Originally Posted by
AndyPatterson
As a threshold question, why are there 9 or 10 boarding groups (counting those who come "ahead" of Group 1). That's just a recipe for chaos, given the push to start boarding before the stated boarding time.
The number of groups have only gone up 2 in the last 10-20-30 years and that is because of Basic Economy and CK. They have just codified all the groups instead of calling certain ones by name. The original number were 4 groups, but then there was First Class, EXP, Plat, and Gold on top of that. Instead of saying, now boarding Platinum, they now say boarding group 3.
I remember that part of the reason for this was confusion by the Credit Card Holders. When they hear boarding Platinum, Gold, or Executive Platinum, the Credit Card Holders thought they were being called early and rushed to the boarding area and complained when they couldn't board.
From what I have heard, CK has actually been "downgraded" on boarding. 10+ years ago, someone would have personally boarded them instead of having to wait to be called.