Traveling with animals issometimes easier than traveling with children. Many ofus have been onflights where crying babies would not stop making afuss. But that’s just how itiswith toddlers, and all anyone can doisbepatient. You would suppose that the same goes for pets, but aflight attendant thought otherwise and caused great distress toapassenger carrying acat.
Janelle Rupkalvis, a travel influencer, was flying from Seattle to Salt Lake City with her cat when a flight attendant approached her.
We get on the plane. We got to get our stuff put away, all that stuff, and I’m not kidding you, we sit down, and within like 30 seconds, a minute, maybe two minutes, a flight attendant comes up to us, and I think that they’re going to remind us that, “Oh, you have a cat, they have to stay in the carrier the whole time.” Like, that’s a pretty common reminder that we get when we’re traveling with pets.
But no, instead, she goes, “If your cat doesn’t stop meowing, we’re gonna have to ask you to get off the plane.”
Iwas like, “Are you serious?” I’ve never heard this before. Wefly with him alot, and she’s like, “Ifyou can’t get him tostop, we’ll have toask you todeplane.” The first thought, Ididn’t say this, butI was like, “Soifparents have kids that are crying, dowemake them deplane? Like, how isthis any different?” But Idid not say that. Idid not gothere. Iwas just like, “Um, okay.”
Sonow we’re panicked. Noone said anything tothis flight attendant, we’ve been onthe plane for that little amount oftime. This flight attendant just, Idon’t know ifthey don’t like cats orwhat, butI could not believe how quickly this all happened, and I’m shocked again.
It’s five inthe morning. Webarely got any sleep, sonow we’re panicked, trying toget Gus tobequiet while everyone’s boarding and making noise aroundus sowedon’t get kicked off this flight. But Ialso, I’m like, “There’s noway that this isarule.” I’ve never heard this before.
Rupkalvis was aware of the airline's pet policy and decided to confirm it with customer service.
So I text Delta, and I ask them to clarify what the actual policy is, so I’m prepared in case the situation escalates. They said, “I don’t believe that you can be removed only because your cat is meowing. However, let me check the pet policies to be 100% certain.” They come back, and they say the requirements are that the customer is responsible for keeping the pet passive and in the kennel for the duration of the flight.
And two, the pet must be in a clean kennel that does not create discomfort for other customers. Well, we have a clean kennel. There’s no discomfort there, and the requirement is for the pet to be passive, not silent. Like, that is a huge distinction. I was happy to have this information in case the situation escalated. It didn’t.
But before I let the agent go, I asked if there was any compensation that we could get because of the incorrect information that we were told on the plane, and how that caused a really anxiety- and stress-induced situation, because now we’re worried about our cat meowing. He’s a cat. The customer service agent came back and offered us either a $150 voucher per person, or 15,000 miles each for my partner and I.
So we took the miles, so we got 30,000 miles out of the situation. I feel like that compensation is fair. That helps smooth over the situation.
Many passengers have had unforgettable flights that are agreat story every time they meet someone new. However, not all cases are happy situations and sometimes people are left with great discomfort and bitterness.
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