jrquad

I am told it has been the same at most Airports but clearly the case at EWR. !K checking is now merged with "Premier Check-in". In recent trip the bag drop line as been better than what was the 1K line as there is no unique 1K line. the problem is they put the bag drop line at the opposite end of the airport. Curious if others have been equally frustrated as this is another perk where the value has gone to zero.

AirbusFan2B

Yes, at ORD it seems to always be understaffed and attract pax with major rebooking needs making the line very slow even if only one pax in line. I’ve settled for the Premier checkin area of late as it goes quick when you pre-register your bag count in the app. In LAS in March, counter agent tried to shoo me to the kiosk and do all the grunt work but I DYKWIA’ed my stance at the counter till he was able to assist.

UAflyer93

Was at PHL and it was kiosks only even for GS/1K. There were people standing behind the kiosks but they refused to help and insisted we had to use the kiosks.

When it comes to the soft product, UA is on a race to the bottom. I’ve had no issues getting an actual person to check me in on my latest Delta and AA flights.

fumje

I used to rely on the 1K check in desk for help with more complicated requests, like changing a ticket outside of SDC hours or confirming an earlier flight when the app was acting up. But these days when the desk is staffed at all, the agents don’t seem to know how to do anything more than print a BP or verify documents. I couldn’t even get an agent to put me on standby last time I tried.

Now I just print a BP from a kiosk and go through to the club or even a CS desk. Best is if I can find someone with a tech ops lanyard.

huey_driver

At IAD, after a couple of times, I have settled on using the "purple" express check for luggage. The large premier area "in the back" has been converted to the express check so there are easily 20+ kiosks.. Premier is moved to the front, about 8-10 kiosks,
I usually fly sunday mornings, and most of the time Premier 1K is very fast, unless I happen to coincide with a bunch of international premium pax.
Once I learned the secret of scanning my BP on my phone, I just walk up, scan BP and show ID. If it takes longer than 20 seconds, its because I have trouble aiming my BP in the scanner. The printer is fast, they check my ID and rip the claim ticket off and shoo me on my way before they've even grabbed a priority tag.
It "looks" a bit understaffed, but it doesnt really require many agents. I didnt use it at first because I wasnt sure I could trust them to add the priority tab (like that matters!) but no issues!
I'm sold!

zombietooth

We're all frogs in UA's nice warm elite pot, and it's strangely getting warmer and warmer, but we don't really feel like jumping out just yet.

EWR764

I feel like anyone who flew enough to make status last year ended up as 1K, so maybe this is just a reflection of reality?

Kacee

They're not providing much incentive to keep it. I guess they figure a free drink and snackbox in Y ought to be enough to incent $13.5k in spend. Maybe they're right, but I personally don't see it.

mahasamatman

If that's all you use from 1K benefits, it's not worth it. But there's a lot more to being 1K than that.

zombietooth

The better perks no longer exist IME. UGs never come even though I try to use PPs on every trip. Now, I don't believe that UA is ripping me off because they are often the cheapest, but I also don't believe that there's any extra benefit in giving my spend solely to them. Flying on other carriers as a non-elite seems pretty much the same as flying on UA as a 1K.

threecap

Exactly this (emphasis mine). I'm out of EWR so I'll continue to be 1K from normal flying. In 2019 I booked UA over others to gain real status but no longer do so. Still, I earned 1K in '20 and '21 (would have earned without bonuses) and I'll re-earn this year in June or July. Until or unless I earn a GS invite -- which, because I'm 90% domestic, I hope I never do -- I won't book UA to keep 1K status ever. If I somehow land a GS invite where I get actual perks, I'll reconsider.

I don't blame UA for doing whatever it needed to do to stay in business during this incredible last 2.5 years. But the 1ks were definitely the biggest losers with all the dilution.

FlyngSvyr

Of all the 1K perks, a dedicated 1K (& above) Check In counter is probably the most rarely used & lowest on my priority list.

We are all self-loading cargo. Some of us our better at it than others

zombietooth

The problem with taking away higher levels of service for loyal flyers is that some people actually need it. I witnessed an incident a couple of weeks ago, where a senior couple were trying to check-in but, because they were visually-impaired, they couldn't see the bag tags well enough to peel and attach them to their bags. I was going to go help them but another pax stepped-up and assisted them. I heard them tell the man that assisted them that one of the major reasons that they were loyal to UA in the past (they were both 1Ks from what I overheard) was because they needed extra help when checking-in, etc. and UA had always provided good service in that department. They seemed pretty upset about the situation, especially since they were paid F as well.

Kacee

Exactly how many UA flights do you have since March 2020?
One of the most meaningful 1MM lifetime *G benefits is the ability to use LH/LX premium check-in when flying intra-Europe economy (including F check-in on LX).

Pretty pathetic that at most US airports, UA now offers nothing similar even to its own 1Ks.

huey_driver

You have to be a nuclear engineer (or at least smarter than me!) to do those tags!
I tried ONCE years ago. Now I just take them up to the counter and hand them to the agent... I get the occasional eye-roll, and I just apologize (really, I'm just making it easier for them to add the priority tag) and tell them if I tried, I'd probably wind up with it around my neck.
In the "purple" baggage drop, the printer is behind the counter, saving me the obvious embarrassment...