When GAs Get Creative and Elite Access Boarding
 

I flew from BCN-EWR yesterday. The boarding was interesting because they called for BF and Elite passengers as well as all other passengers and then had averyone board a bus to the plane.

There was no distinction between Elite and non-Elite passengers and everyone got off the bus at the same time (it took 3 busses to get everyone to the plane, but it still seemed odd).

This morning I flew from EWR-ORD. The GA made an announcement that since the entire plane was Elite (not true) that they would board by rows. Again negating the Elite benefit of boarding.

I didn't have luggage this morning as I am flying back to EWR tonight, but a lot of people were grumbling about overhead space.

I have seen GAs in SFO board by status before (i.e. Platinum, Gold, then Silver) but just boarding everyone by row this morning seemed incorrect.

Anyone have any thoughts? I'm not looking to be another griping Platinum and in both cases I didn't have an issue with overhead space, but this could be an issue on a packed flight.

It was posted a while ago that if the plane was > x% (50%?) elite, the GAs are supposed to board by status level before moving to rows. I would complain about EWR-ORD boarding b/c that's totally improper. I would have also boarded when the boarded the first set of Y passengers, no matter where I was seated if they did that.

As for the bus, they do the same thing at IAH's B-terminal (the crummy, lower level gates... b74?). I don't like it because you might not get overhead space, but there's not really a good way to do it, other than to redesign the terminal.

The EWR-ORD flight should have been boarded by elite level. You should DEFINITELY let CO know about this.If it took three buses to get all of the pax to the aircraft they should have put all the BF and elite pax on the first bus. Many carriers use a separate bus for their first/business passengers.

Thanks. I'll send an e-mail to We Care.

I dont know why all you do is ....., just pack all of your stuff and check you bag and sick it out and pay the $15 to check your bag. If there is no overhead space, you can thank your fellow passengers for bringing everything they owned on the plane, especially to South America.

lol whut?

OP is Platinum. He would not have to pay the bag fees. :confused:

You obviously have not ventured down there recently. That would be the infamous B84. CO did away with the buses for at least 1-2 years now.

I'm not going to doubt the OP that this happened. However, being a O'Hare based plat I can tell you in the 4 years I've been flying out of the CO station at ORD this has never happened to me.

The O'Hare station is one of the best run stations in the network. The staff bends over backwards to ensure that elite customers are taken care of, protected on flights, companions are upgraded, companions are protected, rebooked on later flights....etc..

I am not an ORD fan, but I am a a CO ORD station fan. That staff has taken such good care of me, I fly CO and transfer vs flying AA/UA/WN direct out of Chicago.

I can't say enough about the CO staff there.

-Chris

And in some cases the bus could hold more people than the actual plane. :p

The OP was talking about EWR staff.

Could not agree more with this statement! I flew in and out of ORD 4 weeks in a row in the spring and they couldn't have been nicer and more willing to help!

You're correct! Fortunately, I haven't had to venture down to the B84 gates (or the B terminal at all) in > a year now. The last few times I was there, there was a lot of construction going on and about 3x as many people as there were seats. Fortunately, I've only had to go to A/C/E in IAH recently.

Fee to check a bag? What the heck is that? :confused:

I was talking about the staff at EWR. The staff at ORD are very friendly. I think that most of the EWR staff is too (the GA that said this was nice, but incorrect in my opinion). It also has nothing to do with fees. I pack a small carryon regardless and never take up much room. However, IMHO it is a benefit of being Elite to board first and thus get your bags in the overhead bin.