rpjs

Mind you, shiny cards don't always get you onto the aircraft first. Last Sunday I was on 173 to JFK and we were boarded from T5B through buses. The GA announced priority boarding then general and I was approximately the third or fourth general boarder through the gate. When I got to the buses, the first, with all the PBs on it, was still waiting as it was pretty empty. It eventually filled with us plebs and as we were mostly standing, it was us that were first off the bus and on to the plane.

FlyingScientist

Just to make sure that I move up in the ranking...

T8191

Priority boarding? Oh, yes, I have seen that happen. Not on the last few sectors, though ... Perhaps BA are trying to avoid doing it these days, and just go for survival or the fittest/fastest?

"Wow, some of those OAPs can really move!"

binman

if you want priority boarding without status or travel in CE just hope your flight is full and that it has the new shortfall cabin. My flight to Munich was just this scenario and then BA staff called forward everyone with 2 hand bags and then checked one for free and allowed them on first.....

LTN Phobia

I guess that's right (although I don't know if WT may sometimes have a problem), but it long haul 'premium feel' is also affected by the long boarding queue.

uk1

Stripy

First off I don't fly nearly as many BA flights as most of you so I appreciate that things may be different to what I've experienced.

Having said that I can honestly say that, on 100% of my 20-or-so LH and SH BA flights in the last 2 years, "priority boarding" has been next to non existent. In fact, if the gate agent simply yelled "charge" the experience would have been pretty much the same in all cases.

On top of that, on the rare occasions that I found myself being one of the first to board (via regular boarding) I've found the plane to be already half full (ok, I'm exaggerating a little) by pre-boarders.

Now, I fully support the idea that a couple with a small child or someone of advanced years should have extra time to board....but does BA have to allow the 10 other people travelling with each of them to pre-board too? Not so much of an issue on LH, but on SH (like LGW-LCA) it's getting ridiculous. Half the overhead lockers are gone before regular boarding has even begun.

ScruttonStreet

I would feel really peeved if I was a Bronze and this happened, but the underlying problem is really that, even in spite of recent events, BAEC is an incredibly generous scheme. This has been obvious for many years, and it means 'devaluations' every few years are inevitable.

Bronze gives enormous benefits given you only need a couple of WT+ returns a year to get it. Being able to pretty much guarantee yourself a good seat for free is an amazing benefit for so little travel.

Silver is also ridiculously easy to get to - anyone flying to the US a couple of times a year in CW could easily get there with a bit of creativity over routing. Lounge access for this is amazing value.

Ditto for Gold: easy to achieve if you are even a modestly-frequent flier in CE/CW. Less than a decade of it gets you LTG.

Can't comment on GGL/CCR as I've never been one.

I am sure a Bronze devaluation is coming, but I cant see why it wouldn't include all other tiers too.

kanderson1965

I always find it amusing on here that people keep crying out for benefits to be removed for certain tiers (invariably not the tier the poster is in) and then there is a huge outcry when their benefits are removed. This is only playing into BA's hands (divide and conquer). Sure the best way to defend our interests is not to call for benefit removal for any tier but to call for benefit inprovments across the board.

headingwest

Agreed....priority boarding for Blues!

Calchas

Niceness quotient.

lorcancoyle

I like the way in some out stations they patrol the fast track line and check eligibility before they commence boarding - proper order! Also saw staff at A1 this morning sending back the chancers

Paren

I am a Bronze but I always fly in CW.

Therefore, I don't get any benefit of being Bronze (apart from selecting seats at T-7) as I can use CW check in and get priority boarding since I'm travelling in CW.

*However*, I will be travelling in WT+ for the first time in a few months (only due to no CW/F availability, not my choice!), so I will probably miss it then in addition to lounge access.

In some ways, I would miss it, but on the other hand, when I've seen the "Priority" boarding lane consisting of 100-150 pax, I don't think I would. I would rather see some form of order as others have mentioned (I.e., F, CW, Gold, Silver, Bronze, WT+, WT) but not sure how this would work in reality as I can see far too many chancing it, so it may effectively slow the process down?

Chris_G

Bronze status should simply be removed...end story...Chris

kanderson1965

Care to elaborate why?