Jan 9, 2018, 5:44 am
Last edit by: KARFA
Please use this thread for discussion, conjecture and speculation about the Group Boarding Process.
Experiences of the actual process in airports should be made in the dedicated thread:
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/brit...periences.html
Group Boarding Summary (courtesy chris1979)
NB. Customers with additional needs will be offered pre-boarding ahead of all the groups listed above.
Boarding priority for Executive Club Gold, Silver or Bronze Members or oneworld equivalents, will automatically be reflected in the group number given on their boarding pass. If they arrive after their group has been called, they can use the priority boarding lane to go through before the flight closes.
Please note that priority boarding will not be reflected for any other people travelling with an Executive Club Member on the same booking at the moment, but will be introduced in the coming months. In the meantime, the whole party can use the priority boarding lane and our staff will endeavour to board everyone together.
Pre-boarding
Families with small children
We invite families with infants under two and young children in pushchairs to board first, so that the whole family can settle in. Customers must arrive by the time specified on their boarding pass so that they are ready to board and we have enough time
to load their pushchair into the hold.
Customers requiring disability or mobility assistance
We will assist customers on to the aircraft ahead of other passengers so that they have time to settle in and get comfortable. Please contact us at least 48 hours before their flight so that we can make the necessary arrangements.
Experiences of the actual process in airports should be made in the dedicated thread:
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/brit...periences.html
Group Boarding Summary (courtesy chris1979)
NB. Customers with additional needs will be offered pre-boarding ahead of all the groups listed above.
Boarding priority for Executive Club Gold, Silver or Bronze Members or oneworld equivalents, will automatically be reflected in the group number given on their boarding pass. If they arrive after their group has been called, they can use the priority boarding lane to go through before the flight closes.
Please note that priority boarding will not be reflected for any other people travelling with an Executive Club Member on the same booking at the moment, but will be introduced in the coming months. In the meantime, the whole party can use the priority boarding lane and our staff will endeavour to board everyone together.
Pre-boarding
Families with small children
We invite families with infants under two and young children in pushchairs to board first, so that the whole family can settle in. Customers must arrive by the time specified on their boarding pass so that they are ready to board and we have enough time
to load their pushchair into the hold.
Customers requiring disability or mobility assistance
We will assist customers on to the aircraft ahead of other passengers so that they have time to settle in and get comfortable. Please contact us at least 48 hours before their flight so that we can make the necessary arrangements.
Boarding by group to be introduced [general discussion]
Nov 18, 2017, 1:27 am
#107
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 6,349
Provided the gate agents enforce this, this should be a welcome change and pretty easy to implement. Ive no experience with AA but plenty with EK who have been doing this for as long as I can remember. 5 mins before boarding a gate announcement is made explaining the boarding order. Gate agents then strictly but politely enforce the boarding order
BA culture is conflict avoidance (or pass the buck down the line) which is why priority boarding is such a spectacle. It also explains other things like failure to manage cabin baggage effectively....why would gate staff get involved when it can all be left to on board crew to deal with?
Nov 18, 2017, 1:45 am
#108
Join Date: May 2010
Location: UK
Posts: 5,380
In my experience EK staff are a lot more proactive in this area.
BA culture is conflict avoidance (or pass the buck down the line) which is why priority boarding is such a spectacle. It also explains other things like failure to manage cabin baggage effectively....why would gate staff get involved when it can all be left to on board crew to deal with?
BA culture is conflict avoidance (or pass the buck down the line) which is why priority boarding is such a spectacle. It also explains other things like failure to manage cabin baggage effectively....why would gate staff get involved when it can all be left to on board crew to deal with?
Nov 18, 2017, 2:04 am
#109
Join Date: Nov 2004
Programs: BA GGL, LH FTL
Posts: 3,577
I find it funny how people on here obsess about whether a Gold in Y is more deserving than a Blue in Club. And how to prevent queue jumping.
Falls in the same category as prominently displaying shiny bag tags.
But I guess if it makes people feel better, then it has a purpose.
Falls in the same category as prominently displaying shiny bag tags.
But I guess if it makes people feel better, then it has a purpose.
Nov 18, 2017, 2:08 am
#110
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: London
Programs: BA GGL (for now) and Lifetime Gold, Marriott fan thanks to Bonvoy Moments
Posts: 5,115
Haven’t read all posts, but the (moderately) evil part of me thinks there should be a 5 mins ‘time out’ if BP presented out of sequence.
“I’m sorry, because you tried to board early the system won’t accept your boarding pass for the next 5 minutes”
”DYKWIA, swear, rant, toddler-style foot stamping etc.”
“I’m sorry, because you tried to board early the system won’t accept your boarding pass for the next 5 minutes”
”DYKWIA, swear, rant, toddler-style foot stamping etc.”
Nov 18, 2017, 2:26 am
#111
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: MME (midway between NCL and LBA)
Programs: BA Gold, AF/KL Gold, Hilton Gold, Nordic Choice Gold
Posts: 742
Thumbs up to BA if the can make this work, I am a big fan of the AA boarding groups.
Enforcement is of course key and as @UKtravelbear said, spacing out the groups is vital. I'm a lowly silver on BA but I always join the the back of the priority boarding queue when golds are invited to board as the silver announcement is normally made 1 minute later and I'm still 30 people away from the gate agent.
I am flying on the 12 December launch day so will report back.
Enforcement is of course key and as @UKtravelbear said, spacing out the groups is vital. I'm a lowly silver on BA but I always join the the back of the priority boarding queue when golds are invited to board as the silver announcement is normally made 1 minute later and I'm still 30 people away from the gate agent.
I am flying on the 12 December launch day so will report back.
Nov 18, 2017, 2:32 am
#112
Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: Edinburgh, UK
Programs: Hilton Diamond
Posts: 59
A welcome move! Let’s hope the regions (EDI) in my case enforce it to move away from some of the current chaos.
I wonder if LCY will be carved out like at present (only fast track for CE/Gold) - if they are included I’m sure that most people will end up in group 1 or 2 anyway!
I wonder if LCY will be carved out like at present (only fast track for CE/Gold) - if they are included I’m sure that most people will end up in group 1 or 2 anyway!
Nov 18, 2017, 2:42 am
#113
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: SW London
Programs: BAEC Silver; Hilton Diamond;a miscellany of other hotel non-statuses
Posts: 3,607
This would be my concern - people jumping the queue at the automatic gates and therefore blocking them for those who should be entering. You can see them not being prepared to move. Meanwhile those behind you in the queue go to the next gate and get straight through while you are behind the numpty who stands there for five minutes trying to get through the gate.
^ I was thinking the same. Not sure if it is related, but gate team at EDI have been quite strong on filtering interlopers out recently IME. That works well when they turn someone away in a few seconds, although an agent can still be blocked trying to explain to a non-English speaker that it isn't their turn yet
! I'm sure there will be tangles at the auto gates for a while, but hopefully it'll settle down quickly once regular traveller realise the achieve nothing by coming forwards up early.
.
^.
Nov 18, 2017, 3:39 am
#114
Suspended
Join Date: Jun 2017
Programs: BAEC
Posts: 325
This still won't stop the new 'premium pre-board' where they make Golds feel better by 'boarding' them before the crew are ready and holding them either in the 'waiting room' or on the jetbridge itself........
I don't know what flights you've taken recently, but all my BA long-hauls this year have boarded through two jetties. Well, except the A380 from T5C, which had three.
Now I like Raffles as much as the next guy, but credit where it's due... it was 'official' on page 1 of this thread, and he took the story from here, not the other way round.
Nov 18, 2017, 3:57 am
#116
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 63,736
Infamy young KARFA, infamy!
http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/...-a8062236.html
And to conform to FT's rules on external URLs, the above story is from Simon Calder, the first few paragraphs are as follows:
The story concludes with a direct hyperlink to us:
http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/...-a8062236.html
And to conform to FT's rules on external URLs, the above story is from Simon Calder, the first few paragraphs are as follows:
Originally Posted by The Independent
British Airways passengers paying the lowest fares on European flights will be kept back at the departure gate until everyone else has boarded the plane. On 12 December, the carrier will introduce a “group boarding” system on all its flights. When the passenger checks in, whether online or at the airport, they will be assigned a group numbered between one and five. “This number will then be displayed prominently on the boarding pass, printed or mobile,” says British Airways in an internal newsletter.
But one response to his post questioned BA’s move to align with its sister airline, Iberia: “My first and hopefully last experience with Iberia’s ‘zoned’ boarding was lining up all of the zones and then releasing them all at the same time Mad Max style to fight to get on the plane,” wrote Ocop.
And on FlyerTalk, Karfa proposes their own boarding system: “1. Me. 2. Everyone else.”
And on FlyerTalk, Karfa proposes their own boarding system: “1. Me. 2. Everyone else.”
Nov 18, 2017, 4:42 am
#118
Ambassador: Emirates Airlines
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Manchester, UK
Posts: 18,600
Nov 18, 2017, 4:42 am
#119
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,889
Infamy young KARFA, infamy!
http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/...-a8062236.html
And to conform to FT's rules on external URLs, the above story is from Simon Calder, the first few paragraphs are as follows:
The story concludes with a direct hyperlink to us:
http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/...-a8062236.html
And to conform to FT's rules on external URLs, the above story is from Simon Calder, the first few paragraphs are as follows:
The story concludes with a direct hyperlink to us:
Nov 18, 2017, 4:59 am
#120
Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 2,222
Well in the old days they did have a fairly easy to understand system called coloured boarding passes - red for First, blue for Club, green or brown for Y. There were some variations like red striped ones for UMs and Concorde had its own design. Passengers were called to board by colour of boarding pass and it was easy for gate staff to spot interlopers and/or prioritise those with special needs. I realise that nowadays a lot of people print their own passes and/or have it on their apps but they could be re-issued with a coloured card or pass wallet whenever they interact with a desk such as when dropping off a bag or entering a lounge and that should cover most (but not all) eventualities. I suspect that as gates become automated it will be easy enough to programme the gates to only open when certain numbers or zones are called which of course won't help those zone 4 or 5 passengers travelling with a higher zone passenger and may lead to congestion as people try to jump the queue so to speak and the gate does not open. But as others have said, it works in the US where gate staff tend to be more 'robust' so if it properly enforced it should work after the usual bedding in period.