United Airlines is shaking up the way it boards planes with a revised process that should look awfully familiar to those who have been flying with the carrier for a while. Starting Tuesday, Sept 18, United will pare back the number of boarding lanes at its gates from the current five to just two. Lane number one will be denoted with a blue sign and will be reserved for priority boarding while lane number two will be used primarily by economy travelers and will have a green sign.
We wrote about these planned changes in June when United began testing the concept at select airports including its hubs in Los Angeles, Chicago and Houston. See that here United will finally roll out the revised procedure systemwide on Tuesday. At SFO, the new procedure has been in use at some gates for several months now. (Have you tried it? Tell us about it in the comments.)
Passengers in groups one and two are still able to line-up and wait at the gate to board flights. These two groups are typically comprised of frequent fliers who hold elite status in the airline’s frequent flier program MileagePlus, United co-branded credit card holders, and those traveling in first or business class. (And so-called “gate lice.” Not you, right?)
Passengers in groups three through five are now being asked to take a seat and wait for their groups to be called to line-up and board through lane two. Travelers in groups three and four are typically comprised of economy cabin passengers. Travelers in group five are those holding basic economy tickets and board last as one of the conditions of buying the bargain fare.
Gate signage is also changing. Displays will show the group number that is boarding, the lane in which they are to board, and which group numbers are next to board. Upgrade lists will no longer be shown on the displays, as they do now, since most upgraded fliers will probably have been notified before arriving at the gate to board. (I’ll personally miss that!) A new version of the United Airlines app will send push notifications to travelers letting them know when boarding has begun. United says that it will soon send text messages, too. That’s a welcome feature for travelers who are running late and those who want to savor as much time in the airline lounge as possible.
The carrier said the streamlined process should rectify some of the gate-crowding complaints many travelers have voiced about the current five-lane boarding process that was implemented in 2012. It’s not uncommon to see hundreds of people lined up at airport gates as early as an hour before departure time.
Along with the boarding process changes, the airline will also implement changes to boarding group assignments to let some elite frequent fliers board earlier than they do now.
Fliers with MileagePlus Premier 1K status (the highest-tier of the frequent flier program that United fliers can earn) can now pre-board ahead of group one. The benefit is also offered to families, people who need more time to settle in, all active military (not just those in uniform as before) and the airline’s invitation-only Global Services members.
United Airlines fliers with Premier Gold status will be bumped up into group one from the current group two. The airline said the move would “balance out” the number of people in each boarding group. As United regulars will tell you, group two is typically the largest of the five.
Gold status members have long grumbled about being lumped into the group two boarding zone, the same priority boarding offered to United MileagePlus credit cardholders who may not have flown the requisite miles annually to earn the recognition. The boarding priority for Premier Silver members, the lowest tier on the MileagePlus program, will remain as group two.
https://www.sfgate.com/chris-mcginnis/article/United-Airlines-new-boarding-process-13238284.php