serfty

Didn't the Low A refurbishment create a new priority lanes at those gates physically separate from the normal lane feeding in to the BP readers?

ThreeJulietTango

That's what I'm confused about now. I haven't seen any separate priority lanes but it's possible that I wasn't looking hard enough.

If a $75 roundtrip to DFW pops up again it might be worth flying out just to investigate.

joepercussion1

I flew out from A8 (lowest A gate) on Sunday. There was a single boarding lane designated by solid dividers. I wish I would have taken a photo to post. There was no use of any special priority lane whatsoever. It looks like there was a small space behind the counter area (large American sign with the informational display), but was being used for storage of wheelchairs and other supplies from what I could see. This area didn't really feed to the BP scanners, but instead passed where they were. The scanner was on the counter next to the computer, but this space behind the counter was basically at the boarding door.

It seems like they are using the lower A gates on flights with lower elite densities possibly, hence not having a priority lane designated? It would make sense considering how far A8 is from the nearest Admirals Club. Additionally, this gate used to be the stairs that led down to the old eagle gates in Terminal A. Possibly this was put into place in the low A gates in a way to further consolidate space and fit an extra gate in post TRIP in this area?

aamilesslave

There is no way that Ops is taking elite density or distance from the AC into account for gate assignments.

joepercussion1

I wouldn't be surprised in some cases though, possibly on certain routes which tend to be very light on elites. AA2386 on the weekends almost always departs from low A gates. More prime routes tend to get more "prime" gates.

It is just a theory considering the odd setup of these low A gates...

nrr

Supposedly only 2 bags are permitted [if I had a $1 each time this rule was violated, I'd be super wealthy now]. GAs should (some DO) enforce the limits.
Sometimes FAs keep the bins for bulkhead pax off limits, until the bh have boarded--shouldn't they ALWAYS do this?

UAPremierGuy

I agree. The lack of elite lines at AA gates in DFW A Terminal is extremely disappointing and needs to be fixed. ASAP.

AA100k

Another reason to avoid DFW.

fastflyer

It appears that AA is no longer utilizing the "rear" priority lanes. I flew out of A-10 yesterday and other low-A gates recently. Immediately after the refurb, the gate agents (presumably at company direction) started boarding F and elites from behind the desk, but boarded handicap and numbered zones from in front. It worked well. Not sure why it has been discontinued.

k1052

One of the many terrible realities of using MIA. This exact thing happened to me a couple days ago coming back to ORD. A minor scuffle broke out between a FC passenger and a Gold. I was in 4A but didn't have anything to stow so I sat back and watched the chaos.

I wish a giant hand would reach out of my monitor and smack me hard across the face when I look at itineraries that involve MIA.

pbuntrock

This is very easy to resolve. The airlines just don't want to solve it, not a priority. All you have to do is have the GA announce that they will enforce the boarding order and then have them actually enforce it. If you've ever flown out of Asia you can see how this works. Even WN is pretty good at this.

ijgordon

I think it needs to go beyond enforcement, and you need to actually dis-incentivize (i.e., penalize) people from attempting to board prematurely. Otherwise, they'll continue to do it in the off chance the boarding isn't enforced, or until 3 years from now when the message finally gets through that there's no point.
So GA's could announce they'll mark BP's with red X's and you'll be demoted to Group X, which will board last, if you try and jump your turn. And if you're using your iPhone, then they'll just put the red X on your forehead.

I think at WN there's just a cultural difference - probably because the stakes are so much higher, and the disincentive to board early is that the other passengers will whoop your a55.

GotCalcio4

CX is excellent at this, with the large signs that indicate where to queue, with a couple of gate agents patrolling the F/J line, verifying boarding passes for the appropriate cabin or OWS or above.

GAs in ORD on Friday also did a great job of turning away pax who tried boarding too early. I had booked a last minute ticket, so missed my upgrade. But I saw a few folks turned away during F boarding. IME, more likely than not it's the credit card holders or purchasers of priority access that try to board too early, versus elites who actually know the process. Although depending on the city there can always be a few DYKWIAs.

AlwaysTheTourist

I've had this exact experience multiple times in PBI. Some of the worst passengers in the system. I'll never understand why retirees on their way too and from south florida are in such a bad mood

fastflyer

Yesterday 5/22, PBI B-12 was truly lice-tastic. The 5:11pm O'Hare flight hadn't even started to board at 4:30, and at least half the plane was milling in the cattle pen between the two seating areas, completely blocking access to the gate and both regular and premium boarding lanes. The gate agents did nothing to police the area, nor were there any discernible queues.

I overheard the wheelchair operators planning their attack to circumvent the entire scrum via a chevron action from the B-10 desk flank. When I finally got to the front of the First boarding lane, I witnessed a family of six bottlestopping the economy lane, blocking several pre-boarders. The mother was arguing with the announcements gate agent that with one child "on the spectrum" her entire family was entitled to board with F (and to that GA's credit, the family was not allowed through). The other GA, who was operating the boarding card reader, was rolling her eyes.

Some kind of repeated announcements or even boarding area control is needed. PBI-ORD seems worse than PBI-DFW but I cannot believe I am seriously considering gate conditions when choosing my routings.