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}
Mar 27, 2016, 6:05 pm
#91
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: BOS<>NYC<>BKK
Programs: UA 4.3MM LT-GS; AA1MM; Amtrak SE; MAR LT TITAN; PC Plat; HIL DIA; HYA GLOB
Posts: 4,388
Today at SFO, in one breath: "I'd like to pre-board our passengers with disabilities, uniformed military personnel, families with children two and under, and Global Services."
Maybe it's because he could see no one with a visible disability nor small children, but only the three GSs boarded at that call. Before we were ten steps down the jetway, I heard him call for Group 1.
Then of course we were held up at the plane's door (757 2L) as catering was still working the mid galley.
Maybe it's because he could see no one with a visible disability nor small children, but only the three GSs boarded at that call. Before we were ten steps down the jetway, I heard him call for Group 1.
Then of course we were held up at the plane's door (757 2L) as catering was still working the mid galley.
Mar 27, 2016, 7:07 pm
#92
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: Ewa Beach, Hawaii
Posts: 10,907
Today at SFO, in one breath: "I'd like to pre-board our passengers with disabilities, uniformed military personnel, families with children two and under, and Global Services."
Maybe it's because he could see no one with a visible disability nor small children, but only the three GSs boarded at that call. Before we were ten steps down the jetway, I heard him call for Group 1.
Then of course we were held up at the plane's door (757 2L) as catering was still working the mid galley.
Maybe it's because he could see no one with a visible disability nor small children, but only the three GSs boarded at that call. Before we were ten steps down the jetway, I heard him call for Group 1.
Then of course we were held up at the plane's door (757 2L) as catering was still working the mid galley.
Mar 28, 2016, 12:51 am
#93
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I recently had a handful of domestic Australia flights on Virgin Australia and their boarding process, at least for their 738s is "Business and Platinum/Gold" (first and then through the purple lane at any time) and "All Other Passengers" -- no groups 1-364, no rows X and higher, no families, just essentially "everyone else". (I think the GAs looked for and boarded elderly/disabled before making any announcements) I felt like the entire boarding process just moved much more quickly. (The fact that most of the stations were boarding both front and back couldn't hurt).
The overhead bins didn't seem to be nearly as full either...
The overhead bins didn't seem to be nearly as full either...
LY boards F/C/elite versus Y.
LH and LX board F/C/*G versus Y.
Mar 28, 2016, 1:53 am
#94
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: South Coast NSW, Australia
Programs: UA and SQ; Hilton, Fairmont, Marriott, Rydges Priority
Posts: 290
"The overhead bins didn't seem to be nearly as full either..."
that is probably because the carry on size/weight limits on Australian airlines are much smaller and generally strictly policed.
that is probably because the carry on size/weight limits on Australian airlines are much smaller and generally strictly policed.
Mar 28, 2016, 8:55 am
#95
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Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: PHX
Programs: AS 75K; UA 1MM; Hyatt Globalist; Marriott LTP; Hilton Diamond (Aspire)
Posts: 56,420
CX does something similar...
First Class & top elites
Business Class & second tier elites
Prem Econ & third tier elites
Economy
The tell you to sit down before they are ready, but you can stand if you want. And most important, they have no problem showing you to the correct line. Very quite. Very orderly. And the plane seems to board a lot quicker.
First Class & top elites
Business Class & second tier elites
Prem Econ & third tier elites
Economy
The tell you to sit down before they are ready, but you can stand if you want. And most important, they have no problem showing you to the correct line. Very quite. Very orderly. And the plane seems to board a lot quicker.
And IME flights always board easier in Asia than the US. It's cultural.
Mar 28, 2016, 10:50 am
#96
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Global
Posts: 5,994
It can be done by UA, but, it requires fewer early boards AND a zero tolerance for people coming up too early to the gate.
In the US, it would require minimal re-arranging of the boarding area... like at ORD, run the line out along the wall. Maybe it will allow less seating in the boarding area, but that is good too... fewer people hanging out by the gate.
Mar 28, 2016, 12:08 pm
#97
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: LA
Posts: 1,281
I think we fail to realize that many international carriers actually staff their gates though during the boarding process. UA on the other hand places one agent to work the counter (if we are lucky - outpost stations a lot of times only has one working the entire gate during boarding) and the other agent working the boarding door scanning passes.
Whenever I am international (even when flying UA), there is usually 1-2 working the counter, 1-2 working the scanner, and usually 1 agent managing the line (e.g. what boarding group are you and keeping the lane organized). There is more enforcement internationally vs. domestically IME.
Either way, UA has a very screwed up boarding process. I thought they were testing new boarding options and UAInsider said changes would be implemented soon....that was quite some time ago. When are these new boarding changes going to happen????
Whenever I am international (even when flying UA), there is usually 1-2 working the counter, 1-2 working the scanner, and usually 1 agent managing the line (e.g. what boarding group are you and keeping the lane organized). There is more enforcement internationally vs. domestically IME.
Either way, UA has a very screwed up boarding process. I thought they were testing new boarding options and UAInsider said changes would be implemented soon....that was quite some time ago. When are these new boarding changes going to happen????
Mar 29, 2016, 10:34 am
#98
Join Date: Feb 2014
Programs: UA 1k, US Airways Silver, SPG PLT, Marriot Gold, Hertz PC
Posts: 536
In IAH yesterday morning, when families with children two or under - saw at least two or three families go up with children who were much closer to 5-6.
Didn't want to jump to conclusions, but they did sit at the back of the plane (No E+ or upgrades), so I don't think they were GS.
Didn't want to jump to conclusions, but they did sit at the back of the plane (No E+ or upgrades), so I don't think they were GS.
Mar 29, 2016, 10:39 am
#99
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Houston
Programs: UA GS 2.6MM & Lifetime UC, Qantas Platinum, Hilton Lifetime Diamond, Bonvoy Platinum, HawaiianMiles
Posts: 8,682
In the cases where there rooms for all 5 lanes it's not terrible but could be much better (especially with uber long 1/2 lines where they kind of merge and cross as it gets further out) -- but in the places where its 1/2/3-4-5 it's a complete cluster.
I recently had a handful of domestic Australia flights on Virgin Australia and their boarding process, at least for their 738s is "Business and Platinum/Gold" (first and then through the purple lane at any time) and "All Other Passengers" -- no groups 1-364, no rows X and higher, no families, just essentially "everyone else". (I think the GAs looked for and boarded elderly/disabled before making any announcements) I felt like the entire boarding process just moved much more quickly. (The fact that most of the stations were boarding both front and back couldn't hurt).
The overhead bins didn't seem to be nearly as full either...
I recently had a handful of domestic Australia flights on Virgin Australia and their boarding process, at least for their 738s is "Business and Platinum/Gold" (first and then through the purple lane at any time) and "All Other Passengers" -- no groups 1-364, no rows X and higher, no families, just essentially "everyone else". (I think the GAs looked for and boarded elderly/disabled before making any announcements) I felt like the entire boarding process just moved much more quickly. (The fact that most of the stations were boarding both front and back couldn't hurt).
The overhead bins didn't seem to be nearly as full either...
Apr 2, 2016, 10:44 am
#100
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: sfo
Posts: 3
In IAH yesterday morning, when families with children two or under - saw at least two or three families go up with children who were much closer to 5-6.
Didn't want to jump to conclusions, but they did sit at the back of the plane (No E+ or upgrades), so I don't think they were GS.
Didn't want to jump to conclusions, but they did sit at the back of the plane (No E+ or upgrades), so I don't think they were GS.
Apr 2, 2016, 10:48 am
#101
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: NYC (Primarily EWR)
Programs: UA 1K / *G, Marriott Bonvoy Gold; Avis PC
Posts: 8,994
Yes. But I think it's safe to say in this example, it wasn't GS - if a GS member was flying in Y with their family, they would almost certainly by in Y+ (I would think).
Apr 2, 2016, 10:52 am
#102
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Global
Posts: 5,994
Seems to me (but not that I do it) - when they ask for pre-boards - people who need a little extra time - that would include people in the bulkhead. It certainly takes extra time to pull things out and put everything in the overhead.
Apr 2, 2016, 1:00 pm
#103
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Join Date: Sep 2002
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I just took two flights on Delta this past week, both in F and I was able to observe the two lane boarding process, once at FLL and once at ATL.
Completely different than my chaotic two lane AA experience at the end of 2015, and on both flights everyone stayed away from the gate area even if they were standing, and in the case of FLL, even during pre-boarding. No one rushed the lanes, lined up 30 minutes ahead of time, or crowded at the gate, which is something I hadn't seen on Delta in years. However, on my previous DL experience at FLL at a different gate that had tighter space, the experience was different - SP/F/DM lined up ahead of time and some were very aggressive about pushing their way to the front of the existing SP line. So, based on this, I can't say we can generalize about two lanes being better than our 7, or worse - it appears to be completely based on the culture of the airport or those particular passengers.
Interestingly enough, instead of DL calling for preboards with children under a certain age, the family preboard call was restricted to families with children in a stroller - no stroller, no pre-board, no exceptions.
Completely different than my chaotic two lane AA experience at the end of 2015, and on both flights everyone stayed away from the gate area even if they were standing, and in the case of FLL, even during pre-boarding. No one rushed the lanes, lined up 30 minutes ahead of time, or crowded at the gate, which is something I hadn't seen on Delta in years. However, on my previous DL experience at FLL at a different gate that had tighter space, the experience was different - SP/F/DM lined up ahead of time and some were very aggressive about pushing their way to the front of the existing SP line. So, based on this, I can't say we can generalize about two lanes being better than our 7, or worse - it appears to be completely based on the culture of the airport or those particular passengers.
Interestingly enough, instead of DL calling for preboards with children under a certain age, the family preboard call was restricted to families with children in a stroller - no stroller, no pre-board, no exceptions.
Apr 2, 2016, 3:02 pm
#104
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 11,451
I just took two flights on Delta this past week, both in F and I was able to observe the two lane boarding process, once at FLL and once at ATL.
Completely different than my chaotic two lane AA experience at the end of 2015, and on both flights everyone stayed away from the gate area even if they were standing, and in the case of FLL, even during pre-boarding. No one rushed the lanes, lined up 30 minutes ahead of time, or crowded at the gate, which is something I hadn't seen on Delta in years. However, on my previous DL experience at FLL at a different gate that had tighter space, the experience was different - SP/F/DM lined up ahead of time and some were very aggressive about pushing their way to the front of the existing SP line. So, based on this, I can't say we can generalize about two lanes being better than our 7, or worse - it appears to be completely based on the culture of the airport or those particular passengers.
Interestingly enough, instead of DL calling for preboards with children under a certain age, the family preboard call was restricted to families with children in a stroller - no stroller, no pre-board, no exceptions.
Completely different than my chaotic two lane AA experience at the end of 2015, and on both flights everyone stayed away from the gate area even if they were standing, and in the case of FLL, even during pre-boarding. No one rushed the lanes, lined up 30 minutes ahead of time, or crowded at the gate, which is something I hadn't seen on Delta in years. However, on my previous DL experience at FLL at a different gate that had tighter space, the experience was different - SP/F/DM lined up ahead of time and some were very aggressive about pushing their way to the front of the existing SP line. So, based on this, I can't say we can generalize about two lanes being better than our 7, or worse - it appears to be completely based on the culture of the airport or those particular passengers.
Interestingly enough, instead of DL calling for preboards with children under a certain age, the family preboard call was restricted to families with children in a stroller - no stroller, no pre-board, no exceptions.
Another factor in the boarding queue chaos must be the proliferation of baggage fees. Not sure we can realistically expect that to change, though.
Apr 2, 2016, 10:28 pm
#105
Join Date: May 2005
Programs: Million Miler, 1K - Basically spend a lot of time on planes
Posts: 2,202
Talk about race to the bottom. So, I have flown 4 United flights in the last 3 days. ALL of them, EVERY SINGLE ONE went as follows:
Announcement for People who need more time
Announcement for families with Children
Announcement for Military
Announcement for Global Services
Group One...
I know that their first class cabin domestically is nothing to brag about, but you really cannot board first class with an announcement ?? So basically anyone who is group one (first, global, 1k, platinum etc)...
At least the other carriers in some way recognize the folks in their premium cabins...
Announcement for People who need more time
Announcement for families with Children
Announcement for Military
Announcement for Global Services
Group One...
I know that their first class cabin domestically is nothing to brag about, but you really cannot board first class with an announcement ?? So basically anyone who is group one (first, global, 1k, platinum etc)...
At least the other carriers in some way recognize the folks in their premium cabins...