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There's an easy solution to this: pet-friendly and pet-unfriendly airlines. The prices shouldn't be much different, because there are benefits to both being all

There's an easy solution to this: pet-friendly and pet-unfriendly airlines. The prices shouldn't be much different, because there are benefits to both being allowed to bring your pet and not being around pets, and in most cases the experience is nearly the same. If they are, the pet-friendly airline would be the more expensive one.

lotsofpulp 5y ago
And then everyone claims their animal is a service animal so they do not have to pay extra to go on the pet friendly airline per ADA, and we are back to square one. edit: sorry, I meant claiming their dog is a service animal, not any animal
- scott_w 5y ago
  That’s not how that works. You don’t just “declare” they’re a service animal and all is well. In fact, even real service animals often have issues in spite of the laws supposedly ensuring their access.
  - lotsofpulp 5y ago
    Sorry, I meant claiming any dog is a service animal. Per this website: https://www.transportation.gov/individuals/aviation-consumer-protection/service-animals https://www.transportation.gov/individuals/aviation-consumer... And this one: https://beta.ada.gov/topics/service-animals/ https://beta.ada.gov/topics/service-animals/ It seems like there is nothing stopping someone from claiming their dog is a service animal. The DOT website says airlines can ask service animal owners to fill out a couple self attestation forms, and while that puts a little bit of skin in the game for the service animal owner, it does not seem easy to prove fraud.
  - dwighttk 5y ago
    >You don’t just “declare” they’re a service animal and all is well. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/united-airlines-changes-policy-on-comfort-animals-after-peacock-incident/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/united-airlines-changes-policy-... the peacock didn't get to fly, but before they changed their policy it was $125 for a pet or $0 for a comfort animal, and they hadn't been checking if the animal was vaccinated, obedient, or that there was any medical reason for the person to have the animal (so it seems like you could just declare your pet to be a comfort animal and save $125)
  - xyzzyz 5y ago
    That’s exactly how it works. People do just in fact declare their animals to be “service”, and because of how disability accommodation laws work, you cannot do anything about it.
  - xeromal 5y ago
    Come out to LA and you'll see "emotional support" dogs/animals that are definitely not trained pooping all over and eating produce in the grocery stores. All it takes is a 100$ and signing a paper and they get the little slip and vest.
- rockemsockem 5y ago
  No one is making their animal a service animal to save money. They're doing it to avoid putting their animal under the plane. The "saving money by making your dog an ESA or service animal" was just airline propaganda.
  - lotsofpulp 5y ago
    People do it at hotels everyday. All you have to do is say your dog is a service animal and make up a task that it does for you.
- spaetzleesser 5y ago
  Getting the service animal status is quite difficult. There used to be a category “support animal” but that has been pretty much scrapped.
kube-system 5y ago
I think there could be negative feedback loop here. If there’s enough demand to justify the change, then it’s going to turn into a barn yard atmosphere when you’re the only airline that does this and every flight has 20 untrained dogs on board. If there’s not that much demand, then what do you have to gain by risking the loss of profitable business fliers for some occasional pet flyers? People want to take their pets with them, but will they foot the bill for that cabin space and put up with everyone else’s pet, and do it in large enough numbers to fill planes?

lotsofpulp 5y ago

And then everyone claims their animal is a service animal so they do not have to pay extra to go on the pet friendly airline per ADA, and we are back to square one. edit: sorry, I meant claiming their dog is a service animal, not any animal

scott_w 5y ago
That’s not how that works. You don’t just “declare” they’re a service animal and all is well. In fact, even real service animals often have issues in spite of the laws supposedly ensuring their access.
- lotsofpulp 5y ago
  Sorry, I meant claiming any dog is a service animal. Per this website: https://www.transportation.gov/individuals/aviation-consumer-protection/service-animals https://www.transportation.gov/individuals/aviation-consumer... And this one: https://beta.ada.gov/topics/service-animals/ https://beta.ada.gov/topics/service-animals/ It seems like there is nothing stopping someone from claiming their dog is a service animal. The DOT website says airlines can ask service animal owners to fill out a couple self attestation forms, and while that puts a little bit of skin in the game for the service animal owner, it does not seem easy to prove fraud.
- dwighttk 5y ago
  >You don’t just “declare” they’re a service animal and all is well. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/united-airlines-changes-policy-on-comfort-animals-after-peacock-incident/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/united-airlines-changes-policy-... the peacock didn't get to fly, but before they changed their policy it was $125 for a pet or $0 for a comfort animal, and they hadn't been checking if the animal was vaccinated, obedient, or that there was any medical reason for the person to have the animal (so it seems like you could just declare your pet to be a comfort animal and save $125)
- xyzzyz 5y ago
  That’s exactly how it works. People do just in fact declare their animals to be “service”, and because of how disability accommodation laws work, you cannot do anything about it.
- xeromal 5y ago
  Come out to LA and you'll see "emotional support" dogs/animals that are definitely not trained pooping all over and eating produce in the grocery stores. All it takes is a 100$ and signing a paper and they get the little slip and vest.
rockemsockem 5y ago
No one is making their animal a service animal to save money. They're doing it to avoid putting their animal under the plane. The "saving money by making your dog an ESA or service animal" was just airline propaganda.
- lotsofpulp 5y ago
  People do it at hotels everyday. All you have to do is say your dog is a service animal and make up a task that it does for you.
spaetzleesser 5y ago
Getting the service animal status is quite difficult. There used to be a category “support animal” but that has been pretty much scrapped.

kube-system 5y ago

I think there could be negative feedback loop here. If there’s enough demand to justify the change, then it’s going to turn into a barn yard atmosphere when you’re the only airline that does this and every flight has 20 untrained dogs on board. If there’s not that much demand, then what do you have to gain by risking the loss of profitable business fliers for some occasional pet flyers? People want to take their pets with them, but will they foot the bill for that cabin space and put up with everyone else’s pet, and do it in large enough numbers to fill planes?