I got an email from American Airlines today that they are changing the way they board their planes, starting March 1st. Â Thankfully it doesn’t appear to be anything too drastic – more a general tweaking.
Rather than their current process, which runs through the various elite levels, premium cabin passengers and then to the general public, they are moving to a system where everybody gets a number.
You can see the full boarding order / process here.
- Preboarding – ConciergeKey members
- Group 1 –Â First Class, Active duty U.S. military with military I.D., (Business Class on a 2-class international aircraft)
- Group 2 – Executive Platinum, oneworld Emeralds, (Business Class on a 3-class aircraft)
- Group 3 – Platinum Pro, Platinum, oneworld Sapphire
- Group 4 – Gold, oneworld Ruby, Alaska Airlines MVP® members, AirPass, Premium Economy, Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive cardmembers, Customers who bought Priority boarding
- Group 5 – Main Cabin Extra, Eligible AAdvantage® credit cardmembers, Eligible corporate travelers
- Group 6 –
- Group 7 –
- Group 8 –
- Group 9 – includes Basic Economy flights
So, those of us with Citi AAdvantage cards will continue to board essentially where we used to board, as the first people to board through the “main” lane.
I’m interested to see how this works in practice, since at least in non-hub outposts like I typically fly from, all the boarding groups tend to get lumped together…
Where will you board under the new American boarding order?
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I’ve been asking for this for years. People with Group 1 on their boarding pass expect to board first or almost first. Now their pass will say Group 6, which MIGHT keep them from crowding the gate so much.
I wouldn’t count on it – people just can’t help gate lice ing 🙂
The only thing that I think would stop it would be enforcing the boarding order if someone tries to board early, which I rarely see happen. Along with public shaming 😛
“Group 5 boarding” doesn’t have a very good ring to it when you’re pitching a credit card
Which is why it’s not going to be referred to at “preferred” boarding as opposed to what it was previously called, “priority” boarding…they can get away with preferred as a “perk”…
Ha! Too true!
9 different boarding groups? HAHA. I’ll pay the extra $15 and fly on Southwest anytime. And in all likelihood, save money on the flight.
Yeah… because sitting in the sardine tin even longer than necessary is a perk? If I were CK, I would want the right to waltz over to the gate at T-5 and stroll on without getting hassled over the intercom.
I agree with that except for carry-on space. If I don’t have a carryon then yes – totally agree. If you have a carryon, especially on a regional jet where overhead bin space could be at a premium, then I typically want to board sooner rather than later so I can make sure my carry on gets on.
That’s a different unfortunate shortcoming, though. If any US carrier actually enforced their carry-on size rules, I think that problem would go away.