uastarflyer

Dare I ask - the packed widebodies to Asia…is it a scrum? Or is there any orderly boarding?

HNLbasedFlyer

Without referencing every single post - the flights to/from Hawaii are absolute chaos - at least the ones I am on. And its 100% on the passengers - nobody can control them. They don't pay the gate agents enough to deal with the scrum.

IAH-OIL-TRASH

There a correlation between the percentage of passengers who are occasional leisure travelers and chaos. Part of it is UA’s fault with multiple/confusing boarding groups and lax enforcement.

I wonder if the GA’s loudly call out and deny boarding early in the boarding process to at least one illegitimate boarder each flight might deter others?

”Families with children under the age of 2” should be expanded to “Families with children under the age of two are welcome to board. That doesn’t mean 2 and 1/2 and it doesn’t mean 7 or whatever”.

evol

Oversold 777-300 out Gate F1(former 12) anyone?

If i was catching covid anywhere on O‘ahu it was gonna be in that room.

TXJeepGuy

Maybe BE should allow a selection of any middle seat in E-.

limey1K

ORD-DEN on Saturday was a 777 out of B17. Over crowded to say the very least. GA called GS and the guy next to me with a very clearly printed "Premier 1K" boarding pass boarded ahead of me. I asked the GA if she'd already called GS and I'd missed it and she said no. I pointed at 1K and she shrugged. I get the apathy but it makes for a mess and frustrated passengers.

GBadger

It seems on every flight there are some passengers who have angst about not only pre-boarding, but pre-boarding first. A few days ago at IAD, there was a clear group of people waiting for the 1K call to pre-board and some guy barges through, more or less dragging his wife behind him and bumping into the group patiently waiting, to stand at the front and then charge to the podium when 1Ks were called. I just don't get it. I get that the boarding zones are a mess, but is it that hard to just wait back a bit when there is a group who all seem to be waiting to pre-board, and then say "excuse me" in case said group doesn't move when pre-boarding is called out?

Kevin AA

UA should just drop the BE thing and charge for carry-ons (complimentary for elites). This is not Southwest with its stupid open seating. Overhead space is the only reason why people are so desperate to pre-board, because people bring way too much stuff onto the plane with them.

On Allegiant, the overhead bins are not full even if every seat is taken. Boarding and deplaning is much faster.

limey1K

They board A320's in Europe so quickly because nobody has any bags to stow yet a UA 737-800 can take an hour to get everybody on and their junk stowed.

bocastephen

They board A320s in Europe, Asia and other places quickly not because of a lack of bags to stow - I have no idea where this myth comes from. I've traveled frequently in Europe and Asia and I see the EXACT same number and size of carry on bags there, that I see here, without question, ever single time. I've been on an ANA 777 that boarded full in half the time of a United 737.

People board faster in those places because 1. priority boarding is ruthlessly controlled and enforced (at least in most Asian airports, Europe can be another story) 2. and people move quickly with purpose. They know where they are sitting and how to get there, how to put their bag in the overhead and step out of the aisle to sit down.

They aren't wandering around like clueless bubbleheads trying to figure out how the overhead works, why they are staring at a row sticker that says 25 when their seat assignment is 35, and I've never seen anyone over there shuffle down the aisle with 4 screaming kids hanging off them while they juggle two carry-ons, a diaper bag, a pizza box and two Big Gulps.

It's not carry-ons, it's common sense and culture.

econ

Another significant difference is the setup at the gate (both design and staffing). Many overseas airports have multiple boarding doors/agents/jetbridges/automated gates/etc.

As opposed to many domestic airports where UA (and others) often attempt to board widebodies with a single agent manning the boarding pass scanner.

DELee

(pulls out my best Sesame Street character voice...)

"One Passenger! Two Passenger! Three Passenger!..."

David

Boraxo

just experienced this yesterday. Mrs B and I reserved exit row aisle seats, and at T-24 there is nobody else in our exit row or the one in front of us. Viola, by the time we board both rows are full - clearly BE passengers who lucked out. No they did not pay $100 to upgrade each one and other family members were split up in E- seats.

When walking back to use the lavs - lo and behold I see numerous empty E- middle seats. But zero in E+ section.

it occurred to me there is a simple solution here. Rather than wait to T-2 simply assign the BE folks to open E- seats at T-12 hours. At this point any Silvers looking for E+ have had a chance to upgrade so that will open additional E- seating.

The E+ middle seats should be the last to be assigned, just like the old days. Rather than the first which rewards people buying cheap BE fares.

agreed. This has nothing to do with NRSA or standby passengers. It is about all of the kettles (and others) who bought the cheapie BE fares and then luck out with E+ seat assignments

MileTrek

I've been noticing something similar, mostly out of hubs. At ORD Sunday I was the last 1K to pre-board and barely had enough bin space in F by the time I boarded. I can see how this would motivate one to be the *first* to pre-board rather than the last. I'd be more comfortable being in Y knowing there would be plenty of bin space anyway but I digress..

MikieLikesMiles

I admit, this motivates me to rush to pre-board. And I've had a few trips with very tight connections where I panic about the connecting flight as I'm late to board and have to figure out where to store bags. On weekend trips especially, I take everything carryon and don't want to deal with checked in any way.

Have no idea where they are in converting plane overheads to the new bins that can stack bags vertically. Imagine with UA it will take years. Have been on a few planes with the expanded overhead and it's such a pleasure. Really would solve alot of issues for everyone. If people knew they could store their bags, alot of the gate rushing would slowly settle down.