Continental has started to award miles for shipping your pet as Cargo.

True to form, Virgin Atlantic takes the concept a bit further, focusing on rewarding the cat or dog through it’s “Bone-us-Miles” and “Frequent Feline” clubs that reward your pet with pampering weekends for flying Virgin.

For all the coverage these two programs are getting, you’d think it was something new. But for two years, El Al has offered a frequent flyer program for dogs, cats & birds where pets earn 1 free roundtrip after 3 roundtrips within a 3 year period.

Several hotels have been on this bandwagon for a few years. The San Ysidro Ranch hotel offers pets baked salmon from room service, a massage by the fireplace, and homemade cookies made in their own likeness, as well as vitamin-fortified water and crunchy chicken-flavored treats.

The Metropolitan Hotel in New York offers a frequent hotel guest program that includes credit toward a pet room service meal (after 5 stays) to a day at Biscuits & Bath, a pet spa and Day Care Center (50 stays).

And I know that the W Seattle has a special pet-friendly program as well.

Somehow one Continental mile per dollar spent on transport just doesn’t sound as appealing…