wxguy

Write in to 1K voice with as much specificity as you can (flight, gate, agent, etc.). This is a key benefit and GAs should not be allowed to make things up.

AirMiles2001

Seconded. I have a UX flight on at least every trip and often they just call all the groups together, I've even seen them call PB, 1 & 2 at the same time. I've asked before why they don't call in an order and they say its just faster, but I don't agree one bit. These small planes are really when priority boarding is a huge help, especially since the crew seems to often think that storing their own bags in the bulkhead is not selfish one bit.

JMBResona

AirMiles2001

I think effective today the chaos should drop dramatically, it normally does on Feb 1st.

seanp7

Is it just me, or does every flight have the same older gentleman standing first in Lane 1 who is incredulous at the size of Pre-Boarding (and that he isn't boarding first...?)

(Side note: I've heard it once or twice, but it would be super helpful if the GA announced "Pre-Boarding groups do NOT need to line up, so if you are Global Services or 1K you should not be in Lane 1" or something like that. That would help avoid the chaos in Lane 1 and scanner jostling between 'hovering' 1K/GS and 1K's trying to hustle through Lane 1).

lincolnjkc

If nothing else, it would help to signify the GA's intentions. I'm guilty of parking myself at the head of the G1 lane at outstations of dubious consistency (and where the G1 lane is reasonably proximate to the scanner)

There's a particularly awful gate at IAH -- C10 maybe -- where the boarding lanes are way off to the side, there's a podium in front of the podium, OTG seating, and a random stanchion thrown in for good measure, where if you aren't standing in one of the lanes it's a complete crapshoot as to if the person standing is just standing in the middle of the terminal or someone waiting to preboard.

seanp7

That's a good point; I should have qualified my post to state this for gates that have a 'pre-board entry point'. You're right, if Lane 1 is the only way to get to the front and everything else is roped off (and the GA doesn't open the rope), 1K/GS should be in Lane 1.

DELee

GS/1Ks:

Particularly on smaller gates, go up to the GAs _prior_ to their boarding call and ask where they want GS/1Ks to be for pre-boarding.

This does 2 things:

1. It lets them know that there's at least one for pre-board.
2. You find out if they've done any planning for the pre-board load.

One other thing it may also do is coalesce all the GS/1Ks into a common area/line separate from Group 1.

Good luck!

David

IAH-OIL-TRASH

Yes, but in Hawaii, the same older gentleman has his wife along on "the trip of a lifetime". They usually stand in BG1 lane for a good half hour before boarding is even scheduled to start (just to lower the chance the plane will depart without them). Once boarding starts (well, at least when the GA looks like she's about to say something in the vein of "BG1 is welcome to board" into the loudspeaker), he surges forward only to retrace his steps as he/she says something different and a group of people not in any sort of line appear and proceed to board (annoyingly) ahead of him.

gold23

I'll add another (albeit minor) frustration at some of the smaller airports. There is often no space between the BG1/BG2 lines and the GA desk. Effectively, there's no pre-board area or way for you to scan your bp without going through on of the lines. In CHS, for example, they roll the wheelchairs down BG1 carpet and send everyone scrambling to get out of their way. For 1K and GS, there's no option other than to line up in lane 1. The irony is that even when the GA are some of the best around (such as CHS), in these situations they have no control. They call it correctly, but you end up looking entitled as you shuffle past the aforementioned older couples who lined up to be first on.

skidooman

I miss the old days in UA.

Two lines, one general, one red carpet. People get called in order on the Red Carpet per status.

Maybe I am remembering wrong but there seemed to be no fuzz. No lining up. GS are called? GS you go. 1K are called? 1K go.

Red Carpet lane stays open for elites as general boarding proceeds in the other lane once all elites, families and all have been called.

I remember this being a very clear, efficient process.

I also remember when flying Asiana it is still like this and the process seems much more efficient than parking people in holding lines.

The situation started spiraling down when they came up with groups. And also starting to charge dearly for a single checked bag. If one bag could be checked the incentive to leech would be much reduced.

lincolnjkc

I think it was the imposition of checked bag fees more than anything else that "broke" things. I didn't really fly UA prior to the merger (last UA flight was ~2004, before that probably 1998ish, none if them with status...though my 2004 UA boarding pass had a "zone" number on it which I would assume is practically the same as a group #) so I don't remember the old UA boarding process, but the old CO boarding process was also 2 lanes and a much more egalitarian/simple "anyone who needs more time" "all eliteAccess" "rows xx and higher" -- it worked but you also didn't have the same mad scrum for overhead bin space that the imposition of bag fees has lead to.

The other problem is just the sheer size of the groups -- on ORD-CLE, mid-day yesterday there were a dozen 1Ks alone and on that route 40-60 on the UG list is not uncommon. Back in the CO days I was used to maybe a dozen elites total on any given flight

My last SAS was probably the best boarding "Flight xxx to Copenhagen is now open for boarding. This is the final call. All passengers for flight xxx please board now." Virgin Australia was also nice and quick/survival of the fittest.

AirMiles2001

I dropped to Gold this year and actually find it less stressful to be in BG1 than to deal with the pre-board chaos.

DelrayChris

Cheap flights and checked bag fees really jack the system up. At any rate, I have not traveled in awhile so this process was new to me. Overall the new process is OK, although as a paying F customer it was an annoyance because one of the things I expect - maybe I should not - as a paying F customer is guaranteed OH bin space.

During recent flights from FLL-IAH-FLL in paid F:

FLL-IAH - GA called everything in order but did not take enough time to wait for the disabled/wheelchair PAX to board. GA kind of rushed through that part. So, when we in BG1 boarded we were met with a line of PAX in the jetway, all of whom were pre-boards. Why? We had to wait until the wheelchair was brought off the plane. Had the GA checked and waited, it would have resolved the issue.

IAH - FLL - Smooth process, and the GA took her time calling the pre-boards and groups, but the number of people boarding before BG1 was complete lunacy. There had to have been 20 - 35 people board before they called BG1. There were at least 6 GS's, a good 15 - 20 1k's, and the usual mix of disabled/PAX requiring assistance. The 20 seat F cabin (737 MAX) had 4 seats empty, mine included, when I boarded. Thankfully there was OH bin space.

While the processes were organized, they seemed to be put in place to either 1) appease the mass of 1K's flooding the airline's loyalty program or to 2) impact push-back time metrics which results in lower turnaround times and increased A/C utilization rates. Other than these, I saw no other benefit to the new system as previously, GS's always had boarded when they boarded.

Maybe increase the PQM, PQS, and PQD requirements to cull the herd of 1K's? Not sure of a solution.

nomad420

Last year I was 1K and it was such a mess I just boarded last. I have to check bags when I travel (usually) and take just a small single carry on so OH space isn't an issue. Never been happier.