I don't know if this has been mentioned, but you don't need to check a bag. He counts as your "peprsonal item" (purse, laptop bag, etc) if he's in a small purse... at least that's how they've always run it for me. Also, once I had Tashi and my carryon.. and they didn't have room for my carryon, so they gate-checked my carryon free of charge.
I don't know about for American.. but I've flown Delta, Jet Blue, Virgin, and Southwest without a single trouble doing it like this. I usually just stick my wallet in Tashi's bag, and put my purse in my carryon. |