Alaska Airlines Pet Policy: Fees, Carrier Rules and the Bulldog Embargo

Alaska Airlines publishes more detail about pet travel than almost any US carrier, and after the Hawaiian Airlines combination the two operate under one set of rules. That detail is worth reading rather than skimming, because several of the constraints are unusual: the cabin carrier must be soft-sided, the pet counts against your carry-on allowance, a long list of destinations is closed to cabin pets, and there is a bulldog embargo running right now that ends on 30 September 2026.

This guide sets out what Alaska publishes for the cabin and for the baggage compartment, and which parts change the shape of a trip. Everything is from Alaska’s own policy pages, checked on 8 September 2026. Airline rules move, and the embargo below has a stated end date, so confirm the current position before you book.

From 31 July 2026 through 30 September 2026, Alaska cannot accept French Bulldogs or English Bulldogs for transport in the cargo hold. The rule is written against the paperwork rather than the animal: it applies to any animal whose health certificate lists one of these breeds, whether it is shipped as cargo or checked as part of a traveler’s booking.

French and English Bulldogs can still travel in the cabin during the embargo, with no restrictions beyond the ordinary cabin rules. So the question for a bulldog owner flying in September is whether the dog and its soft carrier fit the cabin limits. If they do, the trip is unaffected. If they do not, the trip waits until October or moves to another carrier.

Seasonal embargoes like this one are normal across the industry and they move every year, which is why the dates matter more than the rule. Our guide to fall and winter pet travel embargoes covers the same pattern on the temperature side.

Alaska charges $100 each way per kennel or carrier for a pet in the cabin, reduced to $35 for travel wholly within the State of Hawaii, subject to space on board.

The carrier rule is the one that catches people. The maximum size is 17 x 11 x 9.5 in, and the carrier must be soft-sided. Alaska states plainly that hard-sided kennels are not allowed in the cabin. A rigid travel kennel that works as checked baggage will be turned away at the gate if you try to bring it on board.

The carrier also has to be clean and leak-proof with absorbent, non-shredded bedding that is safe and non-toxic, fully enclose the animal, be escape-proof, have adequate ventilation, and be free of tears, cracks or breaks.

This is the rule people find out about at the airport. The pet carrier counts toward your carry-on allotment. You can bring a pet carrier and a personal item, or a pet carrier and a standard-size carry-on bag, but not all three. A pet traveling in the cabin on flights within the State of Hawaii does not count toward the allotment.

Two more seating rules follow from it. Traveling with a pet, you may not occupy an emergency exit row or a bulkhead row, though a fully trained working dog may sit at a bulkhead. And Business Class on an A330 or 787 cannot accommodate pet carriers at all, which quietly rules out the premium cabin on several long-haul aircraft.

If you want two carriers, Alaska allows it only if you buy a second ticket for an adjacent seat. Within a single carrier, up to two pets of the same species and similar sizes may travel together, provided no body parts protrude and the animals are not in distress.

In the cabin Alaska accepts small dogs, house cats, domesticated rabbits and small household birds. Rabbits are not allowed to Maui (OGG), Lihue (LIH) or Kona (KOA) from the continental US, and small household birds are not allowed to Hawaii at all. To Hawaii the accepted list narrows to dogs, cats and rabbits, and rabbits only to Honolulu (HNL). To select international destinations it narrows again to dogs and cats.

Poultry is excluded outright: chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, guinea fowl, peacocks and crows are not accepted as cabin pets under any circumstances, and Alaska states that birds considered livestock, agricultural, wild or nuisance species are strictly prohibited.

There is also a list of international destinations where cabin pets are not allowed at all: Europe in all locations, London Heathrow (LHR), Japan in all locations, Seoul (ICN), Belize City (BZE), Guatemala City (GUA), Pago Pago (PPG), Papeete (PPT), Rarotonga (RAR) and Sydney (SYD).

The European entry on that list is worth noticing if you are planning a move rather than a trip. Alaska will not take a cabin pet to Europe, so a European relocation starting on an Alaska flight has to change carriers somewhere, and Alaska does not transfer pets to other airlines, which is covered below.

Alaska accepts most domesticated pets in its climate-controlled baggage and cargo compartments for $200 each way per kennel. The fee drops to $100 for travel wholly within the State of Alaska, and for active-duty US military or military dependents on travel orders, and to $60 for travel wholly within the State of Hawaii.

The pet and carrier together may weigh up to 150 lb, or 68 kg. Above that the move goes to Alaska and Hawaiian Air Cargo’s Pet Connect service instead, which is also the route if you are not traveling on the flight yourself, since a baggage-compartment booking requires you to be on the same flights as the pet.

The accepted list here is much wider than in the cabin: cats, dogs, ferrets, guinea pigs, hamsters, household birds, non-poisonous reptiles, pot-bellied pigs, rabbits and tropical fish. To and from Hawaii and international destinations, it narrows to dogs and cats only.

Check-in has a hard edge: the acceptance cut-off is 90 minutes before departure, and all animal and kennel information must be in the system by then. Alaska says arriving close to or after the cut-off will warrant rebooking, so this is not a deadline to arrive exactly on. Our guide to airline crate requirements covers the kennel specification for this part of the trip.

Brachycephalic dogs and cats are not accepted for travel in the baggage compartment. Alaska publishes one exception: these breeds are accepted in the baggage compartment only on flights within the State of Hawaii, or between Hawaii and the US Mainland, and once on the Mainland no connection beyond the first arrival city is allowed. Alaska adds that for the safety of the animal, no other exceptions shall be made.

The dog list, including mixed breeds thereof, is American Pit Bull, American Staffordshire Terrier, Boston Terrier, Boxer, Brussels Griffon, Mastiff of all breeds, Bulldog, Bull Terrier, Chow Chow, Dutch Pug, English Bulldog, English Toy Spaniel, French Bulldog, Japanese Mastiff, Japanese Pug, Japanese Spaniel, Pekingese, Pug, Shih Tzu and Staffordshire Bull Terrier. The cat list is Burmese, Exotic Shorthair, Himalayan and Persian.

The phrase “and mixed breeds thereof” does real work. A dog that is visibly part Boxer or part Bulldog falls under the rule even if its paperwork calls it something else, and the health certificate is what the agent reads. Our list of banned dog breeds by country covers the destination side of the same question.

The baggage compartment rules are tighter than the cabin ones. No more than 1 live dog or cat aged 6 months or older may travel in the same carrier. No more than 1 puppy aged 8 weeks to 6 months and weighing over 20 lb, or 9 kg, may travel in the same carrier. And no more than 2 puppies or kittens aged 8 weeks to 6 months, of comparable size and weighing 20 lb or less each, may share a carrier.

Two adult dogs, however well they get on, travel in separate kennels. Since freight and handling are charged per kennel, that is a cost item to plan for rather than a detail to discover at the counter.

On Alaska, Hawaiian, Horizon Air or SkyWest flights 1 to 3499, the maximum connection time allowed for an animal at a connecting city is 4 hours.

More significant for anyone planning a longer move: Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines do not transfer pets to other airlines. If your itinerary includes a transfer to any other carrier, you have to allow a minimum of 4 hours to collect the pet in baggage claim yourself and re-check it with the connecting airline.

That single rule rewrites a lot of itineraries. A booking that looks like one journey is actually two, with a physical handover in the middle that you have to be present for, and a second airline’s pet rules to satisfy on the onward leg. It is the reason a same-carrier routing is worth paying for on a pet move even when a mixed itinerary looks cheaper.

Alaska also notes that if a delay prevents the pet’s flight from departing, the animal may be placed in a carrier facility until it can be transported, and that costs from weather-related delays are the pet owner’s responsibility.

Alaska may decline to accept an animal if temperatures at the origin, destination or connecting airports exceed certain limits, and it points travelers to its airport advisories before booking. It does not publish the threshold temperatures on the pet policy page, so this is a check to run against the advisories for your specific airports rather than a number to plan against.

Its practical advice is the standard one and it is sound: early morning or late evening flights in summer, mid-day flights in winter, and nonstop or direct wherever possible.

A health certificate from a licensed veterinarian is required for every pet in the baggage compartment, and a printed copy of an electronic certificate with a digital signature is acceptable. It must show the breed, sex, age and description of the animal and the date of the examination. The timing is layered: within 10 days of originating travel, within 30 days of return travel on the same ticket, and within 10 days of travel if the return is on a separate ticket.

Dogs, cats and rabbits must be at least 8 weeks old, fully weaned, and accustomed to solid food without nursing for at least 5 days. Passengers traveling with a pet in the cabin must be at least 18, and anyone younger has to be accompanied by an adult.

Space for pets is limited on every flight, in both the cabin and the baggage compartment, and Alaska allocates it first-come, first-served. Cabin reservations must be made prior to the day of travel, and the allotments vary by aircraft type and by cabin.

If your itinerary involves another airline, Alaska asks you to contact that carrier directly for its own space and requirements, which is the practical consequence of the no-transfer rule above. If Hawaii is the destination, our USA to Hawaii guide covers the state’s own import requirements, which sit on top of everything here.

In the cabin, yes. In the cargo hold, not until the embargo ends on 30 September 2026. The embargo covers French and English Bulldogs and applies to any animal whose health certificate lists one of those breeds. Outside the embargo, brachycephalic breeds are still barred from the baggage compartment except on the Hawaii routings Alaska names.

Up to 17 x 11 x 9.5 in, and it must be soft-sided. Hard-sided kennels are not allowed in the cabin at all, unlike American, which publishes hard-sided cabin dimensions.

Yes. The carrier counts toward your carry-on allotment, so you can bring the carrier plus a personal item, or the carrier plus a standard carry-on. Flights within the State of Hawaii are the exception.

$100 each way per carrier in the cabin, or $35 wholly within Hawaii. $200 each way per kennel in the baggage compartment, or $100 wholly within Alaska and for active-duty US military and dependents on orders, or $60 wholly within Hawaii.

Not as a through booking. Alaska and Hawaiian do not transfer pets to other airlines, so you have to allow at least 4 hours to collect the pet in baggage claim and re-check it yourself with the next carrier, on that airline’s own terms.

Not in the cabin. Alaska lists Europe in all locations, along with London Heathrow, among the destinations where cabin pets are not allowed. A European move starting on Alaska involves another carrier, and the no-transfer rule applies to that handover.

At least 8 weeks, fully weaned, and taking solid food without nursing for at least 5 days. Destination rules can push that higher, so the airline minimum is a floor rather than the answer.

Checked on 8 September 2026. The bulldog embargo has a stated end date of 30 September 2026 and this page will be re-checked after it.

We book and coordinate moves on Alaska and on the carriers it connects to, including the handovers its no-transfer rule creates. If you are working out whether a route holds together, tell us what you are moving and when and we will tell you what the itinerary actually allows.