Something new with United Airlines this trip: the Mini-Red Carpet. United’s top-tier frequent fliers, plus First Class, and Business Class passengers, get their own separate queue for boarding, so they don’t have to mingle with us hoi-polloi.
Which is fine, and even possibly fair (given how they’re paying through the nose for those tix or are flying insane miles each year to qualify as a Super-Duper Ultra-Platinum Elite Flier kinda thing. But …
Well, look at the shot here of gate 70B at LAX last evening. The far lane, next to the wall, is where the proles queue up, and the little red carpet bypass is for the elite. But, of course, there are more than just a couple of them, so they mill out in the big open space there before queuing up.
Before this change, that space had seating. Yes, they’ve either cut down on the always-short seating or else shifted it further away from the queue (I believe the former is the case). Ditto in Denver.
I don’t begrudge (much) their getting on first, but I do begrudge their making the wait that much less pleasant.