dtremit

My $0.02 -- I don't care whether people line up in the lane or not, but I'd like a clear policy.

Perhaps as part of the "boarding soon" announcement, the GA could invite FC to queue in the blue lane?

The other thing other carriers do that US appears not to is physically block the red lane prior to the completion of elite boarding (usually by putting a rope across it). This would prevent my biggest pet peeve: elites who line up in the red lane to skip ahead of the ones who got in the blue lane like they were told.

joeyrukkus

I agree that is annoying. Last week I was boarding in the preferred lane and some lady who was queued up in the red lane (behind zone 2 pax) realized she was in the wrong lane and ducked the rope right in front of me. You don't get to cut in line because you can't follow directions!

hginPHL

I had that happen to me a few weeks ago in IAH. Kudos to the GA that told that guy that he would have to wait until he had boarded all of us in FC that had already been waiting in the blue line.

I agree, it's very annoying, and not all that hard. Blue = preferred, Red=not preferred. However, it is a pain when you are in FC and the blue lane is clogged with non-FC preferred pax. First world problems, I know :-)

ibrandsguest

Doesn't paying $10+ for Priority Access give someone non-Preferred the right to board in the blue lane?

I was in the Preferred security line in Charlotte and there was a passenger behind me who definitely did not look Preferred, and I thought about making a light-hearted comment- "your child must be one of the youngest frequent fliers around- hope you've had a lot of great trips!" but then caught myself before being judgmental by realizing that the passenger might have just paid $10 to use the lane.

javacodeguy

What makes someone look "not preferred?" Perhaps the adult was a Chairman and was just taking a holiday with their kid?

ksl11

I'm anxiously awaiting the answer to this, too! Was it his clothing or something else that allowed the poster to ascertain the frequency of the passenger's travel?

On a related note, I was traveling in Europe over the winter on an envoy ticket, and I walked up to the First Class/Envoy counter to check in. (I think this was in MAN.) I was by myself, dressed in jeans, boots, and a parka. No, it was not a cocktail dress or a suit, but I was perfectly presentable. The agent immediately snapped, "This is for first class passengers only."

preguntas

clt-las 07/07, only 2 of us in the blue lane when GA started boarding FC. and no one in red. maybe b/c she had only made 1 pre-board announcement and no one heard....

IADCAflyer

Well, yes. Sometimes us preferreds do take our kids on trips. And yes, we too can board with Zone 1....

thuhfreak

i just did lax to charlotte to newark; first leg was a bit delayed, so when i landed in charlotte i had to run between gates. the line was looking pretty ugly and i heard them call zone 3 as i approached. lucky for me, the preferred lane was wide open, so i made it over to there. the GA put her hand up and told the z3's "please wait, this gentleman is in first class". i dont know how she knew before looking at my ticket, but i was happy. i always feel a little bad skipping past the non-preferreds, but that melts away after a little rum.


re: looking preferred, i tend to dress like a shlub unless i come directly from (or are going directly to) a mtg. no need to get all decked out and wrinkle my nice suits and scuff my shoes and be all rigged up and uncomfortable when i'm doing 10h on airplanes.

iztok

I too often fly the day before in jeans, running t-shirt and running shoes. Unless I go directly to/from meeting I "don't look preferred"

And coming Sunday you will see this "not looking preferred" with his "not looking preferred" family in CLT and PHL club on our CLT-PHL-MUC route. And if you are lucky enough that you are sitting in one of the rows close by and if my 2 year old doesn't do well flying for her first time then I do apologize in advance.

uva185

I would have blurted back "Well US Airways does not have an international First Class, are you able to assist Envoy passengers?"

Global321

I really did this...

I had this happen once - I was on vacation but in international First.... without asking anything, pointed to the coach line and said, "YOU, need to go in that line and wait your turn with the rest of the coach passengers."

I smiled to myself and said to her... "I need to talk to a supervisor. Now." She tried to say something else. I simply replied, "Supervisor. Now. Please."

When the supervisor came over, I handed my card and my passport to them and said, "The agent here does not know how to speak to passengers, let alone First Class International passengers. Can you please assist me as your agent refused to."

The supervisor even tried to say the agent was quite capable to check me in. I stopped them mid-sentence and said, "We are beyond that now. Where we are at now is whether or not when I write my complaint to both the CEO and the airport operations manager, the shift supervisor became part of the problem or part of the solution."

The agent actually had the nerve/guts to try and say something else. I stopped her mid sentence and said "I don't think we need your help here any more. I looked at the supervisor and said, "Do we?" The supervisor suggested she help load some other bags. (She turned and was clearly miffed.)

The supervisor apologized the rest of the way through the check-in process.

By the way - I did write the letter.

dvanrip

I'd love to hear the answer to this too. I was, at one point, a 22 year old Chairman (who looked about 17) and frequently chose to fly a day early to wherever I needed to be and would dress in 'normal' clothes - jeans, flip flops, polo shirt, etc.

While I was never questioned by another passenger, more than once, when taking drink/food orders and crosschecking names and status, a FA would be surprised by the face s/he was looking at and the status I had, and (half) jokingly ask if I was flying on my "dad's" FF account... i was never offended by it, but would simply explain my work and my travels. This, btw, usually led to a full drink for the duration of the flight.

fordan

They apparently Did not Know Who you were.

ibrandsguest

The passenger was a young mother with a child in a stroller, and not dressed for either a business trip or to get through security quickly.

I did not say anything to the passenger- I figured that she may well have just as much right to be in the Preferred line as I did.