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The Jaunted Guide to Pet Travel Fees on Major US Airlines

Just because you're on the move to a new destination or vacation doesn't mean your pet has to stay at home. Flying with a small dog or cat is actually pretty easy if all rules are observed and fees paid, as we recently discovered while flying with our new kitten.

Traveling with a pet means paying attention to many restrictions, such as on destinations, aircraft type, travel class, pet weight and size, breed, and how many other pets are already booked for your desired flight. Always check with the airline for the latest rules before purchasing and traveling. Just remember to have veterinarian paperwork detailing the pet's vaccination record, and have yours and your pet's travel booked in advance.

Now, for the details on pet fees on major US airlines:*

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EasyJet (Hopefully) Kisses Long Airport Lines Good-Bye

This is not a late April's Fools prank.

Flying Europe's original low-cost carrier will now begin a different foot, as starting April 30th, the departures area for EasyJet will adopt a futuristic feel where passengers are checking themselves in and tagging their own bags.

Of course you'll still have to pay the £25 fee for a checked bag, but since the airline has estimated that about 80% of their passengers already check-in online, they've decided to do away with the extra cost of staffing a desk. It's all in the name of keeping airfares low, you know.

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Airline Industry / Europe / Europe Travel / Travel News / Airline News / Ryanair / Airline Fees / → All Tags

European Union Increases Airline Passenger Rights, But Not Until 2015

The European Union is considering changing the regulations that govern how airlines have to compensate/assist/not-screw-over passengers that they've stranded. Whether it's because they don't like their airline industry or because they do like their passengers is an open question, but changes they're nonetheless making.

The E.U. is already a relatively OK place to be a passenger. Under EU261, airlines have to refund ticket prices for cancellations and long delays, plus there are all kinds of rules about how geographically close airlines have to get their passengers when flights are diverted to alternate airports.

The implementation of those rules is admittedly imperfect. The refund rule sometimes ends with passengers taking airlines to court, and the geography regulation has its own loopholes (Ryanair once kind of hilariously met the rule by dropping passengers off on a nearby island rather than the one they were bound for. Close enough!) But at a minimum, the E.U. has been trying.

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United's Newest Fee Will Get You on the Plane Faster

Another week another airline fee, and this time it’s all about speeding through the airport. United is just the latest carrier to provide convenience in exchange for cash, as they’re hoping that you’ll gladly part with a few bucks in favor of a shorter line at airport security.

The new option starts at just $9 each way, and United is calling it Premier Access. Usually it’s just reserved—for free—for their more frequent fliers, but now one and all can rub elbows with the airline’s elite as they make their way through the security line.

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Southwest is the Latest to Offer Priority Boarding in Exchange for Cash

At this point we have pretty much accepted that airlines are going to charge us extra for anything we could possibly want. Snacks, space, and suitcases all come at a premium when it’s finally time to get yourself to the airport, but of course once it’s time to hop aboard things like early boarding and extra legroom are also available—for a price. Southwest Airlines is the latest carrier to throw their hat fees into the ring, as they’re eager to help you get on board one of their blue-bellied planes earlier than the other passengers. However, it’s going to cost you.

They might hate baggage fees, but they don’t hate early boarding fees. As this week Southwest Airlines made it known that $40 will get you one of the top 15 spots in their boarding system. Just in case you don’t recall how it works over at Southwest, everyone gets a number—and a letter—and then you board in that order. The trick is to check-in right at the 24-hour mark before your flight, as that kind of increases your odds of winning the boarding lottery.

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Southwest Taking Away 'No Fee' Ticket Changes Because People Cheat

Southwest Airlines has long had a problem with travelers abusing the airline's no-fee ticket change policies. Customers would purchase multiple tickets for the same destination, choose the outbound flight they wanted, and then bank the money for future flights—but not cancel beforehand. The result has been a lot of unused seats and a lot of lost revenue for Southwest.

To deal with the problems created by the "no fee" policies, Southwest has come up with a fairly straightforward solution. They're going to take away the no-fee policy and replace it with one that imposes a "no show fee" on passengers who bought super-cheap "Wanna Get Away" tickets and cancel before not showing up. Oh, and they're also going to start charging higher fees for travelers checking in more than two bags. And also for travelers checking in bags that are too heavy. And also for travelers who want to move to the front of the boarding line. So at least they're ambitious.

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No Surprise Here! Ryanair Increases Fees for the Holiday Season

When Ryanair-of-North-America Spirit Airlines decided to raise their fees in anticipation of the American holiday season, we declared—truthfully, albeit perhaps with an unnecessary touch of coarseness—that we just couldn't bring ourselves to give a fuck any more. They gleefully exploit holiday travelers and those same travelers return to the LCC and boost its profits? There's not much we can do.

And now that the actual Ryanair has pulled pretty much the same trick - introducing a new 2% booking fee for credit card users as the holiday season gets underway, we can't muster anything more than the same meh we had for Spirit. This is Ryanair. Of course that's what they did.

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New Spirit Airlines Fees Kick In Just in Time for Holiday Travel

You know, there's probably a clever way to open this post, like maybe with a reference to Christmas and the Grinch or whatever. But honestly, when it comes to Spirit Airlines, we just can't bring ourselves to give a fuck any more.

The Ryanair of North America wants to raise fees on holiday trips weeks before Thanksgiving because they know they can exploit flustered travelers? Fair enough. The airline's overarching strategy has been so successful that it's managed to recently expand into DEN and MSP? Terrific. These are the same people who make high school playground masturbation jokes about Presidential candidates? We're very happy for them. Go with God.

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Your Skis Fly Free This Winter If You Fly Monarch

It’s never too early to start thinking about ski season, and that’s especially the case with November just around the corner. Sure the good flakes might not start coating those slopes until a month or two from now, but we’re thinking that there will be plenty of the white fluffy stuff to get you outdoors. The only problem with skiing is that there’s a lot of equipment to lug and things get even more inconvenient when you need to fly to the mountain. Thankfully there’s one airline over in Europe that’ll serve as a lift for your equipment, and they’ll do it for free.

Monarch Airlines out of the United Kingdom is gearing up for ski season and offering to carry your stuff under the belly of the plane without an extra fee. You do need to book your tickets between now and the end of 2012, and you’ll end up saving yourself roughly $65. They’ve even got low rates to many popular destinations, as rates start around $55 each way inclusive of taxes to spots like Friedrichshafen and Innsbruck.

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Hey, How About a New Airline Fee to Get Off the Plane Before Everyone Else?

Airline fees have become such an ingrained part of the flying experience that there are now multiple different sites devoted to helping travelers understand what they're paying to whom and why.

Spirit Airlines, the anti-customer Ryanair of North America, has used fees to rack up reliable profits, triggering a consumer backlash that by all accounts will have exactly zero impact on how they do business (although in fairness, the airline did delay until October its $2 kiosk fee, which is essentially a $2 paper charge, so it's not like they're monsters!)

It was only a matter of time before the airline industry brainstormed fresh ways to nickle-and-dime customers. This new one is kind of inspired, and comes from a survey conducted by fare-tracking site Airfarewatchdog. Apparently about one out of every six passengers would be willing to pay a fee to deplane faster by jumping to the front of the line. Because why not?

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Senator Schumer Demands Your Family Sit Together, Fee-Free

Just in time for the summer travel season, it looks like the government is stepping in to help out all those families heading off to the beach, to Grandma’s and to Disney World. Senator Chuck Schumer—he’s a Democrat from New York—isn’t really the biggest fan of airline fees and surcharges, so he’s voicing his concern and displeasure. He’s especially peeved about the airlines offering premium seats for a fee, and how this might force families to pay extra just to sit next to one another.

Here’s exactly what he has to say about these seating shenanigans:

Children need access to their parents and parents need access to their children. Unnecessary airline fees shouldn't serve as a literal barrier between mother and child.

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Jump Lines at the Airport with US Airways' New 'PreferredAccess' Fee

We’re sure we’re not the only ones lusting over the access and convenience that comes with being an elite frequent flyer, but unfortunately it's not all that easy to gain status on more than one airline in one year. Well there’s now a fix for those dreaming of preferred check-in lines and expedited security screening, as US Airways is opening up their premium services to one and all. Unfortunately, it comes with a price.

US Airways' latest money making idea has nothing to do with selling soft drinks up in the air, but it does have everything to do with what they’re calling PreferredAccess. The airline is promising a more convenient airport experience, as you’ll make your way up to preferred ticket counters and the priority security lanes. Once you finally get to the gate there’ll be no need to unnecessarily loiter, as you will now be one of the first to board the plane with Zone 1 access and will likely win the battle of the overhead bin.

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