Posting this as a heads up, especially for military families. I’m PCS’ing to Hawaii and fly United almost exclusively. I’m also a 1K member.
I called United before booking to ask about flying with my dogs and was pointed to the Military PetSafe email. Emailed multiple times, no response. Called again and was told there would be no issues, just book first. Was told each person can only travel with two pets, so I booked a second ticket and had my mom fly with us.
Based on that guidance, I booked flights, hotels, rental cars, scheduled vet visits, and got health certs for all three dogs.
Less than 48 hours before departure, United Cargo suddenly tells me they don’t ship dogs anymore and to call reservations. Reservations and the 1K desk both say it’s impossible. A manager finally gets through to PetSafe and confirms United no longer ships pets in cargo at all, except Guam to HNL.
So after weeks of planning and being repeatedly told to book first, I had to cancel everything and rebook last minute on Alaska. United refunded the tickets, but that doesn’t come close to fixing the stress or extra costs.
No one was rude, but the system is completely broken. Cargo didn’t know the policy. Reservations didn’t know. 1K didn’t know. PetSafe doesn’t answer emails and has no phone number.
If Alaska hadn’t worked out, we would’ve been completely stuck.
If you’re moving to Hawaii with pets, do not assume United can help, even if multiple agents say yes.
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