rwsteelers

A contrast in gate antics:

Recently took flight from Osaka to Tokyo on ANA - boarding 15 min. before scheduled departure...figured that made sense likely a express jet or turbo prop...uh no...it was a 777....this I had to see. Mutliple lines with appropriate signage set up about 5 min prior to boarding, folks got in there designated lines, boarding commenced 15 min prior and 300 people boarded a flight which left on time. Granted little in the way of overhead baggage - but we can't board a US Air shuttle from LGA to DCA that fast.

My connecting flight from NRT to IAD was also a 777 - boarding 45 minutes prior. A complete rubgy scrum...called for GS, but making it through that mess would have been worthy of a Heisman winning running back...surprise boarding was late.

Lesson's to learn - UA's two lanes vs ANA's four makes a difference, but can't say getting on a 747 at ORD is much better with multi lanes, to be sure some cultural differences too.

Bottom line - one process works, the other - not so much

cova

UA needs to go back to First Class boarding first, then GS/military, then 1K, then other eilites. Too confusing. Some people stand at gate and when gates are close to each other then the announcements overlap and people are not sure and they board when they are not suppose to and the GA allows it.

Why should a GS in coach board before a full F fare passenger with no status? If that GS is in coach - they why are they GS?

UA-NYC

What they need to do is return to the PMUA method, where there were massive numbers of elites (many high ones), yet it wasn't an issue as the Red Carpet wasn't open to half the plane. And it benefitted the mid-tier elite as well.

They're there due to TODs and cheap V-ups and the like, non-elites getting cheap offers (cheaper than Premiers), which is why that GS is in coach - talk to an FA sometime and ask them if the F cabin seems "different" this year...

WineCountryUA

YB fares have qualified for GS credit and in many cases may be greater dollars than restricted F fares. Why not buy F, because some are required to buy unrestricted tickets.

rwsteelers

...because I had a last minute flight change, had an F fare, but F already sold out or upgraded full and decided getting home early was more important than sitting in F....or IRROPs etc...and as already noted overhead space comes at a premium these days

TomA

NRT boarding has gone from stellar to complete [mess] in a year. Yeah, good luck boarding as a GS or even as a Group 1 in that mess. And this is NRT-ANYWHERE UA FLIES.

Because a GS in coach is worth a LOT more than a one-off F pax?

iluv2fly

Just because you fly in Y once in awhile doesn't mean you don't deserve the recognition of your financial contribution (GS status). That's like saying 1K's shouldn't be in Group 1 if they are flying in Y on a particular flight.

GS' should always board first, before any other group. To argue not is ridiculous.

JC1120

Given the small-ish numbers of GS on most flights, I would do the following groups instead, hopefully eliminating the 1Ks who assume that there are no GS' waiting around since they both board in the same group (as a GS I'm fine with this). This would also make each of the groups more meaningful, codifying GS into a specific group, making it more enforceable, and giving GAs less of a reason to skip over the GS sub-group.

Group 1: GS/1K
Group 2: First Class/Business Class
Group 3: Platinum/Gold
Group 4: Silver/CC Elites

Then board back to front.

mduell

Consistently poorly organized gates, IME. There's no hope of getting to Premier Access during BG 5 at IAH without a lot of excuse-me.

Bear4Asian

My experience boarding in Asia - NRT, PVG, PKG, TPE etc, on UA and other airlines is mostly bad. It seems - especially in China - that everyone assumes that ALL can board immediately. Kind of like getting on a subway.

I wouldn't mind, except as a Premium Gold, the one thing I want is to be able to get on board in time to put my bag in the overhead above or close to my seat.

Jorgen

Forget the lanes, forget the culture, focus on the bags. It's easy to board a 777 in fifteen minutes as long as everyone has a sensibly-sized cabin bag instead of a giant suitcase they can hardly lift. As I understand it, most countries' airlines enforce a far smaller bag size limit than is enforced in the US -- a sensible bag size limit that means everyone can take a max-sized bag on board and there'll be enough room.

TomA

And you can prove this to yourself by looking at the United PerksPlus Reward Chart:

https://unitedperksplus.united.com

bloodyeyeballs

I think some of the gate lice culture comes from many kettles trying to get their bags in overhead bins not realizing that gate checking is free. That said, I took Air France LAX to Tahiti earlier this year in paid C and it was a massive free for all at the gate with little guidance for anyone.

I also noticed on a recent GUM-HNL that a group 1 person went ahead of me with a group 7 acquaintance. The acquaintance said "I'm with him" and was allowed to board. I didn't care since I was up front, but again it certainly didn't seem fair.

benchardf

A lot of the issues can be mitigated if the GAs took better control by making the announcements more clear, and actually enforcing the rules. The most chaotic boarding processes I've been were because no one could hear what the GA was trying to say. I've found boarding to be more pleasant when everyone can clearly hear the GA's announcement.

flyingnosh

With only one jetway, boarding will not be faster no matter which group boards when.

UA promises to board a flight in 35 minutes and almost always delivers. I don't know what else UA needs to do. If you're GS/1K, your perceived torture only lasts 5 minutes and you save a bundle compared to chartering a private plane.

By the way, most people who are standing in front of the premier access lane (the ones some are calling gate lice) are actually in group 1.

Again, I don't think anything needs to change. One change that might please some people, and that I wouldn't object to, is to allow group 3 to line up in the general boarding lane before boarding even starts. The premier lane can then be used for pre/GS/mil/1/2.