Everyone with 2 dogs!!!!! PLEASE HELP!!!!

[yorkiesmiles]

Originally Posted by celstu1

Well tomorrow is my trip! Keep me and my pups in your prayers! Im excited and nervous to travel with them, esp this time of year! so many thoughts racing through my head! Im sure all will be fine and by this time tomorrow I'll be boarding the plane no problems! The time FLEW by!!!!

I'll be praying for you - please do the same for me when I try to fly with my 2 on Sunday. No problems that's what we both need

RONLYNN - thanks for sharing the flight party of Teddi's trip - so good to know, this is the experience I need too

[celstu1]

Originally Posted by yorkiesmiles

I'll be praying for you - please do the same for me when I try to fly with my 2 on Sunday. No problems that's what we both need

RONLYNN - thanks for sharing the flight party of Teddi's trip - so good to know, this is the experience I need too

I'll be praying for you too on sunday good luck! I know this will go smooottthhh for both of us!

[celstu1]

HI!

Im BAAACCCKKK!!! All went well. I flew NWA to NM from NH and back. No problems with the dogs at all. The airline didnt even look at the bag! which kind of stinks cuz I paid for it and now I wish I didnt! On the flight there the flight attendants (on both legs of the flight) wouldn't let me touch the bag at all, had to stay under the seat at all times, even when we were stuck on the runway for an hour and they were barking they wouldnt let me even put the bag on my lap!

The flight home was better though, first leg they stayed in the bag, second leg the I had 8 mins to get from one plane to the other and when I got on I asked the flight attendant for ice chips bc I had no time to get into the bathroom to let the dogs drink or just stretch out and she told me "no dog flies in a bag on MY flight!" so she told me I could take them out and let them sit on the seat for the whole flight! That was GREAT!

So all in all, it was pleasant for the most part. Easy to take 2 furbutts on NWA. Thank goodness!

[Nigel's Mom]

glad to read that your trip went well. I also travel with two yorkies via plane and just got back Saturday night. My boys weigh the same as yours too as a matter of fact. I have only traveled with them on United. We did two trips from NYC to San Francisco. I take the smaller one on board and my older one goes in cargo. I have paid for both..however this last time, I did not pay for the smaller one on board. They actually waived the fee. Of course YMMV. I just got a nice attendant who felt bad that it was so expensive traveling with two dogs lol Either way, United is the only airline I will fly with my dogs. They seem to have it together and I am satisfied with the treatment we've gotten so far.

[celstu1]

NWA was pretty good... I didnt put either in cargo though. They both went in a travel dog carrier in the cabin with me. Minus the delays it all went very well! What a relief. I know that I may not be so lucky next time and all that but Im glad that it went well this time, this was the most important time as it meant holidays with the family or not.

[jbrokus]

oooh. i am scared now. I have a 9lb yorkie male who is 2 and a 10mo. old female who is 3lb. I was going to book on NWA....I open to booking on anything that will be the most friendly. It is all about who you get working with you. If they like animals you are in biz, but if they don't...you are screwed. I have flown spirit with my 9lb guy and it was okay. Nice people on the way there and bitchy lady on the way home. I have a rolling carrier than coverts to a backpack. If I get asked I was thinking of saying the 9lber is the mom and the 3lber is the baby! hope they don't check gender! LOL!!!

Sounds like United or AA would be recommended??

[yorkiesmiles]

I also just returned from a trip on NWA - no problems at all with the dogs!! This was their first airline experience

Thanks celstu1 for the prayers - I was going to post after you did about my experience, but didn't get to it

No one at the counter even cared that I was carrying dogs - never looked to see the bag, nothing - when I asked about having the bag tagged that I had a pet - the gal said you don't need that - we don't do that (others on YT mentioned needing that - but I guess that was with other airlines)

On my ticket it said PETC - I'm sure that stood for pet companion or pet carrier.

Only problem going was a huge delay that was NWA fault - they comped me well including 1,000 bonus miles, lodging, transportation & meals.

While we were standing in line to check in we learned our flight was delayed 1 1/2 hrs - of course we had gotten to the airport nearly 2 hrs early for the flight. (We also knew we had missed our connecting flight, & were booked to leave Memphis the next morning instead - at that point we didn't know where we would sleep. ) So after we checked in, rather than going up thru security we set down near the front doors. Took Bubba & Roxy out several times to do their business. They were out of their bag the entire time - even though it says right on the airport doors only service animals allowed in the airport.

No one cared, they got loved on by all kinds of people. Finally an hr before our flight, I decide we better go thru security, even though we hadn't been assigned a gate. During the time we waited to go thru security our flight got pushed back again!!

As we went thru security, again no one cared about the yorkies - they were oooing & awing over them. The gal that had me walk thru the metal detector loved them - she said she had a 19 pound yorkie at home. Of coursemy babies were dressed as Santa & Mrs. Claus, so everyone was commenting on that.

So we get outside security find out about the delayed flight & had no gate to go to, so we just set for the longest time in the chairs right next to security. I never put the dogs back in their bag. They sat on my lap, or walked as far as they could from me on their leashes. The security people saw them for hrs. Then 2 NWA pilots wiating to get an ok to fly due to weather to Mpls. stood & talked to the dogs, petting them for a long time.

Once we had a gate, I walked the dogs to the restroom & then to the gate. Then we set there until they were finally ready to let us on the plane - so more than 5 1/2 hrs in the airport the dogs finally went back into the bag.

Once on board, & the seatbelt sign was off, I snuck them under a blanket where they were perfectly happy & only my daughter who was sitting with me knew.

When we arrived in Memphis, 5 NWA employees were there ready to take care of the small plane load of folks - about 50 people. They gave us everything we needed to spend the night at a Marriott hotel. Now, I didn't tell the folks at the Marriott that I had dogs. They did a good job there.

The next morning, thru security again at the Memphis airport where everyone made a fuss - about how cute they were

Bubba did bark a bit on take off - he has some problems with his ears sometimes & I think that was the problem - soe everyone knew he was there. My daughter & I were the only ones sitting in a row of 3 seats - after the lap belt light was off, I placed the carrier in the 3rd seat, & eventually took the dogs out, and put them under the blanket - one of the flight attendants walked by & smiled at me, I'm sure she knew.

On the return flight, the dogs again spent time out of the airport in the Tampa airport. No one at security cared or at check-in, although we did do curbside check-in. Once on board we had this big gal sitting with us & her family of 3 was across from her. I saw her give them a strange look - like oh, yuck a dog. So I did not even try to take the dogs out of the bag - but they were fine absolutely quiet.

Lay-over in Memphis was suppose to be 1 hr. 45 min. & departure on connecting flight. Three times I take the yorkies to the bathroom & put down a pee pad - no one will go - they never went at any airports except outside

We had 3 delays - first door of plane wasn't working properly - delayed inside the airport for about 45 min, then we get on the plane & were overweight - pilot announces "You all must have had a very good Christmas - we're overweight, we've got to figure out how to handle this with causing the fewest problems for passengers." Later he comes back on & says they are going to take some gasoline off. We wait for that to happen.

Think we're ready to go - but oh, no 3rd delay! Visibility at the Des Moines Airport is down to 1/8 of a mile & there is freezing fog & visibility on the main runway is less than 900 feet. - so we sat on the tarmac in Memphis.

We spent about 2 hrs waiting! The flight attendants were so nice, they offered the dogs water, but I was so afraid they would need to relieve themselves afterwards. They were fine with me getting the yorkies out & having them on my lap.

The yorkies did great! Northwest Airlines was great - I'd fly with the dogs again! One of the best vacations ever because they were with me

[pinkshoesgal]

I wanted to say I also had a great experience flying Northwest from Fort Lauderdale to Detroit and back. Since it was around the holidays, both airports were filled with dogs. There was even another Yorkie on my flight to Detroit. I walked through the whole airport with Pixie's head poking out of her unzipped Sherpa bag. She sat patiently on my lap at the gate and then back in the bag with her head poking out to walk on the plane past all the flight attendents. No one said a word. I think it helps if you just walk right past them and act like you know what you're doing and you've done it on hundreds of flights before. On both legs of the trip, the strangers sitting next to me felt bad about Pixie being in a bag and suggested I take her out! haha! Maybe I was luck and everyone was in a cheerful holiday mood.

[michiko]

THis is definitely a great thread! Very helpful!! I wasn't sure if I wanted to get another yorkie because of this.. but I guess it is not too bad eh? I fly with Haruka very often.... and I thought two dogs would be hard... but if there are some airlines allow two dogs...then it might not be too bad.

[Mountainwoman]

I have flown a lot with my two. I find that on every airline you can find dog friendly airline staff and staff who hate dogs. I have flown American and had flight attendants who drool over my Yorkies, and I have also been horribly harrassed by an more than one agent at the gate. On United I have had flight attendants tell me they love my dogs, but to watch out for the other flight attendant who does not love dogs. I have never had a problem with Alaska Airlines. They have always been tops in my book. I think a lot depends on the luck of the draw on any given day, on any given flight. I did print out the FAA regulations on animals in the cabin, so when snotty flight attendants start telling me what the law is, I can tell them that they are misquoting or making up their own story to suit their own preferences.
And we all know that they charge a lot for the dog's ticket to discourage people from traveling with their pets.

[celstu1]

yeah I was surprised noone on NWA even knew the dogs were there really, yet they set a limit to the # of dogs that can be on a flight, I think its all hooey to discourage people from traveling with dogs, why they want to discourage is beyond me! personally I think these little dogs on a plane are no big deal at all. I can tell you that some of the kids on the flight were WAY more disturbing than my dogs could ever be!

I do have to say though, despite how happy I was with NWA and their lack of caring that I had 2 dogs, the delays and stuff were awful! I hope they get themselves together in the future and do not lose business, but everyone who I talk to who has flown NWA recently has talked about delays and long waits.

This is the longest thread I ever started haha

[yorkiesmiles]

Originally Posted by celstu1

yeah I was surprised noone on NWA even knew the dogs were there really, yet they set a limit to the # of dogs that can be on a flight, I think its all hooey to discourage people from traveling with dogs, why they want to discourage is beyond me! personally I think these little dogs on a plane are no big deal at all. I can tell you that some of the kids on the flight were WAY more disturbing than my dogs could ever be!

I do have to say though, despite how happy I was with NWA and their lack of caring that I had 2 dogs, the delays and stuff were awful! I hope they get themselves together in the future and do not lose business, but everyone who I talk to who has flown NWA recently has talked about delays and long waits.

This is the longest thread I ever started haha

Ok - I helped make it so long with my detailed description about all our delays.

One thing I forgot to say - When NWA caused us to miss our schedule flight & then rebooked us on another flight - I kept saying to the ticket agent - please remember I have 2 dogs - because I didn't want to get on the flight & have them say their were too many dogs on the flight, so we couldn't go.

The lady acted like I was nuts for being concerned. She said of course they can go on any flight - they're with you & booked on your ticket. So I'm sure these airlines can break their own rules anytime they need to.

I do know there was at least one other dog on that rebooked leg of the trip because I saw him while we waited for luggage in Tampa.

I think one problem for NWA is all the flights they have going thru Mpls, Chicago, & other cities with poor winter conditions. Plus fog has been so bad across the US the last few weeks!

The other major thing to be aware of - is a lot of these delays are caused by the FAA telling pilots they're done for the day because they've put in too many hours. Say the pilot starts his day, gets to the next city & can't get out for several hours due to weather - all that time contributes to how long is day is - so when they say it's a crew issue, it's not always that someone is a no-show or sick. I know it's for our safety - but it is hard when you've got places to be, things to do

[KobeKins]

My uncle and aunt flew out to Iowa or kansas can't remember-this past christmas, he said it was like 4 dogs and 3 cats on the place when I mentioned something of a pet limit on planes.


Yep, they (the airlines) can do what they want to do.