bsb21

Wow!

Who isnt getting priority boarding?

UA needs to adapt the most common *A boarding policies. *G and above get priority boarding, as well as premium cabins. Nothing for silvers, uniformed or casual dress military (don't worry, Uncle Sam will still pay for their tickets), or anyone with a semi decent FICO score.

Critic

Burgundy Shirt appears to have a 20-22" rollaboard with a backpack sitting on top. Technically within the rules if the backpack fits beneath the seat in front of him.

UAInsider/Shannon - you appear to have analyzed the problem, determined the optimum solution, and then done the exact opposite.

I'm a long-term BIS Silver coming from the sCO side. Even before the merger, I could tell you that the old CO system, with a single elite call, didn't work, especially at hubs. The 7-group boarding process largely addresses this issue, but fails due to lack of enforcement by gate agents and misleading marketing to credit card holders. Compressing the process down to 5 steps by combining Golds, *G, Silvers and credit card holders is just a disaster waiting to happen.

Even though I'm a Silver, I don't see any value in moving from Group 3 to Group 2. For one thing, it marks the return of the near-rugby-scrum conditions that were present boarding CO aircraft pre-merger. Even though I'm not boarding one group earlier, I'm not necessarily going to board any faster because the sheer number of people trying to board at the same time will double/triple. For another thing, it devalues the Gold & Silver elite statuses while simultaneously [artificially] inflating the importance of the Chase UA-branded credit cards. Why should I show any loyalty to UA when I can pay for the Explorer card and get almost exactly the same benefits? I think the only difference between a Silver & an Explorer card holder at this point is the ability to move to E+ at checkin...

I'm not as invested in the pmUA boarding process as some others here (for one thing, I don't see any value in banishing Silvers from the bypass lane), but ANYTHING is better than the solution you've detailed here. As I said in both the 2012 and 2013 boarding process threads, there's nothing about the current boarding process that education & enforcement wouldn't fix.

For that matter, from where I sit, there's only one group that stands to see any benefit from this change - the gate agents, since now they'll have fewer rules to enforce.

anc-ord772

I thought the same thing and agree.

I observed this when watching the newest procedure in action.

Not too many of us domestic 1Ks around here. At least it feels like there used to be more.

IAH-OIL-TRASH

[QUOTE=rehoult;19998714]UA Insider - I hope you guys get taken to task by *A. Alliance rules clearly state *G get boarding with First & Business class and should therefore be group 1.
[QUOTE]

You conveniently ignore the small print associated with the *Gold boarding privilege at the Star Alliance website that says "Where Available". Go back and look at it. It's there. Really. There are actually quite a few Star Alliance airlines that have chose NOT to make that privilege available (ie allowing *Gold to board with First and Business). UA will not "get taken to task".

higgsjoa

Sounds like another change I am "supposed" to like. Why reach for 1k instead of Plat? (since the GPUs are basically useless).

bsb21

[QUOTE=IAH-OIL-TRASH;19999408][QUOTE=rehoult;19998714]UA Insider - I hope you guys get taken to task by *A. Alliance rules clearly state *G get boarding with First & Business class and should therefore be group 1.
I'm all for *G getting priority boarding, but does anyone in *A besides UA and US offer any priority to Silvers?

Premier Access grants *S priority check-in, security, and boarding. Take a UA *S over to SQ and see what they offer. It's known as diddly squat.

Doc Savage

"I've got a credit card, I'm elite."

Thank goodness for 1K. Looks like gold and silver have bus tire tread marks on them again. Lots of incentive there.

LordTentacle

So when do us Club card 1k's start getting to board before all the onther 1k's?

IAH-OIL-TRASH

You can use the GPUs as RPUs. They're not useless.

goalie

Dear COdbaUA:

Did you ever think of visual aids like bringing back gold and blue boarding passes? Yes, it would not make His Royal and Exulted Highness King Jeffie The First happy as spending money under the new world order on something that has been proven to work is a dirty set if words but think about it. Gold BP's and a red carpet, Blue BP's and a blue carpet and white BP's and no carpet might help enforce the boarding order and make the gate agents' jobs a but easier. I dunno-Maybe it's me but in my fading memory, I seem to recall something like this being used by a real airline.

bocastephen

Let me amend this slightly - but Shannon, while we all appreciate your willingness to let us know in advance about product changes, I hope our feedback will be taken as well. I understand the preboard benefit is a marketing feature of the various credit cards and is off the table for downgrading this benefit, but I am in full agreement that placing non status credit card holders in the same queue as Golds and Silvers is neither workable or fair to your Elite customers. I hope our feedback will drive some additional change to polish up this process.

Here is the boarding process I think will work best:

1. manual boarding of wheelchairs and mobile elderly, handicap, special needs, unaccompanied minors
2. Group 1 - Premium cabins and GS/1K seated in coach through Premier Access lane
3. Group 2 - Platinum, Gold, and Star Gold through Premier Access lane
4. Group 3 - United credit card holders through general boarding lane, Silver through Premier Access lane (with priority ticket lift from agent) with announced reminder that late arriving Premier Access customers can board through Premier Access lane. In practical application, this means credit card holders are told to queue in the general boarding lane (or Group 3 Lane where installed) while Silvers are directed to the Premier Access lane so they can board ahead of credit card holders, who would then board ahead of the group 4-6 folks
5. Group 4, 5, 6 - General boarding through general boarding lane, announced reminder that late arriving Premier Access customers can board through Premier Access lane

The Premier Access lane should remain open for eligible passengers throughout boarding and agents should know to stop the general lane ticket lift and attend to eligible customers in the PA when they arrive - and be prepared to send non-eligible customers out of that lane.

One of the big issues I see (still, after all these long years since Continental invented the premium boarding lane concept) is agents not enforcing the lane and allowing everyone to queue in the PA lane, sometimes because of disinterest and sometimes because of poor placement of the BP scanner which results in people naturally lining up in the wrong lane and the agent is unwilling to stop boarding and move people to the correct lane. Any new process should be accompanied by renewed enforcement vigor from agents otherwise all we have is expensive new signage, complicated new procedures and the same problems we have today.

Boghopper

Full F passengers on UA? Extinct. They don't have to worry about something that basically doesn't exist, and its service and hard product that's keeping them away, not boarding.

WineCountryUA

hard to implement in the world of self printed BP and smart phone BPs

dgcpaphd

Remember what happened last April when AA offered a status match to 1Ks? Clearly, many 1Ks took the offer and are very happy with AA. You won't be seeing them flying UA any time soon.

I suspect the April 2012, AA status match is one reason why you do not see as many 1Ks as you used to see.

UA management's newest insult to elites (combining and boarding credit card holders with those who actually paid money to fly and earn elite status) is mind boggling and a further insult to loyal customers.

I won't be surprised if AA gets wind of this new "slap in the face to 1K and Gold elites" and comes out with another status match offer which many UA customers may very well accept, given this latest boarding demotion (combined with all the other demotions already enacted by UA management).

The callous disregard shown to loyal customers by UA executives could very well be "the last straw" for many long-term UA customers. Quite simply, many have already taken too much of the shabby treatment that never seems to stop. What will UA do next to deteriorate the product?

A company cannot continually mislead customers and expect the customers to remain.
-

KnightInWhiteSatin

Four or five different boarding lanes at gate E2 in IAH. There is no way to police it, as people will hear their group number and just walk up to board, usually the shortest lane to the boarding door irrespective of the signage. I saw it firsthand at that gate last week. Confusion. UA also needs to place the premier lane furthest from the boarding scanner as general boarders will take the shortest lane to the boarding door and that means on the carpeted area. That's the reason sUA agents are pulling the rope across the stanchions, the general boarders will choose the shortest route to board, the carpeted area!