flyalways

This is NOT complicated and you only have to see how CX/JAL do it. They have one GA come to the line and check
the line to see if you are lined up in the correct lane by looking at the BP. Takes hardly 5 minutes to do but
makes sure that there are no group 9 people in group 3 boarding. This will mean the union employees of AA will
have to do some work and that could be difficult to pull :-)

QueenOfCoach

Why do folks crowd around the gates and try to push their way into earlier boarding groups?

If you are a non-elite, non-credit card holding passenger, then crowding around the gate area hoping to push your way on to the airplane is your best strategy for getting overhead bin space for your belongings near your seat, where you can keep an eye on them during the flight. This saves you a bundle in checked luggage fees and ensures your luggage arrives with you at the destination.

I sometimes think some Flyertalkers forget what it is like to travel without elite status, without a co-branded credit card, without lounges and without any privileges. Some who fly exclusively for business might forget what it is like to travel without an expense account, paying for everything out of their own pocket on a middle-class income. Saving the checked luggage charge is big bucks when traveling with a family.

I often think the airlines should allow free checked baggage but charge for overhead bin space. That would solve a lot of the "gate lice" crowding problems.

Gate lice never bother me. I used to be one of them, before I got LT Gold.

flyalways

We do understand why people do it but that does not mean we have to take it ! A gate
lice is only delaying the entire boarding process and is being selfish. No one likes selfish
people !!

MiamiAirport Formerly NY George

I understand as someone that from time to time flys DL as non status. However, I don't run up and jam the boarding lane when F is called in the way people feel the need to either jam the lane when Group 1 is called or increasingly just approach the card reader (and more and more the GAs just allow to board). Yes I can understand someone in Group 9 getting close to the boarding entrance when Group 6-7 is called so they might have a chance for carry on space. But when CKs are called? Yes, I agree that if AA charged for carry ons this would alleviate some of the gate hogging and AA would probably earn more revenue doing so.

gateH15

wetrat0

Unfortunately gate lice is a vicious cycle. I board in group 3, but I have to start pushing my way to the front while group 1 is boarding. Otherwise, by the time they actually call group 3 both lanes will be full of people from groups 5, 6, etc, jockeying for position. Then the gate agent, seeing nobody coming forward for group 3, will start quickly rattling off more groups. The group 4 people of course are doing the same thing, which also makes the priority lane not very useful. So I become a gate louse even though my preference would be to wait away from the gate until my group is called.

PHL

I'm in group 3 when not upgraded and usually maneuver my way to be close to the boarding lane around the time they call CK's. I try to be cognizant of those who are entitled to board ahead of me. Some gates at airports are pretty tight, though.

Once the group 1 pax move through, I'm close to the front because - especially on the E170/175 and E190 - MCE overhead space is gone if you board anywhere towards the end of group 3. Even worse, when a handful of group 2 ExPlt/PlatPro's did not get upgraded and grab their MCE seats, the overhead space is often gone completely and I'm going back 5-6 rows to find a place for my bag, swimming back upstream to get my seat, and upstream again during deplaning to fetch it again.

razzaba

anabolism

Some US airlines manage to do it with limited floor space. Not that UA has an ideal process, but last time I flew them there were at least 7 boarding lanes, snaked parallel to the gate and each other. I might detest WN's lack of assigned seats, but they have numbered posts and pax do line up in order.

Bonehead

Now down to 2. Can't comment as to whether it's any better than the 5 that it was previously since I get to preboard.

skydve1

My flights on JAL have always had the most organized and orderly boarding process. The first time I was wondering how they could allocate so little time for boarding a 777. They've got it down.. keeping passenger stress to the minimum.

Dr. HFH

Now that sounds unnecessarily cynical. There are other benefits to mobile boarding passes, of course. For example, If you're using a mobile boarding pass, you tend to check in earlier than if you're using a paper boarding pass you obtain at the airport. So AA starts to gather information about who's going to show up for the flight somewhat earlier.