Originally Posted by
DELLAS
I have extensive experience of flying mostly Star Alliance over many years and I can tell you that on the majority of my flights on various Star carriers families are invited to board first before any *G or even J Class ( Which is usually my cabin of choice ). Also on my BA flights that has been the case.
Also KLouis has corrected the assumption that these are broken rules with his post. Your comment that *G and Business Class MUST board first is incorrect.Even Star Alliance themselves state Where this is offered.
What we would like to happen and what carriers permit are two totally different things.
It is important not to be selective in one's use of facts. Probably the best description of the boarding process of any *A airline is given on Air Canada's website. They state that AC uses a five zone system where passengers queue to board - two priority lanes and three for general boarding. The boarding process is as follows: (1) wheelchair passengers; (2) zone 1 followed by zone 2 (which includes *G economy passengers); (3) 'passengers with children under six or who require additional time to board the aircraft are invited to board next' (through zones 3-5); (4) general boarding of zones 3-5 in sequential order.
Almost all *A airlines operate a system where priority customers are boarded through a separate gate. Even if families with small children are pre-boarded, they do the via the general boarding gates(s).
The main point of this thread is to highlight the anarchic nature of the boarding process on many A3 flights. This could be organised much better if two lanes were always used for boarding - one for priority passengers and the other for general boarding. If this were the case, no-one would complain about families with small children (e.g. under six) being pre-boarded.
Finally, the Seat Guru website reports that there is an increasing trend among airlines to stop pre-boarding of children and to sell priority boarding rights. This is the reality we live in.