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The good news is that understanding how the groups work can help you board earlier and make the experience a little smoother. Let's go over the process and review ways to take advantage of it.
American Airlines Boarding Group Order
From top to bottom, American Airlines boarding groups are designed to prioritize its most valuable customers and encourage others to spend more. With so many groups, there's plenty of room to offer a special place to everyone.
Except, of course, for those who book American Airlines basic economy tickets. They get the privilege of watching everyone else board before cramming into the back of the plane.
So, what's the order of American’s boarding groups? Here's a handy table:
| Boarding Group | Boarding Type |
|---|---|
| Preboard | • ConciergeKey • First/Business • Families with children ages 2 and under |
| Group 1 | • AAdvantage Executive Platinum • Active duty U.S. military with military I.D. |
| Group 2 | • AAdvantage Platinum Pro • Oneworld Emerald |
| Group 3 | • AAdvantage Platinum • Oneworld Sapphire |
| Group 4 | • AAdvantage Gold • Oneworld Ruby • Premium Economy • AirPass℠ (if you still have an active contract; this program ended in November 2022) • Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Legend Mastercard® holders • Travelers who bought Priority boarding |
| Group 5 (Preferred boarding) | • Main Cabin Extra (excluding Basic Economy) • AAdvantage members who earn 15,000 Loyalty Points • Eligible AAdvantage credit cardmembers • AAdvantage Business Select travelers |
| Group 6 | AAdvantage members (on non-basic economy tickets) |
| Group 7 | • Main Cabin • AAdvantage members (on basic economy tickets) |
| Group 8 | Main Cabin |
| Group 9 | Basic economy (non-AAdvantage members) |
When does American Airlines boarding start?
Boarding typically begins 30 to 50 minutes before departure, depending on the aircraft:
- Airbus A319 and A320: 35 minutes before departure
- Boeing 737, Airbus A321, and widebody aircraft: 40 minutes before departure
Regional flights on small jets will board closer to the 30 minute before departure mark while long-haul flights might board closer to 50 minutes before departure.
How the American Airlines Boarding Process Works
Fortunately, there are not nine queues for you to choose from. Instead, the process is streamlined into two queues:
- Priority line: Preboarding passengers and travelers in Groups 1 through 4
- Main lane: Travelers in Groups 5 through 9
Travelers with priority boarding can also use the priority line even if they show up after their group has been called. For example, if a Group 3 passenger reaches the gate when the flight is boarding Group 6, they can still go through the priority line. The gate agent will typically hold the main line and let them through.
How to Get American Airlines Priority Boarding
As noted above, priority boarding includes passengers who preboard or are assigned to Groups 1 through 4. Here are the ways to qualify:
If you're flying in first or business class, you can preboard the aircraft. This applies to both domestic and international flights.
Hold airline elite status
You receive priority boarding if you hold elite status with American Airlines or a Oneworld alliance partner airline.
- ConciergeKey: Preboarding
- AA Executive Platinum: Group 1
- AA Platinum Pro and Oneworld Emerald: Group 2
- AA Platinum and Oneworld Sapphire: Group 3
- AA Gold and Oneworld Ruby: Group 4
Related: How to Get Reciprocal Upgrades on Alaska and American Airlines Flights as an Elite Member
Those with the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Legend Mastercard® receive Group 4 boarding privileges.
Serve on active military duty
Active-duty U.S. military personnel with a valid military ID may board with Group 1.
Purchase priority boarding
You can buy priority boarding, which places you in Group 4. This option can be purchased during check-in or at the gate but isn't available during the booking process.
How to Get Preferred Boarding on American Airlines Flights
American Airlines' preferred boarding refers to Group 5, which boards after Groups 1 through 4. It's easy to confuse preferred boarding with priority boarding, but they're different benefits. Priority boarding includes Groups 1 through 4, while preferred boarding is limited to Group 5.
To receive Group 5 boarding, you must either purchase a Main Cabin Extra seat (on an eligible fare), earn 15,000
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Globe™ Mastercard®
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®
- Citi® / AAdvantage Business™ World Elite Mastercard®
With these perks, it's easy to justify the annual fee of $99, waived for first 12 months.
- Free checked bags for you and up to 4 companions on domestic itineraries
- Priority boarding to help you win the race for overhead bin space
- A 25% discount on inflight food, beverage, and Wi-Fi purchases
- Earn 2X miles for every $1 spent at restaurants
- Earn 2X miles for every $1 spent at gas stations
- Earn 2X miles for every $1 spent on eligible American Airlines purchases
- Earn 1X mile for every $1 spent on all other purchases
Join the AAdvantage Program to Board Earlier
Even without preferred or priority boarding, you can receive Group 6 boarding just by signing up for an AAdvantage account. Enrollment is free, and boarding a few groups earlier can sometimes mean the difference between finding overhead bin space and having to gate-check your carry-on.
The rest of Main Cabin boards in Group 7 or 8, while basic economy passengers who don't belong to the AAdvantage program board in Group 9.
Bottom Line
American Airlines uses its boarding groups to reward premium-cabin travelers, elite members, credit cardholders, and other loyal customers. While boarding a few minutes earlier may not seem like a major perk, earlier groups often have easier access to overhead bin space and a less stressful boarding experience.
If you fly American regularly, qualifying for preferred or priority boarding through elite status, a co-branded credit card, or a premium-cabin ticket may be worth considering.
I never much paid attention to boarding groups before, but have glanced at my own ticket and wondered what it all meant. Now I get it. But what’s the benefit to boarding first? Then you have to sit and wait for everyone else to board and get their ish together so the plane can get going. I’d rather wait in the gate with legroom than wait cramped on the plane.
Simple and effective. However people still line up way before the calling of their group/zone, so the chaos continues at the gate…
good to see our military getting the recognition they deserve!
much appreciated..
in practice there is never enough space at the gate so you have to battle your way thru the scrimmage line..
as other posters have said,as seatsare decided boarding group doesnt matter for this ,but what does matter is if you are in a later group
it can be very difficult tofind anywhere to storeyour bag and you may end up cking it..
the other thing that happens,is that with the baggage issue boarding gets really backed up for the later groups and so you end up waiting for ages in a crowded and often cold gateway!
Boarding always seems confusing, a number of people standing around in clumps as there aren’t enough seats at the gate, and you can’t tell what is a queue, or a pre-queue…
I know that my ticket is generally next to last zone to board (combination of price paid and time booked), but fortunately as I’ve tended to travel internationally I’ve got hold luggage and little hand luggage, so it’s not a big deal.
I was wondering the same thing. Is it group 5 that Citi Platinum advantage card holders fall into?
So which group do Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard holders fall under now? Group 5? AA boarding generally is OK compared to other shambolic efforts by othe airlines.
Guess this means no overhead bin for me 🙁
Several years since I last few AA. I was at the time a OW Emerald, flying in (paid) domestic First.
I waited patiently at the gate, thinking I’d likely in the first group to be called forward to board.
The gate agent called for “the wheelchairs” and a handful of completely fit and well older people and a huge group of their family members surged forward. They all walked briskly past the waiting wheelchairs, and boarded at speed.
If they decide to have separate lanes for each boarding group like United, they Will have to remove seats to make room.
Now people will have a valid reason to crowd the gate. No place to sit!
This works in theory if people follow the boarding pass correctly. Otherwise, it can be time consuming to turn people away for boarding with the wrong group.
Since seats are assigned, these boarding groups never quite bother me. I like waiting until everyone else is in first and then board only when I have to. I rather have the open space in an airport over tight spaces aboard the aircraft.
Not gonna lie, got a little frightened at the prospect of “9 groups” I guess it just sounds more intimidating since its just a visual revamp of the same system. That IS all it is correct?
How has it got so complicated! What’s wrong with just boarding the plane in a logical order, like in order of rows etc.
This shows why having the credit card is important when flying using the new basic economy fares! Makes that $95 annual fee a bit easier to swallow when you still get your first bag free and group 1 boarding.
Like Craig said, even first and business class passengers need to be very alert about boarding and rush on asap. Otherwise, the overhead bin can be filled by passengers who board before they are supposed to because of “misunderstanding”.
Agree, board groupings can ease queues at the gate.
Boarding groups that board the back and window seats first are the way to go. Also, if possible board from both fwd and aft doors at the same time to cut boarding time to half.
Unfortunate to see AA thinks Gold/Ruby should be lumped in with Alaska elites and credit card holders.
If it were Southwest, I might be concerned. Small carry-on.. I’m happy to board last.
Seems like it is might be better for non frequent travelers. Not sure about medium status holders.
US airlines should take a look at Europe’s RyanAir and Easyjet, they board so fast and from both ends of the aircraft, I was very impressed with both airlines boarding process, they do it quick!
Thanks so much for the explanation – its takes the guesswork out of it when we experience it at the gate.
“New and improved”.
We’ll just have to wait and see.
Seems to downgrade gold status. Not sure I like this
So it seems there are no real changes but a reorganisation with a more clear indication of groups of boarding.
Anyway, it would be strange to have the group 9 in the boarding pass!
I do think this will make things a lot easier for non-frequent fliers. I wish more airlines would put the group currently boarding on the monitors though!
I’m a fan of them offering some clarity on this. I’ve always felt a bit… short changed when it came to boarding groups. I’ve got status, but not amazing status, but, i want to board before folks with no status. What I’m really curious about is how much this will slow down or speed up the boarding process. That’s the real question in the end.
I’m glad I have their rewards cards for earlier boarding. But really the plane doesn’t leave till every passenger is on the plane and buckled in..
That is a lot of boarding groups for their smaller aircraft.
In general it’s nice to see boarding priority being enforced even though it’s a bit counter-intuitive to me that instead of “boarding at our leisure” elites and First Class passengers need to rush on first in order to claim the overhead bin space.
For those buying basic economy fares and not wanting to pay to check a bag it is worth having a CITI AA credit card.
last time we flew AA we had free tickets, and they bumped us up to priority
Reminds my why most of my paid flights are on Southwest. Too much chaos with other airlines systems.
a bit much in my opinion. things were fine the way they were
Hopefully this smooths the flow at the gatehouse. Perhaps this will even reduce the number of “misunderstandings” by our fellow customers that they were to board much earlier than their category would allow. If there is a gate agent reading this perhaps they could advise us as to whether or not they believe this will improve customer flow.
It looks like another reason not to keep their credit card.
That’s a lot of groups. But it is more transparent now.
Eventually there will just be 150ish boarding groups. One for each passenger. Frankly it might be smoother that way. Many Southwest boardings are simpler than the legacy carriers.
As much as some people look down on Southwest’s boarding process, it is by far the most efficient — as proven by MythBusters 🙂
That system works. If only they would assign seats.
Seems more like an internal organizing thing rather than something that affects customers
Interesting. I’d like to see Airlines deal with the common problem of people rushing ahead of their own group and the people at the desk letting them get away with it.
So, essentially placing numbers on all boarding cards; got it.