Originally Posted by
UAL1200
I did ask a rep about priority boarding: You only need to show the card to get priority boarding; meaning that a reservation does not need to be paid with this card in order to get access.
That is exactly the opposite of what a very unfriendly rep told me the other day (after a 20 minute hold, a two minute talk, and another 12 minute hold). She insisted the reservation had to be paid with the card.
I was asking because on my previous flights after getting this card, I had Zone 1 printed on my boarding pass. In this case, I had Zone 4.
I went to the gate in Brussels and asked them about it and they told me to board through the priority boarding after the elites, which I did (no one checked anything anyway).
Given that people crowd around the boarding area so much, it's sometimes not even possible to board in Zone 1. They call Zone 1, no one immediately appears because only a couple people have it and they can't reach the line quickly, then they call Zone 2 and everyone rushes forward.
I don't understand why every airline tolerates this behavior. There should be some clear zone you can only stand in if you are actively boarding.