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}
#2671
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: HNL
Programs: UA GS4MM, MR LT Plat, Hilton Gold
Posts: 6,447
Personally, I'd be surprised if gate agents had no discretion or empowerment whatsoever based on market and the current situation at the gate.
#2672
Join Date: Jan 2018
Programs: UA LT GS | UA LT Club | Marriott LT Titanium
Posts: 1,250
Do we really expect GAs to handle boarding in Orlando FL (family heavy) the same way they'd handle boarding at a Fortress Hub like SFO (business heavy)?
Half the time we rip UA for not applying common sense on operational matters, then when they try, we rip them for not adhering to a rigid process. Can't have it both ways...
#2673
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: LAX/TPE
Programs: United 1K, JAL Sapphire, SPG Lifetime Platinum, National Executive Elite, Hertz PC, Avis PC
Posts: 42,205
I can't imagine there are policies where an airport employee can just override said policies at their personal pleasure - what's the point of having policies in the first place?
What if a flight attendant said:
1. I don't feel like serving food or beverages on the flight - I'm tired
2. Wifi is dangerous, so I am turning it off
3. I prefer to hold first class overhead space for crew and non-revs
etc etc
Policies are policies for a reason - I would write back and ask for a clarification.
#2674
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: HNL
Programs: UA GS4MM, MR LT Plat, Hilton Gold
Posts: 6,447
Of course we want to say we want agents to be empowered during sickness/death situations, give hotels to 1K during weather events, empower FA's to give ETC's inflight, give large ETC's for VDB's when they probably didn't need to start that high, have large flexibility during IRROPS, give BoB to F pax, etc - but not empowered to be in charge of the boarding process based on the situation at hand.....
#2675
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: San Francisco
Programs: UA MM Plat, UA 1MM, Hilton Lifetime Gold, Marriott Gold, Hertz Gold, CLEAR, AS MVP Gold
Posts: 3,620
+1 - sounds like a typical canned reply where the original complaint was not even understood.
I can't imagine there are policies where an airport employee can just override said policies at their personal pleasure - what's the point of having policies in the first place?
What if a flight attendant said:
1. I don't feel like serving food or beverages on the flight - I'm tired
2. Wifi is dangerous, so I am turning it off
3. I prefer to hold first class overhead space for crew and non-revs
etc etc
Policies are policies for a reason - I would write back and ask for a clarification.
I can't imagine there are policies where an airport employee can just override said policies at their personal pleasure - what's the point of having policies in the first place?
What if a flight attendant said:
1. I don't feel like serving food or beverages on the flight - I'm tired
2. Wifi is dangerous, so I am turning it off
3. I prefer to hold first class overhead space for crew and non-revs
etc etc
Policies are policies for a reason - I would write back and ask for a clarification.
#2676
Join Date: Jan 2018
Programs: UA LT GS | UA LT Club | Marriott LT Titanium
Posts: 1,250
I can't remember where it was but I am sure someone will know, possibly in LAS. The boarding process was posted on the screens at the start of boarding and the GA just went down the list as it was posted. No fuss, no muss, no errors. Why can't they all do this given the comments on this thread.
#2677
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: San Francisco
Programs: UA MM Plat, UA 1MM, Hilton Lifetime Gold, Marriott Gold, Hertz Gold, CLEAR, AS MVP Gold
Posts: 3,620
#2678
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: CLE, DCA, and 30k feet
Programs: Honors LT Diamond; United 1K; Hertz PC
Posts: 4,164
I'm surprised at the level of venom that's being directed at UA on this issue. Does every Denny's Manager nationally handle the queue the same way on Sunday morning?
Do we really expect GAs to handle boarding in Orlando FL (family heavy) the same way they'd handle boarding at a Fortress Hub like SFO (business heavy)?
Half the time we rip UA for not applying common sense on operational matters, then when they try, we rip them for not adhering to a rigid process. Can't have it both ways...
Do we really expect GAs to handle boarding in Orlando FL (family heavy) the same way they'd handle boarding at a Fortress Hub like SFO (business heavy)?
Half the time we rip UA for not applying common sense on operational matters, then when they try, we rip them for not adhering to a rigid process. Can't have it both ways...
+1 - sounds like a typical canned reply where the original complaint was not even understood.
I can't imagine there are policies where an airport employee can just override said policies at their personal pleasure - what's the point of having policies in the first place?
What if a flight attendant said:
1. I don't feel like serving food or beverages on the flight - I'm tired
2. Wifi is dangerous, so I am turning it off
3. I prefer to hold first class overhead space for crew and non-revs
etc etc
Policies are policies for a reason - I would write back and ask for a clarification.
I can't imagine there are policies where an airport employee can just override said policies at their personal pleasure - what's the point of having policies in the first place?
What if a flight attendant said:
1. I don't feel like serving food or beverages on the flight - I'm tired
2. Wifi is dangerous, so I am turning it off
3. I prefer to hold first class overhead space for crew and non-revs
etc etc
Policies are policies for a reason - I would write back and ask for a clarification.
#2679
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: New England
Programs: American Gold, Marriott Gold, Hilton Silver
Posts: 5,640
So the GS desk has to speak to a gate supervisor to ask about a published policy? And on top of that, respond to the (high value) customer with the gate supervisor's answer that is contrary to the published policy? Why have a policy then?
If they applied common sense across the board, I'd imagine that there wouldn't be as many complaints.
If they applied common sense across the board, I'd imagine that there wouldn't be as many complaints.
#2680
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 57,597
This wouldn't be an issue if UA had a reasonable process AND stuck to it, regardless of which airport one was at. If your kids can walk onto the aircraft on their own, you don't need more time to board.
#2681
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: SFO
Programs: AC SE MM, BA Gold, SQ Silver, Bonvoy Tit LTG, Hyatt Glob, HH Diamond
Posts: 44,342
I had an experience recently where we showed up to the gate at the published boarding time, and they were already boarding from lane 2 (I don't know what group they were on).
It luckily didn't matter since we just had backpacks, though I'll note the J bins were completely full when we boarded (and there was a later battlefield upgrade, so we weren't even the last ones on board in J).
But I'm sure if I ever show up 15 minutes early to guarantee my proper boarding position, there will be a 45 minute boarding delay. Just can't win
It luckily didn't matter since we just had backpacks, though I'll note the J bins were completely full when we boarded (and there was a later battlefield upgrade, so we weren't even the last ones on board in J).
But I'm sure if I ever show up 15 minutes early to guarantee my proper boarding position, there will be a 45 minute boarding delay. Just can't win
#2682
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: CLE, DCA, and 30k feet
Programs: Honors LT Diamond; United 1K; Hertz PC
Posts: 4,164
Three ways it could be improved, IMO:
- Easiest/least customer friendly: Generate a push notification if boarding will be delayed.
- Similarly easy, more customer friendly: When the agents flip the flight to "boarding soon" status (T-10 from boarding start?) send out a similar notification.
- More difficult, most customer friendly (though with some privacy implications I consider minor but others may not): Use fine geolocation in the app to determine customer's position and approximate walk time/distance. Post boarding delays more proactively. Let automation decide an appropriate time delta to generate notification based on estimated actual boarding time (regardless of if it is early, on time, late) to allow the customer to move from their current position (e.g. club, bar, ...) to the gate and arrive at / slightly before boarding.
(Incidentally, based on texts I've gotten at LAX and IAH recently there may be the beginnings of a move to something similar - just without the realtimey-ness of knowing my exact location -- " Welcome to Houston! You'll arrive at gate C9. Your next flight (number) to (city) departs at gate C15 at 4:22pm. It takes about 5 minutes to get to gate C15.")
*- Sometimes I get them as a text, some times it's a notification from the app, sometimes both; when it first rolled out it was consistently app only, then it became text only, now it seems completely random. Can't figure out why since all of the flights are booked from UA.com with my MP profile.
#2683
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: LAX/TPE
Programs: United 1K, JAL Sapphire, SPG Lifetime Platinum, National Executive Elite, Hertz PC, Avis PC
Posts: 42,205
Maybe it's your app? My push notifications always hit just prior to boarding disabled, or as disabled boarding begins - I am not sure, but it probably keys off something the GA enters in SHARES to enable the boarding pass readers and prepare the flight for boarding.
#2684
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,411
If it's something the GA does, it'd almost certainly be in Aero, not SHARES. That said, mine tend to arrive more or less immediately after the first person boards the aircraft, no matter how many pre-boards there are, so I'm guessing it's tied to that.
#2685
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: New Jersey
Programs: UA MM 1K, AA MM Gold, Marriott LT Platinum
Posts: 3,236
1. Figure out who still has their phone in normal mode after a plane has started taxiing, (Text - "Hey you, put your phone in airplane mode")
2. Confirm claimed flat-tire rule was justified.
3. See who's in the bar when boarding starts.