A few weeks ago I wrote about American making yet another change to the boarding process. I haven’t flown American since the change was implemented, but had heard mostly positive reviews from friends and colleagues. Today, I finally experienced the newest boarding process and am happy to report the entire process is simply better. It wasn’t so much that the old process was bad, it was just clearly confusing to those who don’t frequently fly with American. The new process is much easier for everyone to understand and my flight today proved it.
Numbered Boarding Groups
Prior to the update anyone with Elite Status had their status clearly labeled on their boarding card. The label also doubled as your boarding group. Gate agents called each elite status level by name during the boarding process. After all elites finished boarding, the gate agent called for ‘Group 1’ to board. As a frequent American Airlines traveler this makes perfect sense to me, but from the perspective of a novice I see the issue. If you see ‘Group 1’ on your boarding card you’re going to assume you are the first boarding group. When the boarding process beings, you’re going to stand there waiting for the ‘Group 1’ boarding announcement or simply board out of turn.
American’s new boarding process is now ONLY numbers (with the exception of Concierge Key). Boarding group numbers are based on cabin class and elite status just like before. However, now Groups 1-4 have access to the Priority Boarding lane and Groups 5-9 board through the general boarding lane. It may seem confusing at first to those who previously were ‘Group 1’, but gate agents did a great job explaining the changes prior to beginning the boarding process.
Does The New Boarding Process Work?
ABSOLUTELY! First off the entire process is so much smoother than before. Gate agents can simply say “Group 1, Group 2, Group 3….” instead of naming each elite level. So the whole process is just easier to understand all around. I knew that was going to be case, its simple. The biggest change came from in the form of passenger behavior. I thought this new process would help the problem slightly, but the difference is incredible.
With the new boarding process there is much less gate crowding! With the old system when the gate agents began the boarding process all passengers quickly crowded the gate area. I never quite understood why until now. Under the old system, Group 1 was actually group 5, so on and so forth. So if you had Group 2 on your boarding pass you’d assume you were second to board, not 6th! This caused all numbered boarding groups to immediately swarm the gate area making it difficult for elites to push to the front of the line. With the new system I noticed passengers with high boarding group numbers waiting in their seats for the boarding announcement.
Lastly, there were several times under the old system where ‘Group 1’ passengers tried to board much to early in the boarding process. Either gate agents simply let them board or denied them boarding which caused confusing. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen people told to wait for ‘Group 1’ and not understand why. Now, all passengers can easily understand when it’s their time to board.
Final Thoughts
I’ve been pretty excited about American Airlines’ new boarding process since I first heard of it months ago. I thought the in-between step was a little ridiculous and am glad to see American switch to an all numbered boarding process. My recent flight confirmed my expectations. The entire boarding process seemed simpler for both airline employees and passengers to understand. Additionally, I couldn’t believe how much less crowded the gate area was prior to boarding. I’m happy American made this change and I look forward to experiencing the new boarding process on much larger international flights in the future.
