Airline Approved Pet Carrier, Large Soft Sided Pet Travel TSA Carrier 4 Sides Expandable Cat Collapsible Carriers with Removable Fleece Pad and Pockets for Cats Dogs and Small Animals

I bought two of these for our cats and are thrilled with the quality, size, and ability to open and expand this carrier into a very large, well ventilated mini catio. Even at its most compact, our 11 pound cats can turn around with ease and are comfy. I would definitely buy this again.

This has been my first experience flying with a small pet - I have a terrier mix with a bit of dachshund, 17 lbs, about 21 in long so a bit on the long side for carriers. This carrier has worked great for us - so far we've been on 2 round trips, 8 total planes and usually 12-16 hrs of travel in a day, and the design of this carrier has relieved quite a bit of fatigue for my pup. Because he's a little long to be comfortable in the zipped up size, it's really nice while waiting in the airport to be able to unzip the mesh vents on each of the 4 sides and let him have room to stretch out and move around some. The carrier has to be fully zipped up on the plane to fit under the seat in front, but usually once we're at cruising alt, I'll unzip the sides to get some air flow going, and sometimes I can unzip the side facing me to give him some room too (don't tell on me LOL). It gets really really warm under the seats so it's great to have mesh available on all sides. I usually place the carrier longways, facing me, so it does stick out some toward my feet, but I've never had an issue with a flight attendant asking me to push it farther forward or anything. Maybe for a smaller pet the carrier could be compressed a bit to fit it sideways fully under the seat. It's handy that there are entry points in the front and back as well as the top - I can lead him in from one side and let him out from the other rather than have him turn around/back out or lift him out. There is a clip with a little tether inside - I don't keep that on most of the time because I'm concerned about him getting wrapped up in it, but if I'm letting him poke his head out the top a little, I'll put it on just in case he tries to bolt (big airports are spooky to a little guy). The pockets on the side are big enough to fit some treats, collapsible water bowl, a roll of waste bags, the shoulder strap, his leash, and a couple granola bars, and it's a tight squeeze but still doable. Speaking of the shoulder strap - gonna be honest, I never use this. Because of how it fastens (to the front and back of the bag), and because the bag is soft shell, it curves it up towards the two attachment points and doesn't provide support in the center. This is really uncomfortable for a fella trying to lie down in the middle. I always use the handles, which have the same kind of effect in the other direction across the bag, but that's okay because it just kind of "hugs" him and encourages him to stay lying down. Honestly I think the slight pressure helps calm him down. The downside of that though is you're carrying the bag the whole time by hand, which gets heavy quickly because it's kind of unwieldy. When I'm with him I usually estimate to double the amount of time it usually takes me to move through the airport - because I need to set the carrier down every so often, or switch hands, or set it down on the moving walkway and stand still where I'd normally keep walking (and I lift weights in my free time so it's not just a matter of personal strength). The shoulder strap is nice though when I am using the carrier just as a bag; I like to keep his supplies in there to carry around when not flying, and treating it like a normal duffel bag works just fine. Highly recommend for anyone flying with a small pet.

The media could not be loaded. I bought this so I could bring my princess Pearl from Texas to Indiana for thanksgiving and Christmas break. I travel for work and want to bring her to see my wife and daughters. I looked at every single cat carrier on Amazon. After much deliberation, this was the final choice. And I don’t regret it. Granted, I have yet to fly with her. But after throwing a shirt if mine in there and a couple treats, she loves it. When she’s not with me, it’s her go to sleep spot. She is 13 pounds. I can even zip it all up and carry her around. She seems to really enjoy. Don’t mind her claws. Hers are unusually curved and they get stuck in everything. I’m trying to find someone who can clip them. Once it’s unfolded, it’s super roomy. She can spin around. Stretch out with room to spare. Seems well made. The liner is soft and washable. The zippers seem sturdy. And it folds super flat. Which was a huge selling point for me. I anticipate using it 4 times a year. So I don’t want a huge nag taking up space 360 days a year.

Please don't judge, we had a short 2 hours flight direct home to visit family for the holiday and I wasn't allowed to book a second seat on Allegiant and the other option was a further away airport and about 4x the price. That said, my two pom mixes are on the hefty side (they should be 8.5 and 13.5 lbs each) but we love eating so we're a tad heavier. They're siblings and even when not in a carrier or stroller, they like to be on each other so for them, this wasn't an issue.Allegiant's flight to and from FLL to ORF, window seat, is what we flew and this carrier does NOT fit under the seat. It's a tad too long/wide and too tall. Not sure if the Siivton carrier I have would have fit under but I wanted the extra inch or two since I had two puppers in there. IDK how the other person smooshed theirs down but my bag's edges wouldn't bend and I'm not exactly a weakling lol. I was never stopped or questioned for measuring the bag, I think they just eyeballed it and most of the staff were too busy awwing over the pups. Only one flight attendant read out the rules to me (which I was aware) and asked what seat I was in bc the window seat had smaller space she said. I told her our first flight I made it work ok. So if you can see the pics, I have no legroom, but I was ok with it considering i'm short, it was only 2 hours, and still not as bad as the pups being in a bag together. Wouldn't recommend this for someone taller who needs their legroom. But since this did not fit under the seat, I was able to expand the other long side for them to spread out a bit more too. It was just a little tricky to close back up.All in all though, I recommend this bag, it's sturdy, lots of mesh openings and options for expansion. Two side storage pockets for their treats and leashes. And this bag slides/pops nicely into my HPZ travel lite stroller for quick getaway out of the bridge and gate if anyone else has a stroller like me. Once I get out of the way, I let the pups into their stroller and hang this carrier on the stroller handlebars.