show appreciation to these customers by letting them board along with business.
Yes, but given the usually very low (<10) number of C pax on shorthaul flights, they could show appreciation by letting them board right after that handful of pax.
A few days ago I noticed for the first time that the the screen at the gate displayed the boarding sequence as a series of vibrantly colored squares, lumping together zones 1 + 2 as the first to board. Didn't help, as one of the first pax in the priorty line was turned back as ineligible, despite his protestations that since he now was where he was, he might as well be allowed to board anyway. Maybe he was colorblind.
Johan