I completely get you on both counts and you are right to be miffed. Hope you have dropped a short note to BA as nothing will change unless a sufficient number of people complain.

I have found FT a mine of info of how to best navigate the system with each airline, so i now read about airlines I don’t know about before using them so I know what to expect and how to react to certain events.

As a result, in the case of BA boarding, the inefficiency/unfairness/illogicality is well documented and I now turn up 25 to 30 mins before departure and board in the last 10-20 pax. But I sympathise that if you want to be first on board because it’s an advertised perk of Club europe, you should be able to.