scracer14

I find this an interesting difference between DL and UA.

On Delta, 10 min before departure 1 or 2 people may stand near where the boarding lane will begin.. ready to jump into line at the call to begin wheelchair boarding..

At "Passengers needing assistance" a large swarm gathers with several elites passively in the back. When group one is called, 90% of the PAX standing up front stand still as group 1 moves through.

For UA, I see 15 minutes before departure PAX proudly line up and stand in their assigned spots in 1&2. Almost as if to say, "yep I'm group 1."

Overall I like UA's boarding process over Delta. Especially if a DL GA is rushed and calls group 1 and SKY at ATL or MSP... That gets downright dangerous!

Artpen100

"When group one is called, 90% of the PAX standing up front stand still as group 1 moves through."

See this all the time on my UA flights as well, with the 2s (a pretty big group with the CC) blocking the 1s and everyone else mixed in since the lanes are right next to each other.

manstein58

Other way around if I am going to NRT or FRA as bad is always there after I clear Customs

TPACjv

Last month at IAH, I moved behind a stanchion next to the garbage on the extreme outside of the gate area (~4 meters to the boarding chutes) and when I turned around to run to the bathroom, there were 5 people behind me!

FTstudent

One time I had a flight with a lengthy Group 1 line, and one of the pax left a 6-7 people gap in front of her. I tried to make sense of it, but could not. Boarding had not started. So I ducked under the rope and lined up behind the normal pax. I can accept that could be considered DYKWIA behavior on my part.

I'm also tempted to do the same thing when pax line up at the start of the rope, rather then get in the chute, but have never done it.

UTex09

Two DYKWIA stories from my last trip up to MSP. On the outbound, routed IAH-ORD-MSP and on the ORD-MSP leg (flight time of less than 50 minutes), we sat at the gate with the door open because some woman either was friendly with the FA, the FO, the GA or someone because she apparently jumped the CPU queue. How do I know? Well, the gentleman in the first row of E+ politely explained to the FA that he was first on the CPU list all the way to boarding, and could see that there was still one seat left in F, despite the woman mentioned above coming and chatting to the captain/FO, then the FA before finally sitting down in row 1. Well, the woman would NOT have any of it. She started shouting at the man, then the FA, and finally the captain himself took both of them onto the jet bridge and, I would imagine, told them that if they didn't sit down so we could depart, neither of them would be flying. The lady ended up in F for the very short flight.

Second, on the way from MSP-IAH direct, a man seated in E+ on an E175 decided last minute he wanted to buy up to F (there was one seat left with the "do not occupy" belt on it, not sure why, but it was 4D). I assume he saw this one open, so he exits the plane, to presumably speak to the GA about buying up to F. She told him no apparently, because he got back on all in a huff and loudly complained to the FA about how he files "50k miles per year on this God forsaken airline, and can't believe he isn't allowed to buy first class". Now, of course he could have purchased it beforehand, but never mind that. The Mesa FA actually handled it pretty well, but ended up telling him politely several times to take his seat. He sat there and grumbled loudly (I could hear it from row 2) for the first hour or so of the flight.

elitefreak

SFO to EWR last night. Had the privilege of sitting next to Big Shot Executive Tool (he 6F, me 6E).

1. Had to make a call to say hi to someone well after door closed and announcement made (OK, that's not enough to quality, but stay tuned).

2. FA asks if they can hang up his suit jacket and he responds "not right now, maybe later". Later? (BTW, he never asked for it to be hung up).

3. FA takes lunch orders and BSET says "can I eat later?" to which FA says sure but it could take time to heat/etc. Dude, it's only a 5 hour flight, but anyway . . .

4. THE MINUTE the FA starts to clean up the cabin of happily consumed gelato with toppings, BSET announces that he would like to eat now. Really?

5. And the piece de resistance, I'm watching a movie and I hear the FA gong ring. Then again, then again, then again. I realize that BSET has finished his delayed main course and needs his tray cleared immediately. Not a second of patience. Ring the FA call, ring again, ring again.

I pity his employees.

manstein58

What a pain! By the way, I consider using the phone after door has closed as a major league Big Shot BS Move. As Junior Soprano said "The Rules are the Rules!"

goalie

And it is pax like this which is the reason I give out Tootsie-Pops® to United employees

bmwe92fan

Honestly, I don't - many times been on the phone with my kids when the door suddenly shuts - and also been on business meetings - sometimes you just can't "turn it off" suddenly...

Now if they drone on endlessly for a long time after the door is closed with no apparent care / awareness of the rules, their fellow passengers, or repeated requests from the FA - now that's a total D-bag....

NH_Clark

Does it count as a DYKWIA if you mention to the GFL dragons that, "Tom and Jonathan sent me" 😁

manstein58

can't quarrel with that. Life is a matter of degrees at times and we all know when the DYKWIA DB has crossed that line

porciuscato

These aircraft are sometimes freezing cold, so I often like to keep my jacket. Is there something really bad about not hanging your jacket?

Most European airlines offer "executive dining" on all flights and United still advertises it on intl. flights (though UA FAs often try to claim they don't). So requesting it on a p.s. flight that could cost $3000+ hardly seems like DYKWIA behavior to me. The FAs can always say no. In fact, I've seen them say no to passengers in GlobalFirst, where it is a clearly advertised benefit.

https://unitedairtime.com/your-questions/we-at-our-company-spend-lots-of-money-on-united-global-first-and-businessfirst-seats-on-international-flights-the-expectation-is-that-we-are-productive-for-some-of-it-my-coworkers-and-i-have-noted-t/


This is only an issue if you think the FAs are entitled to spend the last 3 hours of the flight gossiping and doing crossword puzzles. If you think their job is to actually help passengers, this is hardly a problem.


This is the only item that comes close to DYKWIA behavior. But then, I've had my completed meal sit on the tray table for over an hour before, so I kind of understand ringing the bell.

saFlyTalk

A couple months ago, taking the first shuttle bus at FCO from T5 to the plane (772 I believe), some of the FAs were on board. Group 1 customer begins talking about routes with a tired looking FA. He is quick to point out that he is "not sure how [he] qualified for Global Services for the 6th year in a row". He also was happy to note that "I suppose I can't fall any lower than 1K, since I crossed the 3 million mile mark last year". I forget the exact content of the preceding conversation, but I recall thinking how inorganically he fit those bits into the conversation. The FA tried to fake interest. I had a silent chuckle about it. I don't actually mind it, because I'm curious about the types that hit those kind of numbers and beyond. But I'm sure FAs hear similar things from their customers on a regular basis.

bmwe92fan

You get more points if you mention Mr. Pillows - or even Tom's poor brother or son who get dragged around the world - and don't EVER tell Tom's wife you saw him with the "other one" last week - I did that once and her mouth dropped only slightly slower than his did as he dropped his rum and coke leaping up from his seat...