A woman has claimed she 'hit the jackpot' with the seat she was given on a recent flight, as she couldn't believe it when a mini celebrity sat down in the seat beside her.
Jody April shared a video on Instagram of herself sitting in the aisle seat of a Delta Airlines flight. When her seatmate came to sit next to her, she found herself face-to-face with a gorgeous Golden Retriever named Douglas.
A Surprise Seatmate
Douglas is a service dog with almost 300 followers on his own Instagram account. Jody was over the moon when she found out that the pooch and his owner were booked into the seats next to hers.
She filmed several interactions with Douglas throughout the flight, including passengers fawning over him when he boarded and him being fed a meatball by the flight attendants. She also filmed herself petting Douglas multiple times, after asking his owner for permission.
Cuddles Mid-Flight
Halfway through the flight, Jody really struck gold as Douglas climbed into her lap for a cuddle. She wrote on part of her video: "Partway through the flight, Douglas decided he needed cuddles." She added in the caption: "Best case scenario."
Commenters on Jody's video were jealous of her luck, with one saying: "How does it feel to be God's favourite?" Another added: "I don't think I've ever been so jealous of a stranger on the internet." And a third wrote: "First class is nothing compared to sitting next to a dog! Let alone getting to snuggle? Are you kidding me? I'm so jealous."
Dogs on Planes
In the UK, no commercial airlines allow pets to travel in the cabin on flights arriving in the UK, so pets must travel in the hold. However, assistance dogs like Douglas can travel in the cabin free of charge on the majority of British Airways flights. Emotional support dogs are not accepted in the cabin and must travel as regular pets.
