Virgin priority boarding fail

[ferntree]

At Hobart it's a bit ofa lottery these days ..

 

[Sprucegoose]

I've flown 5 times this year and each time they have ensured Priority is provided first. On one occasion a passenger was in front of me which didn't have Priority, and was ever so kindly asked to join the other queue.

It seems this is unique to VA terminals. It doesn't happen in other terminals.

 

[jakeseven7]

Giant mess out of Melbourne yesterday, both lanes boarded almost simultaneously (priority given literally a 5 second head start). Really wish they’d go back to the old system.

 

[jase05]

Really wish they’d go back to the old system.

They do quite often. It’s just the inconsistency that is annoying. My my experience it was strictly enforced 80-90% of the time but the last month it’s dipped to about 60%. On my travels I’ve found MEL to be closer to 30%

 

[AIRwin]

Giant mess out of Melbourne yesterday, both lanes boarded almost simultaneously (priority given literally a 5 second head start).

Was flight already running late?

 

[jakeseven7]

Was flight already running late?

Is that Dorothy Dixer

 

[luckypierre]

Giant mess out of Melbourne yesterday, both lanes boarded almost simultaneously (priority given literally a 5 second head start). Really wish they’d go back to the old system.

My experience departing Melbourne last Saturday somewhat different, Priority Boarding process observed, even though flight was 40 minutes behind schedule.

 

[AIRwin]

Is that Dorothy Dixer

Please explain?

 

[jakeseven7]

Please explain?

Very good

To answer your question seriously, boarding was 5 mins late, but then flight was 50 mins late as they held us on plane due to late arriving crew sigh.

 

[QF WP]

I'm like most others above - I generally leave Lounges when flight is called (which means they are usually well into general boarding), join the Priority queue and dealt with first before the next Economy pax.

The couple of times where I've had no Lounge time, PB calls made at Gate and I'm in the queue. Generally I'm in the aerobridge when I hear the general boarding call.

Not had any issues (fingers crossed) - the majority of flights are ex-BNE and they generally run a tight ship

 

[Stealthflyer]

PB enforced on all recent flights. However, HBA can be a bit of a scrum at peak times. It can be a real battle to simply reach priority boarding. The airport desperately needs expansion.

 

[Poss]

Most of my flights this year so far (home base Melbourne) have been calling priority first and ensuring that any not entitled are redirected to the general boarding queue. On one occasion they were called almost at the same time with both lines boarding simultaneously. Though there was a slight delay in flight time due to aircraft arriving late, so this may explain.

On 2 occasions where it hasn't happened in the past few months, has been when there have been a few requiring extra help whilst boarding. These people have been ushered through with their required assistance, then it has been a free for all for everyone else. I suspect time constraints have necessitated that.

I don't stress too much. We all arrive at the destination at the same time and generally don't require overhead space. Overall, I think the staff do a great job.