canadiancow

Another flight, another instance of me standing in the 1/2 line while they board the entire 3/4/5 line.

MaxFlying

Flew out of YYC today, B37, switched from 333 to 789 (thank god!). I had forgotten how hot and odd these gates were. Combined Zone 1/2 sign, ugh. But lead gate agent was awesome. Very politely and with confident experience she had a zone 1, zone 2 line etc all set up. She asked people to move and they did. Over 30 on UG waitlist, she had them waiting out of the way. Everyone was happy as they knew process was being followed. Those of us in Zone 1 line were all commenting.

The flight to YYZ was also great, one of the best SD ever , in all my years flying AC.

Ubud

Flew out of CUN a couple of days ago where there was a combined Zone 1/2. I wasn't too optimistic about orderly boarding, but to my surprise they ended up politely pulling out all non Zone 1.

I was even happier when they pulled out a couple that had been needlessly blocking empty seats in the crowded waiting area such that my family couldn't sit. I overheard them grumbling about a young man who "must be a zone 3!" Turns out he was in row 1.

Transpacificflyer

When even the saints of FT experience the travails and annoyances that the non status peons of the flight (like me) regularly experience, then I know it isn't just me, but an endemic problem. Your pain gives me hope, that I shall not be forsaken, nor forgotten.

I often wish for more attention at the gates and then I recall my experience with NH in NRT a couple of flights ago. They were draconian in their respect for the hierarchy of boarding. This was was when I was still E75 and in J. I was told no boarding for me until NH elites had boarded prior and I felt like a real noob for mistakenly thinking I was to board. EVA has 4 or 5 supervise boarding whether it is in TPE or YYZ and they make sure the hierarchy is respected. Perhaps the way to go is the AF/KLM automated gates that are politically correct in their discrimination.

I am still amazed by some people in Canada in zone 5/6 that try and board when boarding is called and then act like they are surprised.

SearsTower

Why is it that an out station lake YQU consistently calls the zone boarding correctly, but larger locations cannot? On my most recent trip, Zone 1 was called and I went up. As soon as my boarding pass was scanned, she called zone 2 I was the only Zone 1, but they still followed the process! I also have to complement YEG on a recent flight where they told everyone in 3-5 to sit down as there were over 50 people on Zone 1 & 2 for a 320 and they had separate lines for 1 & 2.

YLWflyer

I flew out of CUN on the 28th, it was the opposite of what you described.
It appeared they had their own process. Wheelchairs, family’s with kids, zone 1 & 2. It quickly just became everyone get in line. They could have easily just said “all aboard”

kronos80

Come to think of it, they should play Ozzy's Crazy Train intro at that point rather the doing their boilerplate "Air Canada is now welcoming passengers in ..." pre-recorded message. It would at least be a fitting soundtrack to the chaos that ensues.

Viper786

Had the same exact experience as this.

painintheuk

Flew out of VRA on Sunday and it was more like this. They called "First class and families with small children" first. Everyone headed straight for the gate! We were in Premium Rouge, so I thought that was close enough to 1st class. While standing near the front of the line a woman stepped around me to stand right in front of me, looked back and said "I'm in 1st class". I said "so am I!" and she mumbled an apology. Another woman got her 2 kids to push ahead of me. Then, when I didn't let her past she said "let the nice man go 1st kids". Maybe I was being a bit of a <insert expletive here>, but it was pretty rude of them regardless of seating or zone. The GAs weren't really paying any attention.

MME2YYZ

Flew A3 this week they called zone 1, the lady in front of me handed her boarding pass to be scanned and it beeped, she was told sorry you are zone 3 we are only boarding zone 1 now. If only AC could have this same technology..........

Ubud

That's exactly what I had been expecting based on prior experience there, but you know that would imply consistency which is also not a feature at CUN, or with AC for that matter.

Even more surprising (to me) was a SDC that they processed at the service desk without any problem.

Melmy

Haven’t flown anything but domestic lately, where I’m happy to see separate Zone 1 and 2 lines for the most part. Flying int’l soon and hoping it’s the same both ways 🤞

chromag

Wow, those gates sound great. I've never seen them. What airport?

Viper786

From my experience, generally at international airports outside of US/Canada, boarding tends to be more hit or miss when it comes to calling proper zones. I have had several instances where they pretty much just called everyone up at once. Not just with Air Canada, with other airlines as well.

RangerNS

No J, so rare they get anyone with status and/or status pax they know by name from the curling rink , so it's is shockingly obvious when it needs to be done.