dilanesp

Separate point but there should be far more done about people with seats in the back who put carryons in forward overhead bins early in the boarding process. (Obviously, at the tail end, it is different- you take any spot left.)

cosflyer

Aussie,
i dont think anything was abysmal in the denver situation, what i think is abysmal is UA or any carrier for that matter should stage F/As thru out the cabin so that if they see passengers putting carryons in the front then heading to the back of the plane will intercept those that do that and request they continue to the section they are seated with their carryons.

AndyPatterson

At first I thought this was a pipe dream, but then remembered that the old US Air shuttle actually did this! A FA (usually a taller male) would stand right at the boundary between F and E, and would keep people from putting stuff in the F bins if they were seated in E, and I remember hearing/seeing them tell passengers seated near the back that they had to take their bag with them and could not put it above the first few rows of E.

Repooc17

this happens a lot on transcon flights with 78J.

fezzington

Exactly.

There's plenty of good ways to use both doors. The situation described by OP is not one of them.

DELee

Not UA?

David

DenverBrian

Indeed. UA could easily just set a different policy for all two-door boarding: First/Business through 1L, and the standard as it exists now through 2L.

fastair

My preferred method, Even though the announcement is made every single minute, I'd say more than 50% of the people don't understand it. When I use this method, we direct the people (A-E) to the right door) and (F-L) thru the left door after scanning as no amount of announcements will get a majority to understand which door to go to. Despite the confusion it shaves 5-15 min off the boarding time, and it allows us to close door 2 earlier (the 2nd bridge needs to be removed 1st) leaving maybe the last 25 passengers, regardless of where they are sitting to board thru door 1 as door 2 is closed. It also frees up a flight attendant at door 2 to assist with PDB. The person you quoted reEN said they merge onto 1 jetbridge, vs 2 aircraft doors, so not quite the same

DenverBrian, on the 777 with the newest config, Polaris goes significantly past door 2, and the future PE is even farther. Having Polaris go thru door 1 is not efficient for those in the back part of the extended cabin either *although I have used this method as well, it's not near as efficient for all as A-E thru door 2, all else crossover at door 1.)

JAaronT

DenverBrian

Ah, understood.

So, left side of the plane through 2L and right side through 1L. I assume that would work as long as you had BG1 and BG2 signs and cattle chutes at both doors; you just have to tell people to look at their boarding pass and if it is a seat ABCDE, please go to door 2, and FGHJKL-Z (because you just know UA is trying to figure out 11-across seating at some point), board through door 1.

Doesn't help the poor guy in 1A at all.

So maybe it's row letters combined with Polaris. Tell your Polaris folks they should board through door 1 if they are in rows 1-8 (or whatever the last row is before door 2); everyone else, A-E through door 1, F-Z through door 2.

QBK

I've experienced this on ORD-PEK a few years back, before 1Ks preboarded. They started boarding Group 1 through Door 1 and Group 2 (followed by other groups) through Door 2. Between F, J, 1K, and platinum, almost exactly half the plane was in Group 1. The tail end of Group 1 -- which included me (had to get my passport checked at the last minute) -- boarded at the same time as Group 4.

I appreciate the desire to be more efficient. But early boarding is a defined privilege of certain ticket classes and status classes, and screwing up the system so that those folks board with Group 4 is not cool.

danM

Well, as a Gold Y passenger, yes. It was a huge inconvenience. I'll also point out that there are an awful lot of Plat and Gold Y pax on a DEN-SFO 777...

We did the right-side-through-L1 thing that Fastair and others describe on my outbound leg out of SFO (also a 777), and it *was* a lot more efficient.

danM

FWIW, I mentioned it in my "how did we do?" response, and did get a (form) reply...

Dear Mr. danM:

We appreciate you taking time to share your thoughts about our services.

We're sorry our products didn't meet your needs, and your comments are very helpful to us in understanding how to improve your travel experience.

We look forward to working toward the suggestions you've mentioned, and to welcoming you aboard your next flight. Thank you for your MileagePlus Premier Gold loyalty and business.

milepig

I had something similar at SFO - they were boarding the early groups through 1L at the same time they were boarding group 1 through 2L - regardless of cabin, meaning anyone in the preboarding group in economy was swimming against anyone in group 1 who was in the front cabin. Chaos ensued.

flyerbaby19

Is it against the rules for a passenger to do that? I was always under the impression it was first come first served for any open bin space (other than F)