How is your boarding group assigned?

Boarding groups Your group depends on who's traveling, your ticket, your seat location and your MileagePlus status. If you're traveling in a group and sitting in economy, you'll all be assigned the earliest applicable boarding group.



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Airlines will typically assign the earliest boarding groups to passengers who are the most loyal. Previously, this was dictated by how many miles one flew, but nowadays, it's usually how much one spends on tickets.

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Get on board with zone boarding
Customers are placed in one of five predetermined zones and are invited to board the plane only when their zone number is called. Boarding zones are determined by travel class, status and fare/ product type.

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Group 5 is not priority boarding on American Airlines, but Preferred boarding. This group includes passengers that pay for Main Cabin Extra perks, as well as those who hold co-branded AAdvantage airline credit cards.

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However, even in general boarding, there are clear queues: Group 5 (Preferred Boarding): Passengers in Main Cabin Extra seats (not on Basic Economy tickets), AAdvantage members who accrue 15,000 Loyalty Points (milestone benefit), and select AAdvantage co-brand card holders. Group 6: General AAdvantage status holders.

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If you check in exactly 24 hours ahead of time, you'll usually end up somewhere in the B group. If you have a B group boarding position, the chances are good that you'll still be able to get a window or aisle seat or find 2 seats together if you're traveling with a companion.

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Group 2. Group 2 on United boards after pre-boarding and Group 1. This group includes passengers who hold United Premier Silver or Star Alliance Silver status, those who've purchased Premier Access or priority boarding and most United credit cardholders.

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Sometimes you may slil through and be allowed to board while on other occasions the gate agent may ask you to wait until your boarding group is called. In my experience, it usually never mattered. They are so busy trying to get passengers to quickly go through the boarding process, they just let you go through.

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Fly in a premium cabin All passengers flying in a premium cabin get priority boarding. But the group you'll be assigned to depends on which class of service you're flying. Passengers in the front cabin board with Group 1.

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Block boarding from the rear to the front of the plane is the standard onboarding method. Passengers board the aircraft by group, based on their seat number, beginning at the plane's rear toward the front until everyone is seated. Rear-to-front block boarding seems logical at first blush.

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If you need your carry-on bag during a long layover or prefer not to wait at a late-night baggage claim after a long day of flying, then purchasing a priority boarding upgrade may be well worth it. In essence, purchasing priority boarding is staking claim to readily accessible overhead bin space.

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Groups 4 to 9 are based on your seat row number to board from rear to front of the cabin. It is possible that customers travelling together may receive different group numbers. In this case, please make your way to the gate where you will be able to board together.

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The most common reason for denied boarding is overbooking. This is when airlines sell more tickets than there are seats on the aircraft. The reason for this common practice is so-called 'no-shows'.

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Bottom Line: Your best bets to get a higher boarding position without having to earn elite status are EarlyBird Check-In and upgraded boarding at the gate. However, both options will cost you. EarlyBird Check-In costs $15 to $25 one-way per person and doesn't guarantee you'll get an A boarding number.

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An “A” or “F” mean first-class treatment, while a “B” often means you're more likely to get upgraded than if you have a “Q” or a “Y” on your ticket—the latter two are typically the cheapest economy fares.

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