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Crossing the line? Rights of UA passenger when animals are on the flight.

Crossing the line? Rights of UA passenger when animals are on the flight.

Old Oct 31, 2017, 12:21 pm
  #91  
 
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Originally Posted by GenyaGr
I an allergic to animals. After my nose and eyes run, I start to wheeze. Into a long flight, my asthma may be bad enough to require a breathing treatment.
I have travelled safely next to a quiet, well behaved genuine service dog. But a furry, active dander spreader is another story....
+1

The asthma attacks are scary for me, but the sneezing and runny eyes makes people sitting next to me quite concerned, especially during flu season and I always try and reassure people it is not a cold but allergies. Ventolin/steroids is truly a life saver!

People think I make this up but genuine service dogs apparently do not impact me and I do not understand why. I suspect it is something to do with the shampoos or lack thereof, and service animals are very clean with apparently very little dander.
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Old Oct 31, 2017, 12:42 pm
  #92  
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Originally Posted by 1P
It's only an animal, right? Get real, folks!

And while I might not actually die (but some with more severe allergies than me might come close to that), I defend my right to travel in comfort over that of an animal. Thousands of animals are transported in aircraft holds every day, and the number of deaths is miniscule in proportion to the whole.
Isn't this the reason why United has climate controlled pressurized Petsafe program?

From the FAQ:
https://www.united.com/web/en-US/con...imals/faq.aspx

The PetSafe program has the following features:

Pets travel within United's specially designed plane compartments that are pressurized in the same way as passenger cabins.
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Old Oct 31, 2017, 12:48 pm
  #93  
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Originally Posted by 1P
It's only an animal, right? Get real, folks!
That viewpoint is in conflict with the opinions and values of countless other people. There is no black and white answer to this issue.
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Old Oct 31, 2017, 1:34 pm
  #94  
 
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Unhappy

The Department of Justice has established guidelines for service animals under ADA.

Service animals are defined as dogs that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities. Examples of such work or tasks include guiding people who are blind, alerting people who are deaf, pulling a wheelchair, alerting and protecting a person who is having a seizure, reminding a person with mental illness to take prescribed medications, calming a person with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) during an anxiety attack, or performing other duties. Service animals are working animals, not pets. The work or task a dog has been trained to provide must be directly related to the person’s disability. Dogs whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support do not qualify as service animals under the ADA.

This definition does not affect or limit the broader definition of “assistance animal” under the Fair Housing Act or the broader definition of “service animal” under the Air Carrier Access Act. Under the ACAA you may still ask thectwo legal questions allowed under ADA. 1) Is the dog a service animal? 2) What Service has the dog been trained to provide? (If not obvious). Further, ACAA allows request for documentation if thecdog is an “emotional support animal” which is not a class of service dog under DOJ rules for ADA.

All that said it is easy to gin up documentation off the web for fake service or ES animals and this disingenuous behavior is actually encouraged by many otherwise legitimate organizations and individuals.

Bottom line is if enough of society accepts people wanting to do this, lying or not, it’s going to keep happening. $20 will buy you a service animal vest on eBay.
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Last edited by l etoile; Oct 31, 2017 at 1:42 pm Reason: Removed broken quote
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Old Oct 31, 2017, 2:10 pm
  #95  
 
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Originally Posted by 3Cforme
You can take the next available flight.
The wife is allergic to cats and birds. I go out of my way to tell the airline after booking so they can update her PNR. It hasn't happened yet, but she understands that when the time comes she'll have to leave the plane, and the airline will put her on another flight (though it may be a day or two).
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Old Oct 31, 2017, 2:39 pm
  #96  
 
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Originally Posted by Boraxo
In this case the correct procedure would be to ask the passenger if the animal is a service animal and then to inquire as to the service that is provided. If the answer is "emotional support" then you are well within your rights to request a copy of the verification letter" and to ask the FA to request the letter in the event of refusal. If the answer is "the animal detects seizures" then you are probably SOL.
...
I have made it a policy to question every person who brings a non-service animal into an establishment that serves food (which is not permissible in California). I have been called all kinds of names but I have yet to see an actual disabled person provide a lawful explanation.
Wait ... are you saying that you take it upon yourself to harass everyone with a service animal you encounter? In my opinion, another passenger on a plane or another patron in a dining establishment has no right to question another person's disability. If you have concerns, you should report it to the appropriate authority figures and let them handle it. It's likely the passenger has already been questioned about it multiple times, and it is entirely inappropriate for you to pile on.

I don't travel with animals (of any sort, service or not). But if I did and you questioned me about it, you can rest assured that you'd be called all kinds of names, even if I had a legitimate reason to have a service animal.
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Old Oct 31, 2017, 3:06 pm
  #97  
 
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Originally Posted by as219
In our experience, UA is thorough and efficient with their rules and procedures. After booking our flights, we fax the required documentation. About a week later, we call to confirm that the documentation was received and applied to the PNR.

Before arriving at the airport, our dog gets a long walk and is not fed. She gets another walk and trip to the pet relief area at JFK, EWR or wherever we are flying from. At check-in, we present the original authorization document, at which point we get a gate pass for our dog that allows her to go past security. After this, no one asks anything.

In 20+ trips, our 20 pound Boston Terrier has literally never made a sound, had an accident, gotten away from us or been aggressive in any way. She basically sleeps on my wife's lap the entire way, which is her "job." We fly up front so that no one needs to sit in our row (among other reasons of course). No one has ever objected to being near us (to our knowledge), if if they did I'd be more than happy to move around to accommodate.

I understand there are horror stories, though we've never seen one. As I have said elsewhere, poorly trained dogs and irresponsible dog owners should not be allowed on planes, ESA or no. People who bring dogs (or any animal) on a plane need to go above and beyond in terms of being respectful and accommodating. The person the OP came across obviously failed miserably in this regard, no ifs ands or buts.

As for us, we are fortunate to have never experienced even one drop of the vitriol some have expressed in this thread. Personally this leads me to think that the ESA "problem" is way overblown. From the way some people carry on in this thread you'd think UA became a subsidiary of Pet Airways. To be crystal clear, I'm not saying dogs and their owners are angels 100% of the time. We've all read the stories, and there clearly are people who shouldn't be allowed to fly with their pets. But in my opinion that doesn't -- and shouldn't -- mean that "animals shouldn't be on planes."
I agree with you 100%, and I would far rather sit next to your wife and your dog to many humans that I've had the misfortune to have as seat mates. We don't fly with our dog only because that's not part of our travel pattern, but she (a 60 lb Golden Retriever) would make a lot more people happy to have her next to them than not....allergic people certainly excepted.
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Old Oct 31, 2017, 3:46 pm
  #98  
 
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Cat allergy

What should one do if we boarded the aircraft and a person with a cat is seated near under or close to us?
My wife has a severe allergy to cat dander.
We normally fly in the first class cabin.
Should we request to take another flight?
Is there anything we can/should do?
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Old Oct 31, 2017, 4:17 pm
  #99  
 
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Originally Posted by 2old4coach
What should one do if we boarded the aircraft and a person with a cat is seated near under or close to us?
My wife has a severe allergy to cat dander.
We normally fly in the first class cabin.
Should we request to take another flight?
Is there anything we can/should do?
- Bring antihistamines
- Request to be reseated or rebooked
- Understand that if up until this point you have yet to encounter this situation it is highly unlikely you will. Despite the impressions on this thread/FlyerTalk in general, animals, including ESAs, are relatively rare.

Im up to nearly a million miles BIS in United and I have yet to see a cat that I can recall.
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Old Oct 31, 2017, 5:55 pm
  #100  
 
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Originally Posted by villox
- Bring antihistamines
- Request to be reseated or rebooked
- Understand that if up until this point you have yet to encounter this situation it is highly unlikely you will. Despite the impressions on this thread/FlyerTalk in general, animals, including ESAs, are relatively rare.

Im up to nearly a million miles BIS in United and I have yet to see a cat that I can recall.
Thanks,
Wife always has antihistamines.
We too fly lots. However this year has been hell for traveling on US carriers.
If it can happen it will. AND we have not encountered cats...yet.
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Old Oct 31, 2017, 7:00 pm
  #101  
 
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Originally Posted by whherron
The wife is allergic to cats and birds. I go out of my way to tell the airline after booking so they can update her PNR. It hasn't happened yet, but she understands that when the time comes she'll have to leave the plane, and the airline will put her on another flight (though it may be a day or two).
I contacted UA but they told me that even if they note the issue in the PNR that this does not mean anyone looks at it and currently they have no way to flag in the system when someone has an allergy to animals. Although they are able to tell if there will be pets on the flight.

Their advice to me is to check with the Gate Agent if there are any animals on the flight and ensure I am not seated near them and ask to be moved if I am. This is what I do.

Although this approach did not work for me last Thursday as there were no animals on my flight but there apparently had been one on the earlier flight as I started sneezing and eyes running and throat closing but fortunately they needed to replace the plane with a new one and all of a sudden all my symptoms disappeared.
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Old Oct 31, 2017, 9:57 pm
  #102  
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Originally Posted by villox
- Bring antihistamines
- Request to be reseated or rebooked
- Understand that if up until this point you have yet to encounter this situation it is highly unlikely you will. Despite the impressions on this thread/FlyerTalk in general, animals, including ESAs, are relatively rare.

Im up to nearly a million miles BIS in United and I have yet to see a cat that I can recall.
And if antihistamines are not enough bring a face mask.

Crab grass does unpleasant things to me, but if I use one of the stick-on masks I can take the weed eater and clear it all out, no problem. Note that the elastic-band masks do not protect me in that situation.

Unfortunately, the stick-on masks are single use only. Once you peel them off they're not going to stick too well.
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Old Oct 31, 2017, 10:03 pm
  #103  
 
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Originally Posted by eagles15
As someone who is very allergic to dogs and cats, having one in the cabin, let alone next to me, would just about kill me with sneezing and teary eyes. I understand the need for real service dogs, but this has all gone too far.
+1 especially when it comes to cats.

If a dog so much as licks me I am guaranteed to have an allergic reaction on my skin and it will last up to an hour. I wonder if the passenger who brings the animal on has any liability? For that matter, how about the fur and dander the the animal is leaving behind?
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Old Oct 31, 2017, 10:19 pm
  #104  
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Originally Posted by Sykes
In my opinion, another passenger on a plane or another patron in a dining establishment has no right to question another person's disability.
In my opinion, in the United States of America (and on airlines incorporated in that country, like United Airlines), until the First Amendment is repealed another passenger on a plane or another patron in a dining establishment has every right to question another person's disability.

The other person is however under absolutely no obligation to respond to that inquiry.
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Old Nov 1, 2017, 2:07 am
  #105  
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Originally Posted by bocastephen
That viewpoint is in conflict with the opinions and values of countless other people. There is no black and white answer to this issue.
I agree that this is a difficult issue - one that has put the airlines in a no-win situation. What I dont understand is why on United the default in the situation where there are two passengers with competing disabilities, it is the passenger who is allergic who has to deplane and make alternative arrangements.

Could someone explain this?
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