Data Sources & Methodology

Transparency about our data is one of our core commitments. This page explains where our information comes from, how we collect and verify it, what our confidence scores mean, and what the limitations of our data are.

Source Hierarchy

Not all sources are equal. When collecting and presenting information, we follow a defined hierarchy that prioritizes official, primary sources over secondary or derivative ones:

Tier 1: Official Primary Sources

These are the most authoritative sources. Whenever possible, our data points are drawn directly from:

Airline pet policy pages published on official airline websites (delta.com, united.com, aa.com, etc.).
Hotel group pet policy pages published on official brand websites (hilton.com, marriott.com, ihg.com, hyatt.com, etc.).
Manufacturer product specification pages and official documentation (product manuals, spec sheets, certification documents).
Published fee schedules and contract of carriage documents from airlines.

Data from Tier 1 sources is given the highest confidence rating and is the only data we treat as "verified" in our system.

Tier 2: Affiliate and Retailer Data Feeds

For product dimensions, images, pricing, and availability, we supplement manufacturer data with information from affiliate and retailer feeds, including:

Amazon Product Advertising API data.
Retailer product pages (Chewy, Petco, and others).

Product dimensions from retailer feeds are cross-referenced with manufacturer specs whenever both are available. If they disagree, the manufacturer specification takes priority. Pricing data is marked with the date it was last fetched, as prices change frequently.

Tier 3: Third-Party Aggregators and Industry Sources

We may reference industry publications, travel forums, and pet travel blogs as directional sources that point us toward changes we should verify. These sources are used only as leads for investigation, never as the basis for a factual claim on our site.

Tier 4: User Feedback Aggregation

Our "User Feedback Trends" and "What Pet Owners Say" sections are derived from aggregating publicly available reviews, forum discussions, and social media commentary. This data is not treated as factual policy information. It represents what real travelers have reported about their experiences, and it is:

Aggregated into themes (not presented as individual reviews or quotes).
Clearly labeled as experience-based, not verified fact.
Never used as the sole basis for a policy claim.

How We Collect Data

Our data collection combines manual research with automated checking:

Manual research. Our team visits airline and hotel websites directly, reads policy pages in full, and extracts relevant data points. For each airline and hotel group we cover, we maintain a record of where each data point came from (specific URLs) and when it was last checked.
Automated monitoring. For product data, we use API integrations with affiliate networks to pull current pricing, availability, and specifications on a schedule. We also use change-detection tools to monitor airline and hotel policy pages for updates, flagging pages that have changed since our last manual review.
User reports. Corrections and tips submitted by users through our contact page or correction process trigger a manual verification check.

Verification Process

When we verify a data point, here is what happens:

We navigate to the official policy page or specification document.
We locate the specific data point (for example, the in-cabin pet fee for a specific airline) and confirm it matches our entry.
We record the date of verification and, if the source URL has changed, update our reference.
If the data has changed, we update our entry and add a note indicating the change date.
If the official source is ambiguous or contradictory, we flag the data point with a confidence note rather than making an assumption.

What "Verified" Means

When you see a "Verified" badge or a "Last verified" date on a PetFriendlyHub page, it means:

A human researcher checked the specific data point against its official source on the date shown.
At that moment in time, the information on our site matched the official source.

It does not mean:

That the information is guaranteed to be correct at this moment. Policies can change at any time, and there may be a gap between a change and our next verification check.
That a third party has independently audited our data.
That the official source itself is free of errors (though that is usually a safe assumption).

Confidence Scoring

Internally, we assign a confidence score to each data point in our database. This score reflects how recently the data was verified and how clear the official source is, not our subjective opinion. You can generally interpret what you see on the site as follows:

High confidence: Verified against an official Tier 1 source within the last 30 days. The source was unambiguous.
Medium confidence: Verified within the last 90 days, or the source contained some ambiguity we've noted.
Low confidence: Last verified more than 90 days ago, drawn from a Tier 2 source without Tier 1 confirmation, or based on a source with known contradictions.

We do not publish data points that fall below our minimum confidence threshold. If we cannot verify something to an acceptable standard, we either omit it or clearly state that it is unverified and what the known ambiguity is.

Feedback Themes Methodology

Our "User Feedback Trends" and "What Pet Owners Say" sections are not individual reviews. They are thematic summaries produced through the following process:

We collect publicly available reviews, comments, and posts about a given airline, hotel group, or product from a range of sources (review sites, forums, social media).
We identify recurring themes (both positive and negative) that appear across multiple independent reviews.
We summarize the theme in neutral language, indicating how commonly it was observed ("frequently mentioned," "occasionally noted," "rarely reported").
We do not quote individual reviewers, share personal information, or present any single person's experience as representative.

Feedback themes are provided as supplemental context, not as substitutes for official policy information or as guarantees of what your experience will be.

Update Frequency

Airline policies: Reviewed against official sources weekly for major carriers.
Hotel group policies: Reviewed bi-weekly.
Product specifications and pricing: Refreshed monthly from API feeds and manufacturer sites.
User feedback themes: Reviewed and updated quarterly, or sooner if significant new themes emerge.
Editorial content and guides: Reviewed every 6 months for continued accuracy and relevance.

Limitations of Our Data

We believe in being upfront about what our data cannot do:

Policies vary by property. A hotel group's general pet policy may not apply uniformly to every property in its portfolio. Individual hotels within a group may have different pet fees, weight limits, or breed restrictions. We capture what the group-level policy says, but the property always has the final say.
Policies vary by route and aircraft. Airlines may have different rules for international vs. domestic flights, connecting vs. non-stop itineraries, and different aircraft types within the same fleet. We document general policies, but specific flights may have additional restrictions.
Policies change without notice. Airlines and hotels can and do change their policies without advance notice. Our verification schedule is designed to catch changes quickly, but there will always be a window between a change and our next check.
Product availability and pricing are fluid. Prices on retailer sites change frequently. We refresh pricing monthly, but a price you see on our site may not be the current price on the retailer's site.
We do not cover every airline, hotel group, or product. Our coverage is focused on major North American carriers, large hotel groups, and popular pet travel products. Smaller airlines, independent hotels, and niche products may not be represented.

If you notice a gap in our coverage or a data point that needs updating, please let us know.