American Airlines relaxing part of its policy for bringing pets, bags on flight

Earlier this week, American Airlines announced that it is relaxing part of its part pet policy so that owners can bring their pet as well as a full-size carry-on bag onto a flight.

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Before, travelers who brought a pet onto a flight could only have a small item that fit under the seat ahead of them for $150, The Associated Press reported. Items that were bigger had to be checked for $35 or the pet had to go into a cargo hold.

American is now allowing passengers to bring their pets onto the flight plus a carry-on bag or personal item, the AP reported.

“We made the change to provide a more convenient and comfortable experience to customers whose pets fly American,” a spokeswoman confirmed to the AP. The change went into effect on Thursday.

The spokeswoman did not explain the reason for the change due to the Good Friday holiday, CBS News reported.

“It was always frustrating that the dog counted as the carry-on even though I was paying the extra (pet) fee that was sometimes more than the ticket for me,” Gary Leff, a travel blogger who first wrote about the change, said Friday, according to the AP. Leff is hoping that the new change American has made will also help travelers from falsely claiming their pet is a service animal. Service animals reportedly fly on the airline for free.

The American Kennel Club said that most airlines will count pet carriers as carry-ones, CBS News reported. Some of the other airlines that do allow pets include Delta, Southwest, Alaska and Frontier.

More information about traveling with pets can be found on the American Airlines website.

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