Priority Boarding - not just a global farce

[anat0l]

I rarely see priority boarding in action due to my mainly flying AU domestic, but for international travel and overseas travel, it seems that there is this thing called priority boarding.

From what I can tell, it is supposed to allow the first opportunity of boarding of the aircraft for:

• Special needs pax: disabled, UMs
• Families with young children or infants
• Passengers with status of the carrying airline or alliance
• Passengers in premium classes (premium economy, business and first)

However from plenty of hearsay and what not around, I often hear that priority boarding rarely works or is rarely of any value:

• Passengers will ignore the staged boarding calls and just turn up any way, or
• Passengers will ignore the separate lines for specific pax types and just line up at the shortest queue, which may be a status queue which they are not entitled to line up at
• Gate staff loathe to enforce the rules since they have a goal of getting everyone on board as quickly as possible, or
• Passengers will be stubborn and stand their ground since they do not care if they are in the "wrong" line

And et cetera.

So this thread has been set up to discuss priority boarding or lack there of it. Here are some stimulus questions to start the ball rolling:

• Has priority boarding ever worked for you?
• Have you seen examples of priority boarding being strictly enforced? What were the consequences of pax who did not follow the system?
• Is there a real benefit to priority boarding? Should we just dispose of the "benefit" and be done with?

Feel free to share your anecdotes and experiences!

 

[Matthias Fuchs]

Yes, priorty boarding has worked for me. It is useful when you have a bit of hand luggage and want to ensure that you get the overhead locker above you and not 8 seats away.

One of the catches is that if you are a lounge member you will often end up at the gate when others have already started boarding and so will miss the boat on the overhead locker space. So it pays to leave a little earlier before the formal call in the Lounge.

Only last week in Perth, I noticed DJ staff strictly applying the row number being called and quite happily told those attempting to breach the process to go back and wait.

On a flight to Fiji once on Qantas,, for some reason my status didn't appear on the boarding pass as it was a frequent flyer redemption. I didn't have my card with me and so when I boarded according to my status , I was stopped and told that unless I could prove it, I had to go to back of line. For that effort, I sent a letter and received a crate of wine for public humiliation and basically being called a liar!

The real benefit of boarding priority comes when you are in economy and can board in peace and take your time with the overhead luggage and getting yourself sorted.

 

[Danger UXB]

Works every time when I travel with mini UXB but agree that you need to be at the gate early. I have also travelled on JQ when they have been strict about seat numbers
Cheers Danger UXB

 

[Mal]

Generally I find that Qantas and AA both do it fairly well (International flights ex-SYD/MEL particularly for Qantas, and AA for most of their flights). I recall Cathay doing it fairly well too.


BA are hopeless. (and generally as an airline they are too in a lot of ways!).

 

[klavdy]

Always seems to work on Qantas International & SYD/MEL-Perth flights, not so much last time on Virgin at LAX.

There was an absolute scrum at Virgins boarding gate, if there was a P.A it was inaudible,only two staff at the gate, I felt sorry for people with difficulties, you know, wheelchairs, babies etc, it got that bad that they stopped boarding until order was restored.
Started again, this time more staff and a couple of hand held signs, one for Business class.
Still, it was a pretty amateur effort, it was not as if this was their first week or month at getting people on board at LAX.

 

[Matthias Fuchs]

Generally if you are in business there isn't any practical need to get on early as the overhead locker space will be plentiful and there will still be plenty of time for the orange juice or champagne, so if I miss the early boarding call, I stand back and wait .

The other thing is that even if you have your own neat segregated line, unless you are on very early, you are only going to end up waiting at the plane door any way ( unless you are in SQ of course with the 2 entries).

The worst I have ever experienced was last year at Paris Orly airport on a flight to Rome with wife an 3 young kids. It was an absolute stampede as one would expect with no allocated seats. the kids were lucky to avoid being squashed!

 

[julesten]

Hey there

Sure worked in Hong Kong. Travelled business yes Serfty did get upgraded both ways Mel-Lhr-Mel.

The little man at the gate was only letting first and business through.

Sure enjoyed the trip upstairs

 

[Dave Noble]

Last time I travelled from Sydney with QF, there was no priority boarding line but an agent noticed the brown stripe on the BP and escorted me through

The main benefit of priority boarding if travelling in 1st is to avoid queuing ; it serves no real benefit when onboard

If the airline properly enforces the baggage restrictions, then there should be no real need to get onboard early to get space in the overhead bins

Dave

 

[wtolmie]

I have found the following:

Cathay Flights - Regardless of where I have taken the flight from, People who are in the incorrect line trying to board are asked very nicely to join the other "long" line if they try and go thru the Business, Marco Polo or Oneworld Emerald / Sapphire side.. Especially at Hong Kong.. They are very efficient.

AA Flights. Not too bad in US if you use the priority boarding lane, although at some airports its not policed.. IMHO if your flying Y in US, get on first for that elusive baggage space.

JAL - Very strict out of Bangkok and Tokyo, not sure about anywhere else.

Qantas. Never had any probs boarding in Business/ First lanes.

 

[Homer]

The best example of priority boarding I've had was on QF from LHR to SYD in First. The "First Host" asked us at check-in, and again in the lounge, whether we would like to board before or after everyone else (we chose after) and then, at the appropriate time, collected us in the lounge and took us past (through) both the regular and the priority queue and straight on to the aircraft using the F/J air-bridge. I haven't managed to top that yet.

On other flights I've used the QF priority queue for F/J/WP pax at LAX and JFK which has worked fine as well as the BA version at LHR. EK also takes their priority queue seriously.

The big disappointment for me is that while AA and other airlines offer and enforce a priority queue domestically, QF seems to want nothing to do with it...

 

[drron]

In many places in the world-particularly LOTFAP-it pays to board early even if in a premium seat as overhead lockers have a tendency to fill from the front.
Last week flying ORD-NRT on AA There was strict enforcement of priority boarding.2 wheelchai pax were taken on,then F,J then the called EXP,then OWE-I was too far away to hear after that.

 

[trooper]

Since getting some status (*A but the principle is the same :mrgreen I have rarely experienced any problems with priority boarding...

NZ seems pretty good at it.... but I have not witnessed the result of someone "trying it on" so I don't know about actual enforcement.... at LAX (and I believe LHR but no personal experience there) all the folks in the Lounge are escorted to the aircraft and boarded before the bulk of pax...

Both UA and US (plenty of flights this year in Y and F) seem to manage it well too.. at least IME..

SQ/OZ/NH/CX seemed efficient too... especially SQ with the airbridge just for F/J!!!

In fact I can not recall a single flight this year where it didn't work....

Amazing.... even the one flight on Southwest was impressive as far as boarding went....

 

[MikedOut]

QF & AA seem to have it working well, particularly in the US (LAX, IND RNO, DFW, HNL, IAD) and haven't really seen any queue jumpers apart from HNL where they were just pulled aside and told to wait. Same in AKL last week, the CSO made a fairly big deal to someone who was trying to get in early.

I love it because Americans seem to carry more carry-on than I have for checked!

 

[StevePER]

Priority boarding was applied successfully for me recently on PER-SIN (SQ J) but not SIN-PER.

Flying domestically with an infant last month there was no priority boarding on any of our four QF flights, and that was when it would have actually been useful.

 

[munitalP]

INT Flights, I have never had a problem, in fact, I enjoy heading to the front of the boarding Q if no dedicated line and flashing the BP ensuring the FA can see my status...

Mr!

 

[Warks]

I posted this one on the "A bit of humour" thread in The Playground but it bears reproducing here:

From:
http://notalwaysright.com
Quote:
(Note: I’m waiting to board a delayed flight with one of Europe’s cheapest and largest airlines.)
Hostess: “Welcome to flight *** from Malmoe to Dublin. Those of you with seating numbers 1 through 35, please go to line one. Those of you with seating numbers 36 and up, please go to line two. If any of you are traveling with small children or checked in online, please go to the counter and you will be let on board before we start boarding the other passengers.”
(A group of businessmen, about 35-55 years old and in suits, walk to the counter and cut in front of a family with very young children.)
Hostess: “Well, I can see you didn’t check in online, so you’ll have to stand in line. The first line is for early seating numbers; the second line is for la–”
Businessman #1: “Oh, come on… can’t you make an exception? We’re already standing here and all.”
Businessman #2: “You only have to board us and we’re done!”
Hostess: “No, you’ll have to wait in turn, just like everyone else. The lines start over there.”
Businessman #2: “But I always get to board the plane first!”
Hostess: “You’re not a family with children and you didn’t check in over the internet, so you’ll have to stand in line.”
Businessman #2: *very angrily* “DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?!”
Hostess: “No, but you can’t be that important if you’re traveling with us.”
Businessman #2: *quietly retreats to the back of the line with his buddies*

 

[samh004]

INT Flights, I have never had a problem, in fact, I enjoy heading to the front of the boarding Q if no dedicated line and flashing the BP ensuring the FA can see my status...

Mr!

Haha I've enjoyed doing that too before, though not with as high a status.

Never really had an issue with priority boarding myself. With Cathay I've always just lined up in the J line and walked straight on, status on ticket of course.

My only international flight recently was to Queenstown, and seeing as it's just a step ladder over there, no priority.

 

[djfuzz]

In theory, AA's Priority AAcess boarding lanes / calls mean that there shouldn't be any issues with priority boarding, which is particularly important given the fact that so many of their passengers tend to carry lots of / large carry on due to the fees for checked luggage or a general aversion to checking.

In practice, this works very well for smaller aircraft, but I found on several occasions when flying 767s and 777s the boarding lanes are so small and most of the pax would crowd so haphazardly around the boarding lanes that it's impossible to tell who is queuing and who is not, with the ultimate result that you either have to feel like you're 'pushing in' (legitimately or not) or wait until it becomes clearer, with the result that you board late and risk difficulties in storing carry on.

It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world for the GAs to tell pax to sit down or clear the area if they haven't been called, as I've noticed them do on several CX and QF flights.

 

[browski]

I know I am in the minority here but..........I have never understood the desire to board an aircraft early. I am most often last on and (hopefully with a forward aisle seat) one of the first off. If I had kids with me, surely the less time on the aircraft, the better?

The joy of 30 minutes sitting on the tarmac going nowhere has always eluded me.

 

[djfuzz]

I know I am in the minority here but..........I have never understood the desire to board an aircraft early. I am most often last on and (hopefully with a forward aisle seat) one of the first off. If I had kids with me, surely the less time on the aircraft, the better?

The joy of 30 minutes sitting on the tarmac going nowhere has always eluded me.

I can think of at least one, as noted several posts above - being able to store carry on baggage in your own locker (or within reach), rather than whatever nook or cranny is still available on the aircraft (which results in staying on the aircraft much longer than you'd want at the other end) - happens a lot in the US and will only happen more here as the airlines start going to town on fees for checked baggage allowances.