ani90

Which US airports have these 1K ropes/line? I don't recall ever noticing one - I suppose that is part of OP's issue and if people knew where the ropes/lines were it would make things more orderly?

1200GS

This IMO, at busy hubs.

Replace "group 1" with 1k, so 1K and Group 1 line up together. Then 2 and 3, and so on.

I'm a reformed delta flier, but I believe this is how they used to do it w/ Sky.

Repooc17

This is partly due to EWR setup. The monetization airport revenue has made this kind of boarding a regular occurrence at EWR.

UA has the WORST overall boarding process. Poor GA communication, DYKWIA pax, people using pre boarding when they are not supposed to (and GA not enforcing).

I usually board last, partly to watch the fun of the dumpster fire that is of UA.

Kacee

I also board last, unless I have a carry-on on an E75 or an Airbus, in which case I pre-board (and am very thankful for pre-boarding).
You mean eliminate 1K pre-boarding? That's one of the few perks left. Premiers already board with Group 1.

And really not necessary. Even at SFO, there may only be 4 or 5 1K on a narrowbody. The only place that separate line for 1K works is somewhere like NRT, where all the flights are widebodies and the percentage of 1K is much higher than virtually any domestic flight.

zebranz

Gate agents are also confused. Had SFO-MUC flight. One gate agent told anyone who asked 1K would board on right side. At boarding announcement was on left side. Therefore everyone merging from both and yes- I did cut in too.

Bluehen1

Good night, I’ll take UA’s boarding process over AA’s any time. My flights last week were a nightmare and going out of EWR made it worse.

The only place that I’ve really seen preboarding issues is the C134-137 area where four gates are squeezed in too tight. They can barely define the boarding lanes for each gate let alone a preboarding area.

threecap

Even in hubs, there is little to no risk of you losing baggage space at or near your row unless you are in bulkhead, whether you preboard first or last as 1K. The preboarding "surge" is little more than a physical display of DYKWIA. The only caveat to this is when a bad GA calls 1K with first class and group 1 all in one breath, which happens to me about 1-2x a year. It's not worth surging, and it's not worth me being associated with the cringey surge... so I'll take my time on the 1K preboarding.

sxc7885

This threw me for a loop when I flew United for the first time in forever over the weekend. I was in First on an CRJ and half the plan was already boarded by the time Group 1 was called hope they either do away with it or it gets cut entirely

Artpen100

I used to move back and forth to 1k depending on my flying pattern for the year, but buy a lot of F, so familiar with Group 1 and 1K boarding in lots of airports, and will move back down again next year. It is chaotic, but my practice as a 1K is just to position myself away from the group lines somewhere I have a reasonably straight shot to the gate, like near the counter or wall. There may be other 1Ks ahead of me, and that is fine. If someone just stands in front of me not moving, I will politely but quickly ask them if they are 1K and walk around them if they answer anything other than a quick "yes" and start moving. (I don't know why so many people who are in the last boarding groups stand near to the gate and block others, but it is pretty common.)

But being in Group 1 is okay, too. You will still probably get a good overheard space above your seat. Sometimes, though, even the Group 1 line can just be a mob intermingled with the other lines.

limey1K

I did this recently and the GA didn't even bother looking up when she said "Wherever you like". Pretty much knew at that point that the UA boarding protocol was unlikely to be followed and it was not. Excuse given was that it was a tight turn so they were going to abbreviate the process and just board by groups after handicapped and military. It was a mess.

FLYMSY

BRU has a separate lane for pre boarding which is marked with a sign.

limey1K

Is it a 1K pre-board line or ALL pre-boards together?

Kacee

Do you mean there's no benefit to being at front of pre-board line vs. bringing up the rear on preboarding? I would agree with that. But there's definitely an advantage over Group 1, particularly on E75s and Airbus, where missing pre-boarding may mean your roller has to go in a Y bin.

Repooc17

AA's boarding process rarely has issues like UA's, which seems to be a common occurrence.

Good morning!

BThumme

If you could guarantee me/ a 1K a spot for their bag on top of where they sit, this would help a ton. I fly a ton of 175s out of Detroit, and if I am not one of the first handful to board, My bag has to go back in the economy section because only half the overhead bins are usable. That's really the benefit I need. I don't think there is a practical answer to this, but it would certainly alleviate a lot of my concerns.

For economy flights I'm not upgraded on larger planes, I'm usually in the exit row, so again having a spot overhead is really important to me because I loathe having to check and even gate-check bags.