The Best Pet Friendly Airlines in the Country

In general, commercial airlines are not very good to trust the transport of animals to. When pet stores and pet owners use commercial airlines to transport pets, it isn't unusual to see animals die. On most commercial airline flights, your pets don't get to travel in the cabin. They only get to travel in the hold where there is no real protection against pressure changes and temperatures changes. Not to mention, it isn't just the flight time that you need to worry about. From the time you give your pet up at the counter, your pet is on his own. It can take quite a while for them to put your pet on the plane and then bring him back to you at the other end. In other words, most commercial airlines aren't really pet friendly airlines.

Pet Airways is certainly one way to go. This is the only airline out there that's completely designed for pet comfort. It's an airline that only takes pets - not people. When you check your pet in on this airline, they treat your pet like they would a minor child traveling alone on a commercial flight.

The flight attendant takes charge of the pet, personally transports him into the cabin, feeds him and gets him some water every now and then, and keeps him entertained. If you have large dogs like Great Danes to transport, commercial airlines can be torture to them. A dedicated airline like Pet Airways is the only one that will allow him to stand up at full height instead of sitting down all scrunched up in the cage.

But there are other pet friendly airlines out there, even if they are commercial ones that transport people. Since Pet Airways only goes to a dozen cities around the country, if you're going anywhere that this airline doesn't go to, you're completely limited to commercial airlines.

Which are the most pet friendly commercial airline companies in the country?

JetBlue actually has a pet transport program that they call JetPaws. They have all kinds of allowances that allow pets to travel safe and in comfort. They allow pets in the cabin in a special section. Frontier Airlines does the same. In fact, of all the commercial airlines out there that allow pets in the cabin, Frontier allows the most. On each flight out, they allow 10 animals on board for all passengers put together.

Last Minute Flights Don't Always Have to Be More Expensive

When most of us think of last minute flights, we assume that we will be paying an arm and a leg. In many cases this is correct, but it is not always the case, and I have encountered a number of instances where it is not. If one knows how to look and does not mind going a little out of their way, some good last minute flights can be found for a reasonable price that will not leave you wondering if you made the right choice or not.

One of the things that I always love to do when I get to an airline and don't have a ticket is haggle. It may sound silly, but I have actually gotten people to lower their prices when they know they are not carrying enough people because they know that something is better than nothing. Now, I am not saying that this always works, and I have had some airline employees get quite angry when I've tried this, but some will lower the price of their last minute tickets if they know they are about to board and can make a little extra money.

Another thing that I will try to do with last minute tickets is look at all of the travel web sites and see if they still have any of their good deals left. A lot of times, those flights will not fill up, and they have them until a very short time before the flight is about to leave. On more than one occasion, I have looked at one of the travel web sites a few hours before I needed to be in the air and purchased a ticket for a fraction of the price I would have paid if I had waited until I went to the airline itself.

I am a frequent flier because I have to travel for business, and one thing that I try to do to lower the price of last minute deals is ask if the person can get me the best deal they can find. I make it a point to be very polite and inform them that I use their airline all the time. It does not always work, but I have had it happen that an employees says that a ticket would normally go for this amount, but because I am such a good customer, they're going to cut me a break.

Last minute flights don't have to cost an arm and a leg. They can be quite pricey, and sometimes no matter what you try, you will not get airline employees to budge on their price. However, when you find one who will, it will always give you a feeling of great satisfaction!

Last Minute Vacation Deals Sometimes Work Out the Best

We try to take a family vacation once a year. Normally I am very good about planning out things well in advance, and we end up having a great time. I have a perfect formula in place, where we see enough sights and do enough things without filling all of our time with activity. On occasion, however, I have put off planning our vacation and fortunately, on those rare occasions that I do, I have found some last minute vacation deals that end up working out quite well.

One of the last minute vacation deals that will always stand out to me was a trip to Disney World. We had been talking for a while about going to the theme park, and Lord knows both of my children were very eager to go, but I had been putting it off and putting off. This particular year, I had been absolutely slammed at work and it just completely slipped my mind until around May. We usually take our family vacation in early June, right after school gets out, and I had already asked for the time off from work.

I told my wife that I was looking around for some last minute vacation deals and stumbled across the Disney trip, and asked what she thought. She made the point that the kids were still at an age where they would enjoy it, and that before long they would no longer be interested. I went ahead and made the purchase, and the price was not as bad as one might think. Evidently, they were having a hard time trying to sell off this particular package. We got a really good deal on lodging and travel, and most important, everyone had a great time!

Another of my more memorable last minute vacation deals was one that was for New England. It was about a week-long trip and featured hotels and bed and breakfasts throughout the New England states, all for a very reasonable price. My son is a huge history buff, just like his old man, and my wife and daughter loved the idea of getting away from the Texas heat for a week. We went all throughout the region and incorporated several activities that my daughter would like as well, and it was one of our trips that really stood out as being fun!

I am typically the sort of person that likes to have everything planned out, and I hate the whole concept of having to rely on last minute vacation deals. I have to say, however, that I have found some really good trips that way, and just because everything is not planned to the 'T' does not mean that you will not necessarily have a good time.