Vueling Pet in Cabin

I recently flew with Vueling as a pet in cabin. Vueling is a Spanish budget airline based out of Barcelona. They have an extensive network of flights all over Europe and the biggest thing for me is that they used to allow pets in cabin up to 10kg! Most airlines have a limit of 8kg unless you travel as an Emotional Service Animal or Assistance Dog. However, there are fewer and fewer airlines that now allow dogs to travel in this way. We flew from Palermo, Italy to Barcelona with a flight time of 2 hours.

Online Booking

The Vueling pet in cabin policy allows you to book online along with the humans tickets. Again this is market leading, as most airlines that allow pet in cabin make you phone the call centre which is a total pain. In order to book the ticket online, you can only choose the base fare. This means you can’t choose any seats, as they will be allocated to you at check in so they can allocate the best seats for a dog. You therefore need to add all your baggage extra and don’t qualify from any ‘bundle’ discounts. But for the chance to fly in cabin for the slightly bigger dog, it’s worth forgoing any discounts.

At the extras section you simply choose to add your pet. The cost is €50 for an international flight or €40 for a domestic flight.

There’s a maximum limit of 2 dogs per flight so if this is exceeded it doesn’t allow you to add and states that the maximum number of pets in cabin has been exceeded. On this flight there was another dog as well, so it’s best to book well in advance to make sure you get space.

Restrictions

Unfortunately, Vueling recently changed their weight limits and now the maximum weight for the pet is 8kg including the weight of the bag. The maximum size for the carrier is 45cm x 39 cm x 21cm (105cm) and it must be soft sided. You can read the full details on their website. I travelled in my Kurgo G Train and the measurements are 33cm x 53cm x 25cm (total 111cm) so it is a bit bigger than allowed. Mammy was of course a bit worried but she didn’t need to be. At check in they just checked my papers for my vaccines and just took a quick cursory glance at me in my bag and I was good to go. Phew!

Security & Boarding

At security I got out of my bag and be carried through the x ray.

Boarding was also quick and easy. We had paid for priority boarding to give us time to get settled so we were first to board. We had also been given seast 2A and 2B which were at the front. These are extra space seats (although we didn’t pay extra for them) which was great. We had to get a bus to the plane but it was very short, less than 5 minutes.

As I boarded I had my head out of the bag, and the cabin crew asked me to be fully enclosed in my bag once I sat down. I really was not happy with this and was clawing like crazy at my bag and growling. This is really unusual for me as I’m very used to being inside it. But I guess the mesh on the bag is pretty thick so I felt claustrophobic.

Once everyone was boarded we realised there was no-one going to be sat next to us so we asked the crew if it would be OK if I could put my head out. There was also no-one in front or across the aisle from us so they said it was fine. As soon as I got my head out I was totally fine again.

On my second flight with Vueling from Barcelona to Split I wasn’t so lucky. Even though there was no-one sat next to us the crew wouldn’t allow my head out at all. So I guess it’s luck of the draw how strict the staff are. I really wasn’t happy the whole flight as the dark mesh was too claustrophobic. For my next flight I bought a Sturdibag L which I am much happier in!

In the Air

During take off, and throughout the whole flight I was totally relaxed. I put my happy face on and enjoyed relaxing. I even had time for a quick snooze before they came round with some snacks (for an additional cost).

Even though we had extra legroom seats, the space was still pretty cramped. At first I lay flat but after take off mammy moved me to sit up and this gave her more space for her legs. We were lucky we had a spare seat next to us too so we could stretch out a bit more. I would definitely pay for the extra legroom seats in the future, but unfortunately you don’t get a choice when travelling with a pet. So it’s pot luck.

Luckily all flights are pretty short so it should never be an issue. Of course, it’s still worth being a bit cramped to enable us to travel together. But it’s easy to see why they have the size and weight restrictions as there’s no way a bigger dog would be comfortable in that space. Hopefully one day some airline will come up with some kind of options for bigger dogs though.

Landing

Even on landing I was totally relaxed. I got some ear rubs on the way down in case my ears hurt but I didn’t complain once. As long as my head was out I was so chilled out. Once we got off the plane we expected to have my papers checked but there were no checks at all. We simply collected our bags from the baggage carousel and went out to catch the bus.

Conclusion

Vueling is an amazing pet friendly airline. The Vueling pet in cabin policy is just so great. The extra weight limit compared to other airlines and the ability to add the dog online are real game changers. I am already booked on another flight with them in a few weeks time and can’t wait to explore more countries. Vueling has opened up so many more interesting places to me I can now go. Stay tuned for more adventures coming soon.

Don’t forget to check out my Amazon store (affiliate link) which has all the details all of my recommended products I use then travelling. You can check it out here.

Woof woof, Wylie x

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