Originally Posted by
izzik
So, what is the ideal number of elites for any given flight? At least from a US-based perspective, we are quite used to the idea of priority boarding being commonplace. For example with United, priority boarding applies to all United elite levels + Star Alliance Gold/Silver + families w/small children + active military + elderly/disabled + anyone who purchased Economy Plus seating + anyone with a United credit card + anyone who purchased Premier Access. After those groups, general boarding begins. Important to mention that most US carriers have lifetime status holders which is increasingly common these days.
Also, there are a significant number of Star Alliance members based out of NE/SE Asia - Air China, Asiana, ANA, Thai, Singapore, EVA, Shenzhen.
Those elites could be part of the overcrowding.
I have flown United, and their levels of priority boardings are quite a few groups, but as share of the total passengers, a good bit lower than what you regularly see on JAL and ANA, particularly on short to mid haul.
What the right number? Difficult to say. But to be honest, I think the main point is really does priority check in, fast track, and lounges have the capacity to manage the number of elites? And at least the ANA Lounge and to some extent the JAL Sakura lounges struggle here. The difference to United is that most of the priority boarding groups don't get lounge access, which they do on JANA to a far higher degree.