Piratos

Boarded a flight out of Pearson Sunday evening. Boarding order started with Business class passengers and Altitude 100K SE only.
Seemed to confuse a bunch of folks but I liked it
New policy I hope?

hydrogen

Was it a Rapidair?

Hopefully they don't turn into UA with 5,000 boarding zones.

km101

I like the idea. Those ticketed in Business should board first. I have no issue with SE 100K boarding before the other tiers. I find it is a bit of a scrum at times when pre-boarding is announced on a larger aircraft.

Unfortunately the T&C of *Gold state that *Gold boards with first and business class. When you are part of an alliance, following the rules is important.

Link: http://www.staralliance.com/en/benef...silver-status/

maradori

Also hope AC doesn't turn into UA where *G, *S, and credit card holders all board zone 2

jlisi984

That's basically the case now except that in additional to the aforementioned, Busines class and SE100K is ALSO included.

canadiancow

UA and US both let some of their own elites and J/F board before *G.

Of all the *G benefits, that one is, in my opinion, the dumbest idea. It should entitle you to priority boarding, but not at the same time as J/F. Fly UA from EWR to SFO on a wide-body and tell me how sensible it is

supatight80

There's a footnote that states "where available". On SQ, first to board is J/F & PPS, followed by others. Similar with a few other star alliance airlines as well.

In any event, I personally like this new boarding order and I hope it's implemented across the board and not just YYZ

jarusoba

This is one of the true enhancements of SE perk. I like it.

Priority boarding/Priority baggage are two SE perks that have been so diluted by the abundance of Es and *Gs (especially those A3 *Gs ). It's about time to fix it.

I know I'm dreaming, but I really hope, one day, AC would institute SE Priority bag tags like Hon Senator tags LH has for SEs.

bingocallerb22

Since I am not an SE, I think senior citizens should board before everyone else.

supatight80

Well yes, and those requiring special assistance.

YYZtoDCA

There was a discussion earlier in the spring about AC doing zone boarding trials, starting in late April and later: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/air-c...ng-trials.html

Perhaps this is another Air Canada experiment. Maybe they are considering this for the 2014 Altitude program. Did the OP happen to see any Air Canada representatives standing by observing the boarding process, as was the case earlier on?

Piratos

It was.

It is getting a bit silly these days with the preboarding including business class, 100K, 75K, 50K, 35K, *G. By the time they announce it in French and English they could board the business and SE.

mkjr

I like it. I have no status with AC but when I fly on business with them on full revenue, I think that J pax should board before those with status below SE.

JTXC

I almost agree -- revenue J should come before SE.

YYZtoDCA

Every time the boarding process comes up on this forum, everyone gets on a soap box to push some change that would benefit their status level or fare class. All the SE's want SE priority increased; everyone who goes paid J wants their priority enhanced. As a E50K, I'm quite happy with the status quo!!

At the end of the day, any changes made will be almost entirely symbolic. It's not like there is a shortage of overhead space for priority passengers; and how much time is dedicated SE/J boarding really going to save? Even on a busy evening/early morning Rapidair flight filled with business travelers, priority boarding is fast enough to have me sitting and having a drink, watching a movie, or doing work before general boarding has started/gotten very far.