Ready for take-off? Got your travel pillow, your earplugs, and your snacks? Great! Hang on, what about your emotional support animal? We are talking about those lovable furballs that keep our spirits soaring even when at 35,000 feet high and stuck in a metal bird.
Traveling can be stressful, and an emotional support animal can make a difference. However, the rules vary from airline to airline, confusing many travelers. Don’t worry. We are here to decode requirements and legalities when traveling with emotional support animals.
Ensure you have a relaxed, convenient journey by knowing which airlines allow emotional support animals. Let’s discover all about it in this article!
How To Fly With An Emotional Support Animal?
Here are some important things that may help you to fly with your emotional support animals.
1) Inform the Airline You Travel With
It is important to ensure you arrive at your flight as early as possible because it will help inform the company about the ESA you want to travel with. When you collaborate with the flight in charge, you may get the necessary information about the laws to travel with ESA.
2) Be Humble to Other Passengers
Remain cautious about your fellow passengers and take care of their personal space. Some people may be afraid of animals like dogs or cats, so it is important to provide them with satisfaction about your emotional support animal letter. Ensure your pet is humble and doesn’t bother or inconvenience fellow passengers.
3) Train Your ESA
If you have a flight for several hours for a long journey, then it is important to train your pet and take care of their essentials like peeing, etc. You may not want your pet to create a mess on the flight, as it is embarrassing. So, train your pet before traveling and try to train your pet with the pads.
4) Ensure Everything
Recheck everything before starting your journey and collect information about the laws of certain airlines. Keep several pads for your pet, train it, be patient, and follow the crew’s instructions to maintain the flow of your flight.
Can I Take My Emotional Support Animal on International Flights?
It is important to know that every airline has individual rules and regulations about emotional support animals. However, there are no certain criteria or certifications to take your ESA on international flights.
You must contact the airlines you want to travel with and tell them about your ESA. Some airlines like Hawaiian Airlines and Alaska Airlines are allowed to you’re your ESAs in climate-controlled cargos. While other lines like American Airlines only allow US military members to travel with emotional support animals on official orders.
Airlines like Alaska, Spirit, Frontier, and Southwest Airlines allow your emotional support animals along with you in the cabin but in the carrier that you may need to tuck under your seat throughout the journey.
What You Should Do To Make Sure You Have No Problems Flying?
Your pets are not like you and don’t know how to behave while traveling. So it is important to train them before flying. Here are some tips that may help you to avoid problems while flying with your emotional support pet.
1) Exhaust Your Pet
One of the most amazing things you can do to calm your ESA while flying is to exhaust it. It is a useful trick that will work for your newly appointed ESAs.
2) Deal with Anxiety
Pets may be anxious on flights. If your pet has any issue related to flight or is concerned about it, then one of the best things is to consult with a vet before flying. The vet may give some medication to calm your ESA.
3) Monitor the Eating Routine
It is important to observe your pet’s eating habits before flying keenly. It is time to restrict your pet’s food intake as it may cause sickness or stomach disorders in your pets.
4) Get a Pet-Friendly Kennel
Finding a kennel that matches your pet’s size to stand or sit comfortably is important. Some flights may not allow you to travel without a kennel, so a pet-friendly and spacious kennel is important.
4) Toys
Don’t forget to take your pet’s favorite toys with you, as they can help your pet to become bored or irritated.
Conclusion
You can travel with your ESA, but the DOT rule changed for emotional support animals, and now the airlines are not restricted to accepting ESA on flights. They set their own rules and regulations regarding ESAs. So, it is important to ensure that airlines allow emotional support animals on their flights. Moreover, training your pet before traveling is also good to avoid inconvenience.
Most British flights allow you to travel with your pets, especially service dogs weighing up to 6 kg. But they allow other pets on flights in waterproof bags or cages with 20 x 30 x 20 cm dimensions.
Emotional support dogs are not allowed on most direct flights to and from the US. You can only travel with your emotional support animals if you have an ESA letter from a certified mental health professional. It is also important that your emotional support dogs are trained to behave well in public.
Yes, Lufthansa allows pets like dogs or cats in the cabin. But it is important to know that you may need to make the booking 72 hours before departure of the flight. They check the documentation and availability of space for your pet on the flight.
