[gryhndnut]

Well I just got back last nite from my trip to NJ (from St. Louis). Before my trip I was driving everyone crazy, including myself! I was so nervous about flying with him for the first time. At least for this trip, all my worrying was unfounded. I could not have asked for my trip to go any more smoothly.

I left on a Wednesday and came back on a Tuesday and they must be good days to travel. My flight from St. Louis left at 8:25am. There was quite a line to get through security, but I left plenty of time in case I ran into any delays.

At the ticket counter, they did not seem to care what size carrier that I had and only looked at it when they had to put the sticker on it that showed I paid for my pet to fly.

Before I went through security I took him to the pet relief area. It was clean, had bags and a garbage can. The fence was tight to the ground so I could have let Jersey off leash if I wanted to.

Security was a easy. I took Jersey out of the carrier and carried him through with me. I did not have his harness or collar on him.

At the gate, I took him out of the carrier and gave him a little bit of water and put a pair of pajamas on him. I also gave him a half of a Pet-Ease. It contains chamomile and tryptophan. 1 pill per 10lbs. Jersey is 4 lbs 3oz so I gave him a half of a pill and he ate it like a treat. It really did seem to make him relaxed and even a bit sleepy.

When boarding the plane, no one noticed that I had a pet with me. I picked a window seat so if I needed to take him from under the seat, it would be less obvious. There is a little less room in the window under seat area due to the curve of the plane, but I hate flying in middle seats and there was plenty of room for his small carrier. As it turns out the flight was not full an no one had to sit right next to another passenger.

Jersey did not make a peep the entire flight. I put the carrier on my lap after the snack and drink was over, but he really would have been fine under the seat for the 2 hour flight. Even the woman in the aise seat did not know that I had Jersey with me. I told her after the flight was over.

My trip home went almost the same way. I flew out of Newark and they also had a clean pet area with bags and a garbage. The fence did not go al all the way to the ground and he could have gotten under it if he was off leash.

All and all it was a very positive experience, so maybe next time I won't drive myself crazy before my trip.