Frontierpets: The Frontier Airlines Pet Policy, Fees and Carrier Rules for 2026

Frontierpets is the search term people use to find the Frontier Airlines pet policy, the U.S. carrier's rules for animals in the cabin. As of October 2026, Frontier Airlines lets one small domesticated dog, cat, rabbit, guinea pig, hamster or small household bird per passenger fly in the cabin on U.S. domestic flights. The fee is $149 per pet, each way, and the pet must stay in a carrier no larger than 18 x 14 x 11 inches (soft-sided) under the seat. Frontier does not carry pets in cargo or on international flights.

This guide sets out each rule with its official source, flags where third-party sites disagree, and explains the documents you may still need from the United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It is published by Animal Passport. We build biometric identity records for livestock, not airline travel documents, so we explain that difference near the end.

What does "frontierpets" mean?

The keyword can point to two unrelated things. Most searchers want the Frontier Airlines pet policy: Frontier Airlines is a Denver-based ultra-low-cost carrier, and its "Traveling with Pets" rules sit on its Family & Pets page and in its help center. The single word "frontierpets" is also the domain and social handle of Frontier Pets, an Australian company that sells freeze-dried raw dog and cat food from Pinkenba, Queensland, according to the company's own website. This article covers the airline policy. If you were looking for the pet-food brand, go to frontierpets.com.au.

Frontier Airlines pet policy at a glance (October 2026)

The table below summarizes Frontier's published rules. Each item comes from Frontier's Family & Pets page, its help-center article "Do you allow pets on the plane," or its Optional Services fee list, all checked in October 2026.

How much does Frontier charge for a pet?

Frontier Airlines lists a Pet Charge of $149 per pet, per direction (non-refundable) on its Optional Services page, checked in October 2026. A round trip with one pet therefore costs $298 in pet fees alone. According to Frontier's Family & Pets page, you can pay the fee when you book. If you don't, you pay it when you check in your pet.

Where sources disagree on the fee

Not every travel site agrees. BaggagePolicies.com's "Frontier Pet Policy 2026" guide, dated June 2026, gives the fee as $99 per pet each way. Frontier's own fee schedule says $149. When an airline's official page and a third-party summary differ, go with the airline, and recheck flyfrontier.com close to departure, because Frontier changed several of its other charges for bookings made in 2026.

Does the pet carrier count as your personal item?

Third-party guides disagree on this too. BaggagePolicies.com says the carrier replaces your personal item. Frontier's Family & Pets page says that, in addition to the pet's travel container, you may bring either a personal item (8" H x 14" W x 18" L) or a carry-on bag (10" H x 16" W x 24" L), and that the carry-on costs extra. Frontier's help center says the same: "one personal item or a carry-on in addition to your pet (carry-on fees apply)."

Which pets can fly on Frontier Airlines?

Frontier accepts domesticated dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters and small household birds on flights within the United States, according to its Family & Pets page. Dogs and cats must be at least 8 weeks old.

Frontier says it never accepts the following species:

• Large birds, such as parrots, macaws, cockatoos and birds of prey
• Rodents, including mice, rats and squirrels
• Beavers and ferrets
• Reptiles (including snakes) and amphibians
• Spiders and insects

Frontier's pages give no weight limit. The limit in practice is the carrier: Frontier says it must be large enough for the pet to stand, turn around and lie down in a natural position, and it must still fit under the seat in front of you.

Frontier pet carrier size requirements

Frontier's help center sets two maximums: 18" L x 14" W x 8" H for hard-sided carriers and 18" L x 14" W x 11" H for soft-sided carriers. Frontier recommends soft-sided carriers, which can compress slightly to fit under the seat. Its other carrier rules are:

• The pet must stay inside the carrier for the whole flight, including if it becomes restless.
• Only one adult dog or cat may travel in each carrier.
• Some seats may not have room for a carrier, and Frontier says it will work with you to find a seat that does.
• You may not sit in row one or an exit row with a pet.

How to add a pet to a Frontier reservation

According to Frontier's help center, there are two ways to add a cabin pet:

1. During booking: in the Passenger Info section on flyfrontier.com, select Cabin Pet.
2. After booking: open Manage Trip and select Add Pet in Cabin.
3. Pay the fee: pay the $149 one-way charge in advance, or at check-in if you didn't prepay.
4. Choose an eligible seat: avoid row one and exit rows.
5. Check destination rules: look up the animal-entry requirements of the state or territory you are flying to (see the paperwork section below).
6. Prepare the pet: Frontier recommends no food or water for the pet within four hours of departure, and asks that you don't feed it during the flight.

Does Frontier allow pets on international flights?

No. Frontier's Family & Pets page says that "Frontier Airlines will not accept new pets for International Travel" and that only service animals that meet specific requirements may fly internationally. For international travel, Frontier lists these requirements for service dogs:

• A CDC Dog Import Form receipt
• A minimum age of 4 months
• A healthy appearance on arrival
• A microchip that a universal scanner can detect

Frontier adds that service dogs coming from countries the CDC lists as high-risk for dog rabies need extra documentation, including government-endorsed veterinary paperwork. The CDC's own guidance, "Bringing a Dog into the U.S." (updated August 2024), says the requirements depend on where the dog was vaccinated and which countries it was in during the six months before arriving in the U.S. It also says an unvaccinated dog that has been in a high-risk country in that period will not be allowed to enter.

Do you need a health certificate to fly a pet on Frontier?

For domestic flights, Frontier does not require a health certificate for pets in the cabin. Its Family & Pets page notes that USDA regulates the transport of pets within the U.S. and that the state you land in may require a certificate, so check with your veterinarian or USDA Veterinary Services.

U.S. territories have stricter rules, according to Frontier's page:

• Puerto Rico: an official health certificate valid for 30 days, rabies vaccination within six months for pets over four months old, treatment for external parasites within 72 hours before entry, and official identification (a microchip or a collar with a metal ID tag). This applies to service animals too.
• U.S. Virgin Islands: a health certificate stating the animal did not come from an area quarantined for rabies, plus rabies vaccination within six months before travel, except for dogs and cats under 12 weeks old.

On its Travel With a Pet page (last modified March 20, 2026), USDA APHIS advises owners taking a pet out of the United States to contact a USDA-accredited veterinarian as soon as they decide to travel. APHIS also says that animals classed as livestock or poultry, such as pigs and chickens, do not qualify for pet travel and fall under separate import and export rules.

Service animals and emotional support animals on Frontier

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) revised its Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) rule in a final rule published in the Federal Register on December 10, 2020. The rule defines a service animal as "a dog, regardless of breed or type, that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of a qualified individual with a disability." It lets airlines treat emotional support animals as pets, and lets them limit each passenger to two service animals.

Frontier's Special Services page applies that rule as follows:

• Only trained dogs are accepted as service animals, including fully trained psychiatric service dogs.
• Each passenger may bring no more than two service animals.
• Service animals in training, and service animals under 4 months old, are not accepted.
• You must upload DOT's Service Animal Air Transportation Form at least 48 hours before departure. If you book less than 48 hours before departure, you present the form at the gate.
• A passenger with a trained service dog may also bring one pet in the cabin.

Frontier's help center says "Emotional support animals are not accepted" as service animals. Its Special Services page adds that an animal that doesn't qualify as a service animal "may be eligible to travel in accordance with our Pet Policy for a fee." In practice, an emotional support animal flies on Frontier as a regular cabin pet: it must meet the species, carrier and fee rules.

Practical tips before you fly with a pet on Frontier

• Measure the carrier with the pet inside. The limits are 18 x 14 x 11 inches for soft-sided carriers and 18 x 14 x 8 inches for hard-sided ones.
• Ask your vet about sedation. Frontier's page notes that most veterinarians advise against sedating pets for air travel because tranquilizers have unpredictable effects at altitude.
• Know the emergency limits. Frontier states that no oxygen will be given to a pet in an emergency.
• Book early and keep records. Keep vaccination records and any state health certificate on your phone and on paper.
• Recheck fees. Frontier changed several of its other fees for 2026 bookings, so confirm the pet charge before you pay.

How Animal Passport differs from airline pet rules and pet passports

Airline pet policies, state health certificates, CDC dog import forms and the European Union pet passport are official or carrier-issued travel requirements. Animal Passport is none of these. It is a digital animal and livestock passport that identifies an individual animal by its muzzle biometrics; a nose print is unique, much like a human fingerprint. A farmer or owner captures it with a phone, and the record links the owner, breed, estimated age, body condition and vaccination history.

The app can estimate age from a photo of the teeth and reports a confidence score with the estimate. It can also give a body condition score from 1 to 5 based on a side-profile photo. Animal Passport was used in livestock flood rescue in Pakistan in August 2025, so that farmers could reclaim animals after their paper tags washed away.

Animal Passport is not a government-issued travel document. It does not replace a Frontier pet booking, a USDA-endorsed health certificate, a CDC import form or a veterinarian's advice, and it does not provide veterinary diagnosis or legal advice. You can read more about livestock identification on the Animal Passport blog or at animalpassport.co.

Bottom line

As of October 2026, flying a pet on Frontier Airlines means a small, eligible animal in an under-seat carrier, on a U.S. domestic route, for $149 each way. Pets cannot fly in cargo or on international routes. Service dogs follow DOT's 2020 rules, and emotional support animals travel as pets. Check Frontier's official pages and your destination's animal-entry rules before you leave, because fees and requirements can change during the year.