sharkey

I have never had my wife or kids denied boarding with me. Although I will usually wait towards the end of the first class line.

edscholl

^ god forbit you miss out on the preflight drink.

GBadger

Yeah, I mean you have to look at this from an enforcability point of view:
- 3 people, traveling "together", split (or never-joined) PNRs, with one PM who was upgraded to F, one FO who was not upgraded and one base member who is in row 40 of a 753. Do you let them all board with the F call? If not, how can you possible officially "enforce" this?
If they're on the same PNR, it's easy. Just print the same thing on all BPs. The minute you break up the PNRs, then its each person for themselves, or all together at the lowest common denominator...

Marylou

I think you get into a tricky situation when you allow non-pnr linked companions not seated even in the same cabin to board with the breezeway pax. Spouse, children, absolutely should be allowed.

It just doesn't make any sense to allow anybody at any time to say "oh, he's travelling with me". It's ripe for abuse, it dilutes the BW benefit and for what purpose? If you're not seated together, of what possible benefit would those few extra minutes standing together in line be?

Maybe I'm missing something, but if you're not related, you're not on the same reservation, you're not seated together, I just don't see the need for it.

Back to Jenny, I'm still curious as to how many companions she was trying to board with.

jenniparks

Two companions. I travel several times a month with companions on split pnrs and sometimes as many as 4 companions. This is the first time i've been turned away. Although i was in F after an upgrade, i waited until zone 2 and attempted to board my companions with me.

As to why it's an issue- the main benefit of elite boarding versus general is room for luggage in overhead bins. As expected, my companions had to gate check their bags and lost access to them onboard b/c they weren't allowed to board with me as my companions.

Again, I'm still looking for the official policy to be clarified, not just reports of individual success or failure with the attempts to board split pnr companions at the same time.

GBadger

Well, the official policy states:
As you can see, it says nothing about companions. Until you hear otherwise, I would take it at face value.

andymo99

I think you've heard the official policy several times already, you just haven't liked what you've heard.

If you are on separate PNRs, you are not officially "companions." It doesn't matter that they are traveling on "tickets you paid for and booked at the same time as yours, who are going on a trip with you and..."

That's the official policy - that these non-companion companions, who ostensibly appear to be the same relation to you as any random Joe at the gate, can't board with your priority. The problem is that so many GAs have (sensibly) used their judgment in allowing the group to board together in the past, so that you feel entitled and wronged when the rule is properly applied. Perhaps you'd be happier if GAs didn't use their discretion to allow it 95% of the time.

jenniparks

I don't feel "wronged". I simply wanted to know what official policy was, and you are the first person who has stated that you are not just giving your opinion but official policy. I assume that you are a DL insider, know one, or through some other means were able to validate what the policy is, and i thank you for that. I consider my question now answered.

Seminole_Kev

Remember there are times when the first class cabin is ready for boarding, but coach is still being serviced. In that situation, I can see them not wanting to board coach companions with zone 1/FC boarding.

baccarat_king

While I pretty much refrain from posting in most of the 'constant bickering' threads on this board (even though, it is quite entertaining... )......

I call absolute BS , on you not knowing that this was official policy.

Delta decided a few years ago, to implement a boarding process using zones. My guess, is that they figured it was way to complicated for peeps to understand boarding by rows and/or priority boarding --- so, they implemented this very sexy number system. Zone 1 boards first, followed by Zone 2, followed by Zone 3.... well, I hope you get the point.

If this was a perk for Medallions, then, upon checking in with your peeps who are on a different PNR, then the Delta gate agent would be able to issue them a boarding pass with that pretty Zone 1 or Zone 2 Breezeway boarding. As it turns out, they do not do this. Much, the same way, if a companion of yours gets an upgrade, they get a pretty boarding pass with Zone 1 and a seat assignment in First Class.

Obviously, if your peeps are in the same PNR (your PNR), then they get the perk of Breezway boarding and receive a boarding pass that reflects this fact.

IMO, this isn't really complicated; and there is no need for an official policy because obviously, the official policy for boarding is to refer to the ZONE on your boarding pass.

Anything else, is discretionary. Now, don't get me wrong, I LOVE DISCRETIONARY --- especially when it involves my favorite ghetto casino property picking up a $700 bar tab....

Face it, you got 'caught' with an agent who follows the zone boarding by the rules. Surprising, not particularly... and probably not really deserving of an inquiry... but, then, FlyerTalk wouldn't be much fun without these threads to keep us entertained.

jenniparks

You can call it as you see it, but I don't make a practice of asking questions I already know the answer to. What would be the point?

I was not at all confused about the general order of boarding by zone. That I knew. My question involved whether there is a policy covering exceptions to this order based on being a companion to someone in another zone. Since companions are permitted to check-in at the medallion desk with the medallion who purchased their ticket and holds all the confirmation numbers where otherwise they would be subject to standing in the regular line, I had previously thought something similar was in place for boarding. Someone has been nice enough to research the official policy and confirm and provide feedback here to my question. And i am grateful for it.

GBadger

Is this official policy? Where have you read that this is policy? Or is this just another place that exceptions have been made? The only reason you're holding your "companions" confirmation numbers is because you have not provided them to them.

jenniparks

hmmm, maybe that isn't policy either. You could be right.

The confusing thing about all of this is that their policies seem inconsistent with one another. Specifically I am referring to that Delta allows you to upgrade your "companions traveling on separate reservations" (their phrasing not mine) as part of your elite benefits as spelled out on delta.com companion upgrade policy. So at some level they recognize people on seperate pnrs as companions but on other levels (boarding, and maybe perhaps even check-in) they do not. I haven't come out with what my rec to Delta should be and I'm not sure that they even care, but I think I would like to state now that I think whatever the policy it should be consistent.

baccarat_king

The official policy from delta.com :

anything else is discretionary.

I guess we could argue about what "access" really means. Of course, the majority of agents are going to allow a Medallion to check-in someone else (non-Medallion on a different PNR), but officially I'm certain they could refuse.

I guess what rubs me wrong about this thread is the the 'seeking' an official policy when you know the rules, is sort of looking for a discretionary pass. While I appreciate that GAs will often bend the rules, I would never want to get one in trouble (or even have an argument) over these types of policies. And, as a previous poster mentioned, probably approaching a GA and saying "I know that my non-medallion companions on a different PNR are NOT allowed to officially board with Zone 2; but would you mind allowing them to board with me in this instance." --- is the best way to approach asking for a favor.

andymo99

I am not an insider. I am just applying common sense. If they published policy for things that are both obvious and trivial, the manual would be longer than the healthcare bill.

Just use common sense, jenni. It seems that every single person on this thread sees this as a straighforward issue except for you. 95%+ of the time, the GA uses discretion to permit your "companions" to board with you. You ran into a strict GA who applies the rules to the letter of the law. Let ut go.

As for me, I often fly with non-status companions on separate PNRs. If we are seated in the same cabin, I will board with my wife. I will not invite additional members of the party to board with me, and I certainly won't try to board anyone before their cabin of service is called.