DCEsquire

I stand corrected.

Funny that they would make this change the very year we have our first child. That's the only reason I don't approve of these changes! :-)

tomwhom

Just got this email: You’re now welcome to pre-boardBeginning September 18, we’re unveiling boarding enhancements — designed to improve your overall experience when boarding — at every airport across our system. We’ve been focused on a better boarding experience and want to let you know about a few key enhancements you’ll notice.■ No need to line up before your group is called: As a United MileagePlus® Premier® 1K® member, you’re now part of the pre-boarding group and will board even earlier – before Group 1.■ Less crowding: We’re saying so long to five lanes and are simplifying to only two lanes. Since you now get to pre-board, there’s no need for you to line up and you’re free to relax until pre-boarding is announced. If you arrive at the gate after pre-boarding has ended, simply use Lane 1 to board.■ Improved digital displays and boarding communication: Monitors around the gate will display clear and relevant information about boarding and your flight. If you prefer to spend your time away from the gate, you can now opt in to receive a United app notification that lets you know boarding has started.*Thank you for being one of our most loyal MileagePlus members, and we look forward to seeing you on board soon.

spin88

Except Delta and (now) AA don't prohibit carry-one bags in BE. That is a United special dis-amenity.

But hay, they went back to the sUA boarding appraoch, which is good, the 5 zone SouthWest Cattle car boarding was a sad joke. Or I guess I could say that they just copied Delta, which has two lanes, which work just fine, with a lot less gate chaos than the current (now old...) UA approach.

findark

I'm a little bit surprised by the level of vitriol in this thread about the change.. the only difference for paid F is that now the 1Ks have boarded ahead of you, or rather the 1Ks that you didn't manage to get ahead of if you were obsessively licing the BG1 line. In my experience, about a third of the F cabin boards last anyway (stereotyping here, but it usually seems like the "I have more money than FF knowledge so I just bought F and didn't think about it" crowd), and while I do obsessively lice G1, I have literally never had to gate check my bag (including many times I'm late to the gate) and have almost never seen an F pax get stuck except on regional jets (including the E75).

There's a little bit of a perceived status hit here, but I really don't think this materially affects the flying experience of a non-1K paid F pax.

I have to disagree here... every time I fly DL, I show up to the gate and haven't the slightest clue where I am supposed to stand. There's a red carpet, but it says "Sky Priority" and that's not me... eventually they call Premium and I sort of shuffle along with a quarter of the scrum in front of the gate. I prefer the UA way, but I guess ymmv.

Actually I kind of worry 1K preboarding will end up like this.

iluv2fly

I'm assuming that GS will still pre-board before 1K's? Does anyone know?

chavala

mozilla

Paid non-status non-upgrader F is now Group 7, which is a further devaluation of the United First® product, enticing less people to book using domestic F fares, which will result in only INTL and upgraders willing to pay for domestic F, which will increase its "upgrader-cabin" reputation, which will result in further devaluation. Rinse repeat a few times and United First® is fully replaced with United Premium Economy Plus®. It's like the demise of Global First all over again.

UA should add fare differentiation to the equation. Let those who travel on a domestic -F- fare or those on INTL F fares (on domestic or INTL segments) pre-board. Others who have a BP for F can have Group 7 if not status-eligible for pre-boarding.

kokonutz

I fly paid first domestically on a variety of airlines. On UA I have stood in a group 1 line in the current process and had 1/3 of the plane in front of me. Now rather than the smaller universe of high tier elites in that line there will be the enormous tier of UA and * Golds. Heck, over half of the plane may be group 1 out of IAD, ORD, SFO, etc. That's not a premium experience worth paying for.

MrCUBS

Seems that way, based on the website information
https://www.united.com/web/en-us/con...g-process.aspx

HNLbasedFlyer

I wouldn't think so - the email I got, as a 1K, says: "You're now welcome to pre-board"

If GS goes ahead of 1K, I'd think you'd have a pre pre-board....

cyclogenesis

Just got the email.

I am gold. Upgrade ~1/2 the time domestically (buy up or Y/M/B fares)

I like it. Gives 1K (big step up due to PQM) more recognition. And finally is gold more recognition than a MP card holder.

tomwhom

Why a little upgraded benefit causes PQD fear? For me I really don't care pre-boarding vs group 1 since I have small carry on and always late to the boarding. No matter how UA wants to thin the herd, it still will have a lot of GS/1Ks at base airports like SFO. I doubt 15K threshold would make a big difference, maybe 20K?

hughw

threeoh

Here's the non-status email:

mozilla

That's indeed a stereotype. Albeit it is a good one, like other stereotypes it's not 100% accurate.

I don't know for sure how -F- fares are selling these days. I do know there are a few companies around who still buy -F- fares as a matter of policy, I happen to work for one which explains the particular interest I have demonstrated in these fares earlier.

Does this change annoy me? Theoretically, yes, because it is a devaluation of the premium cabin product. I'm not concerned about my benefits, as status comes more or less with flying -F- consistently. I'm more concerned that United First may see a devaluation-induced demise similar to what happened to Global First. But I think we should see how it plays out in the field before drawing any conclusions.

One class of pax is systematically forgotten in this thread however: INTL F/J pax. Their fares map to domestic F on domestic UA segments. The "INTL" designator on their BP doesn't give them any additional benefits, so those pax are also affected, including non-status pax who paid thousands of dollars for a D or C fare. Enjoying the exclusivity of the Polaris Lounge on your arrival followed by boarding with the second half of the plane in Group 7 on your domestic connection must feel like a surreal slap in the face.