United Airlines, United Express and Ted welcome service animals accompanying persons with disabilities. There is no fee for service animals, and they may travel in the aircraft cabin as long as they do not obstruct an aisle or any other area used for emergency evacuations.
It may be helpful to outfit your service animal with a harness or vest to make the animal’s status obvious to airport personnel. If the animal’s status is questioned, you simply need to provide credible verbal assurance that the animal is assisting a passenger with a disability.
Please note that quarantine restrictions may apply. Check with your travel agent or a United reservations agent at least one month prior to departure to find out if there are any regulations specific to your destination.
Emotional support animals
Emotional support animals are considered to be service animals. However, a customer traveling with an emotional support animal will need to have documentation on letterhead from a licensed mental health professional, dated within the past 12 months, stating that the customer is under professional care for a mental-health-related disability, and that the animal’s assistance is essential to his or her mental health.
Therapy animals
Therapy animals, which are pets that have been trained and registered by a therapy organization in order to visit nursing homes, hospitals, schools and other facilities, are not considered to be service animals. When traveling with a therapy animal, standard pet-related regulations and restrictions will apply.
Destination-specific information
Hawaii
There are restrictions regarding the entry of service animals into Hawaii. Customers planning to travel to Hawaii should contact the Hawaii Animal Quarantine Branch manager directly for quarantine requirements. The 24-hour phone number is 808-837-8092. You may also view animal quarantine information at the Hawaii Department of Agriculture web site.
United Kingdom
United Airlines is permitted to accept service animals on flights to the United Kingdom. Because UK regulations for accepting service animals are very strict, both United and our customers must carefully follow the appropriate procedures.
As part of those procedures, any customer who intends to travel with a service animal must obtain a preapproval letter from Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs), a UK government agency. Please note that the preapproval process for transporting service animals to the UK can take up to two months.
Visit the Defra web site for more information about requirements and procedures for taking animals into the UK, or contact Defra by phone at +44 870 241 1710, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. UK time. (Please note: Before dialing the number above, you must first enter the international direct dialing code. In the United States and Canada, this code is 011.)
Other international destinations
Many countries restrict the entry of animals. Restrictions vary by country, and customers should contact the appropriate embassy or consulate at least four weeks before departure to make sure that all necessary procedures are followed.
