At least in Australia, there are airline regulated carriers that you must use. I don’t know whether that is different if you are taking them in cabin vs as cargo, but I wouldn’t think so. Don’t use the soft carrier, he could easily chew his way out of it in the 3 hours of the flights.

If you know for certain that you have to take him out of the carrier at the airport, putting a harness on him may not be a bad idea, but you need to be sure he won’t chew it. You could always remove the harness from him after you put him back in the carrier.

There was a similar thread to this just recently! Someone suggested asking TSA to screen you in a separate room with your bun, so if the bun did get out of your arms it’d be in a smaller area. Have you ever put your bun in the soft carrier? If not, try it out and see if they try to chew through. If they do, then I might get a little worried. But if your bun doesn’t try to chew through during “testing”, I honestly wouldn’t be too worried about it if it’s just 3-5 hours. Put plenty of hay in the carrier, even if it’s more than they’d typically eat, to give them something to focus on so they aren’t as stressed out. I think plenty of treats in the carrier might help too! Good luck

I have never flown with my bun, but I do fly with my 4.5lb dog about 6 times a year.

As suggested see if TSA can check you, the bun and it’s carrier in a separate room. The TSA line is often loud and there is lots of holding and waiting. I have to hold my dog, put his caring bag to go through the X-ray machine, I then go through the metal detector while holding him, they won’t put an animal through the full body scan. After that they then take you to wipe your hands to check for explosive residue. After all that I can usually get his carrier back and put him in it. My dog is great with crowds and people but it can be rough for him, I can’t imagine how a bun would handle it. However I would call the airline ahead of time to see about how to set up that kind of TSA screening.

As far as carries, be sure that your carrier meets the airline regulations for a pet carrier. I make sure that all of my dogs carriers are airline approved for under seat travel. You can pick one up on Amazon pretty cheap. Also be sure to talk to the airline proper about flying with your bun, I’m not sure if all airlines allow buns. I do know that there are restrictions on how many animals per flight, and how many can be in the cabin vs cargo. I usually fly with delta and I have always had a great experience as far booking my flights with my dog

As far as I know, the airlines around here require a soft carrier for in cabin pets. Make sure to check all the requirements with your specific airline. And ditto Jessica. Ask if there is a separate room they can do the uncaging and screening.

My Mom works airport screening here and as far I know, the pets are just held by the owners while the crates go through xray, however, there must be a private room available to screening officers since they need a place to strip search people. But def check as you may need to pre-plan this and show up earlier.

If you are a stressed out traveler (like me!) you want everything to go smoothly so do all your pre-planning well ahead of time.