Did United ever cause the death/injury/missing of cats? (serious replies only please)
Mar 14, 2018, 4:13 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2018
Programs: UA, LH, BA
Posts: 294
Did United ever cause the death/injury/missing of cats? (serious replies only please)
Did United ever cause the death/injury/missing of cats?
(serious replies only please)
I tried searching on Flyertalk, but the search function does not allow searching with short words like "cat"....
I'm trying to reassure my 19-year-old niece who is bringing her 14-year-old cat on two United flights this weekend.(3-hour + 5-hour)
She is freaking out because of all the negative United news in the last few days regarding dogs onboard.
I told her that I've never heard of any cat news involving United Airlines(or any other airline), at least not on Flyertalk.
(serious replies only please)
I tried searching on Flyertalk, but the search function does not allow searching with short words like "cat"....
I'm trying to reassure my 19-year-old niece who is bringing her 14-year-old cat on two United flights this weekend.(3-hour + 5-hour)
She is freaking out because of all the negative United news in the last few days regarding dogs onboard.
I told her that I've never heard of any cat news involving United Airlines(or any other airline), at least not on Flyertalk.
Last edited by geometry; Mar 14, 2018 at 4:24 pm
Mar 14, 2018, 4:19 pm
#2
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Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: GVA (Greater Vancouver Area)
Programs: DREAD Gold; UA 1.035MM; Bonvoy Au-197; PCC Elite+; CCC Elite+; MSC C-12; CWC Au-197; WoH Dis
Posts: 52,140
I do have a funny story about one of our cats.
When we moved to Vancouver, we left our cats (Boris and Natasha) with our son for a few days while we drove up. We knew they'd never be able to handle the long drive cooped up in carriers. He then drove them to the airport to fly up on Skywest. When we were checking on flight status, we were told the flight was delayed due to a mysterious noise on the plane. Well, it turned out the noise was dear Nathasha crying in the hold!
After they safely got to YVR, it seems that Natasha also managed to escape her cage and got loose in the cargo facililty. Luckily, they managed to corral her before we got to the airport to pick them up. In the end, everyone was safe and happy.
When we moved to Vancouver, we left our cats (Boris and Natasha) with our son for a few days while we drove up. We knew they'd never be able to handle the long drive cooped up in carriers. He then drove them to the airport to fly up on Skywest. When we were checking on flight status, we were told the flight was delayed due to a mysterious noise on the plane. Well, it turned out the noise was dear Nathasha crying in the hold!
After they safely got to YVR, it seems that Natasha also managed to escape her cage and got loose in the cargo facililty. Luckily, they managed to corral her before we got to the airport to pick them up. In the end, everyone was safe and happy.
Last edited by mahasamatman; Mar 14, 2018 at 8:56 pm Reason: typo
Mar 14, 2018, 4:34 pm
#3
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: SJC / DPS
Programs: AS G75K, UA Silver
Posts: 1,757
Did United ever cause the death/injury/missing of cats?
(serious replies only please)
I tried searching on Flyertalk, but the search function does not allow searching with short words like "cat"....
I'm trying to reassure my 19-year-old niece who is bringing her 14-year-old cat on two United flights this weekend.(3-hour + 5-hour)
She is freaking out because of all the negative United news in the last few days regarding dogs onboard. I told her that I've never heard of any cat news involving United Airlines(or any other airline), at least not on Flyertalk.
(serious replies only please)
I tried searching on Flyertalk, but the search function does not allow searching with short words like "cat"....
I'm trying to reassure my 19-year-old niece who is bringing her 14-year-old cat on two United flights this weekend.(3-hour + 5-hour)
She is freaking out because of all the negative United news in the last few days regarding dogs onboard.
I told her that I've never heard of any cat news involving United Airlines(or any other airline), at least not on Flyertalk. With that said, I've brought my own cat on board UA many, many times with no issue whatsoever.
Mar 14, 2018, 4:36 pm
#4
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Join Date: May 2007
Location: Houston
Programs: UA Plat, Marriott Gold
Posts: 12,693
About a year ago: Among the four deaths on United flights in January, a Jan. 28 incident involving Hope, a 9-year-old cat, was suspected as heart failure, according to the department.
Mar 14, 2018, 4:37 pm
#5
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: WAS
Posts: 3,010
Mar 14, 2018, 7:30 pm
#6
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: DEN
Programs: UA 1MM, MP 1K, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Gold
Posts: 462
All I can say is that I drove my daughter’s cat from DEN to OKC because he had never flown and I had no idea how he would take it so I drove him back. He was my responsibility until I got him back to her(she had been TDY for the USAF).
Reading current stories it seems I probably should have blamed anyone or thing else if I had flown with him and something happened.
Reading current stories it seems I probably should have blamed anyone or thing else if I had flown with him and something happened.
Mar 14, 2018, 7:59 pm
#8
Join Date: Jul 2016
Programs: UA1K | *A Gold
Posts: 767
Additional tweak - you can put site:flyertalk.com/forum/united-airlines-mileageplus/ to limit your google results to the UA MP forum.
Mar 14, 2018, 8:13 pm
#9
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: 42.1% in PDX , 49.9% in PVG & 8% in the air somewhere
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Posts: 1,086
I've flown UA, DL, AA, AS, AC, HU, CA, MU, HA, BU, you know who brings up the end for both GA and FA, it is strange. I'm trying to reconcile if I have a bias or it really is an unbiased observation from my so many hours/days on airplanes.
Mar 14, 2018, 10:52 pm
#10
Join Date: Apr 1999
Location: Homosassa, FL & Ringwood, NJ -UA-G(Lifetime); SPG-Plat (Lifetime)
Posts: 6,120
Our two cats tolerated well trips from EWR->TPA and return several times nicely. About 3-3/12 hours on the plane. Most of the time, they just curled up and slept in their carriers. First Class give more room for a larger carrier (or cat 
)
)
Mar 15, 2018, 10:23 am
#11
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: PHX, SEA
Programs: Avis President's Club, Global Entry, Hilton/Marriott Gold. No more DL/AA status.
Posts: 4,422
As long as the cat is in the passenger compartment, I think your family will be fine. The recent death was due to a dog being put into the overhead bin because of a bad FA. Nobody will be making that mistake on United for a while!
If transporting in the hold in a kennel, then there's risk - United is 9x worse than the other airlines in that regard (2.4 incidents per 10k, everyone else is 0.26 or less).
If transporting in the hold in a kennel, then there's risk - United is 9x worse than the other airlines in that regard (2.4 incidents per 10k, everyone else is 0.26 or less).
Mar 15, 2018, 10:27 am
#12
Suspended
Join Date: Jan 2018
Programs: UA Premier Silver
Posts: 311
As long as the cat is in the passenger compartment, I think your family will be fine. The recent death was due to a dog being put into the overhead bin because of a bad FA. Nobody will be making that mistake on United for a while!
If transporting in the hold in a kennel, then there's risk - United is 9x worse than the other airlines in that regard (2.4 incidents per 10k, everyone else is 0.26 or less).
If transporting in the hold in a kennel, then there's risk - United is 9x worse than the other airlines in that regard (2.4 incidents per 10k, everyone else is 0.26 or less).
Mar 15, 2018, 10:35 am
#13
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Mar 15, 2018, 10:42 am
#14
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Pacific
Programs: UA GS, Lifetime 4 MM, BA Gold, , Marriott Lifetime Titanium Elite, Marriott Ambassador Elite
Posts: 476
I have had a cat transported JFK-DEN and then later DEN-SFO. No problems. He wasn't happy about being in cargohold, but he was fine.
Mar 15, 2018, 10:50 am
#15
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: Bay Area - East Bay
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Posts: 641
I think the biggest risk in flying with a cat is when you take it out of the carrier and carry it through security. Some cats are NOT happy about that and will express their displeasure in no uncertain terms