No, not a lion, though he thinks he’s one some days. My cat is big. Like almost Maine Coon, big. He is about 18″ long and weighs about 20 pounds. Last night I’m reviewing the traveling restrictions for the various airlines and see that all have a 20-pound weight limit to put them in the cabin with us, including the carrier. Ok Salt, it’s Lean Cuisine Iams for you for the next month! We are currently booked on American Airlines and I see in their restrictions that they “will not let a pet fly if the local temperature in any leg of the flight is going to be above 85 degrees.” Yes, this includes in the cabin with its owner. Um. Really? I am flabbergasted so I called AA. I said, “You DO understand that we are flying to St. Maarten, right? Is it ever less than 85 when the planes land mid-afternoon?” It literally took me going all the way up the chain of command only to hear them say that, that is a rule and “at the gate agent’s discretion whether we are allowed to board with the cat.” I said, “Can I get a note from my vet stating it’s ok for me to take the cat to St. Maarten even if it’s over 85?” “No, that only works for cold and even then it’s the gate agent’s call.” In addition, yes there’s more, AA informs me that the cat must be able to get up and turn around in their carrier. Salt is a big cat. He fills the carrier but not so much that he can’t turn around, we’ve tested this and have seen him do it. After reading reviews online about how anal AA agents are though, this was another risk I was unwilling to take. It’s not like I can just say to Salt on command, “OK, the agent needs to see you do the hokey pokey in there so turn yourself around!” and actually have him do it. OMG! So, long story short, we call Delta and Jet Blue and while they have weight restrictions (easily remedied), neither have the temperature restrictions at the final destination, much less each leg. While they both also have size restrictions on the carriers neither has this idiotic rule of having to prove the animal can turn around. So, we find ourselves canceling the AA ticket and rebooking on Delta. Of course, that is but one of those speed bumps along the way that one must consider. It may’ve been perfectly fine with AA out of Miami but I am no fan of AA to begin with and MIA tops my “worst airport ever” list so I was unwilling to risk it. I’ve never dealt with anyone who was pleasant at MIA. Murphy’s Law says that since we rebooked with Delta we’d have been fine with AA in Miami but there is no price one can put on peace of mind, IMHO. It’s not like I was going to just leave the cat and say, “See ya! We’ll be back to get you in January when maybe it’s cooler.” This new plan also saves us a drive to Miami with 2 cats in tow as well. Atlanta is only 4 hours from our house, much easier to manage.
St. Maarten Move 
If you look at Mr Smokey’s facebook page, you’ll see he has had several beach trips in SXM….
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Awesome! Our cats have been indoor cats their entire lives and will never see the beach lol. They prefer soft cushions and kitty bonbons lol!
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Cute cat. Glad u found solution. We fly our dogs Maltese to SXM all the time. Never heard of the temp requirements in cabin. Must be something new. However we usually fly United but have flown AA also. Good luck. They will be fine.
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Thanks, Patricia. We’re in the process of getting all their shots and exams and certifications done now, then it all has to go to the USDA in NY of course, to be signed off on. I never imagined that the hardest part of this was coordinating all their shots and certifications around a very specific timeline, but it is already giving me a massive headache. This too shall pass and in the meantime #wine
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There is a temp regulation relative to the animals flying in “cargo,” We also have never encountered that regulation for cabin flights nor the one for movement within the pet carrier.
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That’s the way I read it too but after the call to AA for clarity I was like #nope. Between their insistence that the temperature and “having to prove the cat can turn around in the carrier” thing was “up to the gate agent” this was not something I was willing to risk. As a side note, I see people on my cruise boards asking, “I have a 10am flight can I make this?” And they’ll get hundreds of replies from folks saying “they’ve done it tons of times with no issue”. After 56 cruises and being held for random customs checks for a few of those and not being able to disembark until after noon I always advise my clients that early flights are a bad idea. I post back to those saying “it’s fine, I’ve done it a dozen times and never missed a flight” that
they missed an important word, “yet”. Since the repercussion of an anal gate agent would be that the cat doesn’t board, this is absolutely not a risk I can take. Just my 2¢. Others may feel differently.
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Just a note to state that we have flown our cat on American Airlines multiple trips and it has been very successful and simple relative to the airlines. We sought out all the traveling pets on flights we took for the year before our move with Mr Smokey–all on AA–and had good reports from everyone we encountered traveling with a pet. Now, the real fun is with TSA….I won’t go into it, but be prepared, kitties must come out of the cat carrier so the carrier can be scanned. Mr Smokey and we have survived even that with a little pre-planning (and cat vest with harness and leash, to thwart any possible “bolt!”) And, remember, you need to get your guys to the SXM vet in the first 24 hours….But, this is only hard the first time, then it’s part of the adventure!!
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Yes, we have read that kitties must be removed. I’m not too worried about that part. Our cats have been indoor cats their entire lives and are very skiddish. The big cat was very clingy yesterday at the vet, for example. I think their default would be to be held rather than placed in carriers.
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I hear you…and if we had such a response we would have been as concerned as you….turned out we had a different agent when we called for information! That’s one thing about the airlines (or any mega electronic customer support) so much depends on who answers the phone and their attitude at that time….You probably won’t be going back and forth with the kitties too much, but for now, we need to take care of business on both ends so Mr Smokey will be on the circuit for awhile–we anticipate around 4 round trips per year through 2019.
HOW’S YOUR LIST COMING? I’m doing OUR lock up list now so we can head to North Carolina at hurricane season…a little more to think about the prepare for — just in case.
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PS, we arrive on a Saturday so we’re advised that a Monday vet visit is acceptable.
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Great to check on the vet visits, after awhile and familiarity with the vet, we’ve found the kitty travel to be pretty easy to manage….but we stay on top of it, because one of us would have to stay behind with kitty until we could travel if there were a snafu.
Where will you live on the island? Maybe we could swap contact information just in case one of us needed a quick kitty sitter–like getting delayed when headed home at meal time! I’m a big time community advocate–network to share the care with others!
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You are correct, once there we will not move the kitties again until we move. There will be no more back and forth for sure. Message me through the blog after we move (9/29) and we will exchange numbers. My hubby is also going to get a local St. Maarten number as well. I’ll keep my US number.
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Hi! You’re move sounds exhausting and exciting! Your cat is gorgeous! I too have a cat who the vet says is a “plus size gal”. She warned me though, that it is dangerous for cats to lose weight too quickly. I found this link about the subject. https://www.petmd.com/cat/nutrition/evr_ct_obesity_in_cats_and_what_to_do_about_an_overweight_cat?page=4 Good luck with the move and the kitties!
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Hi Eileen! Yes, we are taking it slow, he only needs to lose about 2 pounds by 9/29. Our vet gave us pointers 🙂
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