I totally get that, but, she wasn't moving or anything. Just going on a weekend visit somewhere and wanted to bring the dog.
Hire a dog sitter, maybe? Or as another commenter mentions, if you care that much, pay for a seat for your non-service dog. Something many airlines still let you do, you just have to pay for it.
I wasn't aware you could buy an additional seat for your pet. I didn't think space was the issue - rather it was behavioral issues e.g dog starts panicking from the noise or change in air pressure and the disruptions that could cause to the operation of the flight. Plus passengers with allergies.
Should we not bring our dogs anywhere in public then? The onus is on the owner to control their animal in public or else they'd get fined or whatever. Air travel should be no different than a park.
I love dogs; have one myself. But there are lots of shitty owners out there that let their dogs run amok. On the ground that's merely annoying, but in the air it can be far more serious.
The problem is that an airplane cabin is a confined space and if there is a behavioral issue, nothing can be done about it until the plane is landed somewhere.
> The onus is on the owner to control their animal in public
Unfortunately, most do not. And then they just go "oh, she's friendly, don't worry", when their dog jumps up into some 3-year-old's face and scares the crap out of them...
Last time I did it (and it will be the last time...), it was $200 for the dog to go in a soft pet carrier under the seat and you could only check in at customer service so better be there an hour earlier than normal. I don't think our tickets were even that much. I can totally empathize with someone bringing a fake ESA in the cabin for financial/convenience sake.
Yea, what services is the airline providing in exchange for that extra fee? That’s what I never understood. They charge $100-300 for cargo that has to stay under the seat in an enclosed carrier the whole time. I could understand an extra deposit, that is only lost if the pet causes actual damage to the airline, but otherwise if all goes smoothly (as is probably the case 99% of the time), it should be free. People are understandably recognizing that airlines are just bilking pet owners as much as possible, just because they can.
Or, just maybe, the added customer support requirements for dealing with customers with pets in the cabin actually costs the airlines tens of millions of dollars per year, and your idealized version of the perfect pet voyage which doesn’t negatively impact any airline operation or fellow customer experience is not taking into account the total possible impact.
Maybe the fee is not intended to recoup actual cost but act as a deterrent. Of course, if you charge high fees while blindly accepting "emotional support animals" to mean something other than pet, people find easy ways around it, so it doesn't really work that well.
Hire a dog sitter, maybe? Or as another commenter mentions, if you care that much, pay for a seat for your non-service dog. Something many airlines still let you do, you just have to pay for it.