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}
Jan 19, 2019, 11:09 am
#2371
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, UA Gold, WN, Global Entry; +others wherever miles/points are found
Posts: 14,404
I sort of wonder how UA frontline staff feel about status pax. Like, was the GA thinking "oh no, I was really rude to a GS, I should probably fix this or I'll get in trouble"? Or just trying to recover out of pride for doing her job? I recently had an interaction with a GA at IAD which started with getting a BP print and she said something like "oh wow, you're 1K!" and devolved into a long conversation, but I was thinking "surely you see well over 100 of us every day". But perhaps there is some training where they are drilled to give status pax special recognition.
Jan 19, 2019, 2:35 pm
#2372
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: CLE, DCA, and 30k feet
Programs: Honors LT Diamond; United 1K; Hertz PC
Posts: 4,156
I sort of wonder how UA frontline staff feel about status pax. Like, was the GA thinking "oh no, I was really rude to a GS, I should probably fix this or I'll get in trouble"? Or just trying to recover out of pride for doing her job? I recently had an interaction with a GA at IAD which started with getting a BP print and she said something like "oh wow, you're 1K!" and devolved into a long conversation, but I was thinking "surely you see well over 100 of us every day". But perhaps there is some training where they are drilled to give status pax special recognition.
"Thank you for being a 1K" seems to be an endorsed recognition but anything beyond that is just two nice people having a conversation from what I've experienced that (and some agents are just grateful for a "thank you"/being treated like a fellow human from a GS/1K)
Jan 19, 2019, 3:00 pm
#2373
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, UA Gold, WN, Global Entry; +others wherever miles/points are found
Posts: 14,404
Jan 21, 2019, 4:37 am
#2374
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: 4éme
Posts: 12,028
Currently flying LHR-EWR and the boarding was flawless. Also witnessed the same at the LHR-IAH and LHR-SFO gates.
Jan 21, 2019, 6:35 am
#2375
Join Date: Aug 2011
Programs: United Plat, SPG Plat, Hilton Gold, IHG Club, Hyatt Discoverist, Hertz President, Avis President
Posts: 64
Jan 21, 2019, 9:19 am
#2376
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Honolulu Harbor
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 15,014
They should put sub-2 spawn at end of pre-boarding to provide a natural break between pre-boards and BG1. At SFO the other day (SFO-OGG), GA correctly announced in order, but probably about 3 families in boarding area weren't even getting their stuff together when she called for them. After watching them leisurely get up and start packing/gathering things, she called 1Ks ahead of them. They ended up boarding interspersed w/ BG1/BG2
Jan 21, 2019, 12:20 pm
#2377
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: BOS<>NYC<>BKK
Programs: UA 4.3MM LT-GS; AA1MM; Amtrak SE; MAR LT TITAN; PC Plat; HIL DIA; HYA GLOB
Posts: 4,389
NRT, as one would expect, is the model. They have a holding area for GS, and just behind it 1K. Today for the first time waiting for 78 I saw they put families with small children in a separate holding area. True that NRT gate areas are larger than most domestic gates, so it's easier to accomplish this.
Jan 21, 2019, 3:20 pm
#2378
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 11,458
I sort of wonder how UA frontline staff feel about status pax. Like, was the GA thinking "oh no, I was really rude to a GS, I should probably fix this or I'll get in trouble"? Or just trying to recover out of pride for doing her job? I recently had an interaction with a GA at IAD which started with getting a BP print and she said something like "oh wow, you're 1K!" and devolved into a long conversation, but I was thinking "surely you see well over 100 of us every day". But perhaps there is some training where they are drilled to give status pax special recognition.
I don't think there's an institutional standard but there are some agents who really take pride in what they're doing -- aside from most of my friends in CLE, there is one particularly bubbly/enjoyable GA in IAD that it's always fun to cross paths with. But she (the IAD GA) told me that that "true customer service" was part of her initial training 20-some-odd years ago and the "new hires don't get it anymore"
"Thank you for being a 1K" seems to be an endorsed recognition but anything beyond that is just two nice people having a conversation from what I've experienced that (and some agents are just grateful for a "thank you"/being treated like a fellow human from a GS/1K)
"Thank you for being a 1K" seems to be an endorsed recognition but anything beyond that is just two nice people having a conversation from what I've experienced that (and some agents are just grateful for a "thank you"/being treated like a fellow human from a GS/1K)
Absolutely. I was more thinking of how genuine/warm the initial hook was (everyone at UA thanks me for being a 1K, but with most it's with the dull-ness of reading a script -- they've clearly been trained to thank status pax for their business). The rest was just chatting while we waited for the inbound. Maybe it was just that I was the first smiling face she'd seen in a while (flight was almost 2h00 down after all, I imagine some pax were upset about that), I don't know. It just had me idly wondering
) that they don't treat me as fully human until they see 1K, although my sense is that it's not because of any explicit training.Along those lines, I do wonder if experiences dealing with many discourteous passengers a day harden their demeanors, and if perhaps they treat higher status as a proxy for more knowledgeable — and easier to deal with — passengers. Of course that association can be wrong, but I think it may hold on average. Then, if you reciprocate, you can have an altogether pleasant interaction.
Jan 21, 2019, 8:10 pm
#2379
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: UA 1K 1MM, AA, DL
Posts: 7,418
Except in rare circumstances, there’s never enough preboarders except 1K to jam a gate. Ironically, families with young kids seem to lice the gate the least.
Since 1K is right before Group 1, UA should add a 1K line at all hubs, which would both give an assigned place for 1K to stand and help ensure the GA doesn’t call all 5 preboard groups at once.
Right now some 1K jam the door, some stand aside, and some line up in group 1, which leads to a rush.
Since 1K is right before Group 1, UA should add a 1K line at all hubs, which would both give an assigned place for 1K to stand and help ensure the GA doesn’t call all 5 preboard groups at once.
Right now some 1K jam the door, some stand aside, and some line up in group 1, which leads to a rush.
Jan 22, 2019, 4:58 am
#2380
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: 4éme
Posts: 12,028
NRT, as one would expect, is the model. They have a holding area for GS, and just behind it 1K. Today for the first time waiting for 78 I saw they put families with small children in a separate holding area. True that NRT gate areas are larger than most domestic gates, so it's easier to accomplish this.
Jan 22, 2019, 5:47 am
#2381
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: CLE, DCA, and 30k feet
Programs: Honors LT Diamond; United 1K; Hertz PC
Posts: 4,156
+1. There's now no place for 1Ks to stand/wait/gather. Not a problem if it's not an elite-heavy flight/airport, but when it is (as happened to me today), 1Ks start boarding from all directions around the gate. No fights, but who goes first, the person from the left, the right, or scooting up through the BG1 line, because his BP says "BG1"?
(Rant: I would have hoped that fellow 1Ks -- or at least fellow 1Ks who have the handle wrap themselves -- would recognize that if I'm standing in close proximity to the gate and my bag has the yellow handle wrap I'm most likely waiting for the preboard call and wedging themselves directly in front of me without so much as acknowledging my presence, let alone asking is essentially an impolite queue jump)
Jan 22, 2019, 6:46 am
#2383
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: where lions are led by donkeys...
Programs: Lifetime Gold, Global Entry, Hertz PC, and my wallet
Posts: 20,340
Jan 22, 2019, 9:46 am
#2384
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: Bay Area - East Bay
Programs: UA 1k, AS 75k, Marriott Platinum, Hyatt Explorist
Posts: 639
The main problem I've observed is that '1k' and 'Group 1' both have a 1 in them. I tend to be on very elite heavy flights (my RPU got me to a whopping 10th on the upgrade list this weekend!), and it's not uncommon to have 5+ GS, 20-30 1k, and still have 50+ people in group 1 for domestic flights. On SFO-TPE the other day you could easily double those. The gate agents spend a lot of breath trying to explain to the people at the front of Group 1 that NO Group 1 is not boarding yet, 1K is boarding. But people hear the 1 and go nuts. They really ought to rename 1k, or use letters for groups. Who boards first, Group 1 or Group A?
There's also the fun story of the guy who couldn't believe how long the group 1 line was on a SFO-ORD flight. "Why are there 50 people here?! It's just business class isn't it?" No sir, and you haven't even seen how many people are gonna pre-board!
There's also the fun story of the guy who couldn't believe how long the group 1 line was on a SFO-ORD flight. "Why are there 50 people here?! It's just business class isn't it?" No sir, and you haven't even seen how many people are gonna pre-board!
Jan 22, 2019, 10:18 am
#2385
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: UA 1K 1MM, AA, DL
Posts: 7,418
The main problem I've observed is that '1k' and 'Group 1' both have a 1 in them. I tend to be on very elite heavy flights (my RPU got me to a whopping 10th on the upgrade list this weekend!), and it's not uncommon to have 5+ GS, 20-30 1k, and still have 50+ people in group 1 for domestic flights. On SFO-TPE the other day you could easily double those. The gate agents spend a lot of breath trying to explain to the people at the front of Group 1 that NO Group 1 is not boarding yet, 1K is boarding. But people hear the 1 and go nuts. They really ought to rename 1k, or use letters for groups. Who boards first, Group 1 or Group A?
There's also the fun story of the guy who couldn't believe how long the group 1 line was on a SFO-ORD flight. "Why are there 50 people here?! It's just business class isn't it?" No sir, and you haven't even seen how many people are gonna pre-board!
There's also the fun story of the guy who couldn't believe how long the group 1 line was on a SFO-ORD flight. "Why are there 50 people here?! It's just business class isn't it?" No sir, and you haven't even seen how many people are gonna pre-board!
Someone well upthread speculated that this very obvious and easy fix may be caused by some contractual Chase CC obligation to allow CC holders to board in "Group 2" (but if so, that was a stupid contract term and they should just add a group zero).