I think I'm inclined to give them a bit of leeway until the merger is sorted out. Once you start listing the groups: GS, PPlat, 1K, Plat, 1P, Gold, 2P, Silver, Elite Access, military, first, maybe business too, it gets to be a bit of a mess. Then again, I don't work as a gate agent, and I just wrote those from memory.

You also have to remember that pre-merger there were some United agents that never got it right either.

IME since June 2011, proper adherence to the process is the exception, not the rule. When the correct procedure is only followed "some" of the time, there is a problem, one that management is so far ignoring.

:-:

And there are plenty of agents at pretty much every carrier who just don't care enough. Or who think that letting folks board whenever they approach the podium, called or not, is appropriate.

I think it's also a matter of habit. On November 24 I flew EWR-YQB on CoEx, and as we arrived in Quebec, the flight attendant made the following announcement:

"Thank you for flying Continental Airlines, a proud member of Sky Team." :eek::D

Sky Team...elite boarding...some habits are just hard to change.

This is a little OT, but I remember once, when flying EWR-LAX, there were so many elites checked in that the gate agent decided it would be quicker to board the handful of non-elites first.

That was one of the finest moments of my career as a non-elite kettle...

This is where continually refreshing the upgrade standby list on your pda prior to boarding can help. You would see your upgrade and then go ask the GA for the boarding pass (or just try to board and get the double beep).

+1

The real issue is having GAs only allow a short break between levels coupled with folks standing in the way of other people trying to board. Then you have lazy GAs who don't turn back folks who shouldn't be boarding. This creates the thought that in the future they can board at anytime they want.

Frankly (I know most folks will bash me) is that the "Cattle Call" (I actually think legacies should be renamed so) of WN is nowhere near the mess of legacy carrier boarding. Everyone has an exact spot to stand on and no one is blocking the gate entrance.
BTW..AA, UA and DL board the exact same way, so comparing them is moot as all elites use the red/blue carpet once called.

Exactly!! I have been saying this for a long time!! It would be a brilliant idea for UA to put up posts for different groups. One possibility (with 2012 MP levels): GS/1K, Platinum, Gold, Silver/All other Elite Access, Group 1, Group 2, etc...

This would eliminate all the blocking that goes on now. It's extremely frustrating when I find out non-elites boarded before they were called and I'm still waiting diligently for my level to be called.

I read in another thread that apparently they have a system like this in HKG and it works well. I've not been there to see though. Why don't they install this?? I can't see any negatives!

Flew IAH to MIA on Friday. Completely full flight and the GA boards military then first, then all elites. Talk about a cluster. There were already 40 or so elites standing around the gate and she had "all elites" board on the regular carpet. The elites that lined up on the blue carpet couldn't board because so many elites had piled in the standard line.

IF everyone was at the gate when boarding starting and IF our Elites lined themselves up according to status and IF the Kettles even paid attention, boarding would be a piece of cake.

Boarding is a difficult process when everyone crowds the boarding lines and refuses to move completely out of the way when asked. While I rarely will board someone "out of order" I often have to stop the boarding process to play line monitor like a kindergarden teacher. :rolleyes: And yes this also includes the Elites as well.

Well, technically, Elite customers are supposed to be allowed to board at any time through the Premier Access lane. (Which just interrupts the flow of the boarding worse, but it's a nice benefit for Elites.)

I think the old United way of boarding everyone below F/C cabins/GS/1K through the non-Red Carpet line was cleaner. (We can throw in people who pay for Premier Access.) It seems everyone and their dog is a Silver or has a OnePass Plus card these days.

I've only boarded one flight that seperated FC followed by GS,1K, Plat and PPremier.. then the remaining tiers (I assume it continued appropriately as I'm platinum and after the FC boarded it was an elite light flight and only about 5 of us got on) GA definitely turned some others away. I've seen it mostly be Military/FC then all elites and it's a giant scrum.

I think it's prob a combo of GA's that don't care but also old habits dying slow.

On a similar topic of habits: Was speaking to a UACO (from Co side) pilot at EWR today who was flying non-rev home on same flight. We were discussing merger and briefly got on the Channel 9 topic. He was telling me right now the whole habit thing is tough because ATC has changed all the UACO over to a United ### call. He said most of the CO pilots don't catch ATC signaling them because they're not catching the "United ###" instead of "Continental ###" and then pilots answering with "oh did you mean Continental ###" etc. Nothing on purpose and hasn't been a big problem he was just talking about how they've all learned something for years and many just don't queue in when United is called out for the flight they're piloting and he hears a fair amount of repeated ATC directions and pilots and ATC needing to clarify as a result.

Sounds dangerous...

US/HP still use pre-merger ATC designations, by the way.

Nvm. I don't know what I was thinking.

Actually everything is just Cactus across the board for both PMUS and PMHP operated flights.