Originally Posted by
tcp1
I know it's not a popular opinion, but I agree wholeheartedly. This policy will also be absolutely abused and not enforced properly, just like every UA policy. Large families won't be broken up and will board together, people will fudge on ages and GAs won't enforce it. Families will line up at the gate in front of the boarding lanes with strollers and kids and their whole extended family. I can't see it not being a nightmare, especially when summer travel comes around.
I don't know how many times I've seen adult parents justify bad behavior (on the part of their kids or themselves) on how "hard it is" to be a parent and that they've been "dealing with it all day" so I should put up with a few minutes of inconvenience.
No. These are not my children. You are not my wife, sister, or even friend. Your kids aren't a gift to the world. It seems many parents feel they are doing the world a favor by having kids and thus everyone else should give them a break.
How about giving me a break because I *don't* bring kids on the plane and clog up the boarding process???
I'm a leisure 1K as well, just like someone else here. Married with no kids; I'm 1K she's a Silver and we try to travel as inconspicuously and efficiently as possible. This means we pay for things like Clear, precheck, club access - because for us the number one benefit of an airline like United is the ability to choose to have a more efficient travel experience, albeit at a cost. I get zero breaks other than the ones I pay for.
How about this - let families board early if they buy FamilyAccess or some other add-on, just like we've always been charged when we were GMs.
It's enough of a problem when people develop sudden limps at disability boarding times, or the guy in the camo jacket boards with military. I've gone on with group 1 with a third of the plane boarded.
This is just yet another dilution of frequent flier benefits to satisfy an overly vocal but hardly overly profitable demographic. It's part of the softening of United's image that they're working on for sure, but simply they're telling their best customers that they're not as welcome anymore.
Thank you. I'm not trying to be a DYKWIA with this policy. I just think that if I'm buying F tickets that UA should give me the ability to board and get settled. This way I don't have to stand behind the parade of "children under 2" who are boarding with their SAT prep books as I'm sure that this policy will be thoroughly abused. I board quickly and get settled just as quickly. If UA had FAs keep the 1st class bins closed and made sure that F passengers could get bags on then I would take less issue with this as well.
Case in point: I watched a woman and her about 10-year-old son board on Sunday with a huge bag, backpack, purse, and two shopping bags. She threw all of these except her purse (including her suitcase, which had to go in sideways) in the bin above 2EF. She then folded her coat and put it in there as well. After she closed the bin and started heading to economy the passenger in 2E who was behind her asked her where she was sitting. She answered "24B." At that point F was full and the guy got pissed. Luckily the FA was proactive and told her that she had to move her things. She got huffy and told the FA that it was easier for her son and her to carry their things off from there. The FA persisted and she moved her stuff.