m0hamed

In this scenario, walk to the front of the queue and ask politely if you can board. You should do this on any airline where priority boarding has been forgotten (and is a published benefit of CoS or status).

Obviously saying "First Class" in Arabic works every time. With a smile.

NoY

Frankly, i just go to the head of the line (not in an aggressive manner of course) if the staff do not form a premium line. Works 100% of the time as soon as I say 'First/Business Class’ to the staff - I always speak in English with regards to any nationality of airline/staff. They all know what it means. All good.

erik123

It can be difficult at AUH to move to the front at times - especially to South Asian destinations. Think a planeload of people in a small room with security screening before entry.

m0hamed

I don't think destinations or nationalities matter. QF is known to fail with PB. The principle is still the same. It may require assertiveness.

I have done this at AUH security between terminals where there was no priority screening queue and for the Australian flights which have secondary screening. Ironically on the last occasion I got through the gate quickly only to be waiting on the aerobridge for 20 mins or so.

I believe EY making premium pax boarding calls last in their outstation lounges which actually makes a lot of sense.

erik123

It matters as the destination has an impact on the gate used.

irishguy28

Exactly. There physically was no way to get to the head of the queue - it was more of a mass scrum than a line - and the gate agents could not be distracted from their task.

YuropFlyer

Why not stay a few minutes longer in the lounge? With AUH using mostly bus gates, I'll always try to be on the last bus out. Lounge offerings beat any offerings onboard by quite some

And the panels in AUH do display boarding start accurately. It's easy to know when boarding really starts - give it a few minutes (depending on how far your gate is - staff can tell you) after "boarding" is displayed, then leave, and have no queue (or a short one at max) to get into the bus, which should leave fast afterwards once the last pax boarded it.

I know that sometimes they do use a Business/First bus when boarding starts, and that one doesn't get filled like sardines with C/F only, but this isn't guaranteed from my experience. For arriving, yes, but for departing, it's much more of a mixed bag.

irishguy28

Because then you miss the F bus!

And when they have already started boarding, there is no point turning around and going back to the lounge.

Speedbird676

Actually, this is more likely to be actioned to policy out of AUH as it is done centrally by Guest Control rather than the agents in the airport.