Qantas Rolls Out Boarding Groups

Qantas boarding group signage at a gate at Brisbane Airport
Qantas has introduced boarding groups on mainline domestic flights. Photo: Matt Graham.

Qantas has implemented numbered boarding groups on domestic flights, following the end of a trial that began in July 2023. The airline says this will improve on-time performance and “better recognise tiered frequent flyers, in response to customer feedback”.

Australian Frequent Flyer tested out the new boarding procedure on Monday. This was the first day that Qantas began using it for mainline domestic flights departing Brisbane Airport. While there is still room for improvement, frequent flyers should be better off once the rollout is completed.

Over the coming weeks Qantas will gradually roll out boarding groups to other domestic airports across Australia, starting next Monday with Perth. Melbourne and Sydney will follow later this month.

Here’s how the new Qantas boarding groups work…

How Qantas boarding groups work

Qantas’ new boarding procedure uses numbered groups based on a frequent flyer’s status or where they are sitting. This is similar to the systems used by many other airlines around the world, particularly in the USA and Europe.

Qantas is only using numbered boarding groups on domestic mainline flights, i.e. those operated by Boeing 737s and Airbus A330s. QantasLink flights, including services on Airbus A220s, Embraer E190s, Boeing 717s and Dash 8s, will continue to just have a priority and a general boarding lane.

Qantas Boeing 737 and Airbus A330 jets at Brisbane Airport domestic terminal
Qantas is now using boarding groups on Boeing 737 and Airbus A330 domestic flights. Photo: Matt Graham.

These are the six numbered boarding groups:

  • Group 1 (Priority): Business Class passengers and Qantas Platinum, Platinum One and Oneworld Emerald frequent flyers sitting anywhere
  • Group 2 (Priority): Qantas Gold and Oneworld Sapphire frequent flyers sitting anywhere
  • Groups 3 & 4: Passengers sitting in the back half of Economy
  • Groups 5 & 6: Passengers sitting in the front half of Economy

Groups 1 and 2 can board using the left-hand lane, marked as “Priority”. Groups 3-6 can board using the right-hand lane.

Qantas says that the electronic boarding pass scanners will automatically reject anyone trying to board before their group is called. This takes the enforcement of priority boarding out of the hands of flight attendants.

In theory, passengers eligible for priority boarding would be able to board at any time via the dedicated priority lane. However, this wasn’t the case when we tested out the new system this week.

What the new Qantas boarding groups look like

On a Boeing 737-800, the boarding groups look something like this:

Diagram showing the Qantas boarding group numbers on a Boeing 737-800
Numbered boarding groups on a Boeing 737-800. We have edited this image of a Qantas Boeing 737-800 seat map.

Where both front and rear boarding doors are used, Qantas invites passengers sitting in the middle of the plane – Groups 4 and 5 – to board first. Group 4 passengers board using the rear stairs. Group 5 boards at the same time, using the front door. Passengers in Groups 3 and 6 would board last, using their respective doors.

The process works a bit differently on flights that only board through the front door. In this case, boarding is completed in groups from the back to the front of the plane.

Qantas boarding group signage at Brisbane Airport domestic check-in area
Signage at Brisbane Airport. Photo: Matt Graham.

This process is designed to increase efficiency and reduce aircraft turnaround times.

Passengers with Gold, Platinum or Platinum One status often sit towards the front of the plane. Since status holders are still invited to board first, many people sitting towards the front of Economy would still be among the first to board. This also means that if you have no status and are sitting towards the front of Economy, you may find it difficult to find overhead locker space.

On the subject of overhead luggage space, Qantas is aware that this is an issue on full flights. Australian Frequent Flyer understands the airline is also currently focusing on better enforcement of the carry-on baggage limits, particularly on full domestic flights departing at peak times.

How Qantas boarding groups work in practice

I happened to be at Brisbane Airport last Monday and observed two flights boarding in groups.

The first was an Airbus A330 flight with only the front boarding door in use, so the boarding groups were called forward in chronological order. The gate staff seemed to be checking to make sure people were boarding in the correct group, so this worked well. However, I observed that there were seven Qantas staff members boarding that particular flight, including a few extra people who appeared to be managers. Most flights won’t have this level of scrutiny over the boarding process!

My own flight out of Brisbane was on a Boeing 737-800 and the rear stairs were in use. On this flight, the gate agent first called Groups 1 and 2 to board together. Once those groups had finished boarding, the staff member called Groups 4 and 5 to board at the same time. Finally, they invited Groups 3 and 6 together.

I did not see the gate agents turn away anyone on this flight for being in the wrong boarding group. This could either be because everyone lined up with the correct boarding group on the first day, or because the gate staff just ignored passengers boarding with the incorrect group.

Disappointingly, there was no announcement that passengers boarding in Groups 3-6 should use the right lane, keeping the left lane clear for passengers entitled to priority boarding. As a result, once Groups 3 and 6 were called, passengers in those groups just queued in both lanes. Anyone arriving from the lounge at this point would not have simply been able to board at their leisure, as the priority lane was blocked.

This seems like an improvement for frequent flyers

A common complaint for many years on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum has been that Qantas doesn’t do priority boarding well. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. It’s inconsistent.

Currently, the key problems are that the priority and general boarding queues are processed simultaneously (meaning the priority queue doesn’t get full priority), and many people get away with using the priority queue despite not being entitled to. I noticed the former issue as recently as last week.

This change does seem like good news, overall, because the new system is designed to automatically reject passengers boarding in the wrong group. But ground staff still need to do a better job of keeping the priority boarding lane clear for priority customers.

Join the AFF discussion

What do you think of these changes? And have you experienced the new Qantas boarding groups for yourself? You can share your opinion with other AFF members on our forum:

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 90 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include economics, aviation & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.
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Interesting. This could help solve some problems if they differentiate the status levels - ie, Group 1 - CLPO, group 2- J and WP, group 3 - SG - or something similar.

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Very interesting..... I wonder if they've seen an opportunity to really own this now VA2 PB has slipped with their new system?

Would help on the early morning business flights especially to segment a bit more (e.g between Plat an Gold) because all the important people fly then :cool:

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I've only experience boarding groups in the USA on domestic flights; and always thought it was organised such that rear seats boarded first - does status trump the seating order?

I know that southwest which doesn't do allocated seating allow you to pay more to board in an early group because of the inevitable bin space shortage.

Rather than boarding groups prefer they just police carry-on allowance (so overhead bin Tetris doesnt delay flights), clear the priority lane (and strictly police who is in priority) first.

With boarding groups there is a risk of all the overhead bin space being taken by bronzes sitting in last 10 roes before a WP sitting in row 6 can even board. Plus number the bins and do not allow breachers to use more than their allocated bin space (plus penalty if they have to check a bag because it doenst fit).

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Not sure how boarding groups solve the problem. The problem is enforcing whatever policy in place.

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I've only experience boarding groups in the USA on domestic flights; and always thought it was organised such that rear seats boarded first - does status trump the seating order?

My experience in the US as qantas platinum in economy has been boarding group 1. Recent experience in Europe, boarding group 1, again platinum. But on a business award with the second leg in economy. So not sure if business on the first flight kicked in or status.
Singapore airlines was interesting being business class and VA platinum, but group 2. When I asked they said 'the group was determined by seat row (18 in my case), but you're business so you board first anyway.'

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My experience in the US as qantas platinum in economy has been boarding group 1.

I think American Airlines puts Oneworld Emerald in Economy in Group 2. Group 1 is American Executive Platinum only.

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My experience in the US as qantas platinum in economy has been boarding group 1. Recent experience in Europe, boarding group 1, again platinum. But on a business award with the second leg in economy. So not sure if business on the first flight kicked in or status.
Singapore airlines was interesting being business class and VA platinum, but group 2. When I asked they said 'the group was determined by seat row (18 in my case), but you're business so you board first anyway.'

OWE are usually Boarding Group 2 on AA flights aren't they? Group 1 is usually the military etc..

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Not sure how boarding groups solve the problem. The problem is enforcing whatever policy in place.

Yeah, lets introduce new policies rather than working with one that we already have. Nice one QF!

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Press release: https://www.qantasnewsroom.com.au/media-releases/qantas-group-releases-update-to-long-term-strategy/

This doesn't mention boarding groups specifically, but does mention these;

  • Plans for an overhauled Qantas app, launching towards the end of 2023, that will give customers more control over their bookings, introduction of baggage tracking and better integration of Qantas Loyalty.
  • Changes to Qantas’ boarding process from October 2023 to improve on-time performance and to better recognise tiered Frequent Flyers, in response to customer feedback.

Hopefully the overhauled app supports Google Pay boarding passes on Android. I wonder if "better recognise tiered Frequent Flyers" means we will see Platinum and Gold seperated in terms of boarding group.

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