Originally Posted by
mikeyfly
Has that tag ever made a difference?! Isn't all the data that matters in the barcode ?
Yes, the "snob tags" as they're called by the coalface workers have next to zero use (but for visually eyeballing the priority bin as you open it).
However, there are no priority bins on shorthaul as far as I know. The only bin segregation done for SH is for transfer passengers into London and at some shorthaul destinations (e.g. Madrid) that have sizeable connecting traffic. There were some analyses done, back in the day, to ascertain whether it was worth doing a separate bin for Club/Gold passengers and it found out that the average bag load for Club/GCH was extremely low and that creating an extra bin (that would mostly fly empty) would increase fuel consumption and increase the risk of baggage offloads especially in the event that a non-collapsible wheelchair, or an electric wheelchair, were to be booked on the flight.