Preferred lane etiquette
 

Stand outside the lane and only enter it when First Class is called

Or

Queue immediately in the lane (if seated in F) when arriving at the gate

It seems to me there is no reason not to fill the lane immediately, but that rarely seems to happen.

Thanks,
~shack42

You should see the Priority boarding lane at ORD - utter and complete chaos the other day....

The penalty for anyone lining up before their specific zone is called should be death by firing squad. That goes for everyone except military in uniform and people that need special assistance. Why the heck are you lining up to be the first one in FC?

If one sits in row 1 I try to be one of the first to get in line so I have space to put my stuff in the overhead bins.

The preferred lane is away from the gate agents and the general lane which is used for special assistance and pre-boards. Lining up early would not interfere with any gate activity before F boarding is called.

What is the purpose of the lane if not to stand in? -- you rarely can get to it after the boarding process starts and half the time many of the F crowd just walks down either lane to hand in their BP because it's silly not to once F is called to board.

F passengers usually stand near the front of the gate anyway as they know they're boarding first.. either along the wall (if there is one) or near the desk leaving enough room for gate traffic and pre-boards.

Only once have i heard a GA announce that F pax can queue up in that lane before the start of the boarding process. When they rolled out these preferred lane signs, they didn't come with any instructions or "intended use" guidelines.

+1

I was in CLT last week and everyone was patiently waiting to board when some guy walks into the priority lane and queues up - at first it struck me as kind of douchey but as I thought about it I really couldn't come up with a reason that someone in first shouldn't go ahead and enter the lane. Whaddayathink...

GAs Responsibility
 

It is up to the GAs to enforce keeping the lanes clear. If there was a standard policy and it was adhered to by the GAs, there would not be an issue.

The overhead space for Row 1 does create a need to be among the very first to enter the cabin. It sucks to swim against the tide when leaving the aircraft to retrieve a bag over Row 4, 5 or 6 after you've just flown in Row 1.

Totally agree. What with equipment and crew stuff in some short F cabins (A320), if you're in 1 you get closed out almost immediately if you dawdle.

AMEN ^ I might even throw in the strollers just to keep things moving later on, but that is another thread.

This happened to me last week, sat in 1A but didn't queue until F was announced which put me on last. All the over heads were completely packed in F and I travel light, i only need a 3-4 inch space to put my lap top bag. I wasn't very appologetic when I had to shove my way back 5 rows to get my bag to deplane.

It is truly odd... I agree that as a group we are very uncomfortable with navigating this new toy placed into our hamster tank.

of course on UA, GS, etc. elites fill up the lane and wait there until boarding starts. I suppose in comes along with the level of entitlement that goes along with GS, but it does create for a much more orderly approach. I agree that it would be preferable if the GA would encourage FC to queue into the holding pen so that they can board other specials as needed. It would also make things oh so much more orderly. As it stands right now the addition of the other lane serves zero purpose.

double-edged sword. once F starts lining up, then zones 3+ make their way to within 5 and 10 ft of the other lane.

They do this anyways. Danger of lining up early is they'll see a line and join it ignoring the preferred designation, especially at those gates where you can get to the preferred lane from the side without seeing the sign.

The gate areas are so terribly narrow and crowded with chairs and other structures that the throng of boarders makes it nearly impossible to access the Preferred Lane once boarding has begun; which was one of the intended benefits of the Preferred Lane.

The "we're going to begin boarding soon" announcement at T-15 minutes is effectively a "On your mark, get set" call that triggers everyone in the gate area to instantly form a disorganized mass, blocking both lanes. I sincerely wish they would do away with this announcement and just start boarding at the prescribed time with short, concise messages like "First class may now board", "Zone 3 may now board", etc.