In-Cabin Airlines

I have tried looking around but have not found an answer as of yet. We will be flying back from the UK to the US to get our our two cats in mid-December and I am making the arrangements right now. When going through the approved carriers list, I assumed that for example with Continental Airlines, "accompanies animals only" meant they had to be accompanied in-cabin. When I called Continental, this was not the case....it just meant you had to be on the plane and the pets are in cargo.

Does anyone know of any or if there are any airlines that fly from the US to the UK that allow in-cabin pets? I swear that there was a girl with a small dog on our last AA flight to the UK, but I could be mistaken. If anyone has any tips, I would appreciate it greatly (and so will our cats!) Thanks!

I think it's very rare for airlines to allow pets in the cabin.  Since you can never know who's going to have allergies and such to pets, it makes sense. 

The pets do fine down in cargo.  You have to ship them in a big carrier, so they've got plenty of room to move around comfortably and the temperature is controlled nicely.  And the noise probably isn't much worse then in-cabin.  And the pressure in their little ears is no worse then the pressure you feel when you fly.  (Those were all the things I was concerned about before my cat flew cargo.)

As far as I can remember, the Pets scheme specifically stipulates that all animals have to be flown into the UK in cargo. I don't know if it's different flying out of the UK

It's my understanding that no airline will take pets in-cabin on flights between the US and UK....either way. Many animals can't go that long without voiding is one reason they don't put them in the cabins. Allergies are another. Pets generally do better in a darkened environment when travelling and that's not possible in-cabin. Also, the carriers in-cabin are so tiny that the pets wouldn't be able to move around or stretch. The animal would be miserable and it would be cruel to do that to them. They are much better off in the hold.

When I went through bringing my cats over I looked into that as well.   Pets are only allowed as carry on if it was a domestic flight in the states. But due to regulations on the importation of animals in the UK, they have to all fly cargo.  Even seeing-eye dogs.   They have to be checked over by qualified people at animal reception when they arrive.

Also, considering the size restrictions re: height, width and depth of the carrier in relation to the animal's size, you'd be hard-pressed to find an animal small enough to be able to fit in a carrier small enough to fit under your seat...

When we moved to Greece back in 1990 my guinea pig flew in-cabin, though