[nagdu] why do we have to let airlines know that you have a dog

Jenine Stanley jeninems at wowway.com
Wed Apr 14 01:25:55 UTC 2010


Cheryl, 

The advice given on the call was general. It was also meant to answer the
issue of international travel. 

Technically, on flights within the continental US, if you do not plan to ask
for any accommodations, such as the bulkhead seat, for your service animal,
then it's your choice as to whether to notify the airline that you will be
traveling with your dog. 

There are probably as many opinions about this as there are handlers. If you
just don't want the potential conflict or if you want to handle things at
the start of your travel planning instead of at the jetway doors, then you
might choose to notify the airline that you have a service animal. 

There is one instance in which you are required to notify the airline.
That's if you have what is classified as a psychiatric service animal whose
role is to assist you with tasks related to a mental health condition.
Taking this type of dog, who often has fewer tasks in its training than a
standard guide or service dog, does require prior notice and documentation
provided to the airline. This category does not affect most of us with guide
dogs though. 

Remember that generally when we give advice to people about what we as the
school think is correct, we do so based on the majority of people's comfort
levels. So though no, you technically are not required to notify airlines
about your dog on domestic flights within the continental US, it certainly
can lower stress levels for many people to do so. 

I fly a lot and always notify airlines that I am traveling with my dog. I do
it for a rather sideways reason though. I want to make sure the flight crew
knows that no, there is no federal law that requires me to sit in the
bulkhead seats if I choose not to do so. 

Hope that clears things up. 


Jenine Stanley
jeninems at wowway.com


-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of cheryl echevarria
Sent: Tuesday, April 13, 2010 7:26 PM
To: nagdu
Subject: [nagdu] why do we have to let airlines know that you have a dog

On GDF conference call they are saying that we need to let airlines know we 
have guide dogs with us.

Why, that is not so.

Cheryl Echevarria
Independent Travel Consultant
C10-10646

http://Echevarriatravel.com
1-866-580-5574

http://blog.echevarriatravel.com
Reservations at echevarriatravel.com
Affiliated as an Independent Contractor with Montrose Travel CST-1018299-10 


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