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}
Feb 20, 2018, 2:46 am
#856
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: where lions are led by donkeys...
Programs: Lifetime Gold, Global Entry, Hertz PC, and my wallet
Posts: 20,343
SNIP....
The process was was very clunky today. Boarded all the usual preboards, paused, then asked for 1Ks to board. I heard the GAs asking whether it was worth it because there were “only 7 1Ks.” The 1Ks in the group 1 line bolted for the scanner once 1Ks were asked to board. I was probably the only 1K not to clear thanks to a late booking, and when boarding, the scanner read an error, something about group 4 not being allowed to board. I suppose that’s a function of not being cleared to first and my group reading “1K.”
The process was was very clunky today. Boarded all the usual preboards, paused, then asked for 1Ks to board. I heard the GAs asking whether it was worth it because there were “only 7 1Ks.” The 1Ks in the group 1 line bolted for the scanner once 1Ks were asked to board. I was probably the only 1K not to clear thanks to a late booking, and when boarding, the scanner read an error, something about group 4 not being allowed to board. I suppose that’s a function of not being cleared to first and my group reading “1K.”
Feb 20, 2018, 8:47 am
#857
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: New York
Programs: EK Platinum, AA EXP, Marriott Platinum, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 1,148
Feb 20, 2018, 10:00 am
#858
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 11,461
And there might not even be any passengers with children under 2 or needing assistance, so let's just skip those altogether!
Feb 20, 2018, 10:34 am
#859
Join Date: Jan 2016
Programs: UA 1K; *G, AA Plat
Posts: 1,700
Bp
HNL.
The process was was very clunky today. Boarded all the usual preboards, paused, then asked for 1Ks to board. I heard the GAs asking whether it was worth it because there were “only 7 1Ks.” The 1Ks in the group 1 line bolted for the scanner once 1Ks were asked to board. I was probably the only 1K not to clear thanks to a late booking, and when boarding, the scanner read an error, something about group 4 not being allowed to board. I suppose that’s a function of not being cleared to first and my group reading “1K.”
E+ was booked solid over 1.5 months out, middle seats and all. Nothing opened up at T-24 either.Will update to see what happens, but I suspect this is only 'some' flights out of LAX.
Were you on a 777 out to HNL? Maybe this is only for 'larger' planes?
Feb 20, 2018, 11:22 am
#860
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: USA
Programs: UA Gold, Marriott Gold
Posts: 1,195
Tested the new boarding procedure this past week on LAX-HNL (737) and HNL-DEN (777) as an F passenger (Group 1).
For LAX-HNL, I found the signage a little confusing because there was a sign for Group 1 and behind the GA, there was a different sign for Premier 1K, GS, and First Class. The GA directed me to take the farthest lane against the window but then when they did the verbal boarding announcements, they went right from preboarding to GS to 1K to Group 2. Hello?
For HNL-DEN, it was again somewhat confused with a jump directly from 1K preboards to Group 2.
It's hard to say as a Group 1/F passenger whether the new procedure is faster overall but I can say it was a bit confusing. I should get a better feel next month on my next trip as regular Y Group 2.
For LAX-HNL, I found the signage a little confusing because there was a sign for Group 1 and behind the GA, there was a different sign for Premier 1K, GS, and First Class. The GA directed me to take the farthest lane against the window but then when they did the verbal boarding announcements, they went right from preboarding to GS to 1K to Group 2. Hello?
For HNL-DEN, it was again somewhat confused with a jump directly from 1K preboards to Group 2.
It's hard to say as a Group 1/F passenger whether the new procedure is faster overall but I can say it was a bit confusing. I should get a better feel next month on my next trip as regular Y Group 2.
Feb 20, 2018, 3:32 pm
#861
Join Date: Feb 2015
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 957
As a plat, BG1 is one of the remaining perks I feel still holds value. I sense this may be a downgrade in boarding for me.
Feb 20, 2018, 3:40 pm
#862
Join Date: Jul 2016
Programs: UA1K | *A Gold
Posts: 767
UA 1K flying in Polaris business out of IAH shows boarding group 1 for me.
Feb 20, 2018, 3:47 pm
#863
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: New York, NY
Programs: Delta Platinum Medallion; IHG Platinum; Marriott Gold; Hilton Gold
Posts: 1,071
Yeah, it seems the only real result of this new pre-boarding stuff is to push Platinums down a notch. Yes, it has First/Business boarding before 1Ks but they don't share the same overhead space so that doesn't really matter. By having 1Ks pre-boarding before Group 1 (apparently only Platinums remain in Group 1), they are just delaying the boarding of us Plats and making it harder for us to assure overhead space at our seats.
Feb 20, 2018, 4:15 pm
#864
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 11,461
Yeah, it seems the only real result of this new pre-boarding stuff is to push Platinums down a notch. Yes, it has First/Business boarding before 1Ks but they don't share the same overhead space so that doesn't really matter. By having 1Ks pre-boarding before Group 1 (apparently only Platinums remain in Group 1), they are just delaying the boarding of us Plats and making it harder for us to assure overhead space at our seats.
Feb 20, 2018, 6:33 pm
#865
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: Bay Area - East Bay
Programs: UA 1k, AS 75k, Marriott Platinum, Hyatt Explorist
Posts: 641
Feb 20, 2018, 8:36 pm
#866
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: New York, NY
Programs: Delta Platinum Medallion; IHG Platinum; Marriott Gold; Hilton Gold
Posts: 1,071
Feb 21, 2018, 1:11 am
#867
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Honolulu, Hawaiʻi [+MKK4 EBBER R577 EDSEL R577 ELKEY EXERT]
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Interesting. Just got my App boarding pass for my flight tomorrow and my Group still reads "Group 1". There's an unusually high # of elites on this flight for a Wednesday morning E+ was booked solid over 1.5 months out, middle seats and all. Nothing opened up at T-24 either.
Will update to see what happens, but I suspect this is only 'some' flights out of LAX.
Were you on a 777 out to HNL? Maybe this is only for 'larger' planes?
E+ was booked solid over 1.5 months out, middle seats and all. Nothing opened up at T-24 either.Will update to see what happens, but I suspect this is only 'some' flights out of LAX.
Were you on a 777 out to HNL? Maybe this is only for 'larger' planes?
Feb 21, 2018, 8:52 am
#868
Join Date: Jan 2016
Programs: UA 1K; *G, AA Plat
Posts: 1,700
Waiting for my 737 to IAD. Boarding passes still have Group 1 rather than the ‘1K’ designation you saw. Doesn’t seem that the new boarding process will occur despite getting the text and email that they will.
Unless by new boarding process they mean the lanes 1/2 signs rather than having groups 1,2,3/4/5 lanes.
EDIT: No '1K' group was called. Was just typical Preboarding, then groups 1,2,3,4,5.
Unless by new boarding process they mean the lanes 1/2 signs rather than having groups 1,2,3/4/5 lanes.
EDIT: No '1K' group was called. Was just typical Preboarding, then groups 1,2,3,4,5.
Last edited by laxmillenial; Feb 21, 2018 at 11:31 am
Feb 21, 2018, 10:57 am
#869
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: PWM
Programs: AA Plat
Posts: 1,335
Tested the new boarding procedure this past week on LAX-HNL (737) and HNL-DEN (777) as an F passenger (Group 1).
For LAX-HNL, I found the signage a little confusing because there was a sign for Group 1 and behind the GA, there was a different sign for Premier 1K, GS, and First Class. The GA directed me to take the farthest lane against the window but then when they did the verbal boarding announcements, they went right from preboarding to GS to 1K to Group 2. Hello?
For HNL-DEN, it was again somewhat confused with a jump directly from 1K preboards to Group 2.
It's hard to say as a Group 1/F passenger whether the new procedure is faster overall but I can say it was a bit confusing. I should get a better feel next month on my next trip as regular Y Group 2.
For LAX-HNL, I found the signage a little confusing because there was a sign for Group 1 and behind the GA, there was a different sign for Premier 1K, GS, and First Class. The GA directed me to take the farthest lane against the window but then when they did the verbal boarding announcements, they went right from preboarding to GS to 1K to Group 2. Hello?
For HNL-DEN, it was again somewhat confused with a jump directly from 1K preboards to Group 2.
It's hard to say as a Group 1/F passenger whether the new procedure is faster overall but I can say it was a bit confusing. I should get a better feel next month on my next trip as regular Y Group 2.
The fact it happened twice at different stations makes me think they programmed the computer wrong. Either that or Plats got lumped into another group (1K or BG2)
Feb 21, 2018, 11:29 am
#870
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: San Francisco, CA (SFO)
Programs: UA 1K, UA .53 MM, Marriott Gold, Nexus, GE, TSA Pre, Hertz PC
Posts: 581
Except in almost every blown out of proportion media story we've seen this year involving the airlines, thinking is exactly what they're now being asked to do. Policies and procedures are to blame for the Dr. Dao incident or even the NYT lady who didn't fly home to see her dying relative. Everyone was quick to point out that common sense and thinking would have prevented the blow ups.
So I'd argue that GA's do need to think from time to time, especially because they in a consumer facing role that can be highly unpredictable.
So I'd argue that GA's do need to think from time to time, especially because they in a consumer facing role that can be highly unpredictable.