Priority boarding?

United Airlines does not give priority boarding to economy plus passengers. However, there are optional plans that you can buy which include priority boarding, priority security screening and the like. Check their web-site.

Delta's comfort economy boards early Zone 1 on Delta operated flights. Sorry United.

If you have a United credit card you will get priority boarding regardless of where you're sitting.

I could be wrong, but I think one must have the United Explorer credit card, not just the ordinary one, for priority boarding.

I have a United Mileage Plus Awards card and received priority boarding.

On American you have to actually use their card for booking the flight - then you get priority boarding.

That may be the case for United, but I don't know for sure. I did use my card to buy my tickets.

In case luggage space is full and the airline requires you to gate-check your main bag, it's safer to have any valuables, prescriptions medicines, guidebook, etc. in your smaller "personal" bag that can fit under a seat. You'll have to rearrange everything when you arrive for the way you want to travel and again later before another flight.

We also used our United Mileage Plus card to purchase our tickets (Economy Plus) but did not get priority boarding. Perhaps you have to ask for it? As a matter of fact, I asked if we could get early boarding because of a knee problem I have, and they told me I would have to pay for the early boarding. Is that right?

I didn't request priority boarding. When I checked in and printed my boarding pass out at home it showed I had it. This was for economy seats. Maybe a fluke? I hope not. We leave for Europe in just over 2 weeks. We used miles for our tickets and paid extra for Economy Plus for our SFO-London flight. We're on Lufthansa on the way home, and we weren't given the option to upgrade our seats.

You can purchase priority boarding from United - it also gets you in the priority lanes thru TSA:

Premier Access benefits

We continually strive to make your travels more convenient when flying on United, Copa Airlines and Copa Airlines Colombia.

From check-in to baggage claim, we provide premium travel services for eligible customers and offer the following where available:

Premier AccessSM check-in: designated airport check-in lines
Premier Access security lane: exclusive security lanes
Premier Access priority boarding: among the first customers to board
Premier Access priority baggage handling: among the first bags to be delivered
Premier Access is available to the following customers:

MileagePlus Premier® members
United First®, United Global FirstSM, United Business® and United BusinessFirst®
Copa Airlines Clase Ejecutiva customers
Star AllianceTM Gold and Silver members
MileagePlus Club and Presidential Plus credit cardmembers
Customers who are not included in one of the groups above may have the option to purchase Premier Access for a particular flight. A Premier Access purchase includes priority check-in, security lane access (where available) and boarding, but it does not include priority baggage handling. Premier Access is not available for purchase on flights operated by Copa Airlines or Copa Airlines Colombia.

Which is less expensive, paying to check your baggage or buying priority boarding? I always check my luggage so overhead bin space is what I see other people stressing about.

United uses 5 boarding groups. Numbers 1 and 2 are considered "priority boarding." These two groups consist of people with status with United, as well as United Mileage Plus credit card holders and those who have purchased priority boarding. Often, these two groups entail more than half the passengers boarding, which means that even with priority boarding you are not going to be guaranteed overhead space, depending on the aircraft type and passenger load. There is a long and detailed discussion of this with a wiki over on Flyertalk.