US Airways Dividend Miles - Boarding enforcement and PA on US

Hello. I have been flying UA mostly (PLT) along with enough DL for silver status. Due to another shift in client location, I am thinking of using US more often now (going to the PHX area twice a month).

I have never flown US before so I have two questions. First, does US enforce the boarding order? I have often times (perhaps more often than not) seen folks in lower zones board with FC and elites, this is especially true on DL. I was upgraded to F last week and a man in Zone 3 boarded ahead of half of F! This is very common on DL and somewhat common on UA IMO. Do you see this sort of thing on US often?

also, with US selling PA benefits and giving PA check-in (not sure about security) with their $89 credit card, do you notice that the PA lines are often long and nearly as bad as the regular lines?

At this point, I am not sure if I will build seperate status on US or if I will fly US as *A Gold.

Cheers

US only went to the two-line system of boarding recently. Like all new things, it took some getting used to for everybody, and there are some illogical elements to the system that gum it up from time to time. You can find at least two threads somewhere on this forum about this.

With that out of the way, I have to say that I think FC and "elite" boarding has been helped by the system, and that the GAs are getting used to it and are implementing it better. Sure, some GAs remain indifferent, clueless, or cynical; and clueless or stubborn passengers are not hard to find either. So out-of-order boarding can and does occur. But it is not that bad, and the big difference with US relative to other airlines is that the percentage of preferreds seems to be much, much lower. Everybody is not entitled to an early boarding.

My experience has been that US does enforce the boarding sequence.
Passengers with assistance, then First, then (CP PLAT Gold Silver Zone 1 all at the same time).
If you are not in that sequence, they send you back.

This last part (CP Plat Gold..) is most of the passengers on the plane. I think they should break this up; After First, then CP and Platinums only, then Gold and Silver only, Then the rest of Zone 1.

I'm only Gold, but I think that CP and Platinum's should get the next priority after First.

US only went to the two-line system of boarding recently. Like all new things, it took some getting used to for everybody, and there are some illogical elements to the system that gum it up from time to time. You can find at least two threads somewhere on this forum about this.

With that out of the way, I have to say that I think FC and "elite" boarding has been helped by the system, and that the GAs are getting used to it and are implementing it better. Sure, some GAs remain indifferent, clueless, or cynical; and clueless or stubborn passengers are not hard to find either. So out-of-order boarding can and does occur. But it is not that bad, and the big difference with US relative to other airlines is that the percentage of preferreds seems to be much, much lower. Everybody is not entitled to an early boarding.

US actually does a pretty good job. The process is much more rational than UA or DL. The one place that is a challenge is with last year’s changes, families with small children board after all elites (i.e. after Zone 2). The once a year fliers don’t know this (and they don’t listen to the announcements), so they push forward when the call goes out for “people needing assistance or extra time”; this is slowly getting better as people learn the new rules.

At this point, I am not sure if I will build seperate status on US or if I will fly US as *A Gold.




Star Gold gives you Zone 1 anyway...

This last part (CP Plat Gold..) is most of the passengers on the plane. I think they should break this up; After First, then CP and Platinums only, then Gold and Silver only, Then the rest of Zone 1.

I'm only Gold, but I think that CP and Platinum's should get the next priority after First.

I couldn't agree with you more. I am a CP on US This year. Prior, I flew United as 1K. United does a much better job of breaking up the elites in boarding.

When I am not upgraded to first on US, when they call for zone 1 it's a zoo. Though this may sound bad, I don't feel like I should be competing with overhead bin space (or boarding order) with someone that flies 1/4 of the time I do.

That aside, I would think US would want to change that, if for no other reason than to alleviate the "cattle call" boarding that is zone 1.

I couldn't agree with you more. I am a CP on US This year. Prior, I flew United as 1K. United does a much better job of breaking up the elites in boarding.

When I am not upgraded to first on US, when they call for zone 1 it's a zoo. Though this may sound bad, I don't feel like I should be competing with overhead bin space (or boarding order) with someone that flies 1/4 of the time I do.

That aside, I would think US would want to change that, if for no other reason than to alleviate the "cattle call" boarding that is zone 1.

Have you flown UA since 3/3? While US's process can get a little chaotic, it's heaven compared to UA's process now.

It really sucks trying to get on a crowded 747 in F when you have every elite and C pax trying to get on in front of you. :td:

Thanks for the comments. I did not know that *A Gold got Zone 1 on US, I always thought we would get Zone 2 and *A Silver didn't get any preboarding. It sounds as though US does a better job with boarding than UA and DL, I especially like that families board after F and elites, family boarding on DL can sometimes seem like half the plane, while most of the other half is "sky priority". IMO, DL boarding is even worse than UA.

That being said, it does bug me that US gives PA check-in (and perhaps security?) for an $89 a year credit card. Also, they now sell PA to anyone who wants it. I was so glad when UA stopped doing this.

Has this caused over crowded PA lines at US?

Has this caused over crowded PA lines at US?

Not that I know. I don't know anyone (other than on this board) who has a US Airways credit card, and I don't know anyone who has paid for Priority Access.

US does a very good job at least at enforcing priority boarding for FC and Zone 1. I see people in other zones get denied boarding pretty often- at LGA a few weeks ago, some Zone 3s tried to board with FC, were denied, and were really ugly about it. The gate agent stood her ground.

That being said, it does bug me that US gives PA check-in (and perhaps security?) for an $89 a year credit card. Also, they now sell PA to anyone who wants it. I was so glad when UA stopped doing this.

Has this caused over crowded PA lines at US?

You only get PA check-in with the card. US actually doesn't give you a whole lot with the card compared to DL and UA. I've never had a problem with PA check-in where I fly. It's usually walk-up service.