Heck, I’m sure anyone with a printer can create their own “official looking” and “official sounding” letter. 
The letter requires the doctor’s licensing information, but I agree that it’s very easy to get the letter online. Can you imagine how easy it must be to make money doing this? For a 10 minute review of a checklist one of these faux ESA sites can charge $100 or more, and since the letter has to be renewed annually there’s always a steady supply of customers.
Time for allergy sufferers to do the same then, I guess. 
SWA is the most accommodating airline for those with peanut allergies. They make an announcement at the beginning of the flight that everyone should abstain from opening peanut products during the flight.
My real, treating doctors have not charged us for paperwork required for us to get appropriate accommodations related to our medical conditions that I have needed to get annually, but I do know some patients are charged an extra fee by their MDs and find the $100 or so fee an onerous expense.
Airlines have some confusion as to what paperwork is required, adding stress and more difficulty to the mix.
Am I the only one who thinks people actually PAYING for a seat on the plane should get first say?
Obviously the airlines do. Or we wouldn’t have different “classes” of seats. You pay upfront.
One ticket, one seat.
When I board a plane I “stupidly” assume the other passengers to contend with are humans (and that’s bad enough sometimes). . Your set of personal problems do not trump mine. If your “pet” and “baby” get on board free then so does my “blankie” (maybe my best friend?), my favorite futon? My peanut-butter cookies from my favorite aunt that someone else is allergic to?
Your personal discomfort (for this limited amount of time) does not trump my discomfort.
It’ll change–the pendulum always swings…careful what you wish for.
Part of the issue for SWA is that they do not allow animals in the belly of the plane. Dogs and cats are required to fly in the passenger cabin. Pets are required to fit in a carrier that goes under the seat. Service and ESA animals can go on the floor of the plane or in the passenger’s lap if they’re not larger than a 2 year old.
What this means is that if you want to travel on SWA with your medium or large sized dog you’ll have to have them declared a ESA in order to get them on.
If a dog is not an ESA, the owner should not falsify it as such. Choose another airline.
One person’s allergy/illness/need for a comfort animal should not have priority over someone else’s. I wonder how having a dog at the feet of someone would complicate an emergency situation (like evacuating).
I have flown on SW with my little dog. He fit in a carrier and stayed under the seat. I called and made a reservation ofr him but they don’t let you pay until you get to the airport because the fee is non-refundable. So then we paid and got something like a luggage tag to put on his carrier. My favorite part was the TSA requirement that I take him out of his carrier and carry him through the metal detector. So cuddly!
Why can’t they do that with ESA animals? At least make them have a reservation so they know how many animals are coming in advance. I know that could reduce the number of non ESA animals but something needs to be done. This woman could have been exaggerating but the response was ridiculous. Are we going to have a pet-free section like we used to have a smoking section?
Also, I have heard friends of mine talking about getting someone ESA certified so they could bring BOTH of their LARGE dogs onto a plane. Yikes.
I think having any object, including an animal/pet/ESA would certainly hinder any evacuation effort.
^^It makes no logical sense that a passenger must put all items completely under the seat in front of him (so emergency exits aren’t hindered) but allow a dog to be there.
Federal law says otherwise. Airlines cannot violate the law, even if they would like to.
I think this law should be changed; certainly it should be tightened up somehow to reduce the abuse that’s going on. Don’t know how likely that is to ever happen, though.
The woman removed from the SWA flight was foolish to be on that flight if she has a life-threatening pet allergy. The flight left Baltimore at 8:40 pm and is likely a 4+ hour flight. SWA only cleans their planes at the end of the day and recommends that people with severe allergies fly earlier in the day. That plane may have had 12+ hours of fur and dander before she even boarded.
I really don’t see this situation too differently than airlines that do not allow women to fly late into a pregnancy. No one wants a flight to be diverted for a medical emergency.
I find myself continually coming back to the same position. If you have anxiety so disabling you need an animal to help you control it you should be eligible for a service dog, but that dog should be trained to the level of all other service dogs.
“My favorite part was the TSA requirement that I take him out of his carrier and carry him through the metal detector. So cuddly!”
Aww… 
My kid and her dad both did that - going throug the magnet holding a scaredy cat…
Reposting post 269: Violators, both the clinician and the person getting the fraudulent letter, should be punished:
" A letter from a primary care doc saying that little Johnny needs a pet to make him feel better would not meet criteria for documentation for an ESA. It must come from a licensed mental health professional who has treated the patient and documented the mental health diagnosis that the patient meets criteria for and the necessity of the ESA for management or amelioration of the diagnosed disability. Sadly this gets severely abused all the time. I have personally had to politely tell people who I neither treat nor who have to my knowledge any diagnosable disabilities that I will not write them a letter so that they can take their pet on a plane or bring it into housing that is a “no pets allowed” facility. Unfortunately as has been noted above, there are professionals who are willing, for a price, to read a form filled out online and claim that they are treating someone for a diagnosed a disability. It is a blight on all mental health professionals for the few that will do this for a buck. And I admit to being pleased when I hear some of these people are brought up on review by their licensing boards of their individual states.
Unfortunately, your post 297 would require most everybody to have integrity. It’s a great wish, but it just isn’t happening.
A friend flew on SWA a few years ago. She and another passenger had pets (paid for, in a box or crate) and another passenger did have the “I’m allergic to animals” letter from a doctor and SWA made the two pet owners get off and take another flight. Since this was the last flight of the day, I believe SW paid for the overnight.
So in that case the human won. @gouf78 , the pets (and child under two) get to ride for free, but they do not get a seat.