orbitmic

I'm really surprised by the number of people saying that what happened to you was all right. BA has a rule and it is absolutely not the place of a gate agent to replace it by another, full stop. The BA rule is that there are three categories of passengers for boarding purposes:

- passengers necessiting special assistance to board
- passengers entitled to fast track boarding
- everyone else

One could discuss for a million years whether some categories should be split, added, withdrawn, moved, etc, whether someone on a wheelchair should take precedence over someone with a baby or whether someone with F should take precedence over someone with a bronze card, or if women should be allowed to board before men or people wearing long sleeves over people wearing short sleeves or whatever. Frankly, if changes were to come, I personally guess that depriving GCH's of their boarding priority status would unlikely be the most pressing reform, but whatever system one would ideally prefer is entirely irrelevant here. The truth of the matter is that you were entitled to board when priority boarding was called and you were not. This is unacceptable and I would recommend that you take a few minutes to complain about it using the web form.

SukiB

+1 It's is both BA and poorly trained third party ground staff (like the Celebi dragons at BUD) who are to blame!

billinghamn

Agreed SukiB - time BA sorted out their training then. Perhaps they should be applying the same high standards to third party ground staff, as they expect from their cabin crew! Especially since they are happy to promote these high standards through their recent documentary on BBC2.

Time BA got the message that it's the end to end experience that needs to be high quality - not just one or two (albeit important) aspects.

TabTraveller

I am genuinely confused at the bronze bashing on here. Surely the AA system would work if enforced and allow BA to deliver the promised 'priority boarding' to everyone. You can easily maintain bronze 'priority' in a staggered way once you've boarded F, GCH, J and SCH strictly in that order. Bronze in Y still get 'priority boarding' ahead of most other pax and those paying their £10k for a one-way F ticket (?!) don't get stuck in a long line behind a Marco Polo Club Silver in Y who has never flown BA before. The AA system works very well. I really don't get why BA can't adopt it.

CCayley

"Priority boarding" was not called. "First and Club passengers" were called (see post no. 51). OP decided he was an honorary first class passenger despite his economy ticket and was quite rightly sent back. Where does BA guarantee that everyone from first class through to bronze will be treated as an undifferentiated mass for boarding purposes?

Tafflyer

I feel the point of priority boarding is to allow status holders first dibs at limited overhead space. This is vital when travelling down the back but becomes less important the closer to the front of the plane you are.

Personally, the few occasions I fly F, I'd prefer to maximise my time in the lounge, roll up to the aircraft as close as possible to doors closing and still find overhead space. That is real priority boarding. Not first on, but easiest on.

orbitmic

Indeed, they chose to call groups instead. What I mean is that BA has service standards for boarding just like it has service standards for cabin service and everything else. AFAIK the service standard for boarding is according to the three categories that I mentioned in the previous post, and it is not up to gate staff to change that.

It would be equally abnormal if they had said "we would now like to invite all of our BAEC Gold Card holders to board and ask all other customers to remain in their seats at this stage" and asked non status F and J pax to wait, or allowed BAEC GCH to board before other OW Emerald, or for that matter called priority boarding before calling special assistance passengers. It does not matter that none of those groups are guaranteed anything because it is BA's way of organising its own procedures and individual stations do not have the legitimate right to ignore the company's set standards.

NYTA

TLV is usually chaos at the gate no matter what airline you fly. Even LY doesn't do priority boarding for elites properly there and it's their home airport. They do it better on LY flights in other countries. I think it is because generally the gate agents work for the handling companies rather than for the airline itself.

HilFly

Each to their own. I like priority boarding because I like to board early, settle down and relax with my pre-departure drink.

South London Bon Viveur

I have no problem with F and J being called before status. Or C first and then status on European flights. But status passengers should get priority over non-status. And Bronze being allowed to priority board is not a good idea IMO- at least until such day as I get relegated to Bronze.

CCayley

I repeat my earlier question: Where does BA guarantee that everyone from first class through to bronze will be treated as an undifferentiated mass for boarding purposes? Sometimes two air bridges may be used, with the forward entrance designated for first and business class or for first class only. Do bronze/silver/gold cardholders travelling in economy on such a flight have a special 'right' to use the forward air bridge?

In any event only first and business class passengers were called forward. OP should have respected the instructions of the gate staff, but instead he decided that he was in charge of the boarding process rather than them. They were right to send him back.

paulwuk

I've been in multiple queues, including the chaos of T1 to CAI, where the boarding call goes out for the normal lot (cabin and status), but then at a later time they start shouting "business class only". It's a fair assumption, given that BA are supposed to board F, J, GCH, SCH and BCH in the priority mass, that unless they specifiy "no status",

Given that a typical GCH will be spending tens of thousands a year on BA tickets, but a typical non-status CW passenger will be spending under £5k, BA really should only give priority for status and maybe F.

bafan

Sorry, but I think you are wrong. You need to read the Executive Club benefits information a little more carefully.

TabTraveller

It doesn't.

BA would be perfectly within their rights to adopt AA's boarding system tomorrow without changing a word of their policy or marketing material. Of course a general email to all EC members explaining the boarding process and clear instructions from ground staff would be helpful. It is a real shame they don't do so.

TabTraveller

There is no mention of priority boarding in the EC terms. The advertised benefit is "priority boarding" with the exception of one page in reference to gold benefits that says "first class check in and boarding". This is different from the bronze and silver benefits on the same page which simply say "priority boarding". More than likely that this is a typo but it otherwise suggests that GCHs and F pax are entitled to 'first class' boarding as distinct from priority boarding. I have never seen this enforced if it exists.

In any case there is no definition offered for priority boarding so as long as there is some discernible priority offered to BCH/SCH/GCH as against a non-executive club member then I can't see how BA can be accused of failing to live up to what it has promised.