A pet transporter is telling travelers to stand up for themselves at airports as stories of long waits, lost luggage and chaos continue to come to the forefront.

Crystal Manuel was flying from Calgary to Toronto and on to St. John’s with a rescue dog for a customer when she was told Air Canada wouldn’t be able to get the dog off the first plane and transferred to the second plane before take-off. She could fly but the dog would have to be shipped to St. John’s on the next flight.

Manuel was in the pre-boarding group, so she decided to knock on the cabin door and speak to the captain about the situation. The captain took matters in her own hand and the dog ended up on the same flight after all.

She posted details of the experience on her Facebook page.

She says you can’t let the airlines push you around because how would she know when that next flight would have been.