fotographer

just my 2 cents, and I am sure that this has been noted before, there was a time when most if no all airlines did not charge to check in bags, ever since that has happened, the rush to board early is for luggage space, even in first class, I have noticed that if I am boarding after my group has been called, the luggage bins are full, a most times a very nice FA will ask around the cabin to see if the bags belongs to other passengers in first, and if not they have made announcements to see who had place the bag in the wrong cabin.
again just my 2 cents

flyalways

I like it ! Or just when they announce boarding groups (and tell you
to check your boarding group) say that "If you try to board ahead of
your boarding group, you will be held until all groups have boarded" !
This should scare a few :-)

RogerD408

Of course that presumes they actually listen to the announcement... It seems like all you have to do is say the word boarding and people crowd the line regardless of group. Just like those that have/had an AAdvantage Platinum card thought they could board with platinum pax. Those of us that travel a lot learn, but many times we are in the minority. Too bad they can't do a travel 101 class for the once-in-a-while passengers.

arollins

A lot can be said about this being the main cause, after all, things have begun going A LA CARTE. However, GA do their part soliciting volunteers to check their luggage FREE of charge early on in the boarding process and still this is not enough. Passengers want to save $ by not paying to check luggage, they also want to save money by not paying for priority access. Most non status and non card holder are left in the back of boarding order and are caught up with the lack of bin space.

flyalways

Sometimes it is not the fault of those Credit Card Customers ! I had to
go and correct a AA flight attendant on how they pitched the CC in
flight. She said "Group 1 boarding for CC holders". When I pointed out
that it is not true, she was not happy and said that she was reading
from AA manual...

scottsam66

Agreed. I'm sure, all 12 had these quirky ideas, on where to sit.

RogerD408

Maybe. All we can do is guess and your's is as good as mine.

scottsam66

Spot on. I was just on a flight where 34 Exec Platinum, all took the back of the plane. I guessed they were likely taking part in "opposite day". You never know, it could be...

fotographer

why is it that when they call for group 1 boarding, (LAX yesterday), the people in line, (in this case the frist 9 passengers) are not in group 1 but group 2-4, (how do I know this, I asked them , nicely of course) , opt to stay in line and not allow group 1 to board, maybe its just me, but I will always wait for my group number to be called.

RogerD408

These are the "gate lice" we talk about. They hear any announcement about a flight (even if not their's) and they get in line blocking those that should be in line. I've often had to "excuse me" my way through the crowd asking if they are in this group. Even with the two boarding lines, people do not listen and do not care if they are blocking others.

Maybe they need locking seats (like on a roller coaster) where you have to scan your boarding pass to unlock and it won't during the boarding process unless your group has been called!

OTD

This morning, PBI-CLT: Groups 1 and 2 go about like normal. Group 3 is called and about 10 people line up, which is a lot for Group 3, but not out of bounds. Then, when the line is almost empty, a couple gate lice, who I suspect were Group 4, move up the aisle. Then, it's a free-for-all, with about 10 more "Group 3" people lining up. Someone behind me said "That sure is a big group!" I said, no way they're Group 3.

SpinOn2

When a BP is scanned it shows up on the screen if they are gold up to CK. If GA really wanted to pay attention, even with cell phones once they are scanned, they could see they are not an elite or at least not CK and ask them to please go back.

The only reason I know this is because I had a nice gate agent show me this, as I had the same question. I watched younger kid talk out loud with his companions about how he is going to board for group 4 anyhow after complaining about being group 8, and after he scanned his phone the gate agent sent him back to the end. I inquired about this to her as how did she stop people from using their mobile bp to skip ahead, and she told me that it shows up if you are elite when scanned.

Kreative03

Maybe it's just me, but I believe the real problem lies with a sign that says 1–4. It gives the impression, desired or not, for folks to line up actively if they meet any of the criteria (1-2-3-4) as opposed to needing to meet a specific criteria (see the 3 sided or digital A-B-C signs that southwest employs)

fotographer

just my 2 cents again, but why dont they just use the electronic board to broadcast group number boarding, the 1-4 group line can and probably is confusing to a lot of passengers.
Just make the so called prioty line for AA elites (gold and up of course) and CX and first class

isle-hawg

I had no reason to do so. I was seated and very relieved to have a storage space for my bag in the overhead bin above my seat.

The reason I counted how many CK's boarded was two fold. I had never seen anyone board in this boarding group before (ever-on any flight), so was out of the norm for me. I fly this particular route ~4 times a year (PVD-DCA). And the only time I "think" there was a CK member on it he was called by name to pre-board.

The other reason more near and dear to me at the time was I got upgraded from what I considered the best seat in coach on this plane with legroom galore (partial bulkhead with extra leg room and storage space in front) to seat 1A, better seat, however I knew I had to put my roller board computer bag in a overhead bin on a commuter plane with limited FC seats and thinking at the time that I would have to place the bag far back from where I was sitting as these folks also seemed to all have bags in need of storage space.

None of these folks were traveling together.

And no, none of the supposed CK's were sitting in my previous seat in coach, that I would of been more than happy with.