mrjay

FF's are usually pretty quick to get their stuff into the overhead and/or under the seat, simply by virtue of having done it hundreds of times before. Thanks to UA's new reliance on RJ145's, I often check my roller at the origination and only carry on a backpack with my work laptop and tablet.

This has little to do with the boarding process, but as a regular occupant of the bulkhead row on A319/320's, my personal pet peave is when I board to see the bulkead and second Y row seats empty but find the overhead bins almost full because group 1 exit row occupants felt the need to stash their rollerboards, overcoats, etc., over rows 7 and 8

NgatesSEA

Happy it is not just me that feels this way. I once saw an pmUA FA on a 752 come on the PA and ask someone sitting in the back to "Please come collect your carryon bag that you placed in the overhead bin at our Economy+ customers' row ... where you are not sitting."

I believe it is F9 (maybe others as well?) that "force" customers seated in bulkhead rows into the first boarding group - I believe for this very reason. As someone who anal-retentively seeks out bulkheads, I always appreciated that.

5khours

I've seen the board 300+ in 5 minutes on a domestic. Japanese are just a lot more efficient at getting on and off, plus everyone doesn't bring a rollerboard and/or stroller with them.

Jade_BR

+1. The annoying part of the new boarding process is exactly the carry-on-happy unfrequent flyer who blocks the aisle while taking every single thing out of the purse/backpack/suitcase in search of whatever item it never occurred to them that they may want to have easily accessible. They have to pay for checked luggage so by God they will squeeze the last sock and hat into that carry-on. In the meantime you have all kinds of elite FF waiting around and blocking the jetway because they can't get to their seats.

bocastephen

Both my flights were mostly Taiwanese and plenty of American Taiwanese traveling for the holiday (more than 50% of both flights were UA connectors given all the US passports being waved around)...lots of strollers, young kids and lots and lots of rollerboards in various shapes and sizes with extra bags full of gifts, souvenirs, etc - no different than a US domestic flight.

Much of the benefit came from pre-segregating the boarding before it even started by wading out into the mass of people and getting them prepared. Strollers were pulled well in advance and boarded along with wheelchairs.

General boarding was by row number instead of group, so people were moved directly to the rear and filled forward from there.

woodway

This is a key difference - the gate personnel get out there with their boarding group signs and aggressively get people into the proper lines. It makes things go much more smoothly once boarding starts. In addition during boarding I have observed that Asian's generally don't have a problem squeezing by someone blocking the aisle or climbing over people sitting in an aisle seat to get to the middle or window seat. Nobody gets upset or takes offence, everyone just gets into their seats promptly. That would never happen on a domestic US flight.

skiermsm

My husband and I are traveling HNL-GUM in March, Business/First on 777. We will each have a rollerboard and briefcase. Will we really have to worry about overhead space in First if we are further back in the Group 2 line or should we get there early and line up?

abaheti

If you are in Business/First, you should be in Group 1, and my advice would be to board with your group vs later. For economy boarding, your handle says Premier Exec, which either means Premier Platinum (Group 1) or Premier Gold (Group 2), depending how much you flew in 2012...?

--Arun

EmailKid

Good news, bad news

IIRC we boarded through the second door, so no coach pax will try to take your overhead space

Bad news, this is a DOMESTIC 777, so domestic FC seats, and only overhead projectors.

EmailKid

gailwynand

This is a lot easier to do when there are few COS aboard as is generally the case in Asia

IAH-OIL-TRASH

There are basically 3 complaints in this thread:
1) Gate lice clogging passage
2) Storage space
3) Speed of boarding

Multiple lanes ought to make the lice less dense. I don't think this lengthens boarding process to any extent or affects overhead space. This is more of a convenience issue.

Boarding sequence does not address overall storage issue, but addresses who gets to storage ahead of others. Until UA reduces carry-ons, this won't be solved. This adds a little to boarding time sometimes in the latter stages.

Speed of boarding can be addressed, but elites who sometimes sit in coach won't like the solution. Complaining about boarding speed is disingenuous because elites (in general) are the problem. If you want to board a plane fast, the last thing you do is board current Group 1, then 2, etc. This clogs up the front of the airplane and quickly results in back-up in the jetway. The obvious solution (if the goal is strictly to board a plane fast) is rear-to-front boarding.

Unfortunately, the fastest possible boarding process precludes elites from getting to storage first. Complain about gate lice irritants and lack of storage all you want, but complaining about boarding speed is a joke when you (me included) are part of the problem.

So, next time it takes 45 minutes to board, just sit back and enjoy the luggage space the inefficient process bought you.

jackal

I think you've hit the nail on the head with regard to what has been leaving me scratching my head while reading this thread. I think I mentioned in this thread before that I think two of the goals of this thread are in conflict with each other, but you've expressed it clearer than I was able to phrase it in my mind.

(One note: WilMA boarding would be faster than block [rear-middle-front] boarding.)

PV_Premier

no, i choose to sit further back so that I am closer to the OH space where my bag will inevitably end up. E+ access as you know is controlled only by time of booking (unless you are silver) so as I book most of my tickets at least 4-6 wks in advance I usually have unrestricted access to bulkhead. I used to take these seats, or row 8, when I was assured group 1 access. Now I take rows 10+ because by the time I board on group 2 (usually toward the end of the group as I refuse to lice) the OH space is shot from group 1 and/or early group 2 boarders forward of row 10, regardless of where said boarders are sitting. Folks have an uncanny propensity to dump their bag into first available OH bin as soon as they get into coach, even if they are seated in row 21+.

milesmuncher

The same when it comes to boarding priority, yes. But there are plenty of perks that Silvers and Golds get that CC holder don't (and shouldn't).

Not arguing in favor of the way the boarding groups have been set up - just saying that when you board doesn't represent the totality of "how valuable" you are to United.

skiermsm

Thank you both for the information. We record movies and TV shows with WinTV so we will have plenty of personalized entertainment for the trip.