Originally Posted by RSVP

Upgrade to BC. ATL-LAS is a long flight, you'll be much more comfortable in BC.

Originally Posted by HPN-HRL

Here's a copy of my old "approximate zone chart for the 717", which was produced before the "buy up to early boarding" - if you change all the #s 2-7 to 3-8 respectively, it ought to be fairly close. Also, if the flight is not so full they sometimes call more than one zone at a time.

(Note - row #s where transitions occur are almost certainly incorrect.)

Row# A C D E F
10 5 7 7 6 5
11 5 7 7 6 5
12 5 7 7 6 5
13 5 7 7 6 5
14 4 6 6 5 4
... .... .......
17 4 6 6 5 4
18 4 6 6 5 4
19 3 5 5 4 3
... .... .......
24 3 5 5 4 3
25 3 5 5 4 3
26 2 4 4 3 2
... .... .......
29 2 4 4 3 2
30 2 4 4 3 2
31 2 4 4 3 2

Also note that any elite passenger gets zone 1 regardless of seat assignment.

Let us know how the above matches up with your experiences.

Originally Posted by traveller001

Boarding is essentially the same for both aircraft.

BC (rows 1,2&3) and Elites first even though Elites have Zone 1 on the BP
Zone 1 A2B Corporate bookings and Exit rows plus Rows 12-16 if purchased at time of booking should include zone 1
Zone 2 (purchased priority)
Zone 3 (depending on special service request)

Then...

General boarding Zones 4-8 board starting from rear of the aircraft to front with window seats filled first if you can imagine a V with the bottom of it at the tail. That's why those in the same row may have up to 3 different zones. Parties travelling together may board in the lowest zone in your party.

* Occasionally depending on the situation a special needs, unaccompanied minor, wheelchair/aisle chair may be preboarded by the GA in the interest of an overall smoother boarding to make an ontime departure.

It works very smoothly if all passengers are at gate at start of boarding... I'm sure you've all seen passengers reach the gate later and board last regardless of zone.

Originally Posted by chgoeditor

Does AirTran still use the boarding process outlined by HPN-HRL and traveller001?