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American Airlines announced today that it is making some further changes to its boarding process. This reshuffle comes on the heels of American implementing technology in the fall to shame those who try to board ahead of their turns. Additional time is being added to the boarding process. As with everything, there are some winners and some losers. Passengers in First and Business Class will likely be the happiest.
New Boarding Groups
American’s new boarding process will begin on May 1st. The new groups will be as follows:
- Preboarding: Those with disabilities or needing more time, ConciergeKey®, First and Business Class, and families with children under the age of two
- Group 1: AAdvantage Executive Platinum®, active duty US military with military identification
- Group 2: AAdvantage Platinum Pro®, oneworld® Emerald℠
- Group 3: AAdvantage Platinum®, oneworld® Sapphire℠
- Group 4: AAdvantage Gold®, oneworld® Ruby℠,AirPass℠, Citi®/AAdvantage® Executive cardholders
- Group 5: Main Cabin Extra (excluding Basic Economy), AAdvantage® members who earn 15,000 Loyalty Points, Eligible AAdvantage® credit cardmembers
- Group 6: AAdvantage® members
- Group 7-8: Main Cabin
- Group 9: Basic Economy
AAdvantage Executive Platinum® currently board with First and Business Class. They’re being bumped back a bit.
Additional Boarding Time
In February, American announced it was lengthening boarding time by five minutes to domestic mainline flights beginning May 1st. American promises that this will provide passengers with the following benefits:
- Fewer carry-on bags will need to be checked at the departure gate.
- Passengers will have more time to get settled and find their seats, and receive support from flight attendants when needed.
- Those in the premium cabin will experience personalized service.
Anthony’s Take: American is adding time and shuffling groups again as of May 1st. This will largely go unnoticeable to most flyers, except those frequent travelers that are getting bumped back a group.
(Featured Image Credit: American Airlines.)
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
