[Jailbird]

The article mentions they only plan to do this starting at group 4... So that's

1. All pre boarding (military, families with small children, wheelchairs, etc)

2. Global services

3. Group 1

4. Group 2

5. Group 3

6. Group 4

7. Group 5

I also think Group 2 often seems to me to be the most populous one... that may just be my experience.

I guess now I can see why they'd only save 2 minutes.

Edit: formatting, formatting and more formatting

[INGSOCIALITE]

At this point in time, “pre boarding” (military, babies, elderly, “10k and platinum members” , global elite, etc) is about 50% of the airplane

And that’s not even group 1

[121789]

It’s only 10k and global services in pre boarding. And it’s gotten a lot shorter lately because I think everyone’s covid status extensions ran out (mine did). Group 2 is much longer now

[csomar]

This comes to mind: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhxlZC8BZJ4

This is just US insanity, though. The rest of the world has business -> economy (split into three groups by seat number)

[Semaphor]

IME (Germany, Dubai, South Africa mainly) it’s First Class, Business, Platinum members (because none of those groups have enough members to board only those), then economy, but split into groups depending on plane size, a typical emirates flight has 4-5 groups by seat number.

[throwaway9274]

My guess is they’ll keep expanding it to higher groups as they feel out pushback.

It’s definitely more efficient for the airlines. Is it better for the customer? Depends on the segment.

Most budget customers respond only to price and will tend to prefer a lower price even with fewer amenities.

[hakfoo]

Amenity discovery is a lot harder than price discovery, so people are going to decide based on the info they can obtain easily.

It would probably be very difficult to reliably compare flights on plane-specific amenities (if the plane ends up being different than the originally scheduled one, and the seats are narrower, do I have financial recourse?).

But even airline-level rules are buried five screens deep in checkout and not necessarily directly comparable. Again, is there recourse if they say "we shrunk the carry-on allowance, or introduced a new super-terrible boarding process after you booked"?

The one amenity advertising that worked for me: Southwest makes a big point of advertising free checked bags, to the point where I'd make it a point to cross-shop them, except they never seem to be going where I want to go.

[Semaphor]

> tend to prefer a lower price even with fewer amenities.

I actually prefer boarding later. Why would I want to spend more time in the cramped plane when I can spend that time in the far more spacious waiting area? Sure, if I had first-class money I’d prefer sitting there, but not even business is nice enough to want to board early ;)

[m-ee]

People want to board early because there’s never enough overhead bin space on a full flight

[rantallion]

Then the real problem that ought to be solved is too many people boarding with too many large bags.

The size of some 'carry-on' baggage of late is getting comical - I've seen some as large as my checked baggage. And then some airlines allow an additional 'personal item' (laptop bag, handbag, etc) as well as the larger carry-on. Add to this an unwillingness to place anything under the seat in front (presumably to safeguard their limited legroom), and you're left struggling to find a place for your modest bag if you board last.

It's just selfishness, pure and simple, and it won't be stopped until the airlines enforce sensible limits.

[pintxo]

PSA: Traveling with a weekender style of bag (or a backpack) makes using one’s own legroom so much easier. And thus removes the need to board early.

My ideal boarding experience is to be the last one entering the plane. Which makes sense as I also try to cut my total time at the airport to a minimum. So far it has worked out.

[pintxo]

Tragedy of the commons, essentially.

[Semaphor]

Ah, that makes sense. I guess the flights I’m on that simply is not an issue, at worst one has to use those not directly above one's seat.

[nokya]

Same here.

I actually enjoy watching people boarding planes, I find that relaxing. The trick is to only have a backpack and nothing else on you: from the moment you're not relying on getting overhead space, you can completely skip the boarding stress, stay seated while everyone is stressing out and walk into the plane last.

I do recognize that many passengers have financial difficulties and this only works if you can afford a registered luggage.

There is also this frenzy about feeling the need to leave the airport at flash speed. I don't mind waiting a few minutes at the belt, it usually gives me time to reply to a few emails and make 1 or 2 calls. Again, this assumes you're not flying the last plane of the day, which is often cheaper, but delays May expose you to missing a public transport connection.

[jmspring]

Group 2 usually includes those that have the United Chase card, anyone with gold status, etc. I agree it's quite populous.