Bonehead

I think that there is an internal inconsistency in this statement. Three families that "need extra time" will clog things up in the jetway right off the bat.

Kber

That's a valid point. I fly this route often and you speak the truth.

blueman2

Do what SouthWest does. Allow group 1 to board, then families after that. That works quite well in my experience.

United757

This is a customer friendly move to the general population, so I'm not entirely sure what the uproar here is. Plenty of airlines do this and it's not the end of the world. Traveling is exponentially harder for parents with little ones.

UAInsider is not saying that all those groups board before GS, but rather they all board together...at the same time...as pre-boards. At least that's my interpretation. Maybe they could board after premium cabins and elites, but we've seen how those lines get backed up in the jetway too.

fly18725

Here's the problem: they're going to clog up the jetway at some point in the boarding process. While I appreciate the ability to board early as an elite, as a human I have a hard time with the concept of pushing the slow boarders behind "my" zone so that I'm not impacted.

One reason small children should board early is that car seats must be in a window seat, or in a middle section that does not block access to an aisle.

halls120

If they are going to do this, then they should do it well in advance of when general boarding begins - so it doesn't clog up the jetway or the aisle.

I have a hard time with the concept of an airline offering me an enticement to fly their airline - in this case, early boarding so that I am assured overhead space for my carry on luggage - with pushing me back in the process so that when I get to my seat, there is no overhead stowage available.

hookthem

I can't agree with you more. There are some other routes that also suffer from the same... and the people with children up to age 8 will take advantage of it in addition their other family members.

windhund

The sense I get from some comments is there is concern about abuse of these policies and inconsistent enforcement. I've seen large groups pre-board with disabled passengers or with families on OAL. I fully understand one or even two adults (certainly with small children traveling with two caretakers) boarding with a disabled passenger or small child, but an entire family/party of 4, 6, or more does not need to board with that disabled passenger or small child. I can understand families not wanting to split up, but unless they're young children, they can probably handle getting on the plane separately from everyone else.

That said, I think it's beyond clear UA needs to revisit the boarding process more broadly, especially the boarding area layout with all the lines. This changes makes the current design and process even more burdensome; GS and now families will have to fight the crowd or squeeze out some space to pre-board.

I can see allowing group X to board and then allowing pre-boarding like Southwest. I would have no issue with that so long as UA changes their policy, which lumps credit card holders with gold/silver (I don't think people who pay $95 a year for a credit card should get the same boarding level as people who meet the qualification criteria for silver and gold, especially given the PQD requirement).

fly18725

I honestly can't believe that families with small children (those under 2 or with car seats) are going to take all of the overhead space.

Baze

Certainly not "all" the overhead space (unless it is one of the flights some above referenced to). But very likely all the overhead space over a row or 2 and if that happens to be your row it is over, then yes, The space is gone over your seat. I think this is what they were referring to.

1015-1k

Not how I interpreted it...

Some clarity would help.

Pegasus23

I would want infants riding in the plane, seated in the last five rows. So board them first. However, since they now ride in first class as well as everywhere else, exempting exit rows; I do not object to when they board, or where they sit. Hopefully, their parents are schooled in caring for them. For me, I will leave the plane before departure, if the environment around my seat is not hospitable.

RockyMtFlyer

This - so much disdain here for traveling with young kids; getting on does actually save all of you time. If you don't believe me, you really haven't travelled with kids - much harder to board and get out everyone else's way than I think many here realize.

I am agnostic on the when (move to after GS/1K/F), but this actually is helpful (and I say this as someone no longer with small children, so I will be affected the same as everyone else).

Never had an issue with this on other airlines who, shockingly, largely have better boarding processes then UA already.

fly18725

I think this is more of an imaginary problem.

If you're traveling with a small child and a car seat and are gate checking a stroller, you don't have the ability to carry anything more than 1 small bag per person, let alone enough suitcases to fill an overhead bin or 2.

UAPremierGuy

THIS IS A HORRIBLE MOVE, although consistent with UA valuing kettles who pay TOD's over elites. So glad I am an AA flyer.