Originally Posted by
StingWest
No, your idea is generally fine. There are a couple reasons that it may be hard to implement though:
(a) UA generally doesn't staff the gate with enough personnel to have one available to simply walk around the police the queues..
Yeah, no doubt you are right about this.
Originally Posted by
StingWest
(b) They seem unwilling to turn people back if they try to board early (and there is no where to put them!)
(c) The number of people who think they are "elites" because they bought priority boarding via a credit card is huge. Feeling entitled but not really familiar with the queuing process perhaps, they line right up.
(d) There is sort of a UA culture now to start lining up early at the gate. Once a person knows that their ability to store a carry-on overhead is dependent on getting in line "first", this becomes their paramount concern.
Agree with this as the current reality. And something that needs to change or there is no hope of it ever getting better.
I recently was at ORD where the GA had command of her boarding area. She repeated how boarding would go, what carry-ons are allowed, and even went so far as to say something along the lines of "And we will begin with BG1. For those of you unfamiliar, that is the number in the middle of your boarding pass that looks like a straight line up and down, like a stick."
And I would hope, that as time went on with any new reasonable boarding process that valued elites, the elites would get with the program, set an example for the the non-elites.
Originally Posted by
vandrei
UA needs to consistently value its high revenue *and* high loyalty customers (note that I said customers, not passengers) who either pony up the big bucks to buy F/J/Y/B fares or who fly UA/*A over other carriers and other alliances. And I'm talking actions here, not just words.
That's not to say that UA shouldn't also value the credit card holding "kettles" in E-. But, treating them like they're elites when they're really not isn't going to win them over, and it certainly won't win over the actual high revenue and high loyalty customers.
Hit the nail on the head. I choose to fly UA as my primary airline for a number of reasons. I just want what UA has said they would provide me making that choice.
Actions, not words. Consistency.