Hey I don’t have cats so it might be a bit different, but I’ve had a few dogs over the years and I figure it would be similar. Your cats probably associate the carriers with going to the vet which it sounds like they’re not a fan of. Their thought process is probably carrier = vet = no thank you.

Have you tried to put them into the carrier without actually taking them to the vet? Drop some treats in there, let them explore it at their own pace, close it for a minute or two, and then either reward or praise them after release? Keep progressing to the point that treats are no longer required to lure them and they enter on their own, but still reward them on release. Rinse and repeat (and repeat and repeat and repeat). Over time they may change their attitude towards the carrier their mindset may turn into carrier = treats and praise.

If they’re not food motivated you may have to use alternate bait such as toys or nip.

I would pay a premium ticket price to get a lay down seat at the back of the plane and have no food service in that zone. That gets rid of the food sales loss, for which I have never paid for anyway, as I’d be paying a higher ticket price. I guess at that point there is still a concern regarding a mess, since I can bring my own snacks, but it’s not like I would be getting some memory foam mattress with Egyptian cotton sheets with the way airlines would implement this anyway. I’d get a long pleather vinyl cushion with maybe a standard pillow.

It would be worse than what I got in the Navy, slightly, but still better than any shit airplane seat I’ve sat in.

The vehicle will absolutely collect data, but likely won’t be transmitting or collecting personal data (which is mostly done within vehicle infotainment units). It’ll be stored within the hardware which is much more preferred but I’d still consider that “data collection”.

Most vehicles have an Event Data Recorder (EDR) which records and stores vehicle data in the event of a collision/abnormal operation above a certain threshold. They’re mandated in many countries. You can connect to these systems, some easier than others, and get vehicle data such as vehicle speed, accelerator pedal position, brake activation, changes in velocity, yaw rate, steering wheel angle, steering wheel angle rate of change, ABS/TC activation, number of ignition cycles, odometer readings, etc. Newer vehicles with enhanced safety systems (of which this vehicle doesn’t sound like it’s intended to have) can provide even more data including but not limited to proximity to a target object and camera images.

It’s not data in the sense of personal or tracking data, but it’s still data.