Originally Posted by Syzygies
Gee, if I walk up to the gate and they're already boarding the back of the plane, they must have already boarded elites, right? I'd walk down the blue carpet in a semi-oblivious but very polite state, and board. That simple. If they're terrified to tell any elite to put their rollerboard overhead correctly, do you think they'd actually turn you away at this point?
I recall one Monday morning where the 7am EWR-SFO flight was (as I've seen many times) filled to the brim with elites. The gate agent, during an announcement about boarding only by row, held up the elite upgrade list. It stretched to the ground. Everyone grumbled and stood around waiting to board by row. During this process, new elite arrivals at the gate came to the front of the EA line every minute or so doing just what you describe. It got to the point that you could hear snickering each time a new 'volunteer' presented himself -- only to be denied boarding until the appropriate time.