Flying Air France With My Dog in the Cabin: My Honest Review

Did you know that Air France is a dog-friendly airline? Last June, we took our dog with us on vacation to Rio de Janeiro. Since we were flying from Paris, it was only natural to take the Paris-to-Rio direct flight offered daily by Air France, which allows small dogs up to 8 kg (about 17.6 lbs) in the cabin for a fee. Read on to hear my honest review of this 11.5-hour flight with our chihuahua in tow, including the preventable hiccup that nearly stopped us from boarding. Don't let it happen to you!

My previous Air France experiences

I'm American, and I'd already flown Air France to Los Angeles a few times to visit my family. I wasn't a dog mom yet though, so all I remembered from those flights was the fancy meal service, friendly staff, and good inflight entertainment. Funny enough, this was my French partner's first time flying Air France, and he was pretty curious to see if they'd really serve champagne to everyone (they do). And honestly, they really should keep the champagne flowing on this particular route, because if you didn't know, a flight on this same route infamously crashed into the ocean in 2009... But hey, let's not be worry warts and dwell on the past. We survived to tell the tale of this amazing trip, and so will you.

How to book your dog on an Air France flight

The first thing you'll do is book your own Air France ticket. Once you have it, you'll need to add your dog to your booking and pay the fee. You can either call customer service or go directly to their website under the "Manage My Booking" section to do this. Since Paris to Rio counts as a long-haul intercontinental route, we had to pay a pet fee of €200 each way. Obviously that fee is quite steep considering your dog is just tucked under the seat in front of you, but that's just how it goes. I'll talk more about my comfort level later, but let me lay out the upgrade options first.

Let's say you're tall, or you just want more legroom to stretch out on a long flight. Every route has different options for where your dog is permitted in the cabin, but for Paris to Rio, here's the breakdown: dogs are permitted in Economy and First class. For more legroom, you can pay extra to upgrade to Economy Seat Plus or Economy Comfort for a few more centimeters of leg space. Dogs aren't allowed to fly in Business class on Air France, since there's no room under those seats.

We booked standard Economy flights at €1,100 roundtrip per person, plus €400 for our dog, for a total of €2,685 with taxes. In my opinion, this is pretty good value considering you're going all the way to South America and back on direct flights, with meal service included both ways. If you're flying a shorter route, the pet fee is more reasonable (€70-125).

What is the Air France pet policy?

Here’s a link to check Air France’s current pet policy. Your dog must have a current rabies vaccine, microchip, health certificate and pet passport. Be sure to check what travel documents you’ll need in your arrival destination.

A few things in particular to take note of: your dog can’t weigh more than 8 kg (about 17.6 lbs), including the carrier. The carrier itself also has to be soft-sided and fit within Air France's size limit of 46 x 28 x 24 cm. Tishka weighs just over 8 lbs, so we didn't have any issues, but I'd recommend weighing your dog with the carrier before you fly to be sure. You should book your dog’s ticket as soon as possible, since the number of pets allowed on a flight is limited.

Passengers can only book one pet per person, so if you have multiple dogs and you're traveling alone, the others will have to fly in cargo. Air France restricts flat-faced breeds from cargo, so those dogs must fly in the cabin instead.

The biggest mistake we made (Air France overbooking)

Let's talk about our nightmare at the Air France check-in on the day of our flight. In our experience, airlines often don't let you check in online beforehand if you're traveling with a dog, since there's paperwork to show in person. We've also found that checking in separately — one person online, and whoever has the dog on their ticket in person — leads to being seated apart, which is no fun. Since we had vet paperwork to show, we didn't check in online before our flight. Big mistake!

So we went to check in at Charles de Gaulle, and Air France told us our seats had been given away and we were now on standby behind six other people. At this point, we'd probably been there at least two hours before our flight, so we were completely baffled. This was the first time we were hearing of this — no messages, no warnings. Apparently they practice overbooking, which means that if you don't check in online before a certain time, they can bump you off the flight. The cut-off time is still a mystery to me since I know we weren’t that late.

Flying with a dog is already a little stressful, so this situation really drove me over the edge. Yes, there were tears. They told us to go to the gate and try our chances at getting on the flight, and if we didn't get on, we'd get some kind of "voucher." We rushed through security and border control and got to the gate a little over an hour before the flight. People were already in line to board. I went up to the counter and handed them our temporary boarding passes. To my surprise, everything ended up being fine (mostly) — we got seats on the flight, but they weren't together, which meant I had to hope my seatmate wouldn't mind being seated next to a dog and having me get up occasionally. I was also disappointed that we didn't have time to check out the pet relief station at Charles de Gaulle. If you ask me, airlines overbooking flights to make extra money is completely unfair, and they should send warning messages before deciding to sell your seats at the last minute.

How was the actual flight with my dog in the cabin?

Flying Economy with a dog under the seat in front of you usually feels pretty cramped, and this plane was no exception (a Boeing 777-300ER). It's definitely doable, but you know going in that you're in for a challenging situation that requires some patience, and even a little stretching before boarding. When the seat in front of you is reclined, you really have to pull off some circus contortions to reach your dog during the flight. When I get older, I might start springing for extra legroom.

Some dog owners have more drastic flying routines, like not feeding their dog at all or giving them anxiety medication, but every dog is different, and we've found a routine that works for us. Tishka ate half a meal and drank a little water before boarding, and was asleep before the plane even took off. A flight attendant came to remind me to keep my dog completely enclosed the whole time, no exceptions — to which I smiled and nodded, knowing we'd do our own thing discreetly, as usual.

I'm not saying you should break the rules, but I personally find them too restrictive. Everyone's free to follow them or not, but what works for us is discreetly taking our dog to the bathroom a few times under a blanket. I always scope out the biggest bathroom and lay out pee pads, plus some water if Tishka's thirsty. On a red-eye flight, he doesn't usually need to go at all, but since this was an all-day flight, he actually used a pee pad about six hours in. I was so proud! (He didn't need to go at all on the flight home, since that one was overnight.)

After that, he went back to sleep on my lap or back in his carrier. My seatmates were very curious about him — he always impresses people with how calm and well-behaved he is, compared to the usual chihuahua stereotypes about being yappy and aggressive.

How was the Air France meal service and inflight entertainment?

I've noticed Air France's long-haul flights tend to follow the same schedule. They jumped right into the main meal service as soon as we were in the air — undoubtedly the most exciting part of the flight. Sadly, I didn't remember to take a picture until I'd already finished eating, but I had chicken and mashed potatoes, salad, cheese, bread, crackers, and an apple tart. You can also get a mini bottle of wine or a glass of French champagne with your meal, followed by coffee or tea. Between meal services, you can head to the back of the plane any time for unlimited free snacks, like mini ice creams, truffles, and sandwiches.

I spent the 11.5-hour flight studying my Portuguese phrasebook, but I did take a break to watch a new French movie called Couture, starring Angelina Jolie. A few intermittent naps and bathroom breaks later, we were already being served the breakfast snack, which comes in a little box — if I remember correctly, there were mostly carbs, a yogurt drink, and maybe some fruit, followed by drink service. Tishka slept through landing, and everything else was pretty normal. We let him out to walk through the airport and get through customs, and all was well.

Do I recommend flying Air France with your dog?

When it comes to flying with your dog in the cabin, I kind of feel like beggars can't be choosers. When you think about it, it's pretty miraculous that we can bring our dogs on vacation with us to the other side of the world, and since we're not flying on a private jet, there have to be some concessions. Having a dog between your legs for nearly 12 hours is a little challenging, but the trip is always worth it. We'll keep sacrificing small things — pet fees, a little discomfort — to keep our family together on fun trips. Aside from the check-in hiccup, and having to quietly ignore the crew's request to keep my dog fully enclosed the whole time, I think Air France is a pretty solid choice for flying with your dog, and I'll likely fly with them again.