gene2632

This move and the free bag of chips is going to go a long long way to getting me back....he said sarcasticly. Of all of the issues crooked Jeff created this is the best they can do for fixing?

avi8tir

GS should be before any families... this is BS. GS flyers are likely some of the quickest and most efficient boarders... now we have to deal with strollers??

LAME!!

Baze

The families I usually see have a car seat, a stroller (yes, this gets gate checked), a roll aboard for each person, a purse, a computer type bag or backpack, a diaper bag, and a bag full of toys for the child. This is typical of what I see. It takes them forever to get settled, forever to get down the aisle. Don't have seats together for whatever reason so are pleading with people to move. If they are first on, then they will fill up everything above them ( we all know people put stuff up and don't like to put things under the seat in front of them), sit all together and tell the person who's seat they took that theirs is back in E- in the middle. I see this situation more times than I can count when it comes to infant on board.

SS255

I'm guessing that UA ran the numbers on the average number of passengers per flight that are under 2, and decided that implementing this policy made sense. It does make sense if the policy is followed, but we all know that what will likely follow instead is rampant abuse.

What most concerns me about this policy is the hold-up trying to board an RJ which is parked on the tarmac in bad weather. When UA used to board "families with small children" before elites, I sometimes got stuck standing in the pouring rain waiting for families with 4 children between the ages of 5-12 tried to figure out which end was up.

I would suggest that UA tweak the policy to allow Military/GS/Group 1 to board first, followed by pre-boarding of families with children under 2. The boarding passes should clearly state PRE-BOARD after verification that there is indeed a child under 2 in the party.

KChar

This is a bad move. United should value its elites over anyone that is not elite. It seems United is saying they don't appreciate their frequent flyers. I say this as someone who is not elite, but has flown United (and CO)
exclusively for several years.

halls120

You haven't seen the size of some of these families, have you?

rustykettel

^^ After the boarding throng has just about cleared. GA could then assist the pax down the jetway and handoff to the FA's to help them get seated. Fix the overhead bin problem and there's no real reason to board families first, other than specialness.

qukslvr619

Because the person that flies once a year is more than likely going to slow down the boarding process if for instance they are in Group 4, carrying a stroller, a diaper bag, and a baby while getting to their row realizing there is no storage space for the carryon and then boarding is slowed down while they put the baby down, and look for a place to put the carryon. Compared with letting them board early, dropping stroller at the end of the jetway, getting to their assigned row, storing bag above their seat, and then sitting in their seat while then the Elites, F, and general boarding are just getting to the bottom of the jetway.

After enduring flights with two toddlers, the new rule when I have to travel with my kids is "no F=no travel." Not everyone has that luxury. I travel a lot without my kids and the ONLY reason I want to board early these days is to make sure I can store my carryon. PDBs, boarding before the general public it doesn't mean much to me anymore.

Though I love reading this thread as "UA clearly doesn't value Elites again." Puhlease.....unless you're flying to MCO it's not like 50 people are going to board before you take up all your carryon space and prevent you from getting that ever important PDB. There will probably be a bunch of griping, but once its actually in effect, I think it will work itself out. I have more of an issue of the whole "active duty military" preboarding. I realize they do it as an expression of gratitude but all I can think of is TWA 847, and even being military myself, the last thing I want to do is draw attention that I am military (especially offduty) should I encounter any nutjobs.

NH_Clark

my guess.. this is an attempt to lure in the vaca low-fare flyers with a "family-friendly" move. Again.. slowly inching over to a more LCC theme.

I'm not sure what the balance is.. and my heart does go out when I see the mother of 3 flying by herself with the 3 kids <2 yrs old.. and with the associated baggage. I try and help.. but I've also been in the back of the line while mom is cat-herding her kids, stowing bags and trying to stick a pacifier in the crying mouth. After a long work travel schedule it can be extremely frustrating.

greenskin

I doubt this will make much of a difference in my life & I'm a bit surprised by the reaction.

Most of the time at my home airport the announcement is for "anyone who needs some extra time boarding" - not anyone "with a disability who needs extra time." I've seen families board during that call.

I'd just like to see FAs reserve a bit of space in the bin for bulkhead passengers. That goes for whatever the boarding order.

spearsba

Most military travel in civilian clothes for this very reason. There was a ban until recently within the Army on traveling in uniform, the exception was to and from a deployment. In my experience, not that many military travel in uniform.

bob_the_d

for me at least the frequency of this happening is so low that i can't really think of any times where this is going to really bother me. if a family or two goes before me, i'll live.

overhead bin space is probably the biggest thing for me. if an FA helps them store their stuff at their seat number, i don't really have an issue.

johnden

The boundaries of this policy and very important. If anyone with children up to 10 yrs old can board early, on some vacation routes, half the plane will pre-board. Most non-elite flyers are very antsy about boarding early so I expect that many will take advantage of it if they can.

I've also had to sit in E- because a family took my E+ seat before I boarded, but I think that is a minor concern unless it is a long flight.

The biggest concern is how to limit those that will try to take advantage of any possible way to pre-board. Other than for roll-aboard space, I never understood why we are all so obsessed with early boarding. I really don't trust people on vacation to be reasonable, many flights will see half or more of the plane pre-boarding, Mon morning hub-hub, not so much.

spin88

I have been on hundreds of flights where kids are let on first, never seen an issue that the overheads are full before elites board. United used to do this, it was not an issue. United was rather unique in making families with kids board in their set group, and IMHO they did it to try to force upsells to "elite access" The result was not that these people paid, it was that they slowed down the boarding process. All you have to do is sit in F on United, and try it on DL. Delta it all moves faster. And I might add, I don't see families have more luggage, usually its LESS than what business travelers carry.

And while perhaps on the India flights there are more families, but the overhead bins are also huge. I've never been on a 747/777/airbus where there were issues with the overhead bins, or gate checked bags, on an international flight. Have you? The only A/C with issues is the 763.

Not allowing families to board early was a customer unfriendly move designed to try to extort $$$ for early boarding. OALs let these folks board early, and when it was refused by UA it created unhappiness. It was a common complaint on UAs facebook page. I'm glad to see them reverse this. It will not create new issues, boarding will go faster, and United elites can be treated like Delta (or VX, etc) elites, not exactly the end of the world.

InHouseCounsel

This.