narvik

It doesn't really matter what they do.

It's all futile as long as they continue to allow the amount of luggage, backpacks, personal items, bags, etc. etc being carried onto the planes.


Only two options, IMO:

1) add more overhead space for luggage
2) reduce amount of carry-on allowance

daz10000

Or don't disincentivize checking luggage.. I asked the last GA I talked with why suddenly there was no overhead space left and they had no idea.. They made this mess trying to make a little money on checking bags and now they're complaining that everyone wants to carry things on. I've lost any interest in helping them board efficiently. Even if it's inevitable they're going to check my bag, I'll just wait for that moment. They're completely depleted whatever goodwill I felt for United.

halls120

That would require an FA to monitor and stop passengers from dumping their bags up front, which will slow the process even more.

This. Other airlines seem to be able to enforce their carry on rules, but not UA.

WineCountryUA

IME, DL or AA isn't any better and WN gives free check bags which helps some but surprized how much still is carried-on, Other carriers have much, much strict carry on -- such as max 8KGs (but recent experience in India -- AI, 6E, .. shows significant violation in actuality. But enough compliance it did go smoother.

halls120

I was thinking of the LH group, OS in particular - they are ruthless. In good way, of course.

WineCountryUA

Except for one 8 KG item, no carryon. That isn't enforcement as much disallowing rollaboards. That does not work in the US even for those with free bag checking -- 1K/GS/BG1/BG2 where they are the vast majority on hub to hub routines. And US Senators have opposed limiting rollaboards or imposing fees.

LimeySD

If you want preboard, fake an injury.

Thinking about opening kiosks in airports where you can rent a boot!

wjj

Back in my hardcore flying days on AA, I thought their boarding process was far less chaotic than UA. When I was CK (7 years), I got on the plane first most of the time and was escorted to my seat on the 10 or so international RT flights I took every year. Preboards were limited to CK, handicapped, and active military. Families with kids boarded with their normal group which really sped up the entire process - something I wish UA would adopt.. Preboarding literally just took a couple minutes - one or two CK, usually no military, and handicapped which could be a lot or a little. Preboarding on UA seems to take forever due to including 1K and families, and families with young kids (some of whom are clearly older than 2). When I was only an EXPLAT with AA, I boarded with group 1 along with those in F. That's all that was in group 1. When I stopped flying AA regularly and dropped to lifetime PLAT, I still boarded in Group 1 since I always purchased F (cash or miles). I have no specific numbers to back up my observations, but it appeared to me that there were far more GS and 1K (including me for a couple years) at UA than there were CK and EXPLAT at AA. I don't think that has changed based on what I see the handful of times I fly AA now. Often, the number of people I see in Group 1 on AA (including me) is less than the 1K preboards on UA on the same routes. No proof. Just an observation over many years. Now that you can in essence buy your way to EXPLAT on AA, perhaps the EXPLAT ranks will grow. But those buying their way to EXPLAT are likely not flying that much and so not clogging the gates like all the 1K preboards and their extended families.

zombietooth

I don't fly AA that much, but I love their boarding order; paid F/J boards right after CK.

LaserSailor

seanp7....it is a race, but you have already won.

enjoy your flight!

jsloan

Well, F/J boards right after CK, paid or otherwise. On some routes, I suppose that's significantly different than UA; on others, it just means that AA groups 2 and 3 are empty and you're putting all of your mid- to top-tier fliers in the same group as the people who paid the extra $40 to sit up front. (An actual fare differential I paid last year on AA, for a slightly-less-than-1,000 mile flight).

No matter what boarding order you use, if you're getting onto an A319, some of the F passengers' bags are likely to end up a couple of rows behind them. The eternal angst about whose bags those should be strikes me as amusing.

halls120

I really wish UA would drop the families with small children pre-board group. As it is now, UA has at least five preboarding groups before the passengers with paid first class(domestic) or Polaris tickets. Quite the signal UA sends about how little it values front cabin customers.

​​​​​​If I pay a first class fare, I should be able to store my bags in the front cabin. Simple concept.

fumje

Simple concept perhaps, but rejiggering the preboard process isn't going to make it happen. On a lot of UA's aircraft, there simply isn't enough space in F if each F pax has a roller.

jsloan

Or, it's a rational way to try to make the boarding process less frustrating by letting the slowest passengers get on board first while people aren't standing behind them impatiently in the jetway.

Are families with two-year olds regularly stowing their carry-ons (carrys-on?) in F and then sitting in Y? I don't think I've ever seen that.

As for your "simple concept," well, the 12F A319 would like a word with you, as would the 12F E175. Neither of them have enough room in the F bins for each F passenger to bring one no matter how early they get onto the plane -- and that's before even taking into account the fact that bulkhead passengers have to put their personal items up also.

Incidentally, the point of my $40 example is that a "first class fare" is often much, much cheaper than other passengers' economy fares on the same flight. And that's even without talking about whether a once-a-year F flyer is more valuable to UA than a 1K who only buys Y. The phrase "paid first" is basically a DYKWIA marker at this point.

zombietooth

What other nomenclature would you use to distinguish awards, UGs and non-revs from revenue flyers? Secondly, supposedly we are anonymous on FT. So what good is DYKWIA here? I use the term primarily to point out that I have low status on other airlines (GM on AA, Plat on DL), yet receive the same or better treatment as a nobody who pays cash as I do as a 1K on UA.