Better than Priority Boarding

Old Jan 1, 2013, 3:26 pm
  #1  
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Better than Priority Boarding

Happy New Year all.

Last week I flew LAX to RAR on Air NZ.
I was waiting for my flight in the lounge. The lounge staff would announce each upcoming flight, and would herd the passengers from the lounge to the gate like a group of school children on a class trip. The best part was that the lounge staff pushed her way through the gate lice and took us right to the gate agent at the priority lane.

I wish AC would emulate this, as it seemed to be a great way to avoid the gate lice and the usual crush before boarding.

Anyone else on this forum experienced this with AirNZ or other airlines?
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Old Jan 1, 2013, 3:36 pm
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Gate lice? Is that kind of smear really necessary?
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Old Jan 1, 2013, 3:51 pm
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Originally Posted by km101

Anyone else on this forum experienced this with AirNZ or other airlines?
Yes, I've flown Air NZ in J and no I haven't experienced this. As a matter of fact, I remember sitting in the priority area at the gate in AKL about 2 months ago and they made ~12 of us vacate the seats for 5 unaccompanied minors. (These minors were in the 13-15 yr old age bracket.)

I also flew in J on Air NZ from MEL-AKL and again there was no preferential treatment. As a matter of fact the Express Pass line they had for Priority customers to clear customs was so bad (only 1 agent), that we abandonned it for the regular line.

Originally Posted by DaveObee
Gate lice? Is that kind of smear really necessary?
New here?
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Old Jan 1, 2013, 5:07 pm
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Originally Posted by DaveObee
Gate lice? Is that kind of smear really necessary?
It certainly is.
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Old Jan 1, 2013, 7:51 pm
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Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (BlackBerry; U; BlackBerry 9700; en-US) AppleWebKit/534.8+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0.0.666 Mobile Safari/534.8+)

I prefer how some carriers board premium cabins last, minimizing the time you sit on the plane, so you don't have to wait as everyone else boards

Although that method won't work if your goal from priority boarding is to get adequate overhead bin space
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Old Jan 1, 2013, 7:56 pm
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Originally Posted by DaveObee
Gate lice? Is that kind of smear really necessary?
Yes, but thanks for asking.
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Old Jan 1, 2013, 8:09 pm
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There was a time when AC did that at GRU.

Alas, no more.
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Old Jan 1, 2013, 8:39 pm
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Originally Posted by km101
The best part was that the lounge staff pushed her way through the gate lice
Did she use a bamboo cane to beat them back ?

Originally Posted by yulhammeryyz
I prefer how some carriers board premium cabins last, minimizing the time you sit on the plane, so you don't have to wait as everyone else boards
Agreed - as a J or F passenger I don't want to board before everyone else and watch them all file past me, I want to be the last person to get on the plane just before the doors close.

Originally Posted by yulhammeryyz
Although that method won't work if your goal from priority boarding is to get adequate overhead bin space
The ideal would be if you could simply hand your carry-on bags to a porter to put under/above your seat in advance of boarding, and then get on the plane yourself later.

You can in fact still do this on trains in Canada^ but no doubt there are all kinds of security/logistical reasons it wouldn't work with airlines.
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Old Jan 1, 2013, 10:21 pm
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Not sure if I am interested in "spoon fed" or "escorted/chained" boarding......
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Old Jan 2, 2013, 1:30 am
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IME that is routine at LAX... but I haven't seen it anywhere else with NZ...

Either they feel it necessary at LAX specifically for some reason... OR it is just a habit of the lounge staff...

I have never seen the lounge staff "push" through anyone..... the boarding lane has always been clear when I've been in the "school crocodile" down to the aircraft...
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Old Jan 2, 2013, 4:11 am
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Originally Posted by km101
Happy New Year all.

Last week I flew LAX to RAR on Air NZ.
I was waiting for my flight in the lounge. The lounge staff would announce each upcoming flight, and would herd the passengers from the lounge to the gate like a group of school children on a class trip. The best part was that the lounge staff pushed her way through the gate lice and took us right to the gate agent at the priority lane.

I wish AC would emulate this, as it seemed to be a great way to avoid the gate lice and the usual crush before boarding.

Anyone else on this forum experienced this with AirNZ or other airlines?
Turkish Airlines does something like this with it's domestic flights. When your flight is boarding they call you to come to one of the boarding gates IN the lounge. You are then bussed to your gate (even if the plane is at a terminal position) and can essentially get right on the plane.

Some might not like it as there are announcements every 5-10 minutes in the lounge but I like it because it ensures no wasted time at the gate waiting to board.
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Old Jan 2, 2013, 4:55 am
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YOW.that.hurts, welcome to FT, and love the handle! ^
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Old Jan 2, 2013, 5:11 am
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Originally Posted by Stranger
There was a time when AC did that at GRU.
I experienced this on AC from SYD-YYZ (from the NZ lounge) with the Concierge herding us all to the gate.
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Old Jan 2, 2013, 6:13 am
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Originally Posted by DaveObee
Gate lice? Is that kind of smear really necessary?
Interesting observation!!
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