General Travel

Traveling with pets on Airlines

Traveling with a pet
Cat ready to go on the trip

People going on long vacations are often worried about leaving their pets alone. Well, if you love your pets like other members of your family, why not take your beloved pet with you? Traveling with pets can make your vacation much more exciting and it is a wonderful opportunity to strengthen your relationship with your pet. Pets tend to feel neglected when left alone and often develop inappropriate behaviors when they are left at home. Nowadays, traveling with your pets has become easier and widely acceptable, especially on airlines. However, this requires careful planning and advance bookings as most of the airlines allow a maximum of seven pets on a single flight.

There are multiple travel options available with airlines to make sure your pets reach the destination safely and easily. For example Delta Airlines gives you the advantage of making your pet travel as carry-on baggage, checked baggage, or air cargo. Continental airlines also provide the similar options. As a safety measure check out the government regulations as you may be required to take a health certificate and proofs of vaccination too. It always ideal to select non-stop flights and travel during early morning or late at night when the temperatures are comfortable.

It’s important to check out what kind of pets are allowed to travel. For Example cats and dogs are the only types of pets accepted for travel on American Airlines whereas Delta Airlines allows pets such as dogs, cats, birds, ferrets, rabbits, hamsters and guinea pigs to travel in the same cabin you are traveling in . However, the passengers traveling with these airlines are have to make prior arrangements for taking the pets along. Another important point before making the reservation is to check for the destinations where you can travel with your pets and its equally important to ask for kennel dimensions to make your pet easily fit under the seatt in front of you.

On the day of the flight, it is advisable that you do not feed your pet at least six hours before the flight to avoid motion sickness. Take away the water one hour before departure. Moreover, do not put food or water in the carrier as it may spill and create a mess. Most importantly do not ever use a tranquilizer before departure. Consult your veterinarian before giving any such medication and if desired, use the drugs recommended in the prescription.

Lastly, pets should have proper identification. The dog tag should bear the owner’s name, address, phone number and the name of the dog. For more advice and information, visit the Travel Buzz forum on Tripmama.com to get tips and advice on traveling with pets from the real life travelers.

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