The only reason to board first rather than last is overhead bin space. If you’re worried about bins filling up, and being forced to gate check your bag, you want onto the aircraft before some of the other passengers. You don’t have to outrun the bear, you just have to outrun other people on the plane.
People queue up to board. They rush the gate. They try to board long before it’s their turn, even though they’ll be fine with overhead space usually unless they’re among the last on the plane.
Airlines made this game. They can’t do simple back-to-front boarding because they sell priority boarding, sell first class, and reward customers with status.
Passengers crowding the gate and the boarding lines before it’s their turn, when their boarding group is called, makes for a more chaotic process. And American Airlines is doing something about it. Gate agents are busy and don’t always look at boarding groups when people scan their boarding passes. This is simple, yet genius.
- American Airlines started to enforce boarding groups over the past couple of weeks at two airports – Albuquerque and Tucson – in a trial.
- Passengers scanning their boarding pass before their group number is called will be met with an audible tone.
- Gate agents then ask the passenger to step the side until their group is called.
- With feedback strongly positive (and also, not slowing down the boarding process) they’re going to be rolling this out to Washington’s National airport next in the coming weeks.
According to an American Airlines spokesperson,
We are in the early phase of testing new technology used during the boarding process. The new technology is designed to ensure customers receive the benefits of priority boarding with ease and helps improve the boarding experience by providing greater visibility into boarding progress for our team.
It is still possible to board with a boarding pass that has a group number which hasn’t been called yet. For instance, if my wife and I are on separate reservations and she has a later boarding group number (due to lower status with the airline), we might both board together in group 1.
You might tell the agent before scanning that you’re boarding early, or explain after the tone. The gate agent can clear the flag on their screen and allow you to board.
I generally like this, although I worry about agents having the discretion on whether to make an exception – you’ll get some who refuse to do it when they should. But overall it seems positive, because once passengers start seeing early boarders rejected, they’ll learn to stop doing it.
Already I like American Airlines boarding best. They have a priority lane and a general boarding line. Passengers are called to come to their respective line when it is their group’s turn to board. No one has to stand there like with United’s boarding queues where passengers line up in their assigned group, with each group having a different area (airport and gate-allowing) far in advance of boarding.
United Airlines Boarding
If you’re in group 1 you may be at the back of a line that snakes around the gate area even queueing prior to the start of boarding. If you’re in group 3-5 you may wind up without overhead bin space unless you line up 15 minutes before the start of boarding. That’s as much of a waste of time as Southwest’s boarding where you stand up 30 minutes prior to departure in order to get the best seat, at least until they move to assigned seating.
Some influencers say just board with group one, most agents don’t check your boarding group anyway. I’ve said this bothers me. You aren’t entitled to it. In some sense you’re stealing from the airline and from other passengers, though the boarding game itself is a bit absurdist. I don’t recommend this.
A process where passengers have an assigned time to come up to the gate to board, and can come up at that time or later only, and don’t try to crowd the process really does seem like the most civilized approach.
@Linda: no, they are not supposed to help you. You are responsible for your carry-on and you cannot expect a flight attendant to help you; that is not their job. If you were unable to store your own bag, then you are required to check it.
@ Sean
No, we don’t wanna be in the back of the plane! As first class passengers, our time is valuable and we want to be the first off the plane.
Here I naively thought it was the way it already worked. Didn’t realize it was working on the honor system.
I’ve gotten good at judging when the group ahead of me is ending and get in line to be first of my group.
In the US it’s hard to hear when they talk. Always try to look at the boarding screens..
This doesn’t address the bigger issue of AA hubs (especially CLT) having multiple flights all boarding at the same time all crammed next to each other. There’s nowhere to even sit to wait for boarding so everyone just mobs the gate areas and when gate agents announce “group ___”, people assume it’s for their flight.
I wonder if the auto beep is tied to a reading of the ticket or if it is pulling from the passenger database. I ask because I boarded Charlotte to London last week and the gate agent said “you don’t need to show your boarding pass because your face is your boarding pass.“
Sociopathy is what the airlines do.
Instead of objecting to it, we (the passengers) figure out how to route around it.
Both are not socially adept strategies.
Airlines should quit being little whiny bitches.
Passengers should quit trying to subver that system.
Instead, Airlines should create a system which is air, pleasant, and doesn’t introduct new fees.
But they don’t wanna.
Which is why they are losers in every metric of business. Until we teach them we won’t go for it… they will continue to do it.
When boarding process comes up there are always bag checkers who say the airlines should charge for carry ins and make checked bags free. This is an excellent example of unintended consequences: Double the checked bags and you double the number lost, damaged and delayed; increase the wait times to check them and pick them up significantly; need to contract for more people to handle them; run out of carrousel space much more often; and drive people who hate checking bags to book away from your airline.
As a separate observation, encouraging people to check bags also encourages them to take along more stuff in the first place. Might as well fill up the suitcase. More stuff = more weight, and, in the aggregate, more fuel burned, which is a cost to both the airline and the environment,
This will help. It’s an improvement. But there is a more fundamental issue: passengers who stow briefcases in the bins when they should be under the seat in front of them. My estimation is that 10-20% of stuff in the overhead bins is stuff that should be under a seat. I would like to see AA solve this problem first.
Gate lice wouldn’t happen if carry on bags were enforced for size and people not allowed to take overhead bin space that is not over their seat
It doesn’t matter what system the airlines use to board the aircraft because NOBODY thinks the rules apply to them! They ignore the agents when they ask them to stay seated until their row or group is called. They ignore when they say only 2 items allowed on board. They ignore when told only 1 item in overhead bin.
Even if they’re not seated together, elderly and disabled pax are allowed one attendant to accompany them when boarding early as it should be.
While airlines have, and continue to, made flying as uncomfortable as they can, we must accept our part in making it as consistently unpleasant as possible.
You guys are ridiculous. I try to be the last person to check in and board. I relax and watch the circus of everyone else boarding and then, when the gangway is nearly empty, I saunter on down to the plane. If it’s a full flight and there’s a premium seat that hasn’t sold, guess where I get to sit!
8o)~
*No room for carry-on, you say? It’s just luggage Tetris. There’s always an inefficiency somewhere that can be taken advantage of.
I never understood how there isn’t enough overhead bin space. You have a seat number that goes with the overhead bin space. You pay for the space and everyone should have the space assigned to them. It’s just pure entitlement
Ive got one question about the new system. How will AA enforce the exception: military personnel who are allowed to board with any group….
(1) Personally, I don’t believe there’s a huge problem with people boarding out of order. I often board with Group 2 (Platinum Pro) and (domestically) am often the only one in that group. The number of people boarding in front of me seems consonant with the number of first class seats, plus the number of people on the upgrade list ahead of me (who are probably EP), plus a few companions in lower groups who are boarding with their EP spouse. Sure, Group 1 is very large, but it doesn’t strike me that more than a couple of later group people are sneaking through.
(2) Although they do call the groups in order, they tend to call them very close together. Since different people get to the boarding lane at different speeds, in reality people are going to be boarding in a mixed order unless they slow the boarding down substantially.
(3) I think those people who board “out of order” tend to be very infrequent fliers. I don’t think they’ll “learn” to not board early.
(4) Any savings of time for the early boarding group is going to be outweighed by the time spent by agents trying to explain to non-English speakers or first time fliers that, no, the ticket is okay, they just have to wait to board. That’s going to interrupt the boarding process more than allowing a couple of unwashed Group 3ers board before my exalted Group 2 self.
This certainly isn’t a life or death situation but overhead bin storage seems like a huge issue. Boarding in the wrong group is just silly and childish. Everyone (hopefully) is going to get to their destination. One might save a few minutes but the stress that this induces in other passengers is priceless.
I don’t understand why platinum executive cannot board before group 1.
In addition
1. Make an announcement that only Pre Boards are boarding, not First Class or Group 1
2. Get rid of the pre boarding scam by requiring passengers to upload a doctor’s note when requesting wheelchair assistance
3. Make an announcement ahead of time boarding out of turn will not be allowed for any reason. No one cares you decided to travel with your children.
New rules if you can’t lift your own carry on bag into the overhead it gets tossed off the plane. If the bag doesn’t fit in the carry on measuring thing we toss it. Bag fees should be displayed at time of ticket purchase and the option to prepay for a discount should be available. We want a dress code . No pajamas or revealing clothes. Comfortable is one thing sloppy and smelly is annoying. Stop charging for boarding. It creates false entitlement. The captain is in charge end of story. Now sit down and relax.
To the point in the article, the only reason to board earlier is for overhead bin space. There is such an astoundingly simple solution. Each seat has its own bin space properly demarcated and physically divided. You pay for a seat which includes that bin. If your stuff doesn’t fit, you have too much carry on. If I don’t fill my space, you don’t get to use it for your excess stuff. It’s mine. I paid for it.
Frontier used to enforce overhead bins for Group 1 only but that ended like a year ago. I fly in Group 2 to go home every other weekend and I stash my bag up there like I own the plane. Nobody ever says anything. Don’t eyeball the gate agent either and they’ll leave you alone in most cases too.
Really? AA is just getting around to this? Whenever I fly UA at least with in the last year, maybe more, haven’t been flying much. But when I heard the buzzing tone when a pass is scanned I know it’s either someone in an exit row, or someone trying to board outside the called groups.
The comment about SWA doesn’t correspond to my experience. There is no reason to stand in line for 30 minutes. They assign positions, not groups, so B17 can step in front of B18 right up to the time B1 through B30 are allowed to board. Because Southwest has free checked bags, I have never had a big enough carry on bag to qualify for gate check.
They do have a problem with bogus disabled passengers jumping ahead, but that’s another story.
People in boarding groups 1 and 2 flying an Economy ticket don’t need to worry about bin space if their seat is toward the back of the plane but I see some of them throw their bag in the first open bin. Economy Plus bin space was filled up by these folks yesterday when I boarded in group 2. It would help if United would label the overhead bins Economy Plus, Rows 20 through 30, etc. Most people would abide. Not all but it would help.
Agree with those that say: 1- If the carry on does NOT meet the size…it MUST be checked. 2- Your bag is ONLY ALLOWED in the bins over your seat. NO WHERE ELSE. 3- the flight attendants are NOT required to lift your bag into the overhead. If they DO help you, it’s because they want to help you. 4- If you board before your zone/row is called…BUZZZZ. You “cannot pass go and you don’t collect $200″…back to the waiting area. PERIOD
The information about Southwest is grossly misrepresented. They actually have the BEST scenarios y providing every one with a letter and a number. There’s no guessing and you do NOT have to rush to stand in line. Your boarding position was assigned at check in. You can pay for early boarding. The two free checked bags ensures there’s no need for large carry on bags. Please correct this misinformation
@Yoli – you need to stand in line earlier and longer than with American airlines! If you have an A boarding group and you aren’t standing at the start of boarding you won’t board with A!
The whole system has turned into an Inspector Gadget movie gone bad. Next up? They will mark overhead bins and start charging for “extra overhead bin” space. If your bag doesn’t fit in the allocated space, the it goes to the hold. Sounds silly, but 20 years ago would you have imagined that 2 inches of extra legroom would go for $150?
@Gary Leff — That’s not my experience. SWA boards faster. I find that even in a C group I spend less time standing than with an equivalent position on AA. Yoli is right.
Boarding outside your group is in no way stealing. Playing apologetics for corporate behavior is a garbage take.
Do as in Europe does, board from the and rear at the same time. The rear , economy, usually boards from plane stairs outside but the boarding is faster, smoother and no fights about overhead bin space. I did two flights this summer in Oslo and Munich. It was great. Something the US should consider.
@jesda gulati – we’re talking about two different things. the total boarding process at southwest runs more quickly *because everyone queues longer*