Interesting series of events yesterday with my mom and sister while flying to ORD. Here’s a little background:

On 9/15/17, my 25 year old sister was flying ICN-SFO-ORD on a P fare, heading home to see my parents in Chicago. She was traveling with her three-month-old daughter (in-lap), three checked bags, a gate checked stroller, and her 50 lb dog that she checked with United PetSafe. She had a roughly four-hour layover at SFO, before her flight to Chicago. Both flights were on United metal (no codeshares).

My mom flew to SFO on Thursday 9/14/17 (on Southwest) and booked a one-way, SFO-ORD, on the same leg as my sister. The intent was for my mom to meet my sister at international arrivals, help her with the baby, etc… My mom and sister were booked on two different PNR’s.

Recognizing the total travel time of my sister’s flight, (she was concerned about the dog being in a crate for 16+ hours) my sister called me to ask if she could walk the dog during her layover at SFO. Despite my frequent travels on UA, I’ve never checked a pet…so this was a new one for me. I called the Premier Desk, provided the agent with my sister’s PNR, explained the situation and asked them if my sister would be able to retrieve / walk the dog during the layover at SFO. The agent put me on hold while she called Baggage. She returned from hold and informed me that my sister would not be able to retrieve the dog, but that the dog would be handled by SFO’s kennel facility. She specifically stated that the dog would be walked and fed during the layover. I relayed this information to my mom and sister, and while they were disappointed that they couldn’t see the dog, they were relieved to hear that it would be taken care of.

Fast forward a few hours – mom, sister and baby are in their seats in F enjoying their pre-flight beverage, ready to go home. A United representative comes on board and approached my sister’s seat, asking her if she brought a dog with her to SFO. They informed her that the dog was still in its crate customs, and that she would not be allowed to travel to ORD until the dog was cleared through Customs and checked onto the SFO-ORD leg.

My mom immediately called me while she was in her seat, audibly upset and confused, asking me what they should do. Given the fact that United wasn’t going to hold the flight for them, and that the dog certainly wasn’t going to make their flight either, my mom, sister and baby all deplaned.
It sounds like my mom ran into some very, very, excellent United reps who quickly recognized that there was a pretty big mix up, and they stepped in to get things fixed ASAP. They immediately rebooked my mom and sister onto a later flight, still in F, despite the fact that they were on two different reservations. A United rep escorted my sister to Customs where the dog was waiting, and my sister proceeded to clear the dog and then recheck it.
While my mom was waiting in the terminal with the baby, she called me again giving me an update. She wanted me to talk to the agent, at which point he got on the phone and began to apologize, and asked what he could do to make the situation right. I explained my prior phone call with the Premier Desk, and he confirmed that what the Desk told me was correct – the dog should have been checked to ORD, and that something didn’t go right with the Pet Cargo / Kennel. I told him that I appreciated his apology, and sincerely thanked him for rebooking my mom when obviously per the rules there was no need to. I suggested to him that a $500 e-cert for each of them would be a good gesture of goodwill given the situation. He said that he wasn’t sure he could do that much, but that he was going to find out what the cost was to ship the dog and at least issue an e-cert to both for that amount. He was adamant about addressing it while at the airport and not asking them to deal with Customer Care.

In the end, my mom, sister and the baby all ended up getting back to Chicago, with the dog, approximately 2.5 hours later than they were originally scheduled. Come to find out, the agent did issue each of them a $500 e-cert while they were at SFO. My mom took the names of three individuals that provided exceptional support and plans on contacting United to recognize them.

TL;DR – Sister flew ICN-SFO-ORD with a checked dog. United told us that the dog would be checked all the way to ORD. Dog got stuck in customs. Mom and sister had to deplane after boarding SFO-ORD leg. Sister had to take dog through customs. United rebooked mom and sister and issued $500 e-cert.