Hi all!
 
You may remember me from such frantic posts as "Ferret Transport Help --
Emergency!".  To briefly recapitulate: my friend Steve was moving to
Arizona and was having troubles figuring out how to move his furry friends
with him.  He had booked a flight on Continental, which allowed them in the
cargo area, but not on hot days which they forgot to mention initially
would include all of August.  After some further investigations, here is
the conclusion to the saga:
 
He found that US Air would transport the ferrets on their own for a fee,
and he could conceivably send them on USAir and keep his Continental ticket
(non-refundable at that point).  However, he also found that Continental
did allow a number of small animals in under-seat carriers in the cabin.
The standard fare included gerbils, hamsters, rabbits, etc.  but not
ferrets (the discrimination continues...).  It wasn't clear whether they
specifically disallowed ferrets or just overlooked them.  Well, Steve
decided to go for door #2 and risk it all.  He went to the airport with
Riesling and Merlot (aka "weezy and merl") in the little underseat carrier
and approached the check-through.  The woman asked him if there were
animals in it and he said there were.  She said he'd have to pay a $50 fee
(which he knew about) and so he gave her the cash.
 
Then -- moment of truth -- she asked him what type of animal was in it.  His
mind skidded just past the honest truth ("ferret") and instead said
"rabbit".  She didn't look inside or question him further on it.  But the
suspense isn't over yet.  A guy came back with Steve's change from the fee
and he look in through the holes of the carrier, apparently spotting two
heads.  He asked the woman attendant, "What animal is in here?" and Steve
thought the jig was up (he says his heart was at 200 beats per minute).  But
before he could attempt to say "Rabbit" again (or "two-headed rabbit" :-),
the woman said, "He said it's a rabbit." The guy just sort of shrugged and
let him through.
 
Unfortunately, this was only the first leg of the flight, to Newark.
Fortunately, once at Newark the pets weren't checked again, he just had to
show his pet fee receipt and I suppose it was assumed they were already
approved in that case.
 
So in the end, the ferrets made it relatively happily to the land of AZ
where they will now start a new life with new dreams and desires. Moral of
the story: lies and deceit will get you what you want.
 
(that, or that ferrets can pass for rabbits under duress).
 
-Aaron
 
[Moderator's note: And in the continuing story of ferret-friendly MarkAir...
they are flying again.  BIG]
[Posted in FML issue 1280]