Originally Posted by knope2001

My boarding passes recently have had a zone number on them as of late.

Assuming that the zone numbers are automatically and consistantly assigned, it will make boarding more reliable. Some GA do it in a slightly different order...sometimes small cildren are before, with or after the elite FF, and sometimes rows 1-4 are forgotten. If the system knows what zone to put on your ticket, it's not subject to forgetting.