I have noticed, that after being elite for about 10 years, and not being elite anymore, and now that I dont' have the privelages, I just don't care. I worried about all these things for years, and now that I know I can't have them, they all seem so silly, because the plane leaves at the same time, and I get there at the same time. And once I get out of the plane, I'm just as happy.

It's all relative. But it is all sorta silly when you step out of the box and look at it all!

As a Platinum member, I seldom board during the elite boarding process. Unless I have a bunch of carry ons and the plane is full, I just wait until the end to board. Other than ensuring that you get overhead space for your carry ons, having to sit in an uncomfortable seat(provided I wasn't upgraded) for an additional 20 minutes while people's bags slam into your leg is hardly a perk. I would much rather stand for that additional time and be one of the last people to board.

As a silver, IA that it's nice to be able to board early, especially since I'll probably be in coach. It helps me get overhead luggage space and settle into my seat before the plane really gets crowded. It's more relaxed, even on Elite-heavy flights.

I wouldn't mind boarding by level though. Especially on elite-heavy flights.

I think overhead space is really the only pre-boarding benefit, if you're sitting in coach. Given the size and quantity of what travelers are taking onboard nowadays, overhead space is at a premium. My ATL flights this year have been especially full, and it seems like every flight has gate-checked luggage.

The tension in the gate area is palpable, right around the scheduled boarding time. And when they open the jetway door, you can guarantee there's going to be a stampede towards the blue carpet (if everyone hasn't already queued up early). It's a classic Pavlovian response :)

Zone Boarding?
 

If the surge of elites makes it tough to board as they do, why don't they evolve to the zone method of boarding that other carriers like DL and US offer in which they board by zone 1 (first class, top tier elites), zone 2 (other elites), zone 3(rear of the plane), zone 4 (mid section of the plane), zone 5 (front part of coach). In those cases, the zone # is the biggest printed item on the boarding pass so passengers are crystal-clear on when/how to board.

Rather than listening to a complex matrix by the gate agent that "gold elites in rows 12-15 in window seats can now board", wouldn't it be simpler to just board by zone? CO is so tech savvy, I'm sure this wouldn't be any hassle to include on boarding passes at the airport.

Or better yet, maybe the flight attendants can drop everything, and escort the Plats to their seat and tuck them in

Zone boaring reminds me too much of other airlines I don't like.

Boaring should be as follows:

FirstClass/BusinessFirst
Platinum and Companions
Gold and Companions*
Silver and Companions *

Needing Assistance (if such exist)

General Boarding

[*refers to people traveling with them, since the only people who can get a companion upgrade on CO are those who are companions to a Platinum]

-Vincent

I guess you haven't flown between PBI/EWR in season :) - they have to do 'needing assistance' first...the highest wheelchair count I have ever witnessed was on this route - almost 20 wheelchair pax, and it took over 30 minutes to get them onboard and seated.

The funniest thing about the PBI wheelchair crew - they all need to be wheeled onboard and lifted into their seats...but upon arrival, through some unseen miraculous force, these folks are the first out of their seats and collecting their bags from the overheads, before doing a 3 minute mile dash to the door for deplaning, sometimes shoving so-called able bodied pax out of their way in the process :rolleyes:

Apparently, besides 'clean, safe and reliable' transportation, Continental also provides 'healing miracles' on the Newark - Florida routes. Beat that, jetBlue!

...only on a full service airline... ;)

-Vincent

Oh, do you mean like the last time I was on Southwest where the line of passengers needing assistance to board was 49 people and my online check-in got me row 18

Exactly - Row 18 for me would be NASTY!

-Vincent

I have found zone baording to be quite efficient and works well. Of course elites should have the option of baording just fater FC. NW often baord exit rows with FC not sure if this to be se they ahve adquate over head space or a sneaky way of boarding the plat elites who take most of those seats.

I think zome baording couls solve the elite rush as well if the prioritize elites into early zones but keep zones a reasonable size

Um, being Plat for several months has gotten me just about nada over my Silver and Gold status days. Upgrades are few and far between and the only thing I value out of it these days is boarding first. Sheesh- lemme get something out of flying 110,000 miles on CO!
:p

Just in case you forgotten
 

Really? Well maybe I can remind you of a few benefits your plat status might have gotten you in last year

Platinum 137,500 elite mileage bonus last year
Silver 55,000 elite mileage bonus last year

Platinum Some (albiet few) upgrades and EUA up to 5 days before flight. Maybe a rare companion upgrade even.
Silver No upgrade (or maybe one?) no advance EUA, definitely no companion upgrade.

Platinum Acess to exit row seats on CO.com
Silver No access to exit row seats on CO.com

Platinum No fee to change travel rewards
Silver Fee to change travel rewards

Platinum Designated elite line with faster response time
Silver Designated elite line with slower response time

Platinum International skyteam lounge access
Silver No International lounge access

Platinum Priority boarding on most skyteam flights
Silver Priority boarding generally restricted to CO/NWA only

Platinum Greatest priority on reward waitlist
Silver Least priority on reward waitlist

Platinum (non-US) complimetary PC membership
Silver (non-US) no complimentary PC memebrship

Platinum Generally treated better by GAs and other CO staff, generally more likely to receive perks, generally more likely to have op-ups, generally more likely to have 'exceptions' made to rules when you miss your flight or need to make changes etc. Think they are royalty and deserve to be treated as such (such as by boarding first before lowly silvers).
Silver Treated like riff-raffs, no special treatment compared to non-elites- 'anyone can get a silver card'. Get horrible stares from obnoxious Plats when they come to preboard or on those rare occasions they get upgrades to FC.

So maybe leave silvers with that one thing that makes them feel they are elite too? Will it hurt too much to board with the riff-raff?

I vote for boarding by height.

ps - I'm short. :)


For a while on the EWR flights to PBI and FLL, it had become a common practice for the "gatekeepers" to announce "no Elite boarding on this flight because most of you are elites." That didn't go down too well. But this hasn't happened in the past six months.