Originally Posted by
gldwebs
Thanks for all the answers...i think boarding is the only part I dont have to worry about. 2 kids with 1 in a car seat should easily get me to the front of the line anyway (but status does make it look good). My biggest worry is the hassle of checking in since we have to check...no way am I giving them a penny for a bag.
UA's standard practice doesn't allow for preboarding of families with small children. There are always exceptions, but I wouldn't count on it.
Originally Posted by
star_world
The time of the flight doesn't make a difference. I fly this route all the time, and at all times of the day. They never call *S at the same time as *Gold. This is "enforced" through the boarding pass layout too - *Golds don't get put in any Group number, but instead are marked STAR GOLD. *Silvers are marked with Boarding Group 1, and they board in that group. The sequence of boarding has always been exactly as I described above, on ORD-EWR as well as any other route with UA.
IME on UA is that about half of the GA's will board *G separately and the other half will announce *G and Seating Area 1 at the same time. I don't transit ORD that often so maybe there are more strict there.