American Airlines Simplifies Boarding Order Once and For All

After a recent round of changes to the boarding order on American Airlines, they’ve finally released something that actually makes a lot of sense.

Here’s how it will work:

The old Priority groups including First Class, elite status members and AAirpass subscribers are now lumped into Groups 1 through 4. So, instead of calling First Class as a boarding group, they’ll be placed into Group 1

You’ll see what each of the old groups transfers into below.

More importantly, the old “Group 1” Main Cabin Extra and AAdvantage credit card holders will now be moved into Group 5, hopefully reducing the chaos at boarding. One of my biggest pet peeves was trying to board with First Class or the Executive Platinums, only to be stampeded by AAdvantage credit holders who through that “Group 1” meant they could board before everyone else. In practice, it didn’t make sense, because about half the plane was already boarded prior to them even calling Group 1, so this new chart and process should simplify things.

It’s worth noting:

• ConciergeKey members will board before all groups.
• Basic Economy (when launched) purchasers will board in Group 9, the very last group.