Fancy Flying Cats! Woman Says Kitty's Airline Ticket Costs Fortune

AP Photo/Christophe Ena

Some 2 million pets and other animals travel by commercial airline each year, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. And considering how much airlines charge for the service, it all amounts to big business for the industry. But how much should it cost to take your pet with you on a flight? One area woman is up in arms after realizing that her cat's ticket to fly from New York to Virginia actually cost more than her own ticket!

Rosario Gonzalez tells Fox 5 that she paid U.S. Airways $100 each way to fly with her 4-pound kitten, Tiramisu, on a recent trip to Virginia. Gonzalez's round trip ticket was only $177. And precious Tiramisu didn't even get a seat! Gonzalez wonders why children under the age of 2 can fly for free, when it's "going to require a lot more work to have a child on board. I don't know how much work a kitten could give an airline." Cats don't scream and kick your seat, and they can come in handy on flights, like in that Garfield episode where he pilots a flight to Alaska.

Some airlines charge even more than U.S. Airways, and you can pay up to $300 to carry your pet roundtrip. For more on the process of bringing your motherf*&king pets on a motherf*&king plane, check out this informative report.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By John Del Signore in News on December 22, 2009 12:28 PM

Comments [rss]

gawkthis

I think the woman taking her cat to Virginia got off cheap since Pets travel as baggage in a partially pressurized section of the cargo hold. the airlines could have classified the cat as luggage and charged her even more for bringing on excessive baggage.

youngpro

so the owner paid a discounted fare which isnt offered to the fucking cat. and id HATE to be on a flight with a cat, especially with my allergies to them.

Bike Rider

what if someone is allergic? i'd demand a refund if someone made me sit next to a cat for a few hours

lushintransit

So wait, can I demand a refund when the women next to me wears perfume so strong I sneeze the whole flight? I took a flight in June where I sneezed all 4 hours because the women next to me bathed in perfume and then proceeded to apply more. I'm strongly allergic to smells like that and get bad migraines.

Do I also get to demand a refund when the mother next to me with her kid on her lap pulls at my hair half the flight and wails? Had that flight to.

Boy, look at all the money I could have gotten back!

potsmoker

give me your email and ill send you my picture, this

way when you dream about me it will really be me in there...

nighty nite loser.

BlueFairlane

Anybody who thinks cats don't scream has never traveled with a cat.

grandzu

Um, forget the cat, the price for you luggage flying cost more than your ticket.

Angelheaded Hipster

they should have charged her a penalty for naming her kitty "tiramisu"

ides_of_march

Tie them to the wing.

potsmoker

i once killed a cat, but i was about 9 years old,

ive moved one to bigger and better things. what you gonna do sucka?

type furiously? email viciously? blog adamently?

comment angrily? flex those bad bad finger muscles and post a rant on craiglist sucka.

yeah right, punk.

felixthecat2

No, I just respond that you are a miserable fuck and you know it which is why you posted such a comment. Most animal abusers are very ugly inside and outside and they are actually jealous of the animals they abused since the abuser knows how ugly he is and how no one really like him. Misery likes company and unfortunately animals are trapped in the abuser's home.

IvoryJive

I would pay about an 8-10% premium for a flight that had a separated child section in the back of the plane so I can't hear the screaming. The airline could then pass that extra premium on to the family as a discounted "family flier section" or something. This has to pencil out. Please won't some airline try it? They can design the family section in bright colors with goofy cartoons or something and have special meals and separate kids movies. They would corner the market on both the families and the singles who want quiet. Please - anything to get other peoples' screaming filth-ridden appendages out of my face.

NannyState

There was a Hooters Airline once, right? So how 'bout a Chuck E Cheese Airways? Just give those rugrats their own rookery in the sky.

hotstepper

ha! forgiven, but do not forget the rules:

the first rule of Gothamist SpellCheck-Gestapo is, you do not talk about Gothamist SpellCheck-Gestapo.

NannyState

The only problem I have with this story is that the kids who fly for free aren't stowed away in pet carriers.

Jen S

Or tranquilized!

firewire

my cat loves the airport because he can get good deals at the duty-free shops.

longacre

They charge that much because they know most people will only travel with their pets because they really have to. There's nothing wrong with that. Why is this news?

DarkGemini

Fancy Flying Felines? Alliteration win?

EastRiver

There's no way the airline is making any money on Rosario Gonzalez's $177 round trip ticket so she's not in a position to be looking for free extras.