AlbaGuBrath

The old Galleries lounge at GLA was brilliant for priority boarding - you would be whisked through a side door, straight to the gate.

Up In The Air

Queuing systems can be great when they work efficiently, and where the 'rules' are enforced (preferably politely and compassionately).

A classic technique is for queue jumpers to pretend that they don't understand the rules (by ignoring the signs and/or the announcements of the gate staff) and then hoping that the gate staff will 'turn a blind eye' – (which in my experience they normally do).

As a previous poster alluded to, queue jumping can be a manifestation of a queue jumpers outlook on life and other people, and a measure of their feeling of self-importance. I'm beginning to think that this might also be true of those who take the trouble to complain about queue jumpers in an on-line forum!

aldaniti

And that view is fine, but then what is your view of the flock that has decided to form a premature 12 wide 4 deep queue and blocked off any resemblance of a fast track lane with their multitude of bags and trolleys and have no intention of moving even though they can't board early?

LTN Phobia

It's rude to queue jump but if someone does it to me, I let them, in order to avoid any scenes. It's not worth my while making a big scene over it. If someone is in such a hurry, fine - take my place, as it won't cause me any material inconvenience. However, I then feel guilty towards those behind me - they shouldn't have to tolerate a queue jumper just because I feel I can tolerate one, so I often end up apologising to those behind me even though I didn't queue barge, but because I allowed a queue barger to inconvenience them.

As for what I do for the fast track boarding queue, I tend to try to find a seat close to the FT boarding line and join the queue early if I feel the need to do so. That usually works quite well.

If there is an existing queue and if it's not certain whether they are queuing or not, you could just approach who appears to be at the back of the queue ask them if it is the back of the [Fast Track if applicable] queue. If it is, I join it. If not, I go to what appears to be another back of the queue and repeat the process. That's my standard practice and never yet resulted in someone overtly offended by my asking if it's the back of the queue (although some people may have been silently offended, in which case, I apologise, it wasn't intended to offend you in any way). Often it turns out they aren't part of the queue. If they are, I simply join the back of it. That way, I avoid actively offending someone.

I also don't speak to the person if someone who appears to be at the back of queue has the earphones in, because I think it can be annoying to have to take them out and put them back in. Instead, if who I think is at the back of the queue has an earphone in his/her ears, I just watch the movement when the boarding starts and join the end of the fast track queue. Keeps it pretty stress-free for me.

It's not worth stressing over the order of boarding, especially when I'm in CE as I have not yet personally been unable to find a space in the overhead locker in CE, and I have not seen it among those who were in the first half that boarded.

However, I do think fast track boarding for rubies is a mistake, as it makes the fast track boarding queue very, very long, possibly longer than a standard queue in some cases. As most airports board the fast track queue and the standard queue board at the same time, those who are in the fast track queue could theoretically be left to board as one of the last, if there is someone with an issue in front of them.

LondonElite

Way too many people have priority boarding rights, in my view. It defeats the whole purpose! That said, unless it is a rammed full flight and I'm in ET on say the last flight on a Sunday GVA-LHR in ski season, where there is a fight for overhead bin space, I'm happiest being the last person on the plane. This is especially true in LH where I travel mainly in CW, occasionally in F. What's the point of standing in a queue when you can have another glass of champagne in the lounge?

chris1979

As others have said, I consider it rude and inconsiderate to queue jump.

I am not sure I quite follow your logic of "following the rules" in the scenario you describe, but again, as others have said, life is too short to get too upset and there will always be people who queue jump - either because they are unaware of the queue / etiquette or for DYKHIA reasons.

I personally leave the lounge just before I suspect they start priory boarding to get to the front of the building queue when I am travelling in first few rows of EDI - LCY as locker space very limited.

windowontheAside

I'm on the fence with this one. I won't jump an obvious queue. But it seems to me that there is often a "non-queue" present when I arrive at the gate. By that I mean a group of people standing around apparently randomly but with a clear idea of who arrived in which order.

Then when boarding is announced, those people glide into their appropriate spot in the queue with glowering looks at people who approach it as a free-for-all.

I see this as a rather British habit. I don't think I've seen it anywhere else (*excluding BA boarding queues at outstations), and I feel a bit sorry for anyone who inadvertently breaks the unwritten rules of the non-queue system.

On a related note - why do people non-queue around the end of the fast track lane rather than walk in and start a proper queue at the head of the lane?

LTN Phobia

I suspect that one person stands around the fast track entrance (often seems to be a non-fast track one though), and whoever comes next does not enter the fast track lane for fear of queue barging, even though they are entitled to fast track boarding, and not asking the person standing there if they are in the queue either.

That person may be standing around the fast track entrance (which is usually next to the standard lane so you can't blame whoever isn't entitled to FT boarding from standing there either) because they feel bad about entering the lane without being invited to do so by a staff member.

mad_rich

This! It's that wonderful, British, I'm queueing but I'm not actually queueing approach. I have to admit, I tend to glide to the front of the non-queue if it's just a bunch of hoverers. But if it's a more coherent queue for a queue, I wouldn't.

I never used to bother trying to get on-board early - if I could't be first, I'd rather sit down and wait for last - but hand luggage space is becoming a bit of a drag, so I do now.

Possibly because they would then have to admit that they were queueing, and they know that boarding hasn't commenced yet and it would be terribly un-British to queue before you're 'supposed to'.

aldaniti

You're right.
Its fascinating human behaviour.
David Attenborough in my head, "Here we see the weary traveller pretending to interrogate his smart phone as he shuffles to the front of an imaginary queue, being careful not to lock eyes with any other being, he arrives in an approximate area puts his backpack on the floor and continues to stare at his smartphone for a further full minute, after this minute he subconsciously relaxes and feels that this space is now 'his' and he is oblivious to any disparaging looks.
Other travellers in the pack, see this move and so also start to converge on this area and randomly stake out their territory with their various array of elderly relatives, young children and over priced duty free. Others sit in their seats on the periphery watching, waiting for the announcement. Meanwhile, more travellers arrive and converge on the area as they have seen that the flight is flashing 'boarding' - now there is no 'queue' just a mass of people, refusing to make eye contact with each other, some are on their cell phones letting complete strangers in on their inane conversations.. Then.... the announcement .... that fast track and priority boarding will commence... this is obviously transmitted at frequency not audible to the now scrum as all now shuffle forward with magnetic attraction......"

klymen

'tis true the British love a queue (as an Aussie I find it mildly amusing). I personally cannot understand the desire many people have to get on the plane at the earliest possible moment. Even when I had no status and no lounge access I always just sat in the gate area until everyone else was on. The one queue that seems unavoidable is the one in the aerobridge.

Then again, most of my travel is long-haul Y, so I'm in no hurry to spend an extra half an hour on that plane!

Watching the queues form and the fidgeting start is an interesting pastime, as someone said a bit earlier!

angatol

.....

McCoy

If there was guaranteed and sufficient* overhead cabin baggage storage for say the first 5 rows, this fast track congregational queueing would instantly disappear.

*obviously theoretical, not a real proposal.

corporate-wage-slave

I neither queue nor queue jump, I'm generally row 1 and I have my life on my back. I - or the crew - have always found somewhere for my bag to go. I've never been on a flight that was late due to hand baggage problems, though I've certainly been on flights that could have left a minute or two earlier if people were better organised. Compare and contrast with all the other reasons for delay, e.g. Heathrow's congestion.

So I turn up - at T5 - about 22 minutes before advertised departure time. I sit down if boarding hasn't started, but generally it already has, so I can just walk on. If there's random bunching by Priority Boarding, I don't regard that as a queue and I leap into place after they switch on the esclator and the lead agent reaches for the microphone. If there's a queue - one person in front of another - I wait for it to pass through, then join Priority Boarding. All queue jumpers have had a bad childhood, so it doesn't matter, but it's ok to pity them.

My bag is flexible, and can squeeze into all sorts of nooks and crannies, or under the seat if it has to. I am mentally prepared to move from row 1 to another seat, even a middle one, since I could put that bag under the seat. But I've never had to do it.

HIDDY

AZ encourage you to use the every man, woman and child for themselves method.

Seems to work well.