US Airways Dividend Miles - USAirways Boarding process

I've just switched from United (I'm a 1K there) to USAirways. I did the status match to platinum, and overall I have been very happy with my upgrade rate.

While there certainly are things that I miss from United (economy plus when I don't get upgraded, glass in FC, meals on shorter flights, etc), overall I am very happy with USAirways. They seem to be consistent and seem to value top tier elites (I fly every week, expect to hit CP in the next two weeks).

Two things seem particularly strange (and inconsistent compared to other airlines) to me. One is the fact that top-tier elites STILL have to pay for "choice" economy seats, even though they don't have extra legroom AND other airlines (Delta/United) don't charge top-tier elites for the same.

The other, the subject of this e-mail, is the boarding process. Yesterday I flew RDU-PHL and did not get upgraded. The boarding gate was rather small for an A319 and the boarding was a MESS! They called for first class, then they called for All elites and Star Gold which was basically half the plane. It was the largest glut of people trying to get through a boarding gate I can recall seeing at one time.

It doesn't seem fair to me that someone that flies 5-7 times a year should get the same boarding privilege as someone who flies 30-40 times a year. On United, as a 1K I was able to board with FC even if I didn't get upgraded. Not sure what Delta and American do. At the very least, if they broke up the boarding to say, "Plats & CP's", then "Golds & Star Golds" and then "Silvers and Star Silvers" that the boarding process would be a lot smoother. While I know most silvers wouldn't be a particular fan of this (I was a silver once too), is there any chance US Would ever move to something like this? It would certainly go a long way towards making upper tier elites feel a little more "Elite".

Wait to you fly on a USAir "shuttle". Some routes, dca -bos for example on an A320 with 150+ passengers. They won't even board elites first, they board from the back of the plane forward. They are terrible at boarding aircraft.

US Airways is well behind its competitors on certain things. Remember that we just got dual boarding lanes for FC/Elites/*Golds this year.

Wait to you fly on a USAir "shuttle". Some routes, dca -bos for example on an A320 with 150+ passengers. They won't even board elites first, they board from the back of the plane forward. They are terrible at boarding aircraft.

This is actually a smart idea considering on those routes 100+ of the passengers may be elite.

They are terrible at boarding aircraft.

Maybe, maybe not, but at the moment, they have one of the best on time percentages of any airline in the United States, so it's not having a negative impact on operational performance:

http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/P1-BG292_UNITED_G_20120523175107.jpg

(Image from this WSJ article on the United merger mess (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304451104577390140073664500.html). )

A lot of us have expressed similar concerns about this particular aspect of US's new boarding sequence. While the new preferred lane has some advantages I think they messed up by lumping all Elites together. Probably underestimated how large a group that is. Agree with splitting them up - at least break off the Silvers to board with *G and credit card holders. I hope US is listening.

I've started booking away from US. I just can't stand the boarding process for non-elites. If I get an aisle seat, I'm in group 39 and guaranteed to have to check my carry-on. I paid the same as everyone else and should at least get a shot at overhead space for my bag.

What a stupid boarding process!!!

I've started booking away from US. I just can't stand the boarding process for non-elites. If I get an aisle seat, I'm in group 39 and guaranteed to have to check my carry-on. I paid the same as everyone else and should at least get a shot at overhead space for my bag.

What a stupid boarding process!!!

US is hoping you will buy Preferred Access. All the boarding changes stem from an attempt to squeeze more $$ from the average customer while keeping the base price low - so that the search engines show US at a competitive rate.

A lot of us have expressed similar concerns about this particular aspect of US's new boarding sequence. While the new preferred lane has some advantages I think they messed up by lumping all Elites together. Probably underestimated how large a group that is. Agree with splitting them up - at least break off the Silvers to board with *G and credit card holders. I hope US is listening.

US is hoping you will buy Preferred Access. All the boarding changes stem from an attempt to squeeze more $$ from the average customer while keeping the base price low - so that the search engines show US at a competitive rate.

As one of the ones who has expressed concern from the get-go -- my signature peeve is that they grafted a numbered zone system onto a status system without thinking through the inconsistencies -- well, I guess I had never really considered that there might be a rationale behind all of this.

Naah. :D Back to original thought:

It's more typical of what happens when people start making lists on paper or designing things without thinking them through, testing them, etc.

One thing I can say about USAirways is that they seem to have a fantastic upgrade policy. United, even before the merger, held many FC seats up until date of departure hoping that someone would buy them. I've noticed on many routes with US, all of the FC seats are gone T-24 of departure. As an elite, I appreciate that.

IMHO, what United did better was the boarding procedure -- Though I think they have 8 boarding zones now, the first 4 of which are elites.. GS members preboard BEFORE FC.. I'm ok with that. Then 1ks go with first. Then they have boarding zones for the other elite levels, not sure of the exact groupings.. But I think Silvers/* Silver is Zone 4, general boarding starts w/ Zone 5.

What's the best way to get US to hear this?? It makes a HUGE difference on the boarding process, and provides additional incentive for people to earn the next highest elite level.

I too think that the dedicated boarding lines are a big step forward.

As to the rest of it, I'm finding boarding inconsistancy every time that I fly. During our most recent PHL-PHX flight last week, they make their pre-board call for pax needing assistance, and then opened boarding up to all DM members. Never called FC or any elite zones. The result was a mess as their were lots of elites pushing the queues.

I myself think that the present zone system gives US a reasonable way to board and sort out their elite tiers. Once FC boards, the rest of zone 1 comprises the three top tier elites and the remaining elites & other *A folks follow. IFFers with kids boarding after zone 2 is a good idea & the rest of the boarding process kicks in for the non-elites. I can't see why some GAs still don't get this thing correct.

Barry

It doesn't seem fair to me that someone that flies 5-7 times a year should get the same boarding privilege as someone who flies 30-40 times a year.

Why would someone flying 5 times a year (no status) board at the same time as someone with 30 flights a year (Silver status)?

YMMV, of course, but I just got back from OKC (you can't get there on US metal, so I went on UA)

UA's boarding process makes sense - status from high to low, then credit card, then cattle. But it doesn't mean squat if it isn't implemented consistantly.

ABE - groups called in order - at least down to 3, when I got on as *S

ORD - two flights boarding out of a split jetway, called group 1 for both planes (had a GA directing traffic where jetway split), huge pileup, same for 2, and then 3

OKC - witnessed two (took a bump for 4 beans) first flight called group 1, then next call was groups 1-4. The flight I bumped on to, same deal, 1 then 1-4 ...???.

Granted, both OKC flights were 145's, and not a lot of status passengers as the 1-4 call didn't create the scrum I figured it would have, but calling 1-4 on a 319 or larger would have been anarchy. So - while UA's process is superior on paper, if the GA's aren't consistant, the results won't be either.

Whatever the process (or the airline) is, I just wish they would do it the same way every time. Doing SOMETHING that breaks up the scrum would be a change we can all agree on

One thing I can say about USAirways is that they seem to have a fantastic upgrade policy. United, even before the merger, held many FC seats up until date of departure hoping that someone would buy them. I've noticed on many routes with US, all of the FC seats are gone T-24 of departure. As an elite, I appreciate that.

This has untended consequences for high revenue pax. I am CP and often need to buy a last minute ticket, which is usually an expensive Y or B fare. My work travel is just unpredictable that way. Many times my upgrades won't clear b/c (at least it seems to me) the automatic sweeps fill F before I buy my ticket. It would be nice if US held back a few more seats until the night before the flight to accommodate upgrades for high revenue CPs in this situation. Paying >$1,000 for a domestic R/T and sitting in the middle in the back is a bummer when you pretty much know if you had booked seven days earlier, you would have paid a lot less and sat up front.

US is still better than United which treats * G below than United Silver