Allegiant Pet Policy: Cabin Only, Lower 48 Only

The baggage arithmetic, which surprises people

The pet carrier counts towards your allowance of items carried onto the aircraft. In practice you may travel with a pet carrier plus either a personal item or a paid carry-on bag — not both.

So bringing a pet costs you a bag. Plan for it:

• Decide in advance whether you are checking a bag or going without the carry-on.
• Keep essentials on your person — phone, wallet, medication, documents — because the under-seat space is taken by the animal.
• Do not discover this at the gate, where the fix is a last-minute checked-bag charge.

Who can travel with a pet, and where they can sit

• The accompanying passenger must be 15 or older. A younger traveller cannot be the person responsible for the animal.
• One carrier per passenger, and a carrier may hold up to two animals if there is genuinely room for both.
• Pets must be at least 8 weeks old.
• Exit row and bulkhead seats are not available when travelling with a pet, because there is no under-seat stowage.

Booking it

• Add the pet when you book. Space is limited per flight and with no hold alternative, a full flight means a different flight.
• Have the carrier dimensions and your pet's weight ready.
• Confirm the charge, which is collected per segment rather than per trip — on a connecting itinerary that matters.
• Check your route is within the lower 48 for every segment, including any connection.
• Bring vaccination records, even though a domestic flight may not formally require them.

Thin schedules change the risk

This airline flies many routes a few times a week rather than several times a day, and that matters more when an animal is involved.

• A cancellation may mean days, not hours. Sitting out a disruption with a dog in a carrier is a different proposition from doing it alone.
• There is no interline arrangement to move you onto another airline's flight.
• The replacement flight also needs pet space, which a full one will not have.
• Avoid the last departure of the day, and check how often your route actually operates on your dates.

Preparing a pet for a day in a carrier

• Introduce the carrier weeks ahead, left open at home with a blanket inside.
• Do a few short car trips in it so it is not only associated with something alarming.
• Put something that smells of home inside — a worn t-shirt works better than a new blanket.
• Exercise the animal properly before you leave. A tired pet travels far better.
• Limit food beforehand but not water, and offer water again after landing.
• Use a harness and lead for security, where you carry the animal through while the carrier is scanned.
• Do not sedate without veterinary advice — sedatives affect breathing and temperature regulation at altitude.
• Check the microchip is registered to a phone number you actually answer.

What can go wrong, and how to reduce the chance

• The route is not within the lower 48. Pets are not carried, and this is the first thing to check.
• The carrier fails inspection at the counter. Measure it, pack it as you will travel, and arrive with time.
• The animal cannot stand or turn in it. A carrier within the dimensions can still be refused on this.
• You arrived expecting to check in online. The counter visit is required.
• You brought both a personal item and a carry-on. With a pet you get one of them.
• The flight's pet limit was already full. With no hold option, that means a different flight.
• Your dog is simply too large. Establish this first — it decides which airline you fly.

Questions to settle before you book anything

1. Is every segment within the contiguous 48 states? If not, this airline is not the answer.
2. Will your pet fit comfortably in a carrier under a seat, able to stand up and turn around?
3. Have you measured the carrier, rather than trusting a listing that calls it airline-approved?
4. Are you checking a bag, or going without the carry-on? The pet costs you one of them.
5. Is the accompanying passenger 15 or older?
6. How often does your route actually run on your dates?
7. What will you do if the pet is refused at the counter? With no hold option, there is no fallback on that flight.

Travelling with a pet is a different airport day

Even when everything is in order, the shape of the day changes and it is worth picturing it in advance.

• You are at the counter, not a kiosk, and that queue moves at the speed of the people in front of you.
• Security takes longer. You hold the animal, the carrier is scanned, and you reassemble on the other side with one hand occupied.
• You cannot easily leave your seat once boarded, because the animal is under the seat in front of you.
• Relief areas exist but are not always convenient. Look up where they are at your departure and arrival airports before the day.
• Plan the first hour after landing — water, a walk, and somewhere quiet before a car journey.
• Travel with a second person where you can. One set of hands for the animal and one for everything else makes the whole day easier.

How Fond Travels can help

• We check the route first, because pets travel only within the lower 48 on this airline and that single fact rules a lot of trips out.
• We tell you whether your animal fits the cabin rules before you buy anything.
• We find the carrier that will take a larger dog when this one will not, including which airlines run climate-controlled hold programmes on your route.
• We plan around the schedule — how often the route runs, avoiding the last departure, nonstop where possible.
• We make sure you know what the carrier costs you in baggage, so it is not a surprise at the gate.
• We are reachable on the day, which matters when a flight is delayed and you are in a terminal with an animal.

To plan a trip with a pet, call +1 (323) 800 6001. A travel expert answers any hour.