courtb

Hello!

We are in the process of moving to the states (10 weeks!) and have decided to fly with our cats in the cabin. With Lufthansa, it costs 70 Euros per cat. Even with the cost of purchasing special cat carriers, harnesses (and time to train them on the harness), calming aids, etc. it still works out to be much cheaper than shipping them in the hold. Further, for us, it gives us peace of mind that we're the ones keeping an eye on them the whole time.

civilservant

I guess the other people in the cabin better not be allergic to cats then! I personally think allowing animals in the cabin is a really bad idea, even as a guardian to 3 cats myself.

Jerseygirl

I agree...especially if the pet soils the carrier.

civilservant

Which in a 10 hour flight is almost inevitable!

lizzyq

Which is why I am looking at flying MAN-JFK direct with my 2 moggies in September. One of the shorter flight times and American Airlines let you check up to 2 pet crates as excess baggage at about 100GBP per crate. No way would I take them in the cabin, even if I could from the UK.

courtb

Well, it isn't always the safest to have your pets in the hold - they can get lost or even die. My childhood cat was left on the runway for about 30 minutes when he was flown from the east coast to west coast in the hold.

Further, there was a recent Swiss study that tested every seat on a few different airlines' planes. Every single seat, every single one, contained high amounts of the most common feline allergen - enough to trigger a reaction from the most allergic.

My husband and I will keep our cats in their carriers the whole time to prevent dander from being released into the air and will try to sit in a row of two to prevent people from being disturbed. How is this any different to people with peanut allergies - we aren't banned from bringing peanut products onto planes?

civilservant

Because a peanut allergy usually requires consumption of said peanut

courtb

Actually, not always. Have you met anyone with a severe peanut allergy? I worked with kids who reacted to any peanut residue on anything touching their skin. We ended up banning peanuts or food with possible traces of peanuts, because of these kids.

Most people will not have a reaction to the cats in the cat carrier as there is no additional dander being released into the air.

civilservant

Like I said, i personally wouldn't do it, but then I wouldn't bring an infant onto an aircraft either. Been on the other side of it and it isn't fun.

Pulaski

I guess your fellow travellers will be thankful for that, at least.

Don't get me wrong, Mrs P and I have three cats too, but I wouldn't want to share a flight with cats in carriers, not even my own. That Lufthansa allow animals in the cabin is something I will bear in mind whenever I'm booking air travel.

audio

It's not only cats that are allowed in the cabin. Dogs up to 6kgs (13lb) inc. crate and in my opinion these little rats sized dogs can make one helluva racket. Mine is too big to travel in the cabin, just as well. he suffers from gas.

Pulaski

Yeah, I know!

It surprises me that Lufthansa think it is worth accepting such a small minority of passengers (at least on long-haul flights) with the potential to cause aggravation and displeasure to so many other passengers.

audio

Yes including KLM and AirFrance

civilservant

Since they're the same company (KLM & AF), that's not surprising.

audio

No not necessarily, different branches of companies especially airlines have different regs. You didn’t include Delta, they are the in the same ‘partnership’ but have different regulations I can assure you.