Petfinder.com's Pet-Friendly U.S. Airlines for 2010

In preparation for summer vacation, Petfinder.com's annual review of pet-friendly airlines in the United States reveals the best choices for animal passengers. Last year, Petfinder.com recognized Pet Airways, the first pet airline tailored to the airline's designated "pawsengers," flying out of nine airports. This summer, Petfinder.com looked at the top commercial U.S. airlines in the interest of pet amenities, budget, variety and safety.

*    Best Pet-Friendly Amenities: JetBlue gives pet-carrying passengers a pet carrier baggage tag for in-cabin travel, a travel petiquette guide, 300 TrueBlue points each way and a welcome email.

*    Best for Budget-Conscious Consumers: AirTran offers in-cabin travel to small domesticated dogs, cats and birds to travel for $69 each way.

*    Best for Transporting Pet Variety: Frontier Airlines has the most diverse pet allowance, including domesticated dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters and small household birds.

*    Best for Animal Health and Safety: In the event of a pet illness mid-flight, JetBlue will check if there is a veterinarian on-board to treat to pet immediately.

Recently, JetBlue established its policy to refuse in-cargo pet transport. From May 2009 to May 2010, airlines that required pets to travel in-cabin were the only ones with no pet deaths to report.

Visit www.petfinder.com/pettravel.