Wow, I wasn't expecting a response from someone who really knows their stuff in ORD cargo! Thanks very much, I appreciate it. I think I will go with Uber and have them wait. I'm trying to figure out if the cat lands at 515am if I have enough time to pick her up and make it out on a 715am flight. (I'll be coming in the night before)
I have status on AA so generally breeze through ticketing/security, but I'm not sure how long it takes to get cargo off the plane to the facility and then to get out of there. I realize that's cutting it super close. (I can fly in F on the 715 flight for less miles than it will cost me to fly in economy on a later flight
)