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>> Whenever I had the misfortune of flying United (an ever rarer occasion as I wizened up to the situation and later to "codeshare" flights), half the gate was

>> Whenever I had the misfortune of flying United (an ever rarer occasion as I wizened up to the situation and later to "codeshare" flights), half the gate was at the counter, jockeying for perks and arguing status and privilege. I don't fly United all that much so when I do - I'm in "Zone 4" for boarding which means I get to observe them do pre-boarding/global services/active military/premium and then zones 1-3 - I've never seen anything like what you're describing. Zones get called up, ppl board in their respective zone, not sure what's there to argue. There's a "premium" boarding lane so if someone in biz class shows up when they are already boarding the common folk :) they can cut the line which I don't see anything fundamentally wrong with that. Also, the zone-based approach even from the "Zone 4" passenger perspective is less chaotic logistics-wise as opposed to having everyone line up at the same time. Don't get me wrong - flying is not a pleasant experience these days but I don't see this zone-based approach as a problem.

tarlinian 10y ago
I actually agree with this...I took a flight through Amsterdam recently and was sort of shocked to see an entire planeload of passengers for a 787 line up in one line that ended up blocking half the walkway in the terminal. There's no point to this and just makes everyone's life more miserable for having to stand in a line for 20 minutes. At least with the zone boarding system you know you aren't getting on until your zone is called so there's no point to lining up 20 minutes ahead of time just to watch other people go in ahead of you.
- Markoff 10y ago
  why would you stand in queue for 20 minutes? I never understood it, I am usually one of the last people boarding the plane, heck I will be sitting there in small space for many hours usually so where is the rush to be there first if I have guaranteed booked seat with alloted space for my hand baggage, so where is the rush? never understood people standing in line immediately when they start boarding as if sitting in plane would be more pleasant than sitting in boarding area I would understand this only in first come first serve airlines without assigned seats, but I think nobody is doing this in Europe anymore, in US you stil do this?

tarlinian 10y ago

I actually agree with this...I took a flight through Amsterdam recently and was sort of shocked to see an entire planeload of passengers for a 787 line up in one line that ended up blocking half the walkway in the terminal. There's no point to this and just makes everyone's life more miserable for having to stand in a line for 20 minutes. At least with the zone boarding system you know you aren't getting on until your zone is called so there's no point to lining up 20 minutes ahead of time just to watch other people go in ahead of you.

Markoff 10y ago
why would you stand in queue for 20 minutes? I never understood it, I am usually one of the last people boarding the plane, heck I will be sitting there in small space for many hours usually so where is the rush to be there first if I have guaranteed booked seat with alloted space for my hand baggage, so where is the rush? never understood people standing in line immediately when they start boarding as if sitting in plane would be more pleasant than sitting in boarding area I would understand this only in first come first serve airlines without assigned seats, but I think nobody is doing this in Europe anymore, in US you stil do this?