2 Legs + 30,000 Feet = Discrimination

Today, I spent the day going back and forth on whether to fly or drive for our trip to Faraway.  I listed the pros and cons.  Researched travel routes.  Priced flights.  But the one thing that kept sticking in my head was "What if I fly and someone carries on a cat or dog?"  My allergies and asthma would go haywire!  It could be deadly for me.  So I hit the internet trying to find my answer.  There was a lot of information about what to do if I wanted to take my pet on a flight but nothing about pet free flights.  I knew it was a long shot but they have peanut free flights now where they don't serve peanuts.  Of course that doesn't mean Joe Ignorant can't open a pack of peanut M&Ms he carried on but at least they are making the effort.  So with renewed inspiration, I dialed the airline 1-800 number.  After pushing a million buttons, which if you remember is one of my favorite things, I got a representative and told her my dilemma.  She said that I had a very good question and that if I would hold for a minute she would find out the answer for me.  Great!  She sounded kind of optimistic.  Maybe they had pet-free flights.  She returned to tell me that they do not have flights that are guaranteed to be pet-free.  The process I would have to follow is to book my flight and then call back periodically to check and see if a pet was registered on the flight and if they were, the airline would make the best effort to help me reschedule.  Um, ok.  So I can fly on your airline but not if Fido chooses the same flight.  I mean, its not even first serve.  Dogs and cats take priority over guests with a disability.  They do limit the number of pets on a flight so maybe if I reserve a pet spot and pay the extra fee then NOT take on a pet I could manipulate the system.  The airline we flew on for our transatlanic flights years ago could guarantee there would be no pets.  And that was years ago.  You'd think on a shorter, within the country flight in a more modern time that things would have developed a little.  Apparently only if you have four legs.  Nice.  I guess we will be driving the two full days in one direction to get to Faraway.  I just wish I had the same options as Fluffy and Spot.  Look out, I feel an angry letter coming on . . .