Last updated: 31 October 2026.
United helps customers with disabilities, expectant mothers and children flying alone. Assistance and wheelchair use are free.
48 hoursnotice for some wheelchair and medical services
36 weeksmedical clearance may be needed at or beyond this point of pregnancy
5 to 14ages for which Unaccompanied Minor service is mandatory
USD 150service charge each way
Wheelchairs and disability help
- Ask for a wheelchair under My Trips once ticketed, or in the traveller details step of booking. Pick it up at the ticket counter or the wheelchair assistance centre. Reach the airport an hour before the minimum check-in time.
- Services: manual wheelchairs of roughly 18 inches wide at every airport, aisle chairs that take you between the door and your seat, and a cabin wheelchair for the lavatory on every aircraft with over 60 seats.
- Your own chair or aid (manual, electric, scooter, walker, cane or crutches) is carried free and does not use up your checked bag allowance. When searching for flights, use the wheelchair filter and enter your chair's dimensions to see which flights it fits. Attach written handling instructions or the airline's wheelchair information form; removable parts come off only if you permit it.
- Passengers may be asked to give up to 48 hours' notice and check in an hour early for: electric wheelchairs on small aircraft under 60 seats, battery packaging by United, groups of ten or more, an on-board wheelchair on larger aircraft without an accessible lavatory, airline-supplied oxygen, and use of a ventilator, CPAP or personal oxygen concentrator.
- An assistant is required for people who cannot understand safety instructions, whose mobility impairment prevents helping in an evacuation, or who have both severe hearing and vision loss and cannot communicate.
- If your trip includes other carriers and your device has a lithium-ion battery, contact those carriers too.
Pregnancy
- Flying while pregnant is like any trip in the early trimesters. Clearance from a doctor can be required from week 36, or earlier if the pregnancy is high risk.
- Have your doctor write a note, dated no more than 72 hours before departure, saying you are fit to fly on your dates and that delivery is expected after them; send it to corpmed@united.com early, as review can take 2 to 3 days.
- As backup, you can cancel and keep a travel credit, buy a refundable fare, or change flights, usually free of change fees. Pregnant passengers in exit rows must be able to help in an emergency.
Children travelling alone
- Under 5
- Not accepted alone
- 5 to 14
- The Unaccompanied Minor service is required unless a parent, guardian or adult of 18+ travels with them
- 15 to 17
- Optional; without it, treated like an adult passenger
- Offered solely on non-stop flights that United and United Express operate, never on codeshares or other airlines.
- Cost: the adult fare plus a service charge of USD 150 or CAD 150 for each one-way journey; a single charge covers all children booked together.
- Bring the child to the airport 30 minutes earlier than the usual processing time. The parent, guardian or adult stays until the plane is airborne and gives the name, address and phone number of the person meeting the child, who may be asked for matching photo identification.
Questions travellers ask us
Do I pay for wheelchair help?
No, wheelchair service and checking your own mobility device are free.
Can I fly pregnant?
Yes; clearance may be asked for at 36 weeks or with a high-risk pregnancy.
At what age can my child fly alone?
From 5, on non-stop flights with the Unaccompanied Minor service up to age 14.
Baggage Allowance is an independent information site and is not part of United Airlines. Check the airline's own pages before you travel.
2 questions and answers
It will be allowed. However, you have to provide complete documentation with respect to veterinary health and training docs at least 48 hrs before scheduled departure time of the flight. Please get in touch with the airline local office for further details. You can have the form here: https://www.united.com/web/format/support-animal-form.html. Information is also provided here: https://www.united.com/web/en-US/content/travel/specialneeds/disabilities/assistance_animals.aspx
You need to inform the airline at least 48 hours before the flight time for the wheelchair assitance. It provides wheelchairs at airports, in aisles and e-carting services. Its personnel would also help in accessible boarding.