Traveling On An Airline With A Sherpa Pet Carrier

Traveling with small pets has changed over the last 20 years thanks to the Sherpa Pet Carrier.  These fine small dog carriers pioneered the way for allowing us to travel with our small pets up in the cabin of the aircraft with us.  Since then, there has been a huge increase in the number of these types of totes from many various manufacturers Sherpa included. 


There are some key elements to traveling with our small animals before we embark on our airline travels.  The most important being to contact the airline you will be traveling on well in advance to the departure date.  This allows you to get the specific requirements for that airline and its policy regarding traveling with smaller sized pets.

If traveling with a Sherpa made tote, the company offers the great "Guaranteed on Board" policy.  The program shows all participating airlines, and you can fill out the form for that airline, and should you be denied boarding after completing the requirements, the company will refund you the cost of your airline ticket and pet travel fee.

There are many other great small dog carriers on the market as well.  Most don't come with a guarantee like that, but many have been designed to meet the requirements of the air carriers.  This is one reason it is important to contact the specific airline prior to travel.  They will give you the dimensions they require your pet bag to meet as well as any other special rules they may have.

One thing to remember is that the dimensions given to you are for hard sided or solid crates.  Many of the bags for small pets are soft sided and can be molded to fit.  For that reason, if yours is an inch or two bigger than the dimensions given to you, it is still most likely acceptable to use it.  That is a question that you should definitely ask the air carrier when you contact them.

Also, even if you are traveling with one of the "Guaranteed on Board" Sherpa Carriers, it is still wise to contact the air carrier just to make sure there are no special requirements for travel.  Your carrier may be guaranteed to go, but there may be specific rules and requirements for you and your pet as well.  If never hurts to make sure before being hit with a surprise when you show up for your flight.  Your ticket and pet travel fees will probably not be refunded if you happen to be denied boarding for some other requirement that is not related to the pet tote itself.  Enjoy traveling with your pet and the many styles and fashions that are available today.