Originally Posted by avidflyer (Post 13542143)

I don't think anyone has a problem with "staging" near the area (I do it) it is the actual camping out that occurs right in front of the door. That is what makes it impossible to get to the door when zone 1/2 are called. I thing GA's could fix this by announcing several times to not line up until your zone is called...and yes, that means elites too.

Originally Posted by fgirard (Post 13542513)

Which is nice, as I tend to be "on time" with my arrival to the gate--I don't try to be early (usually, I grab some food and/or libations, work for a little while tethering my BB), and after they take those passengers who need assistance; then I will start to move over towards the door... it makes life easier that way...

Originally Posted by avidflyer (Post 13542143)

I don't think anyone has a problem with "staging" near the area (I do it) it is the actual camping out that occurs right in front of the door. That is what makes it impossible to get to the door when zone 1/2 are called. I thing GA's could fix this by announcing several times to not line up until your zone is called...and yes, that means elites too.

Originally Posted by kugelfischer (Post 13540176)

I flew UA for the first time in years last week. There was a guy on my IAH-IAD flight who lined up on the rug before the inbound aircraft arrived. :rolleyes:

Originally Posted by avidflyer (Post 13541492)

LOL! I think you are the one that need to lighten up. THIS IS A FREE INTERNET DISCUSSION board LOL! What exactly would be acceptable to YOU?

USA TODAY! LOLOLOL! The have and do use FT all the time for research. What, exactly, would they think was wrong with this thread?

Some of you people take yourselves way to seriously. The only ARROGENCE I see is your passing of judgement on what should be posted here. Sorry, if you want to discuss Skymiles in a dry and business like manner you found the wrong site.

BTW, No anonymity here. You can find who I am easy enough and if you PM me I am happy to tell you who I am, what I do, where I live, whatever.

This is a social networking discussion board not the Harvard Business review (I do get the HBR though ;))

Originally Posted by avidflyer (Post 13541492)

LOL! I think you are the one that need to lighten up. THIS IS A FREE INTERNET DISCUSSION board LOL! What exactly would be acceptable to YOU?

USA TODAY! LOLOLOL! The have and do use FT all the time for research. What, exactly, would they think was wrong with this thread?

Some of you people take yourselves way to seriously. The only ARROGENCE I see is your passing of judgement on what should be posted here. Sorry, if you want to discuss Skymiles in a dry and business like manner you found the wrong site.

BTW, No anonymity here. You can find who I am easy enough and if you PM me I am happy to tell you who I am, what I do, where I live, whatever.

This is a social networking discussion board not the Harvard Business review (I do get the HBR though ;))

Originally Posted by mnredfox (Post 13539839)

I like this. Combining all elites in 1 call sends half the plane or more to the line that is already blocked by lice.



Actually I've found GM's to be the worst. They are in the "I earned Gold elite" category but often are pissed they aren't in F so when they see someone that looks like they shouldn't be in F they get all anal.



I too have had plenty of age discrimination. A few times from NW/DL employees, but mostly the suit jerks who think that younger folk who dress in comfortable clothes shouldn't board before them. As I said before, they usually proudly have their GM tags displayed. The best I ever got was "no, you're not boarding yet, so sit down."

I agree, the best part is when you just board past them without saying a word and then seeing them glare at you later when they board as you sip your pre-departure drink...

Originally Posted by baqnav (Post 13542815)

coming back from an atlantis cruise in february, i got to the gate after zone 1 had boarded and zone 2 customers were "protecting their space" around the agent and the carpet. The csa was paging me but i couldn't get close enough to respond. However, when i finally arrived at the podium halfway through the zone 2 boarding process and the agent handed me the last upgrade seat from dtw-dca i did get a few unpleasant glares. :d

Originally Posted by Alpha Golf (Post 13543037)

My Mom (white hair, in her 70s) just got FO for the first time, and was upgraded on a flight today.

I told her to start from the back of the concourse and to push her way through the crowds yelling "FIRST CLASS COMING THROUGH! FIRST CLASS!!"

Originally Posted by WBurcham (Post 13541373)

There is a reason my camera phone picture was blurry. Read the OP, it was clearly spelled out.

20 minutes before boarding dude was camped out on the breezeway line.

Y'all need to lighten up

Originally Posted by avidflyer (Post 13541458)

Blurriness was done to protect the innocent.

Note the knucklehead standing in the carpet...

The main point is that educated adults (as Pepeborja put it) are standing on the "carpet" a full 1/2 hour or more before boarding. These people will stand on the carpet and otherwise hover by the boarding door for, in some cases, an hour or more. I (as reported by others here) have seen people standing on the carpet before the INBOUND PLANE HAS arrived! This is usually done by supposed frequent flyers and they are commonly referred to as "Gate lice".

They call FC first. There is no need to stand on the carpet...the carpet in not there for that. The blue carpet is there for you to use AFTER boarding starts and you want to board before the rest of the folks in the regular line.

I saw a GA get a round of applause (from non-elites I think) one time when she made the FC cabin board through the regular line because so many people were in the "carpet" line that she KNEW it could not be all first class.
of course I was out in front (about where the picture taker is) and walked right up and boarded ahead of all the folks queued up on the carpet and they were NOT happy. Funny part is maybe only 1/3 of them were actually in FC so they had to wait anyway.

Gate lice make the boarding area a mess.

Originally Posted by jimrpa (Post 13543557)

Thanks guys! What's a "kettle"? You know, in over 20 years of flying, I've never come across the terms "gate lice" or "kettles". I guess I just don't hang out with the right kind of people.

Originally Posted by jjglaze77 (Post 13543740)

Funniest thread on the DL board in a while!!! :D ^

I'll never get back the last 15 minutes of my life, but wow, I haven't laughed that hard in a while!

Originally Posted by donlind (Post 13543768)

I like the way Vietnam Airlines handles this, at least on domestic flights. First class boards last. And it isn't a Marxist-Uncle Ho conspiracy!

If a first-class passenger tries to board before coach is done, they actually turn him/her away.

Coach passengers are not allowed to deposit luggage in overhead bins in first. After coach is fully boarded, first passengers are called (or summoned from the lounge where they're finishing departure drinks). With no herd to wade through, they waltz aboard to an empty cabin with open overhead bins, take seats and prepare for takeoff. They miss a 20-30 minute wait aboard the plane and they avoid bumping and jostling from coach passengers had they boarded later.