We recently took our first flight with Katie Scarlett. We left on march 17 out of Baltimore. We took a one way flight on AirTran to Huntsville to visit our families. The flight was about an hour and a half. Katie Scarlett did fabulous. She has always been a good car rider so I did not worry about air sickness and she was fine. We did take her to the vet a few days before to have a check up and make sure she was ok to fly. We got her health certificate while we were there, which by the way we were not asked by anyone to see the certificate. We got to the airport about an hour and 45 minutes early. We parked in off site parking and took the airport shuttle to the terminal. The driver of the shuttle made me put Katie Scarlett in her carrier and zip the top all the way. Once at the airport and while waiting in security I let her poke her head out and no one said anything. When we got to security I was instructed to take her out of the carrier and was allowed to hold her as I walked through the detector thingie. They also did that wand thing over her and over my hands. She was allowed to keep her outfit on. After security I put her back in her carrier but let her poke her head out and everyone had a fit over her. Lol. So many awww's and ooooh's. It was fun. I stopped at a store in the terminal next to buy a bottled water so I could pour that into her travel water bottle. I bought the water bottle at pet smart. Once we got to our gate it was already time to board and I was asked nicely there to close the carrier. On the plane I sat in the window seat and she slid under the seat in front of me. I made sure I put the vented opening toward me so she could see me. She ruffed one time, I said quiet, and we didn't hear a peep out of her the whole ride. The stewardess was cool on our flight and let me take her out to give her water mud flight. However, on our return flight (same one way, AirTran in April) we had a guy and he was a little rude. He said no when I asked if I could give her water and went on about how they are not allowed out, but the seat next to me was empty and in the end he allowed me to give her water. So I think it depends on the stewardess you get whether they allow your pet out mid flight. I highly recommend one way flights if at all possible. It made flying such a breeze for us. Also, beforehand you will want to call the airline and reserve your pet. It was $69 each way for AirTran. The pet does count as your 1 personal item or carry on. Also, many airports have pet relief areas and you can visit those beforehand if need be. We let ks go before going on the shuttle and she was fine. Or if your baby is pad trained, you can take her in the stall with you at the airport to let her go beforehand. I personally did feed ks that morning but only a small amount. We had a morning flight. She did not get sick at all. Also check with your airline on tgd size specs that your carrier is allowed to be so it will fit under the seat. Although Katie Scarlett did fit, I noticed there was a tad more room under my husbands seat in front of him, which was an aisle seat. I know many yt'ers rave over the kwigy bo bags for airline travel. They are expensive though. I just bought a small carrier on eBay for our first flight that was about $30. I wanted to make sure she was going to fly well before investing a lot of money in a kwigy Bo or nicer carrier, but I think I definitely will now. She did so good and I fly often, I want one for us.
Hope this helps some!
