The 5 Best Travel Carriers for Cats and Small Dogs of 2025

For this update, we considered a pet carrier’s dimensions, pet weight restrictions, ventilation areas, padded bedding inserts, warranty, and other notable features, such as seat-belt straps. We looked at reviews on sites like Amazon, Chewy, and Petco, and we tested soft-sided carriers that looked suitable for small pets, for both car and air travel.

Hard-sided plastic pet carriers are the easiest to clean, but due to their rigidness, it can be difficult to fit them under an airplane seat, so we ruled these out. (We’ll be looking at large hard-sided kennels for big dogs riding in a car or via air cargo for a future update.)

But just because a soft-sided carrier is marketed with a phrase like “airline approved,” that doesn’t mean it will make it on board. In-cabin size requirements vary from airline to airline, and they can change over time. So many manufacturers still suggest that you double-check with your airline before you travel.

We included carriers that exceeded the major airlines’ in-cabin size requirements, as long as they were available in at least one size that came close. During their travels with pets, Wirecutter staffers have noticed that airline staff members weren’t likely to measure a carrier, so you might get away with a few extra inches, especially if the carrier can be squished.

We prioritized bags with a strap or sleeve that can slide over a luggage trolley handle, as well as carriers with internal leash tethers, to keep a pet in place if they want to poke their head out on a layover.

We gave bonus points if a carrier was crash-tested. Unlike with car seats for kids, with pet restraints there are no government-regulated crash safety standards. The nonprofit Center for Pet Safety (CPS) claims to be the only independent organization currently crash-testing pet carriers and kennels in the US. Companies can voluntarily apply to be certified by CPS, and they must adhere to CPS’s standards. But even CPS’s methodology isn’t immune to criticism, including from one company whose product failed CPS testing. “I’m not claiming perfection because there are so many variables here,” said CPS founder Lindsey Wolko. Variables include the size of the animal, the type of vehicle, and the speed and nature of a crash. Still, in our evaluation of carriers, we considered it at least a positive sign when a brand invested in crash-testing with an independent third party like CPS.

That’s not to say all manufacturers’ in-house crash tests are bunk, but it’s best to view their claims through a lens of skepticism. “There’s so much marketing, and to some extent you have to just read the information that they offer to you, and try to read it critically and decide what you’re comfortable with,” said veterinarian Juliet Caviness.

Because crash testing is an imperfect science that also considerably increases the price of a pet carrier, we still considered models from companies that made no such claims.

There’s no science-backed consensus on exactly which type of restraint is safest. But in a crash, an appropriately sized carrier or kennel might help minimize injuries to an animal more than harnesses or seat belt tethers, according to veterinarian Molly Racette. A pet “might get a bump or a bruise when they bonk into the carrier. But they are in such a confined space that they can’t generate as much acceleration and deceleration during the impact, that it’s just much less likely that they’re going to sustain such a high level of blunt-force trauma” as they would without being physically confined, Racette told us. So we didn’t consider pet booster seats and pet “car seats” for this guide, because they don’t fully contain an animal.