Woman forced to give up her seat on Alaska Airlines because of a "giant cat" who demands the aisle seat to himself: ‘Instead of just letting the cat have the middle seat, they moved me’

We would happily upgrade to sit next to a self-proclaimed "giant cat". Just saying.

Purrsonally, we've never flown with our cats. They're not very adventurous, prefurring their cozy home and alone time instead of the stress of airports, planes, and new homes while on vacation. But that doesn't mean every cat is like that! Some cats love to travel, and we give all those who travel carefully with their fluffy felines a big round of appaws. It's not easy to fly with a pet, even if you're a seasoned purrfessional.

If all goes well, your cat, in their airline-approved cat carrier, will sit under the seat in front of you and sleep most of the way. Maybe, if everyone around you is sleeping or feline-friendly, you can let them sleep on your lap for a while. Unless… your cat demands a whole row to themselves, then you might have to force passengers to change their seats to give him enough room, cause a whole soap opera even before taking off, and get a whole plane full of people to give you the evil eye for the next six hours.

That's what happened on this Alaska Airlines flight. The cat, which apparently belongs to an airline employee, was given preferential treatment over a paying customer. What hurts even worse? The customer actually paid for an upgraded seat… and was seated in a normal economy after. If you're going to downgrade us for a cat, we had better be able to pet the cat, and it had better be a rescued cheetah, or something like that.

01

via Just SANIC

Black and white photo of a cat sitting on a chair
Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.
02

via @sarahroseetter
03

via Maxim Shklyaev

A close-up of a cat in a pet carrier
Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.
04

via @sarahroseetter
If a cougar were flying on the plane with us, we wouldn't be able to focus on anything else. Who needs an in-flight option of movies when you have a giant “wild” cat sitting a few rows away?
Normally, when you fly with your cats, you have to bring some litter with you to make a makeshift litter box for them to go to the bathroom in while on the plane. Imagine how much litter you'd have to bring for a cougar. That would be one smelly and sandy bathroom.
05

via @sarahroseetter
06

via @sarahroseetter
07

via @sarahroseetter
08

via @CapitalismFast
09

via Kateryna Hliznitsova

Woman with luggage and cat sleeping
Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.
10

via @mother_rhoyne
11

via @LilySAxelrod
It seems like airline rules are getting worse and worse these days. Have you heard the rumor about standing seats? It's true, some companies are developing an even lower-cost standing seat for short flights where you are buckled in, standing, for the whole flight. It's more money for the company, and more discomfort for you. Sounds great, right? And still, you know people will pay for it because it's cheap.
12

via @sarahroseetter
13

via @k8themorrigan
14

via @roxdtvc
15

via @eilish_O
16

via @SQLSuperVillain
17

via @bubbasbestbabe
18

via @BGaillard
19

via @raven_rothman
20

via @CarrieListon
21

via @sarahroseetter
22

via @cowgirl_kaylee
23

via @sarahroseetter