corporate-wage-slave

If it's his smaller bag, and gets a yellow tag, then it is guaranteed to go with him. If it's his only bag then he can volunteer for the yellow tag.

I have to say in my last 100 flights (excluding the Embraer services), and I'm usually in row 1 so I can see this, I can think of perhaps 2 occasions when hand luggage was sent to the hold at the last moment, and with the full agreement of the passengers concerned. Some cabin crew have never had to do it. That's not to say there isn't some last minute awkward reshuffling, crew bags off to the flight deck, pillow bags taken off, wardrobe used, unused middle seats deployed - you name it - but generally it all fits in the end. That's just my reality.

Worcester

Interesting contrast on flights to and from BRU, on way out yesterday small delay on a crowded flight and they staff were very proactive in asking volunteers to check their hand luggage for priority boarding. They the called CE, Gold, Silver and Bronze, resulting in a bit of pushing and shoving in a giant scrum.

On return CE and Gold, then Silver then Bronze and was a very smoothing boarding.

Wish they were a bit more consistent.

MPH1980

LHR to IST this morning off A5. The chap running the announcements read straight from the book - and announced Club and Gold only.

This was roundly ignored by the 3 people with the silver tags in the already formed priority queue who were immediately boarded by the other lady.

But in the end priority didn't matter. There was only just fewer people in club than there were in the whole of economy on a 767. Got a photo of the front cabin for economy - maybe 20 people in there and then the same in the back cabin.

HilFly

He only gets a yellow tag on any bag if it fits into the red sizer, which it didn't without squashing it on that day. No yellow tag = not guaranteed to go in the cabin.

corporate-wage-slave

I'm not sure what happened there then, because normally yellow tags are handed out without reference to the sizer. At T5 there is someone two thirds of the way down the airbridge, s/he hands out the yellow tags and there is generally no sizer anywhere near there. At T5 security there are also staff with yellow tags at the entrance, and though there are sizers around, they are some way off, and I can't see there being a problem with handing out a tag. At check-in they could hand out a yellow tag, and if it is the only bag and looks like it can go under the seat, again in practical terms I am sure they would would hand out a tag rather than close down their position and run over to the sizers. I doubt they are allowed to do it, I've never seen it.

At other stations it gets more complicated in terms of where the sizers are located, but at the boarding gate, if someone had one bag which could go under the seat, most places I can think of the agents would be more than happy to give out a yellow tag, since they normally get into trouble for not handing them out.

But I feel this is actually irrelevant to the concern you have. Again I repeat that in recent times I have not yet seen anyone involuntarily parted from their hand luggage, yellow tag, no tag, any tag. On the very few occasions that bags are hold checked after boarding it is with the active consent of the passengers concerned - they would normally be in the final 5% of people boarding, though they sometimes ask if the bag will go to the final destination. I wouldn't get too concerned about what your interpretation of the "rules" may or may not state, in plain reality commonsense does actually prevail.

furryman

LGW to AGP on Saturday. Large numbers of bags of all shapes and sizes. One lady was picked out prior to boarding and required to put her roller board in the sizer (behind the entry gates). The bag was a smidge too deep, so she had to remove some stuff from the front pocket. I saw no other enforcement of bags, and boarding was "pre-boards first, but not my mum because the wheelchair service delivered her too late for the four chairs behind the podia", then everybody who failed to understand the diffidently-announced English-language boarding sequence.

Added to the poor lounge provision, not good.

And we were told that the castelnau had run out about 90 mins in. Looking forward to the return journey next Saturday.

haasha

LHR-CPH (BA816) yesterday was called in following order: CE, Gold, Silver etc. I don't remember passengers with assistance but probably before anyone else. Nice and smooth boarding.

Disclaimer: I went with Silvers, don't know if there were any fist fights afterwards. And the flight was half empty A321.

Ziz

Tonight's flight from Stockholm was 'club Europe, gold, silver, and Ruby members are now welcome to priority board'. Then when that line was part done they invited everyone else, meaning about 20 non priority got on before me. I didn't particularly care, but if they're going to do priority boarding, do it.

TheTino04

I'm going to pitch in here with a bugbear of mine. I travel lightly, a slim laptop bag which goes under my seat and a holdall with the bare essentials for 3 nights away - it's generally only some t-shirts and jeans or dirty laundry depending on which leg I'm on.

I put the holdall up top and the laptop bag under my seat

On more than one occasion, I've encountered passengers with cases the size of a house saying "why can't that go under your seat" to which I point out I already have a bag there. Much more annoying are the ones who ram their bags in pushing mine to the back because it's small.

I really wish BA would enforce the baggage rules more stringently - people will adapt.

HIDDY

How do you know those 20 were non priority?

HKGorBust

Tonight's flight to Glasgow was the first in a long time that the new procedures were correctly implemented. However there was a new first (for me anyway), as someone's wheeled bag was stored in the toilet - for the entire flight I may add. It now appears the toilets are a bit too roomy.... It was a passenger's bag, not crew, they had the overhead lockers above row one on both sides.

I have seen the crew bags stored in the food trolleys before which I thought was a pretty good use of the spare space.

neofung

On BA2707 now from BCN to LGW. The agent announced boarding would be following different groups. Yet, it's just in one go for all priorities.

The flight is so empty today anyway and is announced a 45 min delay due France ATC.

missdimeaner

On Monday at TXL we were on a very full flight (our original flight had been cancelled and I only spotted one spare seat in ET).
The boarding call went as followed....
CE and Gold, Silver....don't know after that but I think most people before us were in CE....we were down the back on an HBO fare.
Proactive management of wheelies onboard - more than one person was instructed to put theirs in wheels first meant that there was very little faffing around.
We came off better in the seating department than the original flight, still row 23 but we had aisle/aisle rather than window/middle.

Ziz

There was a separate line. They started letting people from the non priority line board before the priority line was completed.

FlyerTalker6245

Utter chaos at Glasgow this morning. People flooding forward before boarding was even called. They announced gold/silver/bronze but they allowed every man and his dog on.