CHICAGO — For US$9 United Airlines passengers can now get Priority Boarding and the perks that come with it.

The *******’s newly introduced ‘Priority Boarding’ gives guaranteed boarding to passengers with Group 2, which also includes Chase preferred credit card holders and passengers with elite frequent traveller status.

United has a total of five boarding groups for each flight, with Group 2 typically getting an early start.

Priority Boarding can be selected at time of booking, if available, or passengers can check back at United.com at a later date (but before departure) to check availability.

Some say the new initiative is more of a carry-on bag fee. Seeing how the main benefit to priority boarding is securing overhead storage space, industry experts are calling the new measure a way to simply monetize scarce onboard real estate.

Even United is marketing the new initiative as such, in a new ad that encourages passengers to “Get onboard and to the overhead bins faster.”

Moreover, the ad lists the fee as “from $9 per traveller”, meaning the variable fee could go up depending on the flight booked, the date, time of day and day of week.

United is not the first ******* to implement Priority Boarding; Southwest Airlines has been offering its Early Bird boarding product for years, at a fee of $15 per flight segment.

United said it does not anticipate any logjams as a result of the new Priority Boarding, which is now being rolled out.