Jan 19, 2017, 11:05 pm
Last edit by: WineCountryUA
Source: United Boarding Process
We encourage you to make yourself comfortable while you wait for your group to be called, and we’ll let you know when we’re ready for you to board. Late arriving customers in Groups 1 and 2 are welcome to continue boarding through the blue lane at any time.
* Customers who have purchased a Basic Economy ticket will be in the last boarding group, except for Premier members, Chase Cardmembers of qualifying cards and Star Alliance Gold members, who will still receive their priority boarding.
================================================== ==============================
Pre Sept 2018 process
Pre-Boarding
General boarding (Window Seats, then Middle Seats, then Aisle)
Customers who have purchased a Basic Economy ticket will be in the last boarding group, with the exception of Premier members, Chase Cardmembers of qualifying cards and Star Alliance Gold members, who will still receive their priority boarding.
Note: If you’re traveling with a companion and one of you has a higher boarding status, you both may board with the earlier group.
Note: Self Boarding Gates are being tested at the following gates...
sUA Boarding Times by Aircraft (AFA)
Previous thread: United's Current Boarding Process (with Wiki) [Revised, May 2013]
New changes (effective 18 Sept 2018)
You will see some new boarding lane signs in the gate area that will guide you through the boarding process. There will now be two lanes that are color coded : to begin, Group 1 will board through the blue lane and Group 2 will board through the green lane. The remaining Groups 3-5 will then board through the green lane when called, and Groups 1 and 2 can continue to board through the blue lane .We encourage you to make yourself comfortable while you wait for your group to be called, and we’ll let you know when we’re ready for you to board. Late arriving customers in Groups 1 and 2 are welcome to continue boarding through the blue lane at any time.
Boarding groups
Pre-boarding
- Unaccompanied minors
- Customers with disabilities
- Active members of the military
- United Global Services® members
- Families traveling with children age 2 and younger
- Premier® 1K® members
Group 1
- Premier Platinum members
- Premier Gold members
- Star Alliance™ Gold members
- Customers seated in premium cabins: United Polaris®, United First® and United Business®
Group 2
- Premier Silver members
- Star Alliance Silver members
- Customers who have purchased Premier Access® or Priority Boarding
- United℠ Explorer, Club, Presidential Plus℠ and Awards Cardmembers
Groups 3 – 5
- Economy Plus®
- United Economy®
- Basic Economy*
* Customers who have purchased a Basic Economy ticket will be in the last boarding group, except for Premier members, Chase Cardmembers of qualifying cards and Star Alliance Gold members, who will still receive their priority boarding.
Pre Sept 2018 process
Pre-Boarding
- Unaccompanied minors
- Customers with disabilities
- Uniformed members of the U.S. military
- Families traveling with children age two and younger
- United Global Services® members
- Group 1: Premier 1K, Premier Platinum, Business/Polaris Business, and First/Polaris First.
- Group 2: Premier Gold, Star Gold, Premier Silver, Star Silver, MileagePlus Presidential Plus, Club, Explorer and Awards, purchased Premier Access
General boarding (Window Seats, then Middle Seats, then Aisle)
- Group 3 - Window Seats
- Group 4 - Middle & Aisle Seats (Aisle Seats on UA Express)
- Group 5 - Basic Economy
Customers who have purchased a Basic Economy ticket will be in the last boarding group, with the exception of Premier members, Chase Cardmembers of qualifying cards and Star Alliance Gold members, who will still receive their priority boarding.
Note: If you’re traveling with a companion and one of you has a higher boarding status, you both may board with the earlier group.
Note: Self Boarding Gates are being tested at the following gates...
- IAH - Gate C25/C26 - See Post 2960, Includes YouTube video from CO777DAL
- IAH - Gate E4 - Old test from pmCO days, See Thread Here
- BOS - Self boarding gates are now back in *LIMITED* use at least at gates B25 and B26
sUA Boarding Times by Aircraft (AFA)
Previous thread: United's Current Boarding Process (with Wiki) [Revised, May 2013]
United's Current Boarding Process (with Wiki) [2016-forward]{Archive}
Oct 26, 2016, 7:59 pm
#346
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: GVA (Greater Vancouver Area)
Programs: DREAD Gold; UA 1.035MM; Bonvoy Au-197; PCC Elite+; CCC Elite+; MSC C-12; CWC Au-197; WoH Dis
Posts: 52,140
United has already devalued Platinum to the point where it's barely better than Gold. Let's not take one of the last differentiators away.
Oct 26, 2016, 8:06 pm
#347
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Texas
Programs: UA 1K, AA Platinum, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 327
I'm sure there is a thread out there regarding the UA boarding process, however I couldn't find it otherwise I would have added this to the end of it.
Anyway I think UA boarding is a bit inefficient. I've noticed that group 1 lines can be longer than group 2; also sometimes groups 1&2 are combined which often leads to them getting jammed by eager group 2 at the front. I've heard the term gate lice used but I think that's a bit nasty.
The way I'd change it is to shift platinums to group 2 and then shift UA silver, SA silver, credit card holders and active duty military to a new priority group 3.
The rest I'd leave the same.
The class sketch with John Cleese and the two Ronnies sprang to mind when I was writing this, but my thinking is just to make boarding flow better.
Anyway I think UA boarding is a bit inefficient. I've noticed that group 1 lines can be longer than group 2; also sometimes groups 1&2 are combined which often leads to them getting jammed by eager group 2 at the front. I've heard the term gate lice used but I think that's a bit nasty.
The way I'd change it is to shift platinums to group 2 and then shift UA silver, SA silver, credit card holders and active duty military to a new priority group 3.
The rest I'd leave the same.
The class sketch with John Cleese and the two Ronnies sprang to mind when I was writing this, but my thinking is just to make boarding flow better.
Oct 26, 2016, 9:53 pm
#348
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: SFO South Bay
Programs: UA 2MM
Posts: 3,052
Oct 26, 2016, 10:44 pm
#349
Join Date: Mar 2014
Programs: 1K
Posts: 220
My $0.02
FC prior to Grp 1. Yes
1K Grp 1
Plat/Gold Grp 2
Sliver/Credit Card Grp 3
FC prior to Grp 1. Yes
1K Grp 1
Plat/Gold Grp 2
Sliver/Credit Card Grp 3
Oct 26, 2016, 11:19 pm
#350
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Honolulu Harbor
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 15,028
The problem with the current boarding process or any fixed status/cabin based scheme is that there is absolutely no way to get a system-wide, consistent equal distribution of passengers across the boarding groups. The # of premiers and ratio of front cabin seats to coach varies on each flight. The only way to get 5 equal boarding group sizes is dividing the number of boarding passengers into quintiles and assigning 1-5.
That being said (and the system being what it is), Plats ought to be moved to BG2 because BG1 is consistently larger than BG2. At least until the day I become a Plat, at which time Plats should board w BG1.
Oct 27, 2016, 6:25 am
#351
Join Date: Feb 2015
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 957
As a Platinum, I can tell you shifting me to BG2 would impact my spend with the airline. I'd clear Gold easily every year simply because I'm captive to EWR, but I'd become more equipment and price conscious on every flight where I had options. To me, BG1 is one of the defining features of my being platinum.
Oct 27, 2016, 6:28 am
#352
Join Date: Feb 2015
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 957
Group 1 might be only one or two people at a lot of stations if this were the scheme.
The problem with the current boarding process or any fixed status/cabin based scheme is that there is absolutely no way to get a system-wide, consistent equal distribution of passengers across the boarding groups. The # of premiers and ratio of front cabin seats to coach varies on each flight. The only way to get 5 equal boarding group sizes is dividing the number of boarding passengers into quintiles and assigning 1-5.
That being said (and the system being what it is), Plats ought to be moved to BG2 because BG1 is consistently larger than BG2. At least until the day I become a Plat, at which time Plats should board w BG1.
The problem with the current boarding process or any fixed status/cabin based scheme is that there is absolutely no way to get a system-wide, consistent equal distribution of passengers across the boarding groups. The # of premiers and ratio of front cabin seats to coach varies on each flight. The only way to get 5 equal boarding group sizes is dividing the number of boarding passengers into quintiles and assigning 1-5.
That being said (and the system being what it is), Plats ought to be moved to BG2 because BG1 is consistently larger than BG2. At least until the day I become a Plat, at which time Plats should board w BG1.
Oct 27, 2016, 7:37 am
#353
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: DEN
Programs: UA 1MM, MP 1K, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Gold
Posts: 463
As a Platinum, I can tell you shifting me to BG2 would impact my spend with the airline. I'd clear Gold easily every year simply because I'm captive to EWR, but I'd become more equipment and price conscious on every flight where I had options. To me, BG1 is one of the defining features of my being platinum.
Oct 27, 2016, 8:42 am
#354
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Northern California
Programs: I want to be free! Free!
Posts: 3,455
i think the CC companies will cry foul if their customers get pushed any further back than BG2, and the airlines are completely beholden to them. Delta has tried to get around this by having BG1 renamed "Premium" which is FC and Diamonds; even that I find gets clogged up on SFO-ATL/MSP/JFK.
Oct 27, 2016, 9:18 am
#355
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, UA Gold, WN, Global Entry; +others wherever miles/points are found
Posts: 14,424
Btw, I see primarily the opposite. I find BG1 extremely crowded when on the larger mainline equipment. For A300's, 737's, and any of the regionals, I find BG1 quite small (unless hub to hub). I fly from EWR to lots of outposts on 737 and ERJ170/175, and BG1 is often first class and maybe 2-3 others.
Oct 27, 2016, 10:58 am
#356
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: dark side of the moon
Programs: papa card, UA 1K
Posts: 707
BTW the point about F boarding as a group above 1K in Y isn't even on the table as UA values a 1K customer in Y over someone of lower status in F.
Oct 27, 2016, 11:44 am
#357
Join Date: Feb 2015
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 957
That works for me (well the part about naming a premium BG above BG1 which includes F and 1K). BTW I don't see an issue with baggage space if you have platinums and gold board as the 2nd group (this scenario would shift gold from BG2 to BG1). If platinums can get their bags in fine I think it is more psychological. I never had a problem with carry-on baggage when I was gold.
BTW the point about F boarding as a group above 1K in Y isn't even on the table as UA values a 1K customer in Y over someone of lower status in F.
BTW the point about F boarding as a group above 1K in Y isn't even on the table as UA values a 1K customer in Y over someone of lower status in F.
If gold gets into BG1, that's fine with me. But I would lose a large part of the reason I strive to hit Platinum, and UA would lose a little of my business since I'd sail into gold.
Oct 27, 2016, 12:01 pm
#358
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: ORD
Programs: UA Silver, Marriott Platinum/LT Platinum, Hilton Gold
Posts: 5,594
Group 1 might be only one or two people at a lot of stations if this were the scheme.
...
That being said (and the system being what it is), Plats ought to be moved to BG2 because BG1 is consistently larger than BG2. At least until the day I become a Plat, at which time Plats should board w BG1.
...
That being said (and the system being what it is), Plats ought to be moved to BG2 because BG1 is consistently larger than BG2. At least until the day I become a Plat, at which time Plats should board w BG1.
As a Platinum, I can tell you shifting me to BG2 would impact my spend with the airline. I'd clear Gold easily every year simply because I'm captive to EWR, but I'd become more equipment and price conscious on every flight where I had options. To me, BG1 is one of the defining features of my being platinum.
I'm not criticizing (though admittedly snarky), just trying to understand why it's so important to you? The only difference in boarding I noticed when I dropped to Gold was that I stood in the jet bridge a little longer waiting for the F passengers to get out of the way.
Absolutely, this is what I've seen as well. Yesterday IAH-ORD, G2 was easily twice as long. There were maybe 15-20 people in G1 on a 739.
Oct 27, 2016, 1:07 pm
#359
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: dark side of the moon
Programs: papa card, UA 1K
Posts: 707
BTW I don't think this discussion is completely hypothetical as UA monitors FT and the boarding process can obviously be improved.
Oct 27, 2016, 1:54 pm
#360
Join Date: Feb 2015
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 957
In my experience, BG2 is almost always larger than BG1, even on hub to hub flights. Just my observation, but I fly ORD-IAH a lot and BG2 is consistently longer. At smaller airports, to your initial point, there are often just a couple people in BG1, but BG2 might have a dozen or so.
Really? As a Gold, I've never had an issue getting my bag in a bin. What's the disadvantage to you if you board 10-20 people later? Less time in that comfy slimline seat?
I'm not criticizing (though admittedly snarky), just trying to understand why it's so important to you? The only difference in boarding I noticed when I dropped to Gold was that I stood in the jet bridge a little longer waiting for the F passengers to get out of the way.
Really? As a Gold, I've never had an issue getting my bag in a bin. What's the disadvantage to you if you board 10-20 people later? Less time in that comfy slimline seat?
I'm not criticizing (though admittedly snarky), just trying to understand why it's so important to you? The only difference in boarding I noticed when I dropped to Gold was that I stood in the jet bridge a little longer waiting for the F passengers to get out of the way.