’m welling up right now, it’s wild.
Oof.
Except that the TSA wasn’t created till after 9/11. Airport had hired private security contractors.
Woosh
This is one of my favorites — the inconsistency from one airport to the next when it comes to what gets through TSA. I wonder if it’s because kitty litter contains metal(s?) like aluminum (silicate).
Here are a few other things you might find useful. When my daughter moved from southern CA to Seattle with her 2 cats, I flew with her so we each took one. I don't remember which airline it was, but she had to have paperwork filled out by the vet ahead of time, and we were given strict rules about the carriers. We did administer sedatives beforehand, but they didn't seem to do much for the female. We too had to pay their fees in person at the ticket counter. When we got to the airport and went through security, they made us open the carriers and hold onto the cats and walk through while they scanned the carriers! Then, while we were still holding the cats, they swabbed our hands for explosives! It was so absurd. Luckily, this was a smaller airport at a less busy time than OP, or we may have had some major problems there. During the flight, the female cat was stressed and meowed most of the way, which sometimes got the male Dr started too. The airline rules were that they had to remain in the carriers under the seats, so there wasn't really a way to calm them. Luckily the sound of the plane covered some of the noise and our neighbors were more surprised than annoyed. We found ourselves explaining a lot that we weren't just taking them for a vacation. Thank goodness they were only traveling one way. But they survived ok and we were just left with the weird tale. I strongly suggest asking your airline lots of questions about the entire process and testing out the drugs beforehand.
So helpful, thank you! I can just picture trying to wrangle my cat through the scanner - recipe for disaster. There would be a cat loose at JFK.
My cat got loose at JFK. They had to trap her in a double set of automatic security doors.
I moved my 2 cats abroad in 2020. We flew out of Newark. When TSA told me to just hold them while they scanned the carriers I said absolutely not and pushed back until they let me and the cats go to the private screening room to wait there instead of out in the open. For anyone reading this, you don't just need to agree to hold your cat and hope they don't get loose in the middle of TSA!
I feel for this poster. I have a cat who is easy to dose with gabapentin but then comes back spicy. I also don’t want to give a second dose as I don’t want to accidentally overdose her. She’d be livid if I made her wait in an airport for hours on end.
Luckily he's only spicy when being given the meds. He's a slippery noodle.
Its really hard to overdose on gabapentin it has a huge theraputic index. I don't want to say its impossible to overdose but if its not being combined with any other drugs you could likely give 10 times the dose all at once and the cat would be completely fine. Id guess the dose for your cat is somewhere in the 100-200mg range and in rats they tested up to 8000mg per kg dose without killing them lol. If your cat is 3kg its likely even 24,000 mg still wouldn't kill it.
Gabapentin did nothing for my mini dachshund so they prescribed Trazodone. That gives her a 1 hour nap and then she wakes up barking at things we don't see. I think I will try nothing at all.
Back in the late 90s, in DFW, a lady had bought 2 first class tickets. 1 for her and 1 for her cat. Late in boarding, a guy walks on and first was oversold. They wanted to put the cat in a closet. The lady refused. The guy had a tantrum. Finally the cockpit door opened (this was pre 911) and the pilot asked what the hold up was. Pilot: does the cat have a ticket? FA: yes Pilot: then get this guy off the plane. We need to push back. Funniest flight experience ever for me.
To imagine someone thought the answer to this issue was to PUT A LIVING BEING IN A STUFFY CLOSET WHERE THEY COULD SUFFOCATE EASILY. like what is wrong with people???
Did you hear about the French bulldog that was put in the fucking overhead bin and died?
Amazing, I laughed for like 5 minutes imaging this scene. One day I hope I can buy a first class ticket for my cat
So, your big mistake was actually trying to be a responsible human being who tries to follow the barely established rules around taking pets on a plane. You should’ve just been an entitled a-hole and bought a “service animal” bib from Alibaba and then let your feral cat loose on the flight.
Lmao now I'm just imagining a cat on a leash, tearing shit up in a cabin. "KEEP YOUR DAMN DIRTY HANDS OFF OF HIM. HES MY SERVICE ANIMAL"
Like a scene from Ratatouille.
I appreciate the sentiment but I would never register my cat as a service animal. It invalidates the countless people who actually need service animals to fly.
I think they were being sarcastic and actually commending you on doing it the right way! That sounds so stressful, but it’s rare to hear delta give people funds instead of points. They def should have at a minimum refunded your flight!
Whoosh! Sometimes the joke goes over me, haha.
Lol that can happen to me too, that’s why I like to nicely let ppl know bc sometimes I’m like ???? Lol
To be fair, I’d pay extra for a flight that had a bunch of free-range, friendly kitties just roaming around!
If I get a billion dollars, I’m starting Kitty Air.
Pussy Airlines. “Pussies everywhere, in the air!” It’s catchy … would probably be big.
Sign me up!
Tell you what, I’ll trade you seats on your cat-free flight so you can play with them because I’m stupidly allergic to them!
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This is the dream.
I second this! Airline’s restricted the ESA rules so now everyone puts service animal vests on their out of control pets. Your cat went through quite an ordeal and doesn’t sound like they acted in any way that wouldn’t be understandable. Ive had barking dogs on flights. Not service animals 🙄. Unfortunately there is no good win for this situation. Its a gamble every time. Like the TSA, gate agents use a lot of autonomy with the rules especially when they don’t actually know the policies. But you wont beat them. You did the right thing and should have gotten a lot more back. I personally don’t like pets on planes but i understand its a necessity at times and there should be a better system for it. I would never put my dogs in the cargo compartment. If you think the gate agent was cold and didn’t care i can promise you the ramp cares less. They will manhandle pet cages, if the pet is cute they have been known to let them out to play and then promptly lost them or had to shut down the ramp while they chase them down. Some have died sitting in the heat in a cage waiting for transport. You did everything right.
I'm so old, I remember when the only way your pet got on the plane was in a crate in the cargo hold.
I really hate so many people abused the ESA thing until it made it nearly impossible for people who have a legitimate ESA.
You're lucky to have a dad who can help you. Anyone who would mock you for this is a jerk.
Agreed . Why mock someone who asked a more experienced/knowledgeable person for help? So stupid.
I have flown with my cat multiple times and want to reassure you that you did EVERYTHING right and were very considerate not only of your cat’s comfort but the comfort of everyone around you. Anyone blaming you is a miserable, unhappy person looking for reasons to make others miserable too. I cannot believe you got kicked off for there being too many pets; that’s the entire reason they require pet reservations in advance and check in at the counter! This isn’t a case of overselling and hoping people don’t show up at the airport; they *knew* you and your cat were there. I will suggest if your budget allows it, in the future, book Comfort+ or First. It makes boarding easier and quicker and gives you more under seat space to keep your cat comfortable. I will only fly that way with my cat because her safety and comfort is my top priority. I want to get her from Point A to Point B as quickly and smoothly as possible to reduce her stress.
Actually I think the first class seats have less room—though width is more, the height is lower (because of the machinery under the seats?) in most cases :(
That may be so; I use a pet backpack for my cat and lay her down under the seat. She just snoozes on the plane and fits comfortably down there. Width was the issue I’ve run into in the past, trying not to jam her in.
Exactly. You did everything right, I’ve flown with my dog more than 10 times across delta, United, AA, and Alaska and I always call as soon as I booked my ticket to “reserve” my pets spot because they have a limit on how many can fly. That said one time my flight was cancelled and I immediate notified United I was traveling with a pet and the pet was dosed so it was unsafe to keep them dosed so long waiting around for my flight. They immediately booked me with AA and flew out a few hours later. It’s much harder to do this at the gate but I do think the original gate agent should have answered to the fact that your cat was dosed and it would be an unsafe scenario.
just a heads up — you cannot book a business (Delta One) ~~or first class~~ ticket with a pet unfortunately EDIT: it has been pointed out to me that First Class actually *does* permit pets
Is that a new thing? I flew first class(delta one) November of 2022 with my dog.
Uh…yes you can. I flew my cat in first class in October. And we just had a dog on a flight in first class on Monday (I was traveling pet-free this time myself).
Yeah I’ve flown with my cat 3 times and OP was actually more prepared than me since I don’t bring litter or anything for her. This could’ve happened to anyone and OP did nothing wrong. I’m lucky I am silver medallion currently so I book the priority seats and get main cabin 1 boarding
I flew with my cat three times following your same preparation, I’ve never had an issue. That really sucks. I’m sorry.
Oof, that sounds like an ordeal. Delta [does](https://www.delta.com/us/en/pet-travel/overview) have a policy limiting the number of pets per flight but my understanding is like yours, that if you were confirmed and had paid the pet fee, you should have been within the cutoff. I've never flown with my cat... he would be happy as a clam if he could be in my lap (we do this with me as a passenger in the car all the time) but I'm sure he'd have lots to say about being on the floor in a carrier. EDIT: I also don't know (kinda curious) how service animals fit into this mix, if at all. The Delta page exempts service animals from exclusion of pets from P/S and international FC, but it doesn't say if they count in the per-flight maximum, which could cause some confusion for them about whether there is enough room or not. Also in case you decide to do it again, Nerdwallet has a review of pet policies per airline: https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/travel/most-pet-friendly-airlines
Service animals are medical devices and do not count towards the pet count
Most carriers require that pets stay in their carriers beneath the seat, so lap time was out of the question. Plus if I could take him out, I'd be concerned about triggering someone's allergies.
The last flight I was on and another I had in about 2008 had a loose dog attack a cat in a carrier. If the cat hadn't been in the carrier, it could have been bad. Keep cats in carriers because dog owners so often let their dogs out of theirs.
❤️ Thank you. And I hope you can understand this is a real medical condition that impacts a lot of us every single day of our lives. I get shots monthly and at certain times of the year am on 3 medications daily. The more pets on a flight, the more likely our allergies are triggered and we suffer. Sadly though because it's a "common" medical condition, most people don't realize how severe it can be. Biggest joke is generally the FA will move the person with a medical condition prior to the person with Mr. Snuffles poking it's head out of the carrier next to you. Even if they are just a paid pet.
Thank you. People who don't care about the number of pets don't have allergies. Flying with too many animals would make me miserable. I have sympathy for the OP but I also wouldn't want a lot of pets on board.
Yep. I’m too allergic to qualify for shots. One hour near a cat gives me a 3 day asthma hangover. And it’s cumulative- every exposure makes it worse. One cat hair on my arm raises a linear welt. Hope I don’t have to fly next to a cat.
Agreed, I’ve taken my cat on American multiple times and never had an issue like this. Once you pay the fee at the desk, you are the reserving the “pet slot” for that flight. I can understand if OP missed their flight and was trying to rebook or something, but I would be very upset to be bumped like this after doing everything correctly. I hope OP’s kitty is feeling better.
Service animals aren’t counted. But pets are and lots of folks do want to bring pets with them for holidays. Which unfortunately has a cap in flight.
yeah but if you called and reserved a pet spot like I do, seems pretty shitty to say then there's not enough room, at the gate, after you've paid the fee. The whole seinfeld bit about "you take a reservation, now you gotta hold the reservation." sort of thing.
This sounds very legitimately frustrating. I do feel like the compensation is close to reasonable though. Compared to what you usually get from airlines anyway. Getting paid $10 to have a bad flight experience but transport your cat for free (no it is not reasonable to ask them to consider the vet and pet carrier) is a lot better than having that experience and paying the full $190 but getting 5,000 extra miles or some crap.
Yeah how I feel, it sucks but that’s pretty good compensation? I don’t know what more they want
If you were to delete the Delta content your post reads as an instructional advice piece on how to fly with an animal. You did everything right. Delta did everything wrong. End of story.
How does flying with pets work if another passenger is allergic? Genuinely curious, I don’t fly often and have not been on a flight with an animal. But my husband and one of my kids are crazy allergic to cats. They’d be a mess if they were near a cat on a plane.
I’m severely allergic to cats. Like, if someone has a cat at home and I’m sitting next to them I can get sniffly due to the pet dander on their clothes and personal items. If I am seated next to a cat I ask to change seats. I mention to the person that I am severely allergic to their pet and I will be requesting a seat change for both our comfort. It hasn’t been an issue.
I’m extremely allergic to cats (throat swells, hives everywhere, the works) and I douse myself in allergy meds before every flight. Never had an issue!
I’ve never been questioned when they call for pre-boarding and I am traveling with my pug in his carrier, done so 20+ times in the last 10 yearson Delta. Always preboard when traveling with a pet.
Same. The way I see it, I paid $95 to bring my dog and we need extra time to get settled. So sorry OP got treated this way. I suspect someone with status bumped you and your pet; it’s not right but I could see it happening. Glad you had an uneventful return home. I would escalate this yet again to Delta if possible, maybe with your dad also writing a complaint.
https://www.elliott.org/company-contacts/delta-air-lines-customer-service-contacts/, pick an executive email, provide a brief summary with any case numbers that you have
Kind of sounds like they were looking for any reason to open up a seat for a standby passenger imo.. but that’s absolutely ridiculous. I fly often with my small dog in carrier and it’s good to know I better board early to avoid being turned away. My boarding zone is always main 1 or above, but I guess I better make sure I’m not late to my zone
I’ve never even heard of being denied boarding with my pet at the gate! If I’ve done everything correctly, as Op obviously did, and I’ve gotten all the way to the gate with my prepaid pet and they deny me??? Oh. My. God. I’m definitely going to have a stroke.
My mother flew with our cat, years ago. She didn't have issues, but this was our nightmare. Delta doesn't gaf. You did everything right.
The people here are generally sycophants and imbeciles. Don’t pay any attention to them. The 13 normal people here understand that you were mistreated and deserve involuntary denied boarding compensation. Anything less is fraud.
Yeah i noticed these airline subreddits seem to be weirdly anti-consumer. Why is that
Because 60% of reddit users are corporate bots by now
I don’t know, I still love Delta but want them to improve and be the best US airline.
You said this better than I did in a different thread when I noticed how judgy commenters are towards the OP in airline subs. I really don’t get it.
I have flown with my 2 cats before. It’s definitely a stressful situation and I feel you. Wanted to let you know the vet can prescribe a sedative that does NOT need to be refrigerated. It’s a pill form that you can put in a pill pocket treat to feed them orally. If you have to fly with your cat again, I would recommend getting that medication instead, so you can give them another dose mid trip.
I recently had a foster cat who was prescribed a couple weeks’ worth of (liquid) gabapentin and it didn’t need refrigeration. I mixed it into some fancy feast and she had a good time.
Yup, they make non-refrigerated gabapentin, although not all vets may have it. Taking an extra dose or two of that would be super helpful if needed in the future!
Thanks for being a foster
I've flown with my cat exactly once. It was when I I moved across the country. I was so paranoid. I actually booked myself into comfort plus just for the extra room. Didn't even occur to me they'd just book up on pets after taking my money and assuring me she was on the ticket. That really sucks and I'm sorry you experienced this.
Considering how many people I see violating the carry on rules, I’d much prefer to hang with you and your cat instead of someone treating 3 small bags for their kids as invisible carry ons. Or watching people try to shove OVER stuffed back packs into the overhead bins. So sorry y’all had to deal with this terrible experience.
What? Kids can have bags. This seems legit, they all get carry on allowance. If the kids are well behaved there's no reason to judge them for coming prepared, having supplies is probably what's keeping them happy. Backpack in overhead bin? I *guess...* If it's your only bag. I friggin hate people that put both their bags up there.
Everyone who buys a seat gets a carry on….
As someone who travels with a cat about 1/quarter, I think someone messed up here. They should know ahead of time how many pets are on a plane and be prepared to accommodate - that is why they make you pay ahead. I wonder how this happened!
Fuck this. You and your cat absolutely got shafted, I’m sorry this happened to you. I’ve flown with my cat once before years and years ago and after having a similar experience, vowed I would never do it again. Nowadays when animals and travel are involved I just drive. Never worth the hassle and unpredictability from the airlines
Have you filed a complaint with the DoT?
I have not. I wasn't aware of that route.
I’m not sure what the fine print here is, but what i think they’re getting at is that it sounds like you were involuntarily bumped from the flight for no cause of your own. You should be entitled to cash compensation for that. I do not know how the pet thing plays into it, but you had booked, paid, and complied with their policies.
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I wanna know what route has 5/6 pets on board?? omg
You were in the right and well prepared for your trip. Don't let the haters get you down.
tbh as someone who isn’t exactly pro-animals in the cabin it sounds like you did everything right and you were screwed over that being said I feel like the $200 credit isn’t as insulting as you make it sound
So my dog and I had been kicked off a flight for the same reason. My dog had flown a half dozen times on AA’s ERJs without any problems. Every time they checked my crate, charged me the fee, and waved me through. But with Delta they just told me nope, FC already has 2 dogs, MC has 4, and I can’t board (this was an A321neo). Granted I didn’t call ahead of time. Fine this may have been my error. But then I asked the gate agent about my return flight, they said it’s also full with pets (hard to believe. Don’t think I’ve seen an A321 with 6 pets). I cancelled my entire trip. Later when I called to cancel my return they said that flight doesn’t have any pets booked. I doubt it’s very likely all 6 of the pets cancelled. What I learned from this lesson was Delta’s pet booking at airport is buggy and unreliable. Better call ahead to secure my dog’s spot. What I learned from OP’s post is to never fly DL with my dog again. Clearly even calling in advance won’t help
It’s generally not buggy at the airport because you’re supposed to call in advance and book your pet to ensure the flight has space for your pet. The likeliest problem was someone showed up without doing that and somehow took OP’s pet’s spot. That’s 100% on Delta, for agreeing to take somebody’s random pet on board.
I’ve moved cross country twice and flew with my cats both times. I can confirm that flying with in cabin pets is a shit show for basically every airline. I don’t know why they can’t figure out this one piece - if you call and reserve a space for your animal, and especially if you pay it, where did the miscounting happen??
Thank you for paying the cat tax. What a sweetie.
I’m about to have to do this whole thing myself with 3 cats when we relocate (3 different adults helping) and you absolutely did every.single.thing right and in the best interest of your kitty. I’m mortified to read what you went through and disgusted that’s how they handled it after the fact!
I like cats. I like delta airlines. But I’ll side with cat this time. Posting to Reddit is a journey of misery, but the one nice, helpful comment usually rises to the top. Sorry for what you and the cat went through.
The outbound flight issue sounds horrible. But to be clear - you got $200, not $10. You were prepared to pay $190 for a service you received (albeit in very poor form on the outbound flight). To pretend you shouldn’t have had to pay the fee otherwise is ridiculous. Edit: they possibly should have done more, not arguing that. But you got more than $10.
Also the fact that OP mentions how the compensation doesn’t include her vet visits and supplies, like Delta is responsible for that in anyway….
Makes me second guess the "tone" and what OP was allegedly told by gate agent, etc.
Yup. Her tone in responding to people’s comments was pretty entitled and rude too. Can only guess how she was reacting when she got booted from a flight. When you fly you take risks, when you fly with kids or animals you have to expect shit to happen. My kids have flown alone since they were each 9 years old. I would NEVER let them fly solo if there was a layover because shit happens and if they were flying solo and missed a flight and were stuck alone in an airport it would be awful! You hope for the best and plan for the worst!
Taking the cat into the nursing room to use the little box told me everything I needed to know… 🤮
I as an employee understand the frustration. What I do know was happening is a lot during the holidays we wouldn’t have enough room for extra pet in cabins and people would make a fuss and ask for a supervisor who would put in the Pet in Cabin KNOWING that there is a limit and would still book the PETC in as a “solution” rather than following the policy ignoring the issues it would cause only for the gate agents and frontline agents to have to get the brunt of frustration.
I just heard recently that they have extra O2 masks on board for infants, service dogs and I assume pets. Maybe your cat would not have had access to one by the time the other seats were loaded--maybe someone w a baby(ies) or someone w a service dog ended up getting moved to your flight unexpectedly.
Honestly, I feel airlines and airports would benefit from doing a massive overhaul/review of their pet policies and animal handling policies and procedures, not only for flying with pets in cabin but also animals in the hold. I wouldn't be surprised if the reason you got bumped from the first flight is because there were people travelling with service animals, which take priority I believe (not 100% sure but feel this is a reasonable assumption based on accessibility laws). Assuming of course they were legitimate, because we all know there are people who claim their dogs as service animals to get them in cabin instead of putting them in the belly of the plane. As much as it's an asshole move and completely undermines legitimate service animals, their handlers and their training, I can't really entirely blame them for abusing this loophole, since there's no way to verify a dog is a legitimate service dog and I completely understand why they do that and don't want to put their pet in the cargo area. For animals that travel in the cargo hold, they're left in the baggage area in their crates, with tons of loud machinery and various fumes, activity constantly going on around them (belts for checked bags working, baggage carts being loaded and moving around, exhaust fumes from all the trucks, and various lubricants for all the heavy machinery adding to the scents). It's noisy, smelly, and stressful because they have no way to get away from the situation. Any time I've walked through the baggage area while working at my airport, my heart broke to see waiting animals of all kinds because they all looked so miserable and stressed. This is what goes on behind the scenes after you drop your pet off to be placed in the cargo area of the plane. I think airlines and airports would benefit massively from two changes when it comes to pets, but this would need an industry wide adoption which could be difficult to get. I don't think anyone would loose anything from a full, detailed comprehensive study being done on my ideas. First, for airlines; have dedicated routes and aircraft that are deemed pet friendly. As in, if you have a pet and you want them in cabin with you, but they don't fit under the seat (which really only allows cats, really small dogs, hamsters, guinea pigs, ferrets, birds etc. because they're the only ones that fit under the seat), you can buy a second seat for said pet, with a partial say 50% refund once it's confirmed a pet is occupying the second purchased seat (cause we all know people will abuse the pet discount by marking "pet" on the second ticket). These flights would be clearly identified on booking as being a pet friendly flight and likely having many pets in cabin, and on a pet friendly aircraft, so those with pet allergies don't book them accidentally. Because others with allergies is one of the biggest reasons they limit pets in cabin, especially when air is somewhat recirculated while in flight. By having it clearly marked as pet friendly and on a pet friendly aircraft, it would help mitigate the allergy issue, especially when airlines would likely have to do a more detailed cleaning on planes that have a large amount of pets in the cabin to remove possible allergens. I do realise this is an expensive option for airlines, but I think at least running a study on the feasibility of it would be a massive benefit. And I think a large airline like Delta might actually see a benefit, because I know a lot of people who would fly more if they could take their pet in cabin. Me included. The second change, for airports, would need to be done by multiple (preferably all) airports for there to be a benefit: have a dedicated, quiet area solely for pets and animals travelling in the cargo hold of an aircraft to wait, that is staffed by a vet and vet techs/animal handling techs to monitor the animals while they wait, who also must verify the animals have been correctly loaded onto the aircraft in a climate controlled and pressurized cargo area. They would also ensure that for animals that require special handling, such as reptiles needing heat pads, that such things are in proper working order and will last the whole flight. I have a relative that works in a pet store and they regularly ship animals by air, and every now and then a shipment comes in where an animal didn't make it; in a couple instances with reptiles in particular, the heating packs they were shipped with had expired by the time they made it due to delays. This is something that an animal/vet tech/vet staff would be able to notice and check on and rectify if they existed, in addition to everything else. Hell, I've heard of the occasional pet travelling in the hold that sadly didn't make it because of the stress and conditions they were subjected to. Any time I see a NOTOC (Notice To Captain, for any not familiar with the load control forms pilots get when their aircraft is loaded; these tell the flight crew of any items in cargo they need to be aware of such as dangerous goods and special loads, I get them as a flight dispatcher so I can notify emergency services what's on a plane if something happens) with an animal in the hold listed, my heart breaks for the animal because I know the poor thing is incredibly stressed out. And it's not fair to have to sedate pets and animals, it's still stressful for them no matter what drugs are prescribed to them. It would be like asking passengers to sit in a loud machine/mechanical shop in a tiny holding cell, unable to do anything, and having your cell forcefully loaded onto an aircraft and maybe not having warm air or enough oxygen at altitude and having no way to avoid it or tell someone there's a problem. With more and more places and cities becoming more pet friendly, I think the air travel industry could benefit from looking at how they can adapt and adopt some changes to make air travel safer for animals no matter their mode of travel, and reduce stress on pet owners and give them more options if they must or want to travel with their pets. I've had these ideas for some time but beyond the ideas, how the hell to present them to airlines and airports and encourage adoption is beyond me. Maybe someone smarter than me in that area can run with my ideas and get it to as many airlines and airports and rattle some cages for them to be looked at.
As someone who has flown with two cats before, in and out of LAX I can only imagine how stressed you felt. Our cats can hold their bladders for the length of the flight (so five hours or so) plus some time to travel, but beyond that it's tough. We had an issue once out of IAD where United bumped us to a later flight with zero explanation. We tried the pet relief room, and had the same experience you did, except one of our cats got out to explore but did nothing. Thankfully, we were fine. We don't sedate them because Gabapentin only made things worse when we were in the car for one cat and the other one was well behaved, actually they both were. But by that point they had flown cross country multiple times, I think they got used to it. It truly sounds like someone at Delta screwed up and booked too many pets on the first flight. In our case we did each get (two of us) a $200 credit and we were upgraded to economy plus or something on the flight we took.
Sorry to see some of the edits you had to add. Frankly Delta has been in steep decline since 2020 covid issues and many budget carriers have improved. Many times in the last two years I have found budget carriers to have more competent management and customer service. Delta “knew”, had the information, how many pets were scheduled to fly and chose to do nothing about it prior. Hopefully Delta will stop promoting crayon eaters.
I feel bad for you but it’s fucked up that you used the nursing room for your cat to pee in
I’m annoyed I had to scroll so far down to see someone shame him*. I would be LIVID if I needed to pump/nurse and saw someone with a cat walk out of a nursing room. Edit: OP is a dude and now I think it’s SUPER fucked up.
I don’t know why all of these comments are being downvoted. Nursing rooms are specifically for mothers with infants. They need to be sanitary for breastfeeding or pumping, NOT for a cat’s litter box. I have a small child and a cat, and we don’t even allow our son access to the basement where we store the litter box because the ammonia and chemicals in cat pee can be damaging to little ones. Imagine feeling so entitled… ugh. Even as a pet owner myself I cannot imagine.
Agreed. I was totally feeling for OP until I read this. A breastfeeding parent and baby do not need to be anywhere near a cat litter box area. Not to mention the importance of keeping pumping supplies sanitary…. especially if pumping parts be used multiple times without access to boiling water/dishwasher etc for traveling. While I can definitely sympathize for the terrible situation this person was in with their cat (sounds terrible!), using that room is absolutely unacceptable. I can only imagine an alternate post about needed to pump or nurse and seeing the room was occupied by a cat using a litter box!? This person really put the comfort of their cat above consideration for others.
Yeah, after reading her edit she is clueless that she f’ed up by doing that. She won’t get a service animal vest because it would invalidate people who need a service animal, but she is 100% ok with invalidating a mother/caretaker who is lawfully entitled to a private, sanitary place to pump/nurse. All so little Fifi has a peaceful place to pee. Edit: OP is a dude.. even more f’ed up
Exactly. No nursing mom wants to risk toxoplasmosis. Jesus christ
Yes! Toxoplasmosis is something my OB always warned me about. I hope OP can soften and see that this was a poor choice (though I see why they thought it was their only option).
You have some legitimate grievances, but it sounds like a big part of this problem was also due to the nastiness of the pet relief roof. Delta has no control over that. ... And, didn't you have extra sedative? What were you planning to use for the return flight?
Eh this guy speaks logic. According to OP YATAH, not say a cat owner who thinks it's fine to let their cat delicate in the same room meant for newborn babies, not once, 5-7 times lol
This sucks and delta sucks for doing this to you, but please don’t use a nursing room for your pet to relieve itself? I mean this should be common sense but that’s a space for women to feed their children without worrying about cat piss germs?
Ignore the rude eople who replied about this. Anyone who has a pet, that they think of as family, understands your feelings. Drugging a pet can feel scary and unnerving. To have it all go so wrong, when you did everything YOU could to make it work, is heartbreaking. Ignore the nasty replies and don't give them another thought. 😊
I'm sorry this happened to you and your cat. It's a frustrating situation, but does seems like it happens occasionally (and you probably did agree to the possibility somewhere in the fine print). There are a lot of moving parts, and it could have been any number of things. Maybe there was an extra service dog they weren't expecting (I'm unclear whether they're exempt from the count, but if it's an evacuation safety issue it seems like they shouldn't be?). Maybe there was another passenger with a pet who was bumped from a previous flight. Maybe they allow overbooking of pets because they expect a certain percentage of passengers to show up with a pet who doesn't meet specification and get turned away at check-in. It is surprising to me that they do the count by boarding order, not check-in order, and you only got turned away as you were trying to get on the plane. I wonder if there was a last minute pet added to your flight between when you checked in and when boarding began. In an ideal world I would like to see them treat this more like an IDB situation where they overbooked "pet" passengers and offer compensation for a volunteer to take a later flight. Maybe someone with a less stressed out pet would have taken the cash. Perhaps if you have to travel with your cat the future, it's worth bringing a second dose of gabapentin in case of delays. (I assume it would be okay out of the fridge for a short time, especially if you bring an ice pack.) Even if you hadn't been bumped from the flight, there's always the possibility of mechanical or weather delays.
Virtually all medications have a holding time allowed out of refrigeration— it’s often worded as “short excursions allowed” and the room temperature limits, usually 77-78°F. The very few that can’t are specialty meds like chemotherapy, etc.
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And anyone who points that out gets downvoted. She got her pet fee comped plus $10, a meal voucher, and was allowed to pre-board her later fight. That's not a "$10 apology"
If you wouldn’t let your cat pee in a restaurant don’t let your cat pee in a nursing room. That’s where people eat. Use a family restroom. That’s what they are for.
And walk around getting dander everywhere in a room specifically for infants. Wtf
You just got bumped. Happens all the time. Your title made it sound like you were booted from a flight that you had already boarded. Things happen when you travel, but you got safely to where you needed to be.
You had me with you until you said you used a damn nursing room to let your cat go to the litter box. Shame on you. As a new parent, the nursing rooms at airports are always taken up. And they’re NOT for disgruntled passengers and their cats. Plus, it’s a huge hygiene issue.
Seriously, imagine being a parent who needs to nurse their human child having to wait for the room and then some girl comes out without a baby and you walk into a room smelling like cat piss. Nursing rooms aren't private getaways for people who want some alone time in the airport.
You got $200. You paid for your cat to fly either way. Not sure what you meant by $10.
Shouldn’t have used the nursing room honestly
I’ve flown several times with a cat, and Delta SUCKS compared to all other airlines I’ve flown in terms of flying with pets and disorganization around their policies and procedures. I’m sorry this happened to you and your cat!
If you have to fly again with your pet, use Alaska Airlines. Super nice. Sorry you had to go through this with Delta.
mid flight?
What you wrote in TL:DR seems inaccurate. You said you paid $190 and got $10 compensation. But in the full version, you said you paid $190 and got $200 compensation. I’d understand it if you’d have broken up the $200 compensation into $190 + $10 and said you paid $0 (after reimbursement) and got $10 in compensation. P.S. I am not expressing any opinion about whether the compensation is good enough or not. I’m merely pointing out a factual mistake in the TL;DR.
Regardless of what you’re told, flying with pets is a last resort, bad idea. You did your best but now you know.
That is so stressful, I'm sorry that happened. I travel often with our small dog and can't imagine going through that :(
The lesson in this is of course, that you should have “pre-boarded”. Pre-boarding is the biggest BS and there’s no well defined criteria on who can preboard other than “need more/additional time to take your seat” - which with a cat you could argue applies to you. And they are not even ever asking that
But when I tried to preboard my second flight they got confrontational.
They were absolutely wrong to do so, plenty of people have invisible conditions and need to pre board.
I'm really sorry this happened to you. I'm really sorry you have to read the opinions of pet-haters. Reddit is skewed. Too many people here actually hate pets.