ozstamps

I must be weird. Ii prefer to board near last wherever possible.

I do not move house via UA flights, like many Americans, so no need to stuff 4 carry ons into several bins, rudely holding up the rest of the boarding passengers.

Hanging around a gate for 30 minutes instead of finishing a drink in the RCC has VERY little appeal.

mcgahat

I would argue that to most people the red carpet is less about ego stroking and more about a more organized process which it is. It really sucked before the carpet was initiated to get the gate sometimes as there was swarms of people in front of the gate and nobody knew who was boarding and who wasnt. This really does help. Of course we have really just split the gate crowding into two sections....which is at least more organized than before.

I think it is a little short sited to call recognizing some of your better customers as ego stroking. Good marketing tool, nice perk.....ego stroking would be further down on my list.

mcgahat

You nailed it. Until there is some enforcement of carry on rules then there will always be a problem of "gate lice". I dont think UA has any desire to enforce it though as it would be more checked bags and that would just cause more baggage handling which they would have to pay for instead of us handling the bags for free.

violist

Interestingly, most of the airlines I've been flying lately have
gone to the two-lane boarding. It's not an UA aberration
(in fact, I believe CO started it).

MBS MillionMiler

Yeah, I see it all over CO gates at airports. Even NW has it at my tiny airport, but they fly mostly mainline aircraft in and out. However, they do their 'red carpet' on the occasional 1-cabin CRJ too, as I've observed when they board at MBS.

So, this is nothing unique to UA. Why should UA elite flyers not have this benefit because Granny-One-A-Year can't follow simple instructions? On the same note, granted I fly out of there often, I know when I'm flying out of Hong Kong, that they're going to board GS first, then F, then 1K. I know to stay out of the way until 1Ks are called. I'm not upset by the way they board--I actually think it's great. I know my place. If I didn't, I'd still listen to what the gate agent says and ahere to it.

wiredboy10003

I feel the same way. Ever since I saw Fergie (the royal, not the singer) being whisked onto my plane at the last second I've realized the luxury of being among the last to board. This was back when she was still a member of the royal family.

ZRH2SFO

Do I sense just a little bit of "sour grapes" from the 1P> crowd here? Yes, I admit, I do enjoy pre-boarding, having plenty of room for my carry-on, pre-departure drinks, etc. - But mostly, I just LOVE to be the first passenger to walk onto an empty plane. Wouldn't stand in line an hour before boarding, but I'm happy to start the line 10min prior.

gobluetwo

I bring up the "gate lice" issue every time I fill out a survey on ualsurvey.com. I generally don't stand in line. My usual MO is to grab a seat in the waiting area near the front of the line and insert myself when zone 1 is called. It's never been a problem given that there are usually at least 2 separate streams of people merging into the blue carpet anyway. I also have no sympathy for people who feel I should move to the back of the line. It's not like anyone forced them to stand there for 20 minutes.

Worst case of red carpet swarming I've seen was probably SFO, over 20 minutes before boarding a flight for ORD. Naturally, the regular line was even worse.

Although seating in the waiting areas is an issue, it'd be so much nicer if the GAs could make an announcement that everyone should keep the boarding lanes clear until their zone/group has been called. As to one suggestion above (red carpet, blue carpet, no carpet lanes), I don't think further stratification in the boarding process is necessarily the solution (or maybe it is). What is true is that there needs to be more order and consistency in boarding process across stations.

kokonutz

As one from the 'last to board is best' school of thought (AFTER general boarding is completed if possible), to me the gate red carpet is a total godsend: if boarding has been delayed and there is a long line of general pax boarding the red carpet queue is typically already well cleared out of the 'first to board is best' ilk and I walk right on.

The bottom line to me is the less time spent in the boarding area the better. Boarding areas are stress-zones, and for no good reason. After all, we are all going to take off and arrive at the same time. So the current system serves me VERY well and keeps me in the boarding area for as brief a time as possible.

As for the overhead bin space, I've had a few close calls but never had to gate-check. There's usually closet space if nothing else....

WASBLR

Err.. It's not about needing something during flight. It is to do with avoiding checking bags! Using the overhead bins is not abusing it!

BongoVIP

For me, it depends on several factors for lining up on the Red Carpet.

1) Bulkhead 737 in F/C....Line up early...15 minutes...
2) B-757 from say LAX-SFO with mostly NRSA's in F/C.....Right when the boarding time hits.
3) B-757 from say ORD-LAX...15 minutes early so I don't get run over by some idiot waving his gold boarding pass and yelling....."first class...first class" (this has happened a couple of times to me).
4) B-777 3- cabin in C or F....couple of minutes before boarding....
5) B-747 3 -cabin, INTL (especially out of HKG)....couple of minutes before boarding...

tealeaf99

Yes, I follow your same points! I will also add: for the GS & 1K heavy flights on A319s between SFO and PHL (especially the 6pm PHL-SFO flights), I line up very early. There are so many folks on the red carpet that at times I think the red carpet needs to be further categorized - (1) red carpet GS & F, (2) red carpet 1K.

why fly

Hey I have fleas not lice.......... and I must admit i have waited a few times in the "line" when i have way to much carryone luggage in a 737

DENPremEx

Maybe we could take it one step further and have a different lane and color carpet for each level of MP and boarding zone. We could have 9 different lanes and colors of carpet (GS, 1K, 1P, 2P, 3P, Zone 2, Zone 3, Zone 4, Non Rev). Of course we could only do this after removing all of the seating from the gate area due to a lack of space. This would virtually require everyone to line up in their respetive que and make the process look like a line for the "Its A Small World" ride at Disney World. Still think your idea is a good one???

Jet Set

Spot on description, Lucky!!