jc94

Hang on, since when did P25k get Zone 3 boarding guaranteed?!? That wasn't there in 2016.

Diabeetus

I think that's new. Definitely wasn't there in 2016.

When I had briefly dipped to P25k at the start of 2016, i'd oscillate around zone 3-5 (with one random event where i mysteriously had zone 2).

Diabeetus

I had a similar experience on FRA-YYC a couple of weeks ago.

I was trying to board in zone 1, but there was a big family in the zone 1 line, but I could see on a few of their boarding passes they had Y / Zone 4.

I asked the dad if he was zone 1, and he ignored me and averted eye contact.

I asked him again if he was zone 1, and then said "yes" in an annoyed tone.

I line up behind his family pod.

AC agent comes by and walks down the line to make sure everyone is zone 1. She redirects them to the zone 4 line.

I look at him, make eye-contact, cock my head, grin, and shrug my shoulders. He gave me the nastiest glare back in return.

I was impressed with the large number of organized and diligent AC agents at FRA.

yyznomad

I still see way too many agents not enforcing zoned boarding when Zone 1 is called.

Diabeetus

That's unfortunate.

It's also unfortunate that I use you as my canary in the muffin mine due to your large sample size of flights for AC issues.

jc94

Yes I was consistently Zone 5 in almost single AC Y flight I took in 2016. I made Z4 for just two segments. It was at this point I started to doubt the existence of Z3 for anyone beyond the back row.

Im assuming you weren't on a Lat fare for that Z2?

vernonc

This all comes down to execution. And since the GAs are inconsistent, this will continue. It can be done with and without stanchions. If enforced, most of this will get corrected. Some stations do a really good job - NRT being the best, SFO is another good example. Even UA can get this done correctly so not sure why this is such a challenge at AC.

yyznomad

NRT and HND are the best, followed by ICN.

No real shocker there, though.

jasdou

Repeat after me... "I am part of the problem. I am part of the problem. I am part of the problem."

How dare you not complain every time you see this happen?

YVRtoYYZ

Did DEL-YYZ last night and a few things stood out:

1) There was a single sign saying "Business Class". There was no " Zone 1" sign.

2) There was a second sign with "Business Class", " Altitude SuperElite" and "Premium Economy". There was no " Zone 1" or "Zone 2" sign.

3) There was a third sign for "Zone 3/4".

Wheelchairs go first via the Zone 3/4 Iine. Once that is cleared, they call Zone 3. In the meantime, Business hasn't started boarding; instead, those lined up at the Business, SE, PE sign get moved to the singular Business line. No big deal as we board via door L1. The problem arises that when PE gets called to board also via L1, it creates a back-up in the J cabin as they have to merge with Zone 3/4 at L2.

Unrelated but still funny...Mr I-Board-First got asked to move from the J/SE/PE line to the sole J line. He complained to Consierge that he wouldn't get to board first anymore. So Consierge then personally escorted him onto the plane.

canadiancow

Presumably because the number wasn't on the PNR.

Or maybe it was an old card.

Not really the point though. He was definitely a non-SE in Y.

songsc

I remember before the zone boarding days, GA used to announce "We are now boarding people seated in row XX to XX. If you are not seated in these rows, please remain seated". Now with all the 5 lines, gate areas have been much more crowded. Is there any evidence that AC now boards faster with zone boarding?

yyznomad

Air Canada made it very clear that Zone boarding was not meant to necessarily expedite or improve the efficiencies in boarding. It was meant to provide a better boarding experience for its J passengers and Super Elites. You will see this in the early posts of this thread.

longtimeflyin

While I am not an airline professional and I agree with you on this being the reasoning behind zonal boarding, in my humble opinion, they should have had only two lines

Zone 1:
Zone 2:

And the rest they should have just called by seat row numbers. That way there is no place for people without a zone number to stand and clog the gates. Would have saved them a bunch of money too but they didn't consult me.

canadiancow

They'd all stand in the zone 1 line then