GCH "enhancement": denied priority boarding [at TLV]
Jun 27, 2014, 1:15 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: London, UK
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GCH "enhancement": denied priority boarding [at TLV]
Flew back from TLV yesterday on BA164.
I was the 3rd person in the priority lane queue...when boarding started I was told I had to wait for all F and J passengers to board and was sent at the back of the queue.
Boarding agent realized I was a GCH however she said I had to wait for all F and J passengers to board first.
It was quite embarrassing, people may have thought I just tried to do something I was not eligible for (first world problem I know, but still I was embarrassed when I had to turn back and all passengers looked at me).
Thanks BA.
I was the 3rd person in the priority lane queue...when boarding started I was told I had to wait for all F and J passengers to board and was sent at the back of the queue.
Boarding agent realized I was a GCH however she said I had to wait for all F and J passengers to board first.
It was quite embarrassing, people may have thought I just tried to do something I was not eligible for (first world problem I know, but still I was embarrassed when I had to turn back and all passengers looked at me).
Thanks BA.
Jun 27, 2014, 1:43 am
#3
Original Poster
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If you hold a F ticket and you are keen to stand up before others you are still first man boarding the plane.
Jun 27, 2014, 1:43 am
#4
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: East Anglia, England
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H
Jun 27, 2014, 1:45 am
#5
Join Date: Feb 2012
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Posts: 1,140
Indeed, the way it should be on LH: first F, then J, then status passengers and WT+, then Y. The way it is organised today with sometimes 50% status passengers lining up for priority boarding makes this 'priority' boarding a joke. Sooner or later BA will have to implement this enhancement.
Jun 27, 2014, 1:48 am
#6
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Jun 27, 2014, 1:49 am
#7
Join Date: Aug 2006
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I agree with both of the first two posters!
If BA are to advertise priority boarding to GCHs as a benefit then it should honour that commitment.
On the other hand, I also feel that the current situation where there is only one priority boarding call is silly. There should be a pecking like AA do, ie pax needing help,or with v young kids/ babies, then First, then Biz, then Emerald, then Sapphire, then everyone else, and it should be made VERY clear that other pax who have yet to be called should make way for those who are boarding. Can't understand the Bronze/Ruby priority boarding TBH.
If BA are to advertise priority boarding to GCHs as a benefit then it should honour that commitment.
On the other hand, I also feel that the current situation where there is only one priority boarding call is silly. There should be a pecking like AA do, ie pax needing help,or with v young kids/ babies, then First, then Biz, then Emerald, then Sapphire, then everyone else, and it should be made VERY clear that other pax who have yet to be called should make way for those who are boarding. Can't understand the Bronze/Ruby priority boarding TBH.
Jun 27, 2014, 1:52 am
#8
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Priority boarding is an inbuilt feature of an F and J ticket.
If you are travelling in economy, your status should give you priority only over other economy passengers; I think it makes sense to let F and J passengers board first.
As long as you are allowed to "skip" the economy queue - then you have priority boarding and I don't see the problem.
If you are travelling in economy, your status should give you priority only over other economy passengers; I think it makes sense to let F and J passengers board first.
As long as you are allowed to "skip" the economy queue - then you have priority boarding and I don't see the problem.
Jun 27, 2014, 1:57 am
#9
Join Date: Jan 2007
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If you were allowed to board before no status pax and those in Third World Traveller then you did get Priority Boarding - just not the priority you expected.
I have seen this more and more recently - priority boarding announced in stages - F and J, then OW Emerald, then OW Sapphire etc. It means they can provide priority boarding but not to everyone at the same time.
I have seen this more and more recently - priority boarding announced in stages - F and J, then OW Emerald, then OW Sapphire etc. It means they can provide priority boarding but not to everyone at the same time.
Jun 27, 2014, 1:57 am
#10
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Isle of Skye, Scotland
Programs: BA gold
Posts: 3,902
Priority boarding is an inbuilt feature of an F and J ticket.
If you are travelling in economy, your status should give you priority only over other economy passengers; I think it makes sense to let F and J passengers board first.
As long as you are allowed to "skip" the economy queue - then you have priority boarding and I don't see the problem.
If you are travelling in economy, your status should give you priority only over other economy passengers; I think it makes sense to let F and J passengers board first.
As long as you are allowed to "skip" the economy queue - then you have priority boarding and I don't see the problem.
I can appreciate that F pax should be boarding first if they are already at the gate but BA's policy is priority boarding for status pax irrespective of cabin flown and as hoch said above, inconsistency is not good.
Jun 27, 2014, 2:03 am
#11
Join Date: Aug 2007
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I agree with the other posters that think prenium pax should have priority over status pax in non premium classes.
I find it quite anoying when there are only about a dozen pax in CE, but the priority boarding que is larger than the general boarding que.
I think BA have extended priority boarding to way to many people, so that prority boarding has become close to useless.
bjorns
I find it quite anoying when there are only about a dozen pax in CE, but the priority boarding que is larger than the general boarding que.
I think BA have extended priority boarding to way to many people, so that prority boarding has become close to useless.
bjorns
Jun 27, 2014, 2:03 am
#12
Join Date: Feb 2009
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I don't understand why a bronze card holder can board at the same time as a F ticket holder?
I don't understand why a bronze card holder can board at the same time as a F ticket holder?
Jun 27, 2014, 2:04 am
#13
Join Date: May 2014
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Despite how many of us here think priority boarding should be, and the pecking order etc, the policy is clear.
The problem is that BA have difficulty implementing priority boarding as it is; even letting econ non-status pax on board at the same time as CE/Status pax (as always happens at BUD). Do you really think they can manage anything even more complex?
The problem is that BA have difficulty implementing priority boarding as it is; even letting econ non-status pax on board at the same time as CE/Status pax (as always happens at BUD). Do you really think they can manage anything even more complex?
Jun 27, 2014, 2:23 am
#14
Join Date: Aug 2012
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Ah yes, the nth Law of the BAEC FT Forum - the proposed level (cabin, status, tier points, avios) at which a defined benefit should be given is immediately below the level personally attributable to the proposer.
Jun 27, 2014, 2:24 am
#15
Join Date: Feb 2008
Programs: BA (GGL/CCR)
Posts: 1,256
What BA promises seems to be a little unclear. On my home page I am promised 'first class check-in and boarding' as a GCH, but the tier benefits comparer for Gold, Silver and Bronze list an undifferentiated 'priority' boarding. In any event, it's hardly an uber-luxury privilege for F passengers to be allowed to board ahead of everyone else except Golds, Silvers and Bronzes, and I struggle to see why it's unreasonable for premium cabin passengers to be called for boarding ahead of Golds, Silvers, Bronzes, etc. if time and airport layout make that feasible.