<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Kitty Hawk:
If I'm in international business/first (where there has always been more than enough overhead space) or if I have only a tiny bag, I'll board at close to the end as humanly possible. Airline seats are not so comfortable that I want to spend any more time in them than I have to.</font>
Agree. I hate boarding early (even domestic), unless I have a rollaboard, which I usually ship to my customer's site and leave there for the duration.
One of my pet peeves is the unpredictable window of 'final boarding' calls for flights. Often, I end up waiting for a long time at the gate or, alternately, my reserved seat is released. The lounges are sometimes helpful with this, sometimes not helpful.
The airlines must stick to a window where, say, at 20 minutes the pushy people at the gate have all boarded, but no seats will be released until 10 minutes before departure time. That gives those of us who hate the crowds the luxury of boarding in a calm environment. On int'l flights some airlines used to escort travelers from the lounge to board during this window.