ExplorerWannabe

My experience is that it varies form airport to airport and GA to GA. I've seen preboarding of disabilities before and with military in uniform, I've seen active duty military preboard with GS and families with children, I've seen them separated. Yesterday, DEN-COS boarded groups 1and 2 simultaneously. Can't really complain too much about that one since the guy who took my overhead bin space was also in Group 1.

physioprof

I try to guess whether the gate agent scanning tickets is gonna be relaxed or uptight about this, and conduct myself accordingly. Almost all of the time the gate agents seem fine when I try; once in a great while they reject, saying "we haven't called global services yet".

UA_Flyer

katan

Yesterday I had the case that might affect what I was thinking. The way the flight went might make it more memorable:

ATL->DEN, 5183, CR7 on UAX. On a W fare. I used a RPU at booking, which was maybe 10 days before. There was 2 of 6 seats staying open approaching 24 hours, so maybe as a GS I was feeling all optimistic.

Through this optimism, I was in 19B E- with no E+ seats available. Maybe that should have been a sign.

Both through the T-24 checkin and all the SDCs, I could see this is a problem. At T-24, where i checked in as soon as I can, I was already second on the list. Ultimately, I was 3rd on the list, and all apparently through all the churn of TOD/SDC, not a single one of us were upgraded.

Simply not a big deal - but at least created an opportunity for reflection last night when we were redirected to COS because of bad weather at DEN. Lots of discomfort with us in the back, while at least in the front you can survive through the fueling.

But when a 3 hour flight turned into an almost 6 hour flight, I had the same thought. Is there any accommodation for the RPUs you give out as a bene? Seriously, nobody was upgraded. My simple GS status and a RPU was 3rd in the battlefield on a tiny jet.

I will end this to say that the diversion crew did a great job. They got us fueled, waited out the storm, and we were out of COS in about 75 minutes. About 7 years ago I had a similar diversion from ATL->DEN, and sat in Pueblo for a very long time (I think 3 hours). Showing up on a diversion at an airport that truly supports commercial airlines is a darn good thing.

John Aldeborgh

Your's seems like an unusual case, not in a good way. On my return from Korea the other day I had been upgraded from ICN to SFO but was showing no joy from SFO to BOS, typically a tough one for upgrades. After arriving in SFO, I patiently waited at the gate to board with no first seats showing open but when they scanned my ticket it beeped and the gate agent handed me a new boarding pass in first. I was the only one upgraded, which has happened a number of times. You know what they say, sometimes it's better to be lucky than good!

Totally agree, I've had great success in upgrading on February vacation trips to both Mexico and Costa Rica. In 2017 I was able to upgrade 7 both ways to Puerto Vallarta with family coming from BOS, NYC and DEN. It was awesome as the Puerto Vallarta airport is chaos and with both GS and being upgraded it made the check-in and security process a snap.

wb163450

Has anyone had any Global Services boarding issues in Dublin DUB? I had a hostile gate agent try and physically block me and my family from boarding when Global Services was called even though she was aware of our Global Services (x2) status and tried to roll in group one boarding in front of us. It was a bizarre experience, she had seemed to have taken exception to us and gave us a 'Nurse Ratched' treatment/experience. When my wife complained to her she even tried to incite the Group 1 passengers against us. I thought hostile behaviour had ended after the Dr. David Dao fiasco, clearly I am wrong. Will be sharing with our CFO at travel budget review.

physioprof

What did she claim as the reason for denying you preboarding during the GS preboard?

walkerci

That is one data point.

I am Orlando based.

On any given flight, half of the passengers are families with infants/toddlers, passengers needing special assistance.
Families with small children are usually slow to board, take their sweet time getting luggage stowed, and delay everyone else from boarding.
This can and does result in flight delays and missed connections.

The number of miracles that occur these flights is amazing! Ten wheelchairs boarding, then 1 or 2 deplaning.

Who makes the most money for the airline? Paid first class and road warriors. GS and 1K.
It makes zero economic sense to give special treatment to able bodied people that are not high value customers just because they have children. None.
Price sensitive customers will NOT fly United again just because they got to board first. Not going to happen.

Certainly, uniformed military should be allowed to board in Group 1. No explanation necessary.

wb163450

Ten minutes before boarding when I showed her my Global Services boarding cards - she said "You are Group 1",. Then as boarding started, after disabled/family>2/military boarded (from outside the Group 1 line) [which I fully support] and then GS was called she actively impeded my path with her body and rushed physically to purposefully put the group 1 line ahead into the boarding process. Then she tried to shame us to the Group 1 line with an exaggerated "sorry about this" or some such as I asserted my right to board by giving her a wide berth and presenting our boarding cards to the scanning agent. Very bizarre - total hostility to the GS process, I don't think there were any other GS on this flight. I am zen, compliant and happy to work with frazzled agents who are having a bad day, this one - doesn't understand what GS is and had completely lost the plot. This was on DUB - IAD and all staff seemed to be a local ground handling agent group - I will raise with the GS service desk, I don't want others to go through this. This may sound all like 'first world problems' but the atmosphere and attitude was like nothing I had ever seen over my 2 million+ miles, and I have flown this airport route with United about 8 times in the last few years with no such problems.

UA_Flyer

I hear you. I have been there and observed the same at MCO. I feel your frustrations.

I do my fair shares of Florida travel with 50% of my UA flights are originating or terminating in Florida. I hear you!

On a recent PBI-EWR flights, there were 24 passengers boarded before Military/GS passengers. The actual number of passengers needing assistance was about 5, but their family members all boarded with them. However, this was a rare and exceptional case.

Outside of Florida (unless you depart from another airport with theme parks and heavily concentrated with retirement communities), then this may not be an issue. Even my own situation at FLL/PBI, I often observe no more than 5.

What really gets me is, as soon as they announce pre-boarding for passengers needing special assistance, I see physically able passengers with their yellow luggage wraps storming their ways to board first. For those who do not like the existing policy, write it in, don't bully through the current boarding procedures. Have some respect to those who need special assistance. Having a status with one single airlines does not mean one can lose social etiquette and is a ticket to become a bully during that a few minutes of boarding an aircraft.

I can deal with bad policy, because there is room for change, but absolutely cannot stand for behaviors of DYKWIA.

uanj

You raise an interesting question here. It is not clear to me at all if, as a GS, traveling with a non-GS, that we both get the privileges of my GS status. Th post I am responding to has a GS member (or two) and a non-GS or two it appears. I have had some agents at IAD tell me we cannot all check in at the GS counter but at ORD and SFO it is OK. Early boarding is similar. Certainly I can go but someone accompanying me who is not, it can be a crapshoot. Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

OP, maybe the Shannon agent had failed to communicate clearly to you that because your children are not GS that you can not all board together with GS. Just as BG1 which was on your boarding cards you could all board then. I think that may be what she was trying to do.

physioprof

Sounds like this local contract agent simply didn't know what GS was.

Solyesh

Agree - I finally was able to use a GPU to upgrade my spouse on an international reward ticket the other day and the GS agent was just about to ask me if I had enough GPUs in my account when she exclaimed "well I've never seen so many GPUs" - I responded that the vast majority of my travel is international business and I am fortunate enough to have a company which pays for Polaris so don't use a lot of the upgrades and I've heard they are getting harder and harder to use domestically anyway (which she agreed with)...
The Polaris lounges are a huge step above the UC IMHO - although I have a UC membership (company perk) I don't hardly ever stop in when I travel..

latimeriv