Originally Posted by
emma dog
After doing this for a couple of weeks, I think this is an improvement but I still have some nits to pick.
pro: much more orderly and coincidentally, my planes have loaded faster.
annoyances. First class is really group 4: Preboard, military, 360, then F. I feel like 360 should be with F. Military should be verified (using something like ID.me) and be put in zone 1 or 2. Just give it as a quiet benefit, and stop using the military as a totem for patriotism and marketing.*
* I was active duty from 1998-2005… my feelings anren’t anti-military or anything like that. Its partially from the fact that there are a lot of professions that deserve our honor and respect, and a member of the military isn’t any more important than a firefighter, a nurse, or anyone else who dedicates their lives to the public good. And secondly, it’s from watching soooo many OPSEC videos that’s say you’re supposed to blend in when traveling.
DL could even do like AA does and at check-in ask if you are military, which then has to be verified by an agent who checks your ID. Once verified, it opens benefits available to military (checked baggage, etc.). Upon confirmation your boarding zone is updated to Zone 1. As you note, this would make it easier to "blend in" for OPSEC reasons and avoid the faux patriotic scenes at the gate, though I've seen a few GAs opt to make a spectacle of it and ask everyone to clap for the military boarding.