The largest allowed cabin pet may be a mouse.
Flying with a cat is such a hassle. First, a cabin pet requires a reservation because they limit the number of pets (about 4 on most airlines, 9 on American, Southwest only started allowing pets about a month ago (after I had already made my reservation with NWA)), which requires calling the airline. Then, you have to check-in separately (not on a kiosk) because of the pet reservation (because they're paid for at the airport). On NWA the fee is $100 each way. The cabin pet counts as your carry on bag, which means you're allowed one other 'personal item' (I really need to get a laptop backpack or rolling bag, because I can only carry about one thin book in my current bag/sleeve. And, while I'm at it, a rolling pet case, because having both my laptop and my cat on my right shoulder is a lot of weight.) So my $230 flight was really $470 (since I also needed to check a bag, with clothing and such, each way).
Security requires taking the cat out of the bag and walking through the sensor thing with him (or her if your cat is female). Which means I had to pull my laptop out of the bag, take off my shoes, jacket, watch, etc., take the collar off my cat, and pull him out of the bag. Send all the bags and bins through the scanner (the cat bag probably being the last, since he's the last thing to deal with), and walk through the security thing (possibly attempting to hold the cat one handed so you can hand your boarding pass to the officer on the other side), then stand around on the other side waiting for the carrier bag to show up so you can put the cat back in it (which means if the run out is really short, your stuff alone might take up all the space, while you're trying to get an unhappy cat back into his carrier).
Once you're on the plane you have to stuff the cat under the seat in front of you. Since the space between one row of chairs and the next is probably not wide enough to slide the carrier between them, the best way to get the bag onto the floor level involves sliding it along the floor all the way from the aisle. So stepping out of the aisle to get out of the way, then dealing with the carrier turns out to be a bad idea. (Same problem occurs when trying to leave the plane, except then everybody is impatient, and its difficult to get into the aisle to stand in such a way that you can block people from accidentally stepping on the carrier. People seem to be rather slow about realizing you've got a live animal rather than just another piece of luggage that they can run into.) Then the bag needs to be turned 90 degrees to actually get it into the seat in front of you. My bag is probably half an inch too tall to slide easily under a normal seat, so I end up having to smash the bag down a little while trying not to smash the sides too much at the same time.
Well, all this is annoying (especially dealing with a cat and computer through the security gate), but doable.
On the way out to Alexandria my only problem was that my plane got to the gate at about the time my next flight segment started boarding. So I attempted (and mostly failed) to run to the next gate (in terminal C, when I landed in terminal F); I had on my fancy purple shoes with heels, and I was trying not to bounce my cat too much, and neither of those are conducive to running, so I ended up doing more of scurry. But I did make it to the other gate in time.
The problems started on the way home. First, NWA arbitrarily rescheduled me from a 2:30pm flight to a 6:40am flight. I didn't realize this until the night before the flight at about midnight (and its a good thing I actually looked at my check-in reminder email, which I only did because I wanted to see, and possibly change, what seats I had). I couldn't reschedule it online, so I called NWA. Turns out that since it was an involuntary reschedule, I could reschedule for free (Yay!). Except that I had the cat reservation, and the first guy couldn't actually check on the number of cabin pets, so he transfered me to somebody else who completed the reservation. The flight I wanted did have cabin space luckily (or so I thought at the time), so I got myself onto a 4:38pm Delta flight (going through Salt Lake City).
Since all this was arranged so late, I couldn't change myself to an aisle or window seat (and I didn't think to request one when I was making the reservation, although it probably wouldn't have mattered).
My mom dropped me off at the airport about 1 hour and 15 min ahead of time (the 15 min was the extra time I was giving myself to check my cat and bag in). Can't use curbside check-in, because of the cat. Can't use the check-in kiosks, because of the cat. So I had to stand in the special service check-in line (or whatever it was). And it's the slowest line I have ever been in. I think there were all of 10 sets of people in the line (maybe less), and three or four agents checking those people in; it took me 40 minutes to get through the line. By the time I got near the front of the line, I was in a near panic, since I'm pretty sure you need to be checked into your flight 30 min prior to departure (and I had all of 2 or 3 minutes left before that cutoff by the time I got to an agent). And I knew I still had to get my cat and computer through the security check point.
Well I get my bag and cat and myself checked in. No window or aisle seats. But I can ask again at the gate, supposedly.
Security was annoying. Some of my stuff went through, then people went around me, while I was dealing with my sweatshirt (which they told me to take off (I should have just told them I didn't have anything on underneath)), and my cat. I learned, at DCA you don't need to carry your boarding pass with you and show it to the security person on the other side of the gate, so you can send it through the x-ray scanner thing (I think this is the only airport I've been through like that, but I'm not sure).
Anyway, I got to the gate as they were boarding. I assumed no chance of changing my seat, since the only agent was scanning in boarding passes. Well, I got on the plane. Then the real problem started.
In an effort to get out of the aisle and not block everyone, I didn't quite get organized enough to slide my cat in from the side. I had to get his carrier tipped back end down in order to get him onto the floor. At which point I attempted to stuff him under the seat. Only to realize that something was hanging down on the seat in front of me. A large something. Sometimes there is a small thing hanging down on side or the other. This went along the whole bottom of the seat. Eventually I got the attention of the flight attendant. Who was incompetent, as far as I was concerned. These boxes hanging down are the electrical boxes (for the TV screens in the back of every seat), and they're located under every middle seat. The attendant was like 'I can't do anything' (which I'm pretty sure is bullshit, since I've seen them switch aisle and middle seat people in the case of not having enough air masks for lap-babies, but she didn't even attempt to ask if someone would give-up a window or aisle seat (not that I expect anyone would, but she could have at least asked), and I'm pretty sure I've heard them make announcements that the plane won't take off unless someone is willing to trade seats because of some reason or another). And I was like 'well, what do you expect me to do. I have a cat reservation'. The guy next to me in the aisle eventually solved the problem by offering to let me put my cat under the seat in front of him for take-off, if he still had enough room to stretch out his leg on the side. After some maneuvering I managed to get the carrier under the seat (the seats have less space under them than other planes I've been on). At which point I found out I could barely get my laptop bag under the seat in front of me, and my laptop bag is basically a sleeve with a flat front pouch. Which means that the middle seats have all of 4-5 in of space under them. (On the way out to DCA I was able to get both the cat carrier and the laptop bag under the seat in front of me without any difficulty.)
After we got up to whatever altitude it was that they no longer require the foot-space to be clear. We slid my cat out from under the seat. And I put him behind my legs. Which made for a rather uncomfortable 5 hour flight (or whatever it was). Since I had my feet resting on my laptop bag, and I was trying not to crush my cat with my legs. Which meant that my feet had to be rotated 30 degree or more, one direction or the other. I left the cat under my legs for landing; he was mostly hidden by my skirt, and they didn't check the foot space (or at least, not very well, or decided to ignore the violation).
I need to remember to complain to Delta. Because they totally screwed that up. I mean, I'm basically paying the cost of a second seat, the least they could do is bump someone out of a window or aisle seat so that I can actually put the carrier where its supposed to go (especially since my bag was airline approved when I bought it). The carriers are required to be small enough to fit under the seat in front you, and the animal to be small enough that the pet can stand up and turn around. Which I think means that the largest cabin pet you can stick under the middle seats is a mouse (if mice are even allowed). The only slack I'm giving them, is that the planes are relatively new (I think), and maybe the problem hasn't come up before.
The second segment was fine. I would have argued and complained until they gave me a window or aisle seat, except they had window seats, and it turned out to be a small plane with no middle seats anyway.
At least my cat was ridiculously happy at my parent's house.
Lessons I have learned: wear a long skirt to hide things stashed under your legs, and don't fly on a new-fangled wi-fi plane with screens in the back of every seat (or make sure you aren't stuck in a middle seat).
Security requires taking the cat out of the bag and walking through the sensor thing with him (or her if your cat is female). Which means I had to pull my laptop out of the bag, take off my shoes, jacket, watch, etc., take the collar off my cat, and pull him out of the bag. Send all the bags and bins through the scanner (the cat bag probably being the last, since he's the last thing to deal with), and walk through the security thing (possibly attempting to hold the cat one handed so you can hand your boarding pass to the officer on the other side), then stand around on the other side waiting for the carrier bag to show up so you can put the cat back in it (which means if the run out is really short, your stuff alone might take up all the space, while you're trying to get an unhappy cat back into his carrier).
Once you're on the plane you have to stuff the cat under the seat in front of you. Since the space between one row of chairs and the next is probably not wide enough to slide the carrier between them, the best way to get the bag onto the floor level involves sliding it along the floor all the way from the aisle. So stepping out of the aisle to get out of the way, then dealing with the carrier turns out to be a bad idea. (Same problem occurs when trying to leave the plane, except then everybody is impatient, and its difficult to get into the aisle to stand in such a way that you can block people from accidentally stepping on the carrier. People seem to be rather slow about realizing you've got a live animal rather than just another piece of luggage that they can run into.) Then the bag needs to be turned 90 degrees to actually get it into the seat in front of you. My bag is probably half an inch too tall to slide easily under a normal seat, so I end up having to smash the bag down a little while trying not to smash the sides too much at the same time.
Well, all this is annoying (especially dealing with a cat and computer through the security gate), but doable.
On the way out to Alexandria my only problem was that my plane got to the gate at about the time my next flight segment started boarding. So I attempted (and mostly failed) to run to the next gate (in terminal C, when I landed in terminal F); I had on my fancy purple shoes with heels, and I was trying not to bounce my cat too much, and neither of those are conducive to running, so I ended up doing more of scurry. But I did make it to the other gate in time.
The problems started on the way home. First, NWA arbitrarily rescheduled me from a 2:30pm flight to a 6:40am flight. I didn't realize this until the night before the flight at about midnight (and its a good thing I actually looked at my check-in reminder email, which I only did because I wanted to see, and possibly change, what seats I had). I couldn't reschedule it online, so I called NWA. Turns out that since it was an involuntary reschedule, I could reschedule for free (Yay!). Except that I had the cat reservation, and the first guy couldn't actually check on the number of cabin pets, so he transfered me to somebody else who completed the reservation. The flight I wanted did have cabin space luckily (or so I thought at the time), so I got myself onto a 4:38pm Delta flight (going through Salt Lake City).
Since all this was arranged so late, I couldn't change myself to an aisle or window seat (and I didn't think to request one when I was making the reservation, although it probably wouldn't have mattered).
My mom dropped me off at the airport about 1 hour and 15 min ahead of time (the 15 min was the extra time I was giving myself to check my cat and bag in). Can't use curbside check-in, because of the cat. Can't use the check-in kiosks, because of the cat. So I had to stand in the special service check-in line (or whatever it was). And it's the slowest line I have ever been in. I think there were all of 10 sets of people in the line (maybe less), and three or four agents checking those people in; it took me 40 minutes to get through the line. By the time I got near the front of the line, I was in a near panic, since I'm pretty sure you need to be checked into your flight 30 min prior to departure (and I had all of 2 or 3 minutes left before that cutoff by the time I got to an agent). And I knew I still had to get my cat and computer through the security check point.
Well I get my bag and cat and myself checked in. No window or aisle seats. But I can ask again at the gate, supposedly.
Security was annoying. Some of my stuff went through, then people went around me, while I was dealing with my sweatshirt (which they told me to take off (I should have just told them I didn't have anything on underneath)), and my cat. I learned, at DCA you don't need to carry your boarding pass with you and show it to the security person on the other side of the gate, so you can send it through the x-ray scanner thing (I think this is the only airport I've been through like that, but I'm not sure).
Anyway, I got to the gate as they were boarding. I assumed no chance of changing my seat, since the only agent was scanning in boarding passes. Well, I got on the plane. Then the real problem started.
In an effort to get out of the aisle and not block everyone, I didn't quite get organized enough to slide my cat in from the side. I had to get his carrier tipped back end down in order to get him onto the floor. At which point I attempted to stuff him under the seat. Only to realize that something was hanging down on the seat in front of me. A large something. Sometimes there is a small thing hanging down on side or the other. This went along the whole bottom of the seat. Eventually I got the attention of the flight attendant. Who was incompetent, as far as I was concerned. These boxes hanging down are the electrical boxes (for the TV screens in the back of every seat), and they're located under every middle seat. The attendant was like 'I can't do anything' (which I'm pretty sure is bullshit, since I've seen them switch aisle and middle seat people in the case of not having enough air masks for lap-babies, but she didn't even attempt to ask if someone would give-up a window or aisle seat (not that I expect anyone would, but she could have at least asked), and I'm pretty sure I've heard them make announcements that the plane won't take off unless someone is willing to trade seats because of some reason or another). And I was like 'well, what do you expect me to do. I have a cat reservation'. The guy next to me in the aisle eventually solved the problem by offering to let me put my cat under the seat in front of him for take-off, if he still had enough room to stretch out his leg on the side. After some maneuvering I managed to get the carrier under the seat (the seats have less space under them than other planes I've been on). At which point I found out I could barely get my laptop bag under the seat in front of me, and my laptop bag is basically a sleeve with a flat front pouch. Which means that the middle seats have all of 4-5 in of space under them. (On the way out to DCA I was able to get both the cat carrier and the laptop bag under the seat in front of me without any difficulty.)
After we got up to whatever altitude it was that they no longer require the foot-space to be clear. We slid my cat out from under the seat. And I put him behind my legs. Which made for a rather uncomfortable 5 hour flight (or whatever it was). Since I had my feet resting on my laptop bag, and I was trying not to crush my cat with my legs. Which meant that my feet had to be rotated 30 degree or more, one direction or the other. I left the cat under my legs for landing; he was mostly hidden by my skirt, and they didn't check the foot space (or at least, not very well, or decided to ignore the violation).
I need to remember to complain to Delta. Because they totally screwed that up. I mean, I'm basically paying the cost of a second seat, the least they could do is bump someone out of a window or aisle seat so that I can actually put the carrier where its supposed to go (especially since my bag was airline approved when I bought it). The carriers are required to be small enough to fit under the seat in front you, and the animal to be small enough that the pet can stand up and turn around. Which I think means that the largest cabin pet you can stick under the middle seats is a mouse (if mice are even allowed). The only slack I'm giving them, is that the planes are relatively new (I think), and maybe the problem hasn't come up before.
The second segment was fine. I would have argued and complained until they gave me a window or aisle seat, except they had window seats, and it turned out to be a small plane with no middle seats anyway.
At least my cat was ridiculously happy at my parent's house.
Lessons I have learned: wear a long skirt to hide things stashed under your legs, and don't fly on a new-fangled wi-fi plane with screens in the back of every seat (or make sure you aren't stuck in a middle seat).