d'Yquem

I appreciate this is likely to be controversial...

I know offering priority boarding on SH flights to CE / Gold / Silver / Bronze / OW equivalents / uncle tom cobley is great in marketing material, but it is making it more and more difficult for CE passengers to get their cases on board unless they arrive really early, which rather defeats the purpose.

I was recently on a shorthaul flight (LHR-ZRH) ticketed in club europe. By the time I got to the gate (not late), there were maybe 40 passengers in the priority boarding queue (quite legitimately, I presume).

The gate crew boarded us in one cohort of CE, Gold, Silver, Bronze and OW equivalents, followed by everyone else. I should say that the 'everyone else' were a handful of people at that stage.

The inevitable happened: by the time I got on the flight, there was no room for baggage in the club cabin (I was in 1A), despite the cabin being almost empty of CE passengers at that point (and upon passengers disembarking, I saw the 'culprits' come and recover their luggage from the CE cabin - so it definitely wasn't crew). I had to go half way down the aircraft to find space for my carry-on luggage, and it was not easy getting the baggage at the end of the flight. I had to wait for all passengers to disembark.

Wouldn't it be better to board according to cabin first, and then (and only then) Gold / Silver / Bronze / OW equivalents? This already happens on some longhaul routes, but not all the time (e.g. TLV-LHR never does this). I just think it would be fairer for a passenger paying for CE. I know there are two counter-arguments: passengers on avios tickets in CE vs. paying ET passengers; and non-status CE passengers vs. loyal ET passengers (suffering from corporate policy on SH flights), and I do have sympathy for these cohorts. But surely there must be some fairer method than simply boarding everyone together?

CCayley

Yes it would be better. Gold cardholders travelling down the back have no legitimate need to board ahead of Club passengers. Alternatively, the crew should close the bins over the Club cabin to emphasise they are primarily for the use of Club passengers.

philthegreek

The problem appears to be the fact that people are putting their carry-on in the CE space rather than it being a simple boarding issue. I have seen both BA CC and other airlines' CC remove bags from the CE bins and send them to their rightful owners down the back of the plane. I have also seen them stop people putting their bags in the CE bins if they are not sitting there. Such actions solve the problem you are complaining about.
So maybe the answer is a bit more vigilance from CC as to who is putting bags where.

rocketship87

I'm very surprised that the CC did not help you find space in CE. I refuse to play the priority boarding game anymore, it is too stressful and I would rather stay in the lounge an extra 15 minutes. The few times I've boarded and not found any space overhead, the CC stepped in and figured it out for me. I would never accept them putting my bag in ET; I'm not waiting for the whole plane to disembark!

ianfly

I think they need to have 3 queues for short haul. one for general boarding, one for club Europe/gold and another for silver and bronze.

Certain status heavy routes could also be managed better. Dublin is a nightmare!

florens

I agree!

nufnuf77

Not sure whether you have seen, but someone posted about a guy in 1A complaining about the priority boarding on LHR ZRH in DYKWIA thread just yesterday.

Worcester

I think it would be a good idea, but given that BA can't enforce the existing priority boarding rules, I would not hold my breath.

stu1985

If that had happened to me, I'd have kept my case and asked the crew if they wouldn't mind popping it in the wardrobe for me at the front. Never normally problem for them to do this.

Silver Fox

On some domestic US flights I take where I am in first/front cabin, I have seen variations of both the OH bins already closed, and as you go to open them the FA will ask where you are sitting as if to bless your stowage in that section, or the FA just being proactive as soon as you go to stow it if they are already open. I have also seen them take other passengers luggage out and walk it to the back of the aircraft when they have asked "whose is this?" and if no-one identifies it in the first section/cabin they walk to the back of the plane asking the same question until someone identifies it. And if no-one does I have seen them gate-check it.

Tafflyer

I often get annoyed by them not enforcing priority boarding. Either the bar is so low that 75% of the aircraft have priority or the line contains many who are not entitled to priority.
A particular problem in CE though is the blocked front lockers and crew baggage at the front meaning that even when boarding early and seated in 1A your bag is above row 3. This is then a hassle after arrival when the aisle is jammed with impatient souls wanting a quick exit.

Oaxaca

My understanding of the current policy is that Silver/Bronze and equivalents should be after CE/Gold/OWE, but this is far from consistently announced/enforced. As with hand luggage policy, if BA actually enforced their current policies properly, there would be a lot less issues (of course there may still be issues on some Gold-heavy routes).

I agree that while BA crew are generally helpful at finding space, they are not very proactive regarding policing the storage of bags, whether it be ET bags in CE lockers or second items going under seats.

LondonElite

Yes, this.

Phil the Flyer

I don't think the OP is being controversial; I think he/she speaks for many of us. This is the one thing above all else that irritates me about flying BA.

Mrs PtF and I have travelled quite frequently in CE recently (we've virtually given up flying CW, when there are such better options elsewhere). Both of us being BAEC Gold, whenever I book flights at ba.com we invariably automatically get allocated 1A and 1C.

Much to my wife's irritation I virtually have to drag her to the boarding area as soon as the gate number is announced to ensure that we board sufficiently early to ensure that our cabin bags (we each have a Rimowa Topas Business Multiwheel) can be stowed somewhere reasonably close to our seats. We shouldn't have to do this, but it's the only way to guarantee convenient overhead locker space.

Wouldn't it make sense for BA, when tagging cabin baggage, to write the seat number associated with the bag's owner on the tag? That way cabin crew could, if so minded, more readily identify whether bags are being stowed appropriately or not.

V10

This doesn't look such much like the priority boarding process is broken per se.

Some of the passengers that are entitled to it, on the other hand, do seem to be somewhat deficient.