chrisl137

They seemed to be doing it EWR-LAX on sunday and it didn't seem to go badly. I was surprised that there didn't seem to be a mass of group 3/4/5 people hovering around the edges of the two lines.

Boarding earlier in the day at TXL they just called each group one by one to the buses (and individually got the people needing assistance that they'd identified earlier - no signs or anything. There were group 3 people basically standing and blocking the narrow space to get to the bus walkway all through groups 1 & 2.

zombietooth

I almost always get them to bring me something from the back, snack-wise, instead of a meal. Usually, I go for the Haribo Gold-Bears.

globetraveler

pdx1M

I've pointed out for years in these discussions that what most people miss is the psychology of the system. If you create physical lines with signs that say "group 3 here" then people will get in those lines very early and once a few people have done that others feel that they had better join the group or be left to the end. Those extra line up areas basically cry out "please crowd up here". Getting rid of the extra lines really is the key. With no designated spot to line up many fewer people will crowd to the gate because they don't know where to actually go crowd. The issue with UA (since the PM systems were replaced) has never been the number of groups - it has been the number of designated lines. With 2 lines (now and in PMUA days) you have one bypass line (no one lines up there except BG1 at the start) and one real line (where everyone else lines up but it makes no sense to line up when others have to go in front of you). Net is that you get less lining up. This actually worked pretty well in the PMUA days and ultimately (once you retrain all the BG3+ folks) it will likely work pretty well now. The mistake I do think UA is making with the new system is not creating a BG0 with GS/1K (and yes probably F) in it and starting that in the green line and BG1 in the blue line. Preboarding requires folks to make their way around the line structure which depending upon the gate can be awkward and there are probably enough GS/1K to sometimes make that troublesome. And truthfully it would make no difference at all except for ego to mix GS/1K/F into a single group domestically. There aren't enough of these folks in total to create legitimate baggage storage issues. Plus it would once and for all end the 3 second window for preboarding that some GAs seem to use that gives no one a chance to do anything.

SS255

IAH-OIL-TRASH

Yeah. The bag issue w/ the new procedure is a manufactured "problem". I'll still be boarding at end of BG1 if I'm in F or Y with a carry-on.

Kacee

Yes, exactly

This was a flight where the inventory invited GPU expenditure.
Yes it's a blow to ego dressed up as something else.

zymm

It seems this whole thing is just a compression of elites and premium passengers into BG0 and BG1. It kind of defeats the purpose of having boarding groups in the first place, and the effect is worst on the largest mainline flights when you really need a process that feeds people onto the plane in a steady fashion. I have an SFO-IAD flight later this week, followed by SFO-EWR and SFO-ORD the week after (no wonder I never get CPUed, do I ever fly non hub-hub?!), I'm going to make sure to bring the popcorn for the BOARDING THROWDOWN. Also, making sure I'm in a non-bulkhead for each flight (this is kind of sad, I love the bulkhead, but I'm not trusting enough to stow my backpack w/ laptop anywhere I can't see people messing around in the bin)

jsloan

No, they didn't drop that part of the change, and it's not new. For the most part, window seat passengers have gotten group 3 for years. (Prior to BE, it was group 3 windows, group 4 middles, group 5 aisles).

zebranz

An interesting issue- I have OZ award ticket in biz where unable to change FF# to UA. Will be Zone 1 on domestic flight but will not show 1K. Called UA and they are unable to change FF#. Will use my UA MP card and see if they look at me odd/throw my out of the pre-board.

iluv2fly

I spoke with the GS manager at ORD on Tuesday and mentioned the concerns that are posted here. He agreed that it will come down to training whereby the agents are supposed to pause between the groups instead of bunching them all together (which we all have witnessed). I asked him to go to some gates and witness what happens and he agreed to do so. (I'll get a report next week when I see him.)

He also said that he has daily meetings with the supervisors who are in charge of various gate sections of the terminal (e.g. C-20-32) and will alert them to the issues and ensure the agents do what they are supposed to.

I will call GS customer service each and every time that the procedure is not followed. They "gots to know" and do something about it. The more complaints, the more they will act.

flyme2

I've taken three flights since the 18th, flying from YUL, EWR and IAH. The GA's all followed the official protocol, calling out the pre-board groups one by one. In both YUL and IAH, I was the only 1K. In EWR, on a 767 wide body flight to IAH, there were only four, which shocked me.

HNLbasedFlyer

A lot of people aren't interested in pre-boarding - or even milling around BG1 - so there were probably more 1K's. I'm almost always one of the last to board. Personally, I'd rather wait in the UC or Polaris lounge than sitting around on the plane waiting for everyone to board.

I do like the perk though if I were to choose to use it - I do think 1K's are far more valuable to UA than non-1K's sitting in FC/Biz. I'm sure the kinks will get worked on the Pre-board announcements so GS can board first consistently if that is what they want to do. With change, it is rarely perfect immediately.

IAH-OIL-TRASH

findark

But in the original boarding process you already had to stand around in a long line. Unless you're coming on a small plane or from a small outstation, BG1 is already 50+ people and you'll be at the end of it if you're late to the gate.

Admittedly I'm a little bit more pushy in that kind of a situation. I have never had to gate check in F, but I absolutely have the couple of times a year where I need to make an imploring face at the FA to make them do something about the problem. My bag has ridden in the coat closet or had a Y bag evicted for it, but never gate checked. I basically ignore anyone at the gate or in the jetway -- they assume I'm a no-status Y pax if I'm boarding late. On the other hand though, I absolutely do lice the G1 line whenever I show up to the gate in time, and I'm sure if I tried to board last every time my no-gate-check streak would quickly come to an end. I have seen other late-boarding F pax get their bags gate checked when the cabin legitimately runs out of space, often on an E75 or when two or three F pax decide they need to put their rollaboard, two handbags, and full airport shopping bag into the overhead

Bottom line though, I am skeptical that the change in BG1 inclusion will have a significant impact on how often your bag gets up. IME the blend of late-boarding F pax, some FAs who police the bins, and the fact that half the plane is boarding after you usually leads to some bin space.

I flew an EWR-SFO with 22 GS. Pretty sure there were at least 20 more 1Ks