Originally Posted by
sincx
The majors do their best with pets but still have occasional problems, because at the end of the day all pets are treated as cargo.
You might want to consider taking a direct LAX-JFK flight and driving the rest of the way. 5 hours instead of 8 and no transfers: should significantly reduce the chance of bad things happening.
Agree with this. Also other U.S. airlines like AA and DL have a better track record with safely transporting pets. I wouldn't put a pet on a UA flight even if I hated it.
BTW, this just occurred to me: I find it really reprehensible that UA continues to market that Petsafe program. It makes it look like they have special handling for animals that the other airlines don't have, which isn't true. It also makes it seem like they take extra care with animals, which they don't. They shouldn't be marketing it like that.