Loyal Airline Passenger Loses Nearly 400,000 Airline Miles After Sneaking a Fat Cat Onto His Flight

A loyal airline passenger has lost approximately 400,000 airline miles after playing a game of cat and mouse with Aeroflot, sneaking his "fat" cat onto a recent flight by tricking officials as a copy-cat body double with a thinner kitty.

BBC reported that passenger Mikhail Galin hid his 22-pound cat Viktor onto a layover in Moscow from Latvia, despite the airline's rule that pets weighing more than 17 pounds (7 kilograms) not be hand-carried in the cabin plane.

The 34-year-old fur dad made a "strategic decision to find a similar cat of a lower weight" in the layover city since he is unwilling to let Viktor have a long trip in the luggage hold. Galin, seeking advice on Facebook, crafted what he deemed as a perfect idea for the heist.

AFP said Galin arrived at the airport with Viktor, a lookalike "cat double" named Phoebe, and Phoebe's owners, and Phoebe's owners to get throughout the restriction.

The skinny kitty Phoebe's weigh-in went well, and Gavin was able to sit in the business class with Viktor in tow. According to AFP, the Aeroflot customer said the operation to switch "fat cat" Viktor and "miniature kitty" Phoebe was victorious.

Galin shared images of the achievement to Facebook, posting pictures of Viktor looking out the plane's window and staring down a glass of champagne. The post quickly went viral with over 18,000 likes and more than 3,000 shares.

Galin, however, acted too quickly in bringing the cat out of the bag. BBC reported that Aeroflot immediately caught wind of the hijinks. BBC added the airline used CCTV footages to verify that Galin indeed swapped cats before the flight to take the fatter cat on board.

Officials for the Russian airline soon realized that Galin had surely used a 15-pound cat to pull off the prank, and stopped his frequent flier miles worth almost 400,000 as a consequence.

Aeroflot's spokesperson said the airline decided to take Galin out of their frequent flyer program, adding that all the miles collected during his time in the program would be revoked.

Disgruntled commenters were allegedly done in arms over the decision, with some accusing Aeroflot of fat-shaming Viktor. Meanwhile, Galin took the punishment in stride - and good humor.

Following the incident, he shared an image of Viktor as a kitten to Facebook, and jokingly reminiscing on the days when his precious pet "still met the requirements of the air carrier."