Over the years, my incendiary writings have offended everyone from airline pilots to card-carrying frequent fliers to travel agents. I make no apologies for ticking them off.
CAT
When Charles Robinson tried to load his Labrador Retriever on to a United Airlines flight from Frankfurt, German, to Washington, recently, an airline employee stopped him. Not only was the cage he’d used for years to carry his dog too small, but the one for his cats didn’t cut, it either.
In their struggle to turn a profit, airlines have piled on a lot of fees in the last year, from surcharges for checked luggage to extras for confirmed reservations. And just when it seemed they had found every last fee, it looks as if they’ve turned up one more: They’re looking to Fido and Fluffy for a little extra cash. Specifically, to their owners.
Kelly Dehn just endured a nightmare flight on Northwest Airlines. It wasn’t that her four-hour trip from Minneapolis to Orange County, Calif., lasted an extra hour because the aircraft had to be de-iced. It wasn’t even that she was three months pregnant. It was her mysterious seatmate.
You know things are crazy when your airline charges less for your ticket than for your cat to fly under your seat. But these are crazy times.
Elliott is consumer advocate 
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