Pets take to the skies

Taking your kitty or doggie with you on vacation recently got a little easier for you and less stressful on your pet.

Starting Monday, tickets for Southwest Airlines flights beginning June 17 were sold allowing paying customers to bring pets in the cabin when flying. A $75 fee will be charged.

According to USA Today, Southwest did not previously allow pets in the cabin. To comply, pets must be in a carrier that will fit underneath the seat. The carrier will count as one piece of carry-on luggage.

"Our enhanced boarding process has opened the window, allowing us to accommodate small pets comfortably on a Southwest flight — without impacting our efficiency," Southwest CEO Kelly says in a statement. Southwest's pet program will be known as P.A.W.S. — or "Pets Are Welcome on Southwest."

To make sure people understand the new policy, Southwest put a video up on YouTube to explain it, using a Chihuahua and a kitten. Watch it here.

The new fee for pets is also joined by an increase in fees for unaccompanied minors and overweight bags.

Of course, not everyone is sanguine about the new pets-allowed policy.

An article in the Denver Post said the new policy "brought howls of protest from people concerned about allergies, onboard barking and smelly conditions."

"I have a granddaughter who has a big problem with asthma, and she can't even breathe around a dog," said Marlene Sanders of Golden.

Pat Anderson of Littleton agreed, saying she is allergic to cats. "They are catering to the Paris Hiltons of the world," Anderson said. "When do we start paying attention to people and not the bottom line?"

"Paris Hiltons of the world"? When was the last time you were on a Southwest flight?

Up, up and away for flying with pets

Travel much with your pets? I mean, really travel, where you have to take a plane or a train?

Not surprisingly, it's getting more expensive to fly with your pet.

This article from the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel said the prices are climbing skyward.

The round-trip costs of traveling with a pet now are almost as much as some low-fare tickets. In an economic recession, the expense is tough for most pet owners to justify, said George Hobica, founder of the airfare deal Web site airfarewatchdog.com.

It's one thing to take a small dog with you in the cabin of a plane, but I can't imagine crating a dog and having it fly in the belly of the plane. What fear the animal must be experiencing.

I feel for the woman who shows goldens and has to fly with them, but for the average person, with costs so much higher, the real alternative is boarding or pet-sitting.