Zacnlinc

I'm always amazed that the airlines do not us technology to enforce the boarding queue(s). The software knows the tiers of people that are on the plane and only allows them on when scanning BPs. It will not move to the next tier until all expected passengers are on. But then again, I bet the agents would have an override option and just not use it as intended...

I just give up at times when boarding planes. And I don't always expect to have a bin above my seat or near by these days regardless of which airline I fly. I just check stuff and bring an honest carry-on item or two and expect to tuck it under the seat in front of me.

Dicksbits

[QUOTE

Plus a woman came and sat exactly right next to us (twice) in an otherwise almost empty lounge [/QUOTE]

Was she Spanish?

MPH1980

But under your plan - what happens when the gold sat in the lounge decides he's going to take his sweet time going from lounge to plane?

For example - I was one of the last to board my flight last week - not because I intended to be - but because I got caught on the hop with early boarding.

If they'd had to wait for me to board - the plane would have ended up delayed. They'd HAVE to have an override to get past that situation, but then when to free it up? The answer would be when the queue is almost empty surely?

At which point - well trained gate staff can handle that!

FlyerTalker6245

The gates would allow Clubs/Golds first, then Clubs/Golds/Silvers, then Clubs/Golds/Silvers/Bronzes, then Clubs/Golds/Silvers/Bronzes/Back rows etc.

kt74

I'm all for tagging second bags, but why should I put mine under my seat if I've only got 1. Never mind that I'm sat in row 1 This is the second time they've done that to me at AMS

And, yeah, for a new lounge, it hasn't kept well - tables are sticky and furniture already has odd stains - and the food and drink selection reminded me of the European bmi lounges... However, props to the male lounge dragon, who successfully challenged several Easyjet pax from entering ("But I have a silver card!" "Sorry Sir, that benefit ended 6 or 7 years ago")

Zacnlinc

Exactly

Good Point!!!

The issue is that airlines are expect us passengers to follow the rules. The GA mentality at times seems to indicate that they don't get paid enough to deal with unruly passengers or to enforce the rules beyond perhaps a little hand slapping by some.

I bet if the scanner buzzed people that were not asked to board at that time, people will learn and not want to be embarrassed either (eventually).

strichener

I see this happening all the time when I board AA domestic flights when I am travelling First. Anyone not in first (including Frequent Flyers) hand over their boarding pass and the reader rejects it. The gate agent then informs them that only first is boarding at that time and to step aside.

I am sure that this isn't that difficult to implement and would then ensure consistency.

I also agree with earlier posts about boarding groups, this appears to work in the USA although it doesn't stop people gate hogging, it is enforced to board the plane in the correct order.

msm2000uk

Flew last week to FRA on the 08:20 service. Boarding was the old system, which led to an inevitable scrum.

As an aside, upon boarding the return flight (having been barged out the way by a rather rude Silver* card holder on the bus), I asked him if people could sit anywhere on the aircraft. He looked at me and said "Oh, I presume you are used to travelling Easyjet".

I smiled politely, was greeted by my first name upon boarding the aircraft (by the lovely J who has entertained me on many flights in the past), and plonked myself down into 1D.

Mr Silver was in 2D and asked how I had managed to reserve Row 1, as "that row is only for Gold card holders". J, who was helping 2C with her bags, turned around and advised Mr Silver "Mr Msm2000uk is one of our most frequent flyers, and is both a Gold Guest List card-holder, and one of our even rarer Concorde Card holders".

I sat smugly for the entire flight

*He was holding the silver card with his boarding pass in his hand (no idea why).

BlackBerryAddict

No, I don't think so - she was reading a UK paper, but that's the only clue I have as to her nationality.

Had she been Spanish though, she probably would have talked to us, because we were chatting in Spanglish, and Spanish speakers anywhere tend to delight upon discovering another one. Dutch speakers, on the other hand, will move as far away as possible from any other Dutch speaker they might encounter abroad.

Fitch

So glad I don't have to set foot in GC for at least the next 2 or 3 years - the smell of desperation is sometimes overpowering

vibguy

This morning at BRU. Inbound plane from LHR was late. New boarding procedure was not followed: EC, Gold, Silver and Bronze were called to board simultaneously. Reason given by staff: we have no time to do it by the book, we want the plane to go asap. No further comment required. The staff did a great job.

rjn21

I had a few hours to kill today at T5A for a domestic connection following a very delayed EY 380 from AUH. Instead of sitting in a lounge drinking more than I needed to, I sat in the North domestic gates area as it was quiet and pleasantly cool. Interesting to observe the varying boarding announcement methodologies used which varied from 'boarding is now open' to exactly as per policy. Interestingly the use of announced boarding order (when used) seemed to work and was policed, but where gates had multiple boarding lines for priority vs general, even where the announcement policy was followed, general row number boarding would be opened before the priority line had cleared, and the boarding pass checker, instead of taking the remaining people from the priority line, took people from the general line. So whilst priority lining up seemed to operate correctly in the majority of cases I watched, actual progress through the boarding pass scan was, for the majority of cases, not according to the policy's order of events.

Simple fix, feel free to call general boarding into the general line so there is no time wasted waiting for a queue to form, but don't take those passengers through the boarding pass scan until the priority queue is clear. All gate scan agents should take a next in line from the priority queue until depleted to zero, then general.

From what I could see, Yellow tags were not dispensed at any gate and were, I guess, only provided where passengers had seen a check in agent prior to the gate.

If your flight is not highly loaded, no issue, where it is, more entertainment can follow.

My actual domestic to MAN was delayed seemingly, as far as I could tell, due to excess hand baggage and aisle blocking whilst trying to sit.

thepinkponce

I sent a webmail to Customer services about the failure to adopt the new process on my previous 3 services out of LHR to NCL, 2 of which caused baggage issues.

I've had a fantastic response today

They said they're sorry I am unhappy with the new boarding procedures and went on to explain what they were, why they brought them in etc

(I'm not unhappy with them, I like them)

They made no reference to the fact that my complaint was that they were failing to implement them, and advised that the staff are highly trained and they're really proud of the service they offer.

Honestly, I actually laughed when I read it

Beano HK

Slightly OT, but thats the car park effect. I have just taken delivery of a rather expensive, shiny new charabang (not a VW, Audi, Skoda etc.) and always seek out the quietest part of a car park, to protect my bodywork. You can virtually guarantee that 1 hour or so later, someone has parked right next to me in an adjacent space - with plenty of other vacant spaces around.

Why do people do this? Perhaps, someone who does this, can explain the rationale as the people who do this would appear to be numerous!

Fitch

Even spookier than that, I can almost guarantee that if I see someone wheeling their trolley out of Tesco at the same time as me, they will invariably turn out to be in the very next parking space