I have flown with my cat several times. It’s unbelievably annoying and my cat is the by far the least of my worries. Usually, it’s a $100 or so fee one way, so around $200 round trip. But yet, the pet takes up one of your carry on luggage bags, and you have to sign something that they (the airline) will provide absolutely no additional service for anything and they have no liability. Then, they only allow a certain amount of pets on the flight (their discretion?), and so it amounts to a first come, first serve basis. There’s no way to pre-register the pet. You have to do it when you check in. So, what is the ridiculous fee even for?

Oh, and to go through security, you have to take a nervous and scared cat out of their carry case in the middle of the security line, walk through the metal detector, and then they have to test both of your hands for residue while still carrying the cat. They will not let you put the cat back before they’ve tested your hands. It makes no sense.

The whole process and fee is basically security and the airlines saying “we’re annoyed, so we’ll make you pay for it with process and fees”.

I always make it a point to notify the passengers next to me that I have a cat in case they are allergic. This again is something the airline does not care about to do themselves, which again makes no sense because it’s probably the single biggest risk for the flight and passengers (someone having an allergic reaction in the middle of a flight).