United drops early boarding for children
May 23, 2012, 7:15 am
#1
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United drops early boarding for children
From USAToday
http://travel.usatoday.com/flights/s...ren/55143390/1
Just in time for summer vacation, families with small children traveling on United Airlines will no longer be able to board early.
Families with children who aren't flying first or business class now have to board with their ticketed boarding groups.Continental Airlines allowed families to preboard, but the old United did not. The carriers merged in 2010 and have been aligning policies since.
Families with children who aren't flying first or business class now have to board with their ticketed boarding groups.Continental Airlines allowed families to preboard, but the old United did not. The carriers merged in 2010 and have been aligning policies since.
Last edited by FlyinHawaiian; May 23, 2012 at 8:21 am Reason: copyright violation
May 23, 2012, 7:37 am
#3
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I don't mind when families with infants and car seats to deal with board early, but it has gotten out of hand. (Not lap-children, they should get no perks).
If they can walk, they can get to their seat and sit down with everyone else. I wish they would enforce this change and announce it at the gate, because I still see them all huddled up there trying to get on the plane first.
If they can walk, they can get to their seat and sit down with everyone else. I wish they would enforce this change and announce it at the gate, because I still see them all huddled up there trying to get on the plane first.
May 23, 2012, 7:39 am
#4
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Virginia, USA
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Like the cited "Houston resident," I've seen groups of adults try to board using one young child as their priority boarding pass. The wheelchair scam also seems to be on the rise, whereby two healthy adults order a wheelchair for one so that they can board early.
May 23, 2012, 7:49 am
#5
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^^ to United's change.
May 23, 2012, 7:50 am
#6
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[Conforming moderator edit after the first post was edited.]
But back on the subject at hand, this is a PMUA policy that I did miss. Glad to have it back. ^
But back on the subject at hand, this is a PMUA policy that I did miss. Glad to have it back. ^
Last edited by Ocn Vw 1K; May 23, 2012 at 8:40 am
May 23, 2012, 7:55 am
#8
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: LAX
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I never understood the purpose of priority boarding, I receive it now with DL but it's not like the plane is going to leave w/o me if I'm waiting in line to board. Granted you may have to wait a few minutes to sit down as people are loading their luggage or have to tag yours if there's no space, but um so what??? I think it's just another one of those 'marketing' perks or maybe its just me 
May 23, 2012, 8:01 am
#9
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I never understood the purpose of priority boarding, I receive it now with DL but it's not like the plane is going to leave w/o me if I'm waiting in line to board. Granted you may have to wait a few minutes to sit down as people are loading their luggage or have to tag yours if there's no space, but um so what??? I think it's just another one of those 'marketing' perks or maybe its just me
May 23, 2012, 8:03 am
#10
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 36
As a parent of small children who travels with them frequently, I have no problem with this. More often than not, we wait to board at the end no mater what boarding group we are in, just to give the kids a little more time to be mobile before they need to sit for hours.
May 23, 2012, 8:23 am
#12
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: LAX
Posts: 295
With all the junk people carry on now, priority boarding is actually a fairly useful perk. If your first to board you are pretty much guaranteed space, if your last to board you're pretty much out of luck. If you don't carry anything on, then yeah I guess you can board whenever and its not a big deal.
May 23, 2012, 8:31 am
#13
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I thought COdbaUA wanted kettles!
Is this another segment of the market that COdbaUA doesn't want? They are really going to have to reduce capacity if there are no paying customers they want to attract.
Perhaps $misek has a number of puts on UAL that exceeds his buy options and stock.
Perhaps $misek has a number of puts on UAL that exceeds his buy options and stock.
May 23, 2012, 8:33 am
#14
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I guess I am going to have to disagree with most of you on this issue. As a parent of two young children who travel everywhere with my wife and myself, I can tell you first hand that having early boarding privileges especially on international long haul is a huge benefit.
It has nothing to do with the timing of the boarding process at all. It could be last for all I care. But the issue is that when you have kids, you have WAY more stuff in tow than when you don't have kids. Car seats, diaper bags, their inflight entertainment so as to not annoy the rest of the pax (books, toys etc), and tons of drink and snack items (including formula and bottled water to mix etc).
For one thing, it's nice not to have to jostle for space when you have all this stuff in tow (never mind the kids), but it's also nice for the aisle pax not to inevitably get hit in the shoulder when the parents come through the aisle with the requisite items.
And most importantly, when one boards first with small kids, I don't have to worry about over-eager adults pushing them to the ground and stepping on them. That is something to really worry about since small kids are in no part of an adult's peripheral vision, especially when the adult is looking for their own seat and overhead space.
The change isn't huge and doesn't annoy me any more or less than the other changes that have already taken place, but it's another sign that UA is not interested in having a positive interaction with their pax.
Most recently, I have boarded early on LH and SQ, and all was orderly and nobody was inconvenienced as far as I could tell. Why only foreign carriers seem to be able to add a human element to the airline industry is really beyond me.
Lastly, while I agree that abuse of this system is not cool (i.e. parents pre-boarding with 10 year old kids or elderly folks faking disability), it is not fair to lump families (with kids up to 3-4 years old, say) whose travel experience is legitimately enhanced by this minor benefit into the abuser category and throw the baby out with the bathwater so to speak.
How many times are elites really inconvenienced by pre-boarding legitimate, pre-board eligible familes? I can't imagine that it is too much of a hardship.
It has nothing to do with the timing of the boarding process at all. It could be last for all I care. But the issue is that when you have kids, you have WAY more stuff in tow than when you don't have kids. Car seats, diaper bags, their inflight entertainment so as to not annoy the rest of the pax (books, toys etc), and tons of drink and snack items (including formula and bottled water to mix etc).
For one thing, it's nice not to have to jostle for space when you have all this stuff in tow (never mind the kids), but it's also nice for the aisle pax not to inevitably get hit in the shoulder when the parents come through the aisle with the requisite items.
And most importantly, when one boards first with small kids, I don't have to worry about over-eager adults pushing them to the ground and stepping on them. That is something to really worry about since small kids are in no part of an adult's peripheral vision, especially when the adult is looking for their own seat and overhead space.
The change isn't huge and doesn't annoy me any more or less than the other changes that have already taken place, but it's another sign that UA is not interested in having a positive interaction with their pax.
Most recently, I have boarded early on LH and SQ, and all was orderly and nobody was inconvenienced as far as I could tell. Why only foreign carriers seem to be able to add a human element to the airline industry is really beyond me.
Lastly, while I agree that abuse of this system is not cool (i.e. parents pre-boarding with 10 year old kids or elderly folks faking disability), it is not fair to lump families (with kids up to 3-4 years old, say) whose travel experience is legitimately enhanced by this minor benefit into the abuser category and throw the baby out with the bathwater so to speak.
How many times are elites really inconvenienced by pre-boarding legitimate, pre-board eligible familes? I can't imagine that it is too much of a hardship.
May 23, 2012, 8:37 am
#15
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Along the same lines, I expect this change to slow the boarding process down even further.
If people feel the need to cheat society in order to gain luggage room on a plane, then they can live with that. Frankly, the # of abusers is NOT that high and doesn't contribute to any angst of the others trying to board.
Putting them in line with everyone else will slow the boarding process down.
If people feel the need to cheat society in order to gain luggage room on a plane, then they can live with that. Frankly, the # of abusers is NOT that high and doesn't contribute to any angst of the others trying to board.
Putting them in line with everyone else will slow the boarding process down.