influencer irked after delta flight attendant allegedly tells her to silence cat or 'get off' plane
a travel influencer was shocked when she said a crew me...
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a travel influencer was shocked when she said a crew member told her to quiet her meowing cat or get off the plane.
janelle rupkalvis, who goes by janelleonajet on social media, took to her platforms to complain about the alleged incident.
rupkalvis, her partner and their four-year-old pet asparagus — a.k.a. gus — were on an early-morning delta flight to salt lake city from seattle and were trying to settle into their first-class seats when she claimed they were approached by a flight attendant.
“i think (the attendant is) going to remind us that, ‘oh, you have a cat, they have to stay in the carrier the whole time’ … but, no. instead she goes, ‘if your cat doesn’t stop meowing, we’re going to have to ask you to get off the plane,” rupkalvis said in the clip.
“i was like, ‘what?’ like, one, he’s a cat. two, he’s not screaming. he’s meowing because there’s a lot of commotion,” she continued.
“this is a scary thing for a little guy who’s sitting in a little carrier underneath the seat.”
despite feeling “panicked” by the stern warning, rupkalvis said she decided to reach out to the airline to “clarify what the actual policy is,” given that she and gus have been on delta flights before without any issues.
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rupkalvis said a delta representative told her that owners are responsible for keeping their pets “passive” during a flight.
“the requirement is for the pet to be passive, not silent. like, that is a huge distinction,” she said.
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delta’s pet travel policy simply states that carry-on pets “must be able to fit in a soft-sided ventilated pet kennel that will go underneath the seat directly in front of you,” but notes nothing about noise.
the toronto sun reached out to delta but did not immediately receive a response.
rupkalvis added she was “happy” to be informed — but still felt like there was more delta could do for her.
“i asked if there was any compensation that we could get because of the incorrect information that we were told on the plane, and how that caused a really anxiety- and stressed-induced situation,” she explained to her followers.
she and her partner were offered either a $150 voucher per person or 15,000 miles each for their so-called troubles.
the influencer revealed they took the 30,000 miles, which she found “fair.”
rupkalvis — who captioned her video, “i was seriously in shock. what do you think about this travel mishap?” — got some sympathy from viewers, particularly those who claimed to be flight attendants and had never before heard of such a policy.
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but most of the commenters were not on board with her complaint.
“i don’t blame the attendant. my son was on a six hour flight with a cat that didn’t stop screeching the whole time. it was like being tortured,” one person wrote.
another noted, “that the flight attendant said that is ridiculous. that you expected to be compensated and were compensated is equally ridiculous.”
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