Qantas Introduces Boarding Groups

Qantas has today begun a trial of its new boarding process, which will eventually be rolled out to all domestic flights from October 2023. The airline says this will improve on-time performance and “better recognise tiered frequent flyers, in response to customer feedback”.

In preparation for this change, Qantas today began trialling the new boarding procedure at Brisbane Airport’s domestic terminal.

So, how exactly does Qantas’ new flight boarding process work?

How the new Qantas boarding procedure will work

The new Qantas boarding procedure uses numbered boarding 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.

There will be six boarding groups in total for domestic flights. These are:

• Priority Boarding: For Business Class passengers and Qantas Platinum, Platinum One and Oneworld Emerald frequent flyers
• Group 1: Qantas Gold and Oneworld Sapphire frequent flyers
• Group 2A/2B: Passengers sitting in the back half of Economy
• Group 3A/3B: Passengers sitting in the front half of Economy

Passengers who are eligible for Priority Boarding will be able to board at any time. Crucially, 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.

How the new Qantas boarding groups will look like

The new Qantas boarding groups look like this:

Under the new process, where both front and rear boarding doors are used, Qantas will invite passengers sitting in the middle of the plane to board first. Using the seat map above, Group 2A passengers would board first using the rear stairs and Group 3A passengers would be invited to board at the same time, using the front door. Passengers in Groups 2B and 3B would board last, using their respective doors.

The process will work a bit differently on flights where the rear door is not being used for boarding. In that case, boarding would be completed by groups from the back to the front of the plane.

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

Passengers with Gold, Platinum or Platinum One status are often seated towards the front of the plane. Since they are still invited to board first, the reality is that many passengers sitting towards the front of Economy will 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.

Increased airport signage

Under this new system, Qantas plans to have either two or three boarding queues at its airport gates. The exact setup will depend on the airport and gate layout. For example, there could be one queue for Priority Boarding and Group 1, another for Group 2, and a third lane for Group 3.

Qantas currently has only two boarding lanes per gate, so the airline will need to install new signage at airports to make this work.

The Qantas App is also due for an overhaul later this year. Passengers will be able to see their boarding group in the new Qantas App, once that launches.

Trials commence today

Qantas began trials of the new boarding procedure today at Brisbane Airport, to see what does and doesn’t work.

Trials will take place over the coming weeks on selected Qantas Boeing 737-800 departures from Brisbane Airport, including flights to Townsville and Darwin.

This seems like a genuine 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.

This change does seem like good news, overall, because staff will need to enforce the new boarding groups. Otherwise, the new system wouldn’t work.

The Priority Boarding queue will also now be fully processed before Groups 1 and 2 start boarding. And if someone arrives from an earlier boarding group while the next groups are boarding, they should still get priority.

Join the AFF discussion

What do you think of these changes? You can share your opinion, and let us know if you’ve experienced the new boarding process, on the AFF forum:

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 70 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.