pet travel

Jack the cat is stuck at JFK airport

Pets,

Talk about being stuck at the airport.

[Update: August 31, 2011 2 p.m. west coast time: Jack still at large.]

For msnbc.com’s Overhead Bin I tracked down the story of Jack the cat today.

Jack has been on the loose in the American Airlines baggage center at New York’s John F. Kennedy airport for five days now and animal lovers on Facebook and Twitter are joining forces to urge the airline to get serious about finding this lost cat.

Here’s the story:

Karen Pascoe and her two adopted cats, Jack and Barry, were scheduled to fly American Airlines Flight 177 from JFK to San Francisco on Aug. 25, just ahead of Hurricane Irene. Pascoe was moving across the country with her two cats to start a new job in California.

The cats, too big to fit comfortably in one under-the-seat cat carrier, were flying in separate carriers as cargo. But shortly after the cats were checked in, Jack went missing.

“I said goodbye to cats and then went to get dinner,” said Pascoe. “And then I got a call from American letting me know Jack was out of the kennel.”

The cat didn’t appear when Pascoe went to the baggage area to call out to Jack. Pascoe had to leave without finding him because the other cat and the rest of her luggage were on the last flight to San Francisco. “That’s a giant baggage area, and he was nowhere to be found. At best I knew he was hiding somewhere,” said Pascoe.

Pascoe was assured the airline would keep looking for Jack and that she’d get a call with an update the next day. But no one called, and when Pascoe tried calling the baggage area on the weekend, no one answered the phone.

“I respect the fact that a hurricane was coming and things were a bit challenging,” said Pascoe, “but I didn’t hear from American until about 60 hours later.”

American’s silence prompted Pascoe’s sister to set up the “Jack the Cat is Lost in AA Baggage at JFK” Facebook page over the weekend, which quickly attracted mor than 2,000 fans. Many pet lovers also posted notes on American Airlines’ Facebook page urging them to find Jack, prompting the airline to post a response about its efforts to find the missing cat.

“Our JFK employees are using a variety of methods to try to find Jack, including setting cans of cat food by his kennel,” American Airlines spokesman Ed Martelle told msnbc.com. “Additionally, we are working with the Mayor’s Alliance for New York City to assist in providing humane animal traps … We offer our sincere regrets for this incident and are doing everything possible to locate him.”
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Pascoe credits Facebook and Twitter, and other animal lovers, with getting the airline to finally pay attention. She said she finally got a call from someone at American Airlines on Sunday and on Monday spoke with an assigned contact person in the airline’s central baggage claim department four times.

“I can’t help but feel a little frustrated that they didn’t have a better procedure in place,” said Pascoe, “but they’re finally stepping up and are on their game to help me.”

As of midday Tuesday, Jack the cat still hadn’t been found.

Cats & cat allergies on a plane

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Each Friday on msnbc.com’s Overhead Bin I get to answer a reader’s question. This week Christopher Ambler wanted to know not how to take a cat on a plane, but how to avoid cats on a plane.

“If I have an allergy attack, it manifests as asthma that could not only cause a trip to the hospital, at best, but also typically means I will be recovering for days after receiving treatment,” wrote Ambler.

He tries to call ahead to see if there might be cats in the cabin, but “I’m often told that I have no recourse. They have said that I should ask for a seat change, but with re-circulated air, no seat is safe. Travel insurance also doesn’t cover this, as it’s a foreseeable circumstance.”

Rebooking on another flight sometimes solves the conflict, but then he’s often hit with an airline’s change fee, Ambler said.

Ambler is not alone. According to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI), about 10 percent of people with allergies are allergic to pets.

“It can be tough,” said Todd Rambasek, an AAAI fellow and a doctor with E.N.T. & Allergy Health Services in Cleveland, Ohio. “You can try avoidance measures and ask to be moved to another part of the plane. But even if there’s no pet in the cabin or near where you’re seated, remember that a lot of people carry pet dander on their clothes.”

Rambasek said asthma sufferers on airplanes might consider pre-medicating or wearing a face mask, such as those worn by some travelers during flu season.

Ambler has his own suggestion: During the booking process, he’d like airlines to alert a passenger if a pet is already booked on the flight. “If so, I would gladly say, ‘Hey, they booked first, I’ll take a different flight.’ But if someone with a pet allergy books first, pets should be disallowed on that flight. First to book should win,” said Ambler.

I ran that idea past a few airlines. American Airlines told me such a plan would be too complex, too time-consuming and too unreliable to administer.

“Just as with our policy for peanut allergies, we simply cannot assure customers that our aircraft are free of allergens, even if there is no pet onboard,” said American Airlines spokesperson Andrea Huguely. “We cannot guarantee our flights to be allergy-free, and customers should consult their physician as to the best way to medically deal with that issue.”  (American does not serve peanuts, but allows up to seven booked pets per flight.)

But here’s another strategy that may help. Many pet-friendly organizations list airline pet-policies on their websites. Studying those will tell you how much each airline charges for an in-cabin pet (some airline pet fares can top $100 each way) and how many pets each airline allows in the cabin. Frontier Airlines, for example, allows up to 10 pets aboard each flight.

Travelers seeking to avoid flying with other people’s pets might choose an airline that either limits the number of pets in the cabin or charges a high fee for passengers to bring their pets along.

Pets on planes

Pets,

Each week on msnbc.com’s Overhead Bin, I have the opportunity to answer a reader’s question. This week the topic was pets on planes.. A reader wanted to know if she could take her small dog in the cabin.

The good news is that, yes, on most airlines small pets may travel in the cabin.

The bad news: There are plenty of restrictions. And, in some cases, the ticket for your tabby or toy poodle may end up costing more than your own.

“The cost runs anywhere from $50 all the way to $125. And that’s each way,” says Kim Saunders of Petfinder.com.

“Pets will also need a recent health certificate, while will require a veterinary office visit that can cost from $35 to $100. You’ll also need to be sure your pet is in an approved pet carrier that can fit underneath the seat.”

Passengers taking a pet on a plane should also keep these tips in mind:

Make your reservation well in advance. Frontier Airlines allows up to 10 ticketed pets in the cabin, but most airlines only allow one or two. “You and your pet may not be able to take the flight you want,” said Saunders. And all pets need to remain in their carrier under the seat for the duration of the flight.

Give your pet food and water far ahead of the flight so that your pet can visit the relief area before going through security. (A few airports have relief areas post-security; but every airport has a spot for Spot outside). “Even then, it’s a good idea to put something soft and absorbent in the carrier. Just in case,” said Saunders.

Make sure your pet is social. Your pet must stay inside the carrier at all times, but at the security checkpoint, you’ll be required to take the pet out and either walk it or carry it through the metal detector. “If there’s an alarm because of the leash or a metal collar, the pet will be checked physically, in a sort of pet pat-down, by an agent to resolve any kind of issue,” said TSA spokesperson Nico Melendez.

Some people have tried to put their pets − and sometime their babies − through X-ray machines. “That won’t harm a pet or a baby, but we prefer they don’t do that,” said Melendez.

For more information about taking your pet on a plane, check your airline’s website or the resource section of a website such as Petfinder.com, which recently issued its 2011 list of the most pet-friendly airlines in the United States and Canada.

Resources for traveling with your pet

Air Travel, Pets, , ,

Do you travel with your pooch?

If you take your dog to the airport, it’s good to know where the pet rest areas are located.

The folks at PetFriendlyTravel.com recently dropped me a note to let me know that they’ve updated their list of airline pet policies and the database listing the location of pet relief areas at airports.

And, just in time for summer, they’ve also updated the list of beaches that welcome dogs.

 

Photo via Flickr Commons

Souvenir Sunday: miniature books and travel-sized items

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Each Sunday here at StuckatTheAirport.com is Souvenir Sunday: a day to take a look at some of the fun, inexpensive souvenirs you can find at airports.

AYP Novelty Shop from UW Libraries, digital collection

This week: fun, inexpensive and tiny things to bring to the airport and on your trip.

A friend heading to India (lucky duck!) was seeking suggestions for three weeks-worth of titles to load onto a borrowed Kindle.

E-books are certainly the modern way to lighten your load, but in the past avid readers might have chosen to pack miniature books instead. Perhaps some of the books described in a recent blog post by a special collections cataloger at the Smithsonian Institution.

Diane Shaw writes that the Smithsonian’s collection includes more than 50 miniature books, each three inches or less, and calls them “practical as well as whimsical,” and “easily tucked inside a wallet or pocket.”

Miniature book at Smithsonian Institution

That sounds perfect for traveling.  Especially the tiny treasure titled Witty, Humorous and Merry Thoughts, which is in a metal locket-like case with a magnifying glass in the cover.

Miniature book at Smithsonian

Book photos courtesy Smithsonian Institution

But  why stop with books? Perhaps you already travel with a collapsible umbrella, a tiny alarm clock and TSA-friendly toiletries and cosmetics.

Here are few other items to consider:

Orikaso makes foldable, incredibly light and thin mugs, bowls and plates that, when not in use, are flat pieces of Greenpeace-endorsed polypropylene.

folding tableware

Bamboo markets several sizes of these collapsible Silicone travel bowls for pets.  But since the bowls are made from FDA-compliant materials and are PVC and BPA-free, I suspect they’d also come in handy for use by people too.

collapsible pet dog bowls

All sorts of games, from Mahjong and Monopoly to Candyland and Cribbage, can be found in travel-size versions.  And then there are some of the items for sale at sites like minimus.biz.

In addition to the classic travel-sized personal care, cosmetic and pharmacy items, the site carries single-serving food items and useful pocket-sized survival items such as mini-rolls of duct tape, light sticks and space-age emergency blankets.

emergency blannket

Have you found a great, must-have travel-sized item?  Please share your tips here.

More cute airport pet parks

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Earlier this week I posted a picture of the cute sculpture in one of the pet relief areas at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL)

Pet relief area ATL

ATL pet relief area

And the smart park at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)

PHX pet relief area

PHX pet relief area

Both are pretty doggone cute. But the folks at Reno-Tahoe International Airport felt left out – so they sent me a note about the spot they’ve set aside for Spot.

Reno-Tahoe International Airport pet relief area

RNO airport pet relief area

It’s hard to tell how cute the park is -but I love the name: Bark Park.

And here’s the park for pets at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.

Austin Airport pet relief area

Austin-Bergstrom Airport dog park

Have you and your pet found an airport pet relief area that’s fancy AND functional?  Let us know and we’ll try to sniff out a photo and post it here.

Cutest airport pet park?

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Sculpture at Atlanta Airport pet relief area

Artwork at ATL pet relief area

In response to a law that’s already a year-old, airports throughout the United States are putting in fenced, pet relief areas outside – and in a couple of cases, inside – the terminals.

It’s a welcome amenity for pets and their people. And although they don’t have to make the parks look lovely, many airports have created parks that are doggone cute.

The photo above is from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

Cute, right?

Here’s a shot of one of the pet relief areas at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport:

Bone Yard pet relief area at PHX

PHX Bone Yard for pets

I’m gathering up more photos and will share them soon. But in the meantime, please nominate the nicest-looking or most convenient airport pet relief area you’ve found in your travels.  We’ll add it to the list and try to get a photo.