I flew my first ever Cathay flight last week from BKK-HKG and when I checked my bag in and printed out my boarding pass and circled the boarding group number in red ink and saying to me that I was in Group 1.

I thought it was over labouring the point but then I came across this thread and so I can see now how this was part of the process to get the passengers ready for a new system.

(I was also impressed how my OWE status was recognised by the flight attendant who took my dinner order first and a follow-up visit by the purser as well)

A couple of days ago I flew HKG-DAC. And these days I'm back down to Green (though hopefully will nudge back into Silver by the end of the month)

Group 6 and I was dreading it. My experience (non-CX) has been that Groups were rarely enforced and didn't seem to help, with only a few exceptions. Often resulted in those told to wait getting in the way of those allowed to board.

But as others have noted, the gates blocking people from "group jumping" did actually work quite well. Moreover, group jumpers then had to go to the back of the relevant line, which hopefully will get the system working.

I suspect it'll be back to "same old same old" when I return to HKG though (i.e. DAC-HKG flight)

Got the email for my flight from PEK tmr. Group is also showing on my connection to MNL

The email actually says:

Is it just me who thinks this?

Group boarding should only be implemented in ports whose gates support automated rejection.

At YYZ the CX and contracted staff pre-emptively check boarding pass and travel documents. The will send people to the proper lines. They manage to have 1, 2, and 3 as well as the front and rear Y cabin.

CX876 HKG-DFW no ropes —> chaos

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19y...ibextid=wwXIfr

Had a few recent flights after implementation of group boarding, departing from HKG, TFU and SFO. Can’t say I like the group more than the previously iconic red, blue and greens, I’d say there was at least no choas in my experience.

Group boarding went well today in TPE. While there is one sign for Groups 1,2,3 as reported above, the gate agents did a good job of segregating the groups in advance.

Group boarding at MNL and HKG today was uneventful. At least for groups 1-3. Don’t know for the other groups.

I've had group boarding on 2 flights now, HKG<>TPE and BKK>HKG. HKG<>TPE was uneventful and seemed to work. BKK was another story... the boarding there was already chaotic before the introduction of the group system, but this was something else.

- No stanchions with cords in place for any kind of queue management
- No staff checking where people are queueing
- Everyone only hears "boarding" in the announcement and storms to the front, with a clear ant swarm and chaos unfolding still nothing from the staff...
- Supposedly 30+ group 1 pax on board based on the amount of people queuing there

Before group boarding, but regular "color boarding" at BKK you could use any ticket scan machine once boarding for your group opened, especially for FF and J passengers it was a slightly chaotic but fast experience. Now they opened only 1 (!) entrance for group 1-3. If this was supposed to streamline entry it did the opposite. I overheard 2 other people in the queue mentioning how "if this was a test it has clearly failed massively".

The announcement is way too polite in my opinion. I'm fairly certain 90%+ of pax don't pay attention and only hear the word "boarding" and immediately try to get to the front. If there is subsequently no queue management (hardware or personnel) in place chaos will ensue...

It may work for Y with automatic rejection at the gate which is supposedly implemented at HKG, but what I experienced at BKK was potentially the worst CX boarding I have ever seen.

Is J and PY boarding in the same lane under group 2 and 3 ex HKG? How do they prioritise J/GO boarding

Yes.
Group 3 can be standing at the front of the line, but they can't board until Group 3 starts boarding. If you are J/Gold/ Group 2, you just need to walk past them.

had about 4 boarding under new scheme. i find in general people arent rushing now they have clear 1, 2, 3, 4 whereas in the past each of 4 classes line people dash to in chaos

i found my group 1 to be a more plesant civilized experience at outports whereas for HK the i felt no change due to First class line always available even back then.

Wow, as someone who doesn't normally fly CX and flies with airlines that do do group boarding, I hadn't realised CX didn't use group boarding before 2025.

I have a couple flights in Q1 2026 with CX, I will be OWE by then (currently OWS). Travelling with two others on the same PNR without status – are these bookings already considered linked, will they be able to board in Group 1 with me? Or I guess I mention during bag drop that I want them to be able to board with me?

Travel companions on same booking are automatically linked into same boarding group.