emcampbe

E+ doesn’t get a special group. It’s based on window/middle/aisle (3/4/5) or status (or other special dispensation, military, those traveling with a child =<2, disabilities).

trm2

See, then people make crap up about group 3 and all heck breaks out.

wjj

I flew more than 4 Million miles on AA and was CK for 7 years and EP for 15. When I switched over to UA a few years ago the biggest problem I saw with boarding vs AA is UA allowing people with kids under 2 to pre-board. AA has that one right in having people with kids board with their normal group number. On a flight two weeks ago out of ORD a frustrated GA finally told several groups with kids to just stand on the side because boarding was being delayed so much by those who couldn't find boarding passes, didn't want to check strollers and so had to carry kids along with 15 carry-ons and a host of other issues including kids running around and having to be chased. The other thing that I felt was better at AA was having EP board with group 1 along with those in F. Where AA falls down badly and where UA is quite a bit better is in labeling the "chutes" and restricting the group 1 chute to just group 1 passengers. On AA there are two chutes like UA except one chute is labeled groups 1-4 and the other groups 5-9. When the GA announces group 1 and those waiting see the line moving and see the sign say groups 1-4, everyone piles into the chute whether they are group 1, 2, 3, or 4. It really gets chaotic. UA's process would be much better if they limited pre-boards to those needing more time due to physical ailments, GS, and active duty military. 1K should board with group 1 and people with kids should board with their normal group number.

coke cans and winglets

They should be able to pre board given the circumstances. For a data point though, I just flew MCO-ORD-SBN and booked “First” which got me First on MCO-ORD and economy on ORD-SBN as that flight is a CRJ-200. I was in Group 1 on both legs and I am not a status holder on UA.

Magic Pickles

Today I attempted to board as a 1K after pre-boarding had been completed. I walked directly to the barrier placed near the BP scanners in pre-board area as the lanes for groups 1 and 2 were packed. The GA said I’m supposed to wait in line with group 1 since I missed pre-boarding. I said that’s not how it works, so she relented and let me through. I started to second guess myself but the GA logic made no sense to me!

porciuscato

Below is a photo from the pre-board scrum for last night's SFO->EWR flight. Note that none of these folks were military or disabled -- and only 4-5 were GS (including my partner and myself). When GS was called, we had to wade through this, asking right and left "are you GS?" Of course, none of them were -- including two gentlemen who were literally blocking the scanner.

fumje

Are we sure that's a 1K scrum? Versus an everybody who don't actually pre-board scrum?

IAH-OIL-TRASH

GAs are not enforcing boarding sequence anymore. More and more people are realizing it and just boarding with pre-boards through the bypass area. Sometimes it's hard to tell who is/is not 1K, but I've seen a few BPs that confirm this. Pretty obvious are the families w/ spawn far older than 2 boarding early. The GAs just don't care anymore.

bocastephen

Which is yet another example of the root cause of United's service failures - refusing to hold employees accountable to standards and procedures.

A gate agent who refuses to control their boarding area and ensure policies are enforced to the "T" should be sent for mandatory retraining, and if they fail a second time, they should be re-assigned to ramp work away from customers, or just terminated.

If an agent is unable to control the gate space even while trying to do so due to customer non-compliance, they should immediately summon a redcoat for assistance.

IAH-OIL-TRASH

The problem is amplified on Premier-heavy flights. Maybe UA could add a GA on a random basis during the pre-board process to help de-clutter the scrum. If some of the ineligible Group 1 or 2 customers are booted and find themselves at the tail of the already-queued 1/2 lanes, that might train them to head there if they want to board early. LHR has one of the best adherences/enforcement to the defined boarding protocols, but most US airports just don't have the space to implement an expanded chute system. Also seems (to me at least) LHR assigns an extra GA to the process. Don't even need a UA GA - maybe a contract worker like they have at bag check, or a polo-shirted summer hire.

porciuscato

There were separate group 1 and 2 lanes behind and to the left of the podium. They made multiple announcements that this was pre-board only. Juding from how quickly people came on after us, it's pretty clear they were most (if not all) 1K.

DMSFCA

I do this route all the time and it's always terrible. The SFO departure has the most GS people of any of my regular flights and points upgrades are rare.

The scrum wouldn't bother me so much if the people didn't act so indignant when I try to excuse myself past them.

Usually, I weave to almost the front and I'm behind a few others that I assume are also GS since they are unyielding, but nope. A call is made and they don't flinch.

porciuscato

Exactly my experience. For most other flights, I skip the whole thing and board last. But for this one, you only have 4 and a half hours to sleep, so you want to get on early.

This is akin to the people who crowd right up to the edge of the luggage carousel. If everyone just waits until their moment comes, life is better for all.

bocastephen

ANA has staff who walk through the priority line and check boarding passes but United will always claim they don’t have resources for that.

Fine - just have one of the two narrow body flight GAs make an announcement just before boarding to the effect of only Global Service and 1K members should be standing <describe location> and Group 1 and 2 must be in their priority line while group 3 and higher must remain seated or stand away from the gate area and do not line up plus anyone trying to board outside their boarding number will be sent to the end of the line.

How long does that really take to say? How hard is it for gate agent to glance at a boarding pass before scanning and send incorrect boarders away?

The work that United needs to do to make a decent Elite experience into an exceptional, low stress, service centric experience costs them nothing and takes very little effort on the part of employees. What makes these problems so infuriating is the sense that United just didn’t care and feels it’s not important.

IAH-OIL-TRASH

They should face the monitor/keyboard towards the boarding area, which would place GA between scrum and scanner - that way one runs into the GA before the scanner. He/she can then filter before scanning occurs.