May 21, 2013, 10:43 am
Last edit by: aacharya
Source: https://hub.united.com/en-us/News/Co...g-process.aspx
Pre-Boarding
Premier Access Boarding
*A Star Alliance Silver who is not a Premier Silver is not eligible for Premier Access boarding.
General boarding (Window Seats, then Middle Seats, then Aisle)
Note: If you’re traveling with a companion and one of you has a higher boarding status, you both may board with the earlier group.
Note: Self Boarding Gates are being tested at the following gates...
sUA Boarding Times by Aircraft (AFA)
Pre-Boarding
- Customers with Disabilities
- Global Services
- Uniformed Military Personnel
- Families with Children Age Two and Under
Premier Access Boarding
- Group 1: Premier 1K, Premier Platinum, BusinessFirst, and First.
- Group 2: Premier Gold, Star Gold, Premier Silver*, MileagePlus Presidential Plus, Club, Explorer and Awards, purchased Premier Access
*A Star Alliance Silver who is not a Premier Silver is not eligible for Premier Access boarding.
General boarding (Window Seats, then Middle Seats, then Aisle)
- Group 3 - Window Seats
- Group 4 - Middle Seats (Aisle Seats on UA Express)
- Group 5 - Aisle Seats
Note: If you’re traveling with a companion and one of you has a higher boarding status, you both may board with the earlier group.
Note: Self Boarding Gates are being tested at the following gates...
- IAH - Gate C25/C26 - See Post 2960, Includes YouTube video from CO777DAL
- IAH - Gate E4 - Old test from pmCO days, See Thread Here
- BOS - Self boarding gates are now back in *LIMITED* use at least at gates B25 and B26
sUA Boarding Times by Aircraft (AFA)
United's Current Boarding Process (with Wiki) [Revised, May 2013]
Jan 7, 2013, 7:59 pm
#76
Join Date: Dec 2007
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Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 6_0_2 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/536.26 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0 Mobile/10A551 Safari/8536.25)
So they're going to board all of GF, BF, 1K, Plat on an intl 747 at the same time?
What are they thinking?
So they're going to board all of GF, BF, 1K, Plat on an intl 747 at the same time?
What are they thinking?
Jan 7, 2013, 7:59 pm
#77
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: SFO South Bay
Programs: UA 2MM
Posts: 3,052
Again, this is far preferable to the newly proposed process. In fact, just about anything is better than the newly proposed process.
Jan 7, 2013, 7:59 pm
#78
Moderator: Budget Travel forum & Credit Card Programs, FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: YYJ/YVR and back on Van Isle ....... for now
Programs: UA lifetime MM / *A Gold
Posts: 14,428
I can totaly understand the desire to standardise on something...
but trying to have the same policy for a 747-400 and a EB120 DONT WORK
Also... to confirm.... "remium Bypass Lanes"
means that a 1k can walk up anytime after group 1 is called and walk over to a seperate lane and bypass anyone in groups 3-5?
but trying to have the same policy for a 747-400 and a EB120 DONT WORK
Also... to confirm.... "remium Bypass Lanes"
means that a 1k can walk up anytime after group 1 is called and walk over to a seperate lane and bypass anyone in groups 3-5?
And gotta agree with loading the "heavies" v crop dusters
EmailKid
Jan 7, 2013, 8:01 pm
#79
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As is typical now, the marketing of priority boarding benefits to Star Gold customers is becoming increasingly deceptive. UA Million Milers and Star Alliance Golds being in the same boarding group as a UA credit card holder on their fourth UA flight in a decade? 
Jan 7, 2013, 8:02 pm
#80
Join Date: Jul 2011
Programs: UA 1K, SPG Platinum, Hyatt Diamond, Hilton Platinum, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 568
I agree with this. The problem with the existing system was not that people could not could to 7 but of enforcement. The order below makes sense. Having fewer groups just creates horrendous scrums around gates at hubs.
The new idea from UA does not make sense.
The new idea from UA does not make sense.
Think we need the following boarding process:
Pre-boarding - military/veterans, family with kids under 2 years old & people with disabilities/those who need extra time to board
Group 1 - GS & GlobalFirst
Group 2 - 1K & BusinessFirst
Group 3 - Platinum & Gold
Group 4 - Silver, Credit Card Holders & E+
Group 5 to 7 - General Boarding
This needs to be enforced strictly like what they do in PEK.
GlobalFirst seems to lose its "exclusivity" because of having to board with the rest of Group 1 which in PEK on UA850, probably spans at least 50 people.
Pre-boarding - military/veterans, family with kids under 2 years old & people with disabilities/those who need extra time to board
Group 1 - GS & GlobalFirst
Group 2 - 1K & BusinessFirst
Group 3 - Platinum & Gold
Group 4 - Silver, Credit Card Holders & E+
Group 5 to 7 - General Boarding
This needs to be enforced strictly like what they do in PEK.
GlobalFirst seems to lose its "exclusivity" because of having to board with the rest of Group 1 which in PEK on UA850, probably spans at least 50 people.
Jan 7, 2013, 8:02 pm
#81
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: LAS
Programs: UA 1MM, Marriott Lifetime Plat, Southwest A-List Preferred
Posts: 2,846
picked a bad year to only hit Gold. oy vey.
Jan 7, 2013, 8:04 pm
#82
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: BOI, et. al
Programs: UA Premier 1k, Marriott Platinum Elite, Star Alliance Gold, SPG Platinum, Yelp Elite
Posts: 219
UA's strategy is clearly to build the largest network globally, which makes elites less important. I fly UA precisely because of that reason, the coverage of their network. I think the very fact we are having this discussion reflects, however, UA's been quick to promise a lot of things to a lot of different classes of people in what they deliver in creature comforts but slow to deal with the conflicting implications of what they've promised everyone operationally. That's why there's these design by committee approaches about something as basic as lining up to get on an airplane.
I'm not hard to please, I just don't want an airline giving people false feelings of entitlement which ends up in them being rude to me. That's engineering misery into the system.
I'm not hard to please, I just don't want an airline giving people false feelings of entitlement which ends up in them being rude to me. That's engineering misery into the system.
Jan 7, 2013, 8:04 pm
#83
Moderator: Smoking Lounge; FlyerTalk Evangelist
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While I do like the change, to play devil's advocate....
Why/what prompted the change from PMUA's boarding process (which worked) in the first place and I know red is not a COdbaUA color but to be perfectly honest, a red carpet "means more in terms of status" and also stands out a whole lot more than the way a powder blue carpet does now.
Why/what prompted the change from PMUA's boarding process (which worked) in the first place and I know red is not a COdbaUA color
but to be perfectly honest, a red carpet "means more in terms of status" and also stands out a whole lot more than the way a powder blue carpet does now.)
Originally Posted by Phorever;19998090[B
]The problem is that UA promised[/B] credit card holders priority boarding... So unless they creat another group (like group 4 previously) they are not making good on their promise. Just have 6 groups and make CC holders group 3.
Jan 7, 2013, 8:06 pm
#84
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Redwood City, CA USA (SFO/SJC)
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Just wait a couple months for the next version
Jan 7, 2013, 8:06 pm
#86
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 4,645
I can't believe this thread was started just a few hours ago, and already 6 pages of messages about it? I can't read all this.
All I want to say is that I was PERFECTLY HAPPY with how this was done during the 10 year period before we heard "Smisek" as a name.
10 years. Fine. No problem. No complaints. Then Smisek. Then, nothing but problems.
Why can't we just stop this crap and go back to the way things used to be?
All I want to say is that I was PERFECTLY HAPPY with how this was done during the 10 year period before we heard "Smisek" as a name.
10 years. Fine. No problem. No complaints. Then Smisek. Then, nothing but problems.
Why can't we just stop this crap and go back to the way things used to be?
Jan 7, 2013, 8:07 pm
#87
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Chicago, IL
Programs: Marriott Ambassador, UA Mileage Plus 1K, AA Executive Plat, Marriott Ambassador Elite
Posts: 2,344
I have noticed some, probably not frequent flyers do not pay attention to the boarding process and try and board early. I noticed on my last flight a couple had boarding group 6 and was approcahing to board with group 3 and the agent did not tell them to wait till their group is called. I think on especaiily full flights some agents just do not care, get the people on the plane and they do not want to be bothered with policing this.
Jan 7, 2013, 8:08 pm
#88
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: BOS
Programs: UA MM
Posts: 1,580
Wow count this former 1P MM flyer not happy! First they made me "gold". Then in the process they took away half my bonus miles. And now they say I can board "early" with the CC holders? I've got to re-think that C-class TATL I'm about to book.
The only problem with the existing boarding procedure was sketchy enforcement.
The only problem with the existing boarding procedure was sketchy enforcement.
Jan 7, 2013, 8:08 pm
#89
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Dubai / NYC
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Posts: 5,220
If I was a full F intl passenger & was made to wait in line behind 20-50 others that would be the last UA would see of me. You don't treat full F (GF) passengers this way. EVERY other airline in the world treats these rare customers like Gold. The price of a r/t tkt in GF From SYDNEY-JFK is over 4 times what some 1K's spend all year.
I hope for UA's sake they re think this and board GF w GS during special pre boarding.
I hope for UA's sake they re think this and board GF w GS during special pre boarding.
Jan 7, 2013, 8:10 pm
#90
Join Date: Jul 2012
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Posts: 146
It would just be better if the gate agents would actually enforce the boarding groups. Too many times you have leisure travelers standing like they're in line when they're group 3+. As a consistent 1k/BusinessFirst flyer, I'd rather not put up with that.