djkyyc

Well, I was in LAS this week, not LAX however I am also in LAX monthly. There they typically invite parents with small children to board first and then call 1 & 2 at the same time.

BostonPlanesAndTrains

BOS-YYZ a few years back, got to BOS 1hr before departure and went through security 45mins out and immediately I was halted by a swarm of about 50 GATE LICE! A/C was still in AIR but Mr. DYKWIA behind me demanded that he would be the first on the A/C and tried to push though the line, oh course #2 in line said "back of the line" and a near brawl happened, Mr. DYKWIA's face turned bright red and said, " Get the F*** out of my face or I swear I'll kill everyone in this place." TSA is coming out of every corner blah blah, anyways, once we finally started board, it was in the clutter old way and #2 ran up to the counter, and said "I'm flew a 10 thousand miles on your airlines and see the S*** I had to go through!" GA U/G'ed him on the spot and he didn't speak a word for the rest of the flight.

canadiancow

He said he flew ten thousand miles?

Ugh. If I heard someone say that... wow.

"You know, the status levels are actually based on your flown mileage. If you fly even a tiny little bit, you'll get Prestige status. Now, this still doesn't get you priority boarding, because 25 thousand miles is not a lot. So get the **** to the back of the line, behind all the people who ACTUALLY fly a lot."

yyznomad

Was this because the agitated pax was already on the upgrade waitlist, or was this upgrade issue outside of standard protocol for upgrades?

BostonPlanesAndTrains

He was in the top ten on the list becuase I was checking my app just as it happened, he was in the 5-7 range!

yyznomad

You have an app that tells you the upgrade waitlist for Air Canada operated flights?!!! Or were you refreshing EF or some other site that shows inventory and saw it immediately go to zero for R class?

Adam Smith

Anyone else notice that AC has changed the printed boarding times (30 minutes before departure for domestic narrowbodies, from 35, and international is down from 55 minutes to 45, I think)? Yet they seem to be boarding earlier than that.

Just got on 1159 YYZ-YYC and at 28 minutes to departure they were boarding all 5 zones. Not sure what announcements they made, but there can't have been much of a priority boarding at that rate.

Also did 881 CDG-YYZ today. They did a separate Zone 1 boarding call, yet let on several Zone 2s during it. One of them said "I have priority, I'm 50K" and the GA just let her on. I wish the GAs would understand that by having moments of weakness like that where they choose personal convenience over correct procedure, they undermine the process, encourage more of that behaviour and make their lives more difficult in the long run.

canadiancow

I've noticed the time changes too. I think a domestic wide-body was 40, and narrow-body was 30?

Then there's still the whole issue of the Dash 8s where the 20 minute boarding cutoff happens before the aircraft even arrives. I'm all for boarding times, but make them reasonable. If you can board the aircraft in 10 minutes and aren't going to start until T-15, don't print T-30 on the boarding pass.

As for "I'm 50K"... sigh. Zone 2 is priority.

yyznomad

Chalk it up to another zone boarding fail at yet another zone boarding fail station. The fail mountain is getting taller and taller as we speak.

cur

Maybe the pax was having a bad day cause his dog died that morning (who was the most loyal mongrel of all mongrels no less) and the GA just felt bad for him?

superangrypenguin

I've actually heard the GA say to another GA (along these lines)...."what is this....uhh, it's a Dash 8, oh yeah we'll start boarding in another 15 minutes". I think it's by aircraft, but i'm not sure.

yyznomad

Yeah but it is not by the published protocol.

Hence, fail.

Period.

ffsim

Mass pandemonium at gate 51 for 835 today. It's a 330 so pretty large number of people waiting. Announcements being made over announcements being made over announcements. The GA in the zone 3/4/5 lane is holding up one finger asking zone 1 to board. The dude GA in the zone 1/2 lane suddenly calls for zone 2. I approach but he's having trouble with the people ahead of me. Lady from 3/4/5 looks at me and asks "zone 1?" I say no, 2, and asks me to come over so she can process me.

What a mess. I actually feel bad for these agents, especially with a full 330 like today. The one I spoke with really would've loved distinct boarding lanes, but of course there's very little room at this particular gate.

cur

Seriously....you want zoned boarding on a glorified school bus? It'll be faster just do to the anarchy/no zone boarding and yes elites can use the priority lane.

vernonc

NRT is the poster child for doing this correctly. Friday at NRT and YYZ and YVR flights were leaving from adjacent gates within half hour of each other. There were a total of 11 GA's working both gates. They had each zone corralled off even though there were no zone markings. Every passenger who approached was told boarding had not begun and the GAs addressed seat changes etc smoothly. At boarding time they held up tablets with the gate numbers on the screens. They checked everyone's boarding passes to ensure they were in the right lane before they reached the BP scanner. They boarded wheelchairs, Zone 1, zone 2, pax needing assistance (strollers), etc. In short, perfection. All pax greeted with a bow and a smile even if they were being sent to another line. No confusion anywhere and no one milling around the gate. Excellent job NRT.