American Airlines Will Preboard More Passengers on Mainline Domestic Flights From May 1

Updated: August 31, 2026, 8:06am CDT

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First- and Business-Class Passengers Will Now Preboard
Boarding Time Will Be Increased by 5 Minutes
Final Thoughts

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We’re inching closer to the busy summer travel period when airports around the U.S. can become unbearably busy.

To help ease the stress in the chaos and heat, American has updated the order in which passengers will be invited to board mainline domestic flights. Each departing flight will also benefit from a little extra time to complete the boarding process.

Here’s how American hopes boarding will be smoother for its passengers.

First- and Business-Class Passengers Will Now Preboard

The first of the major changes that will take effect on May 1 is the order in which passengers will board their aircraft. Preboarding will now include those traveling in first and business class, as well as those needing additional time to board, such as families with children aged 2 and younger.

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Group	Boarding Pass 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 AirPass Citi^® / AAdvantage^® Executive World Legend Mastercard^® cardmembers
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

Boarding first and business class passengers ahead of the regular groups means that groups 1 through 3 will only include passengers with varying levels of AAdvantage or Oneworld airline status. Active U.S. military members will still board with group 1.

Taking a closer look at the before and after charts, I noticed some changes to the passengers who will be invited to board in group 4. The previously published American Airlines boarding process, which refers to American’s system prior to April 30, shows that passengers who bought priority boarding were eligible to board with group 4. Curiously, the new list doesn’t include this particular group of travelers at all.

Boarding Time Will Be Increased by 5 Minutes

As previously announced in February, American is increasing the time allotted for each flight to complete boarding.

The smaller of American’s aircraft, such as Airbus A319 and A320s, will have a new boarding time of 35 minutes. For larger aircraft — such as the Boeing 737, variations of the Airbus A321, and all wide-body aircraft — American will now allocate 40 minutes for the boarding process.

Note the omission of the Embraer aircraft that American uses on regional routes, as these aren’t classified as mainline domestic services.

Hot Tip:

Spending on a credit card to earn American Airlines elite status isn’t something we recommend. However, some cards do come with priority boarding.

Final Thoughts

Today’s update is part of a wider process that American is implementing regarding boarding, such as using new technology to enforce boarding groups.

Hopefully, this 5-minute increase, coupled with more passengers being invited to preboard, will help ease congestion at the gates this summer.