DYKWIA.....

Delta credit card holders board in Zone 1 too.

How nice, happy new year - opened with a DYKWIA story :)

You got into a shouting match with the GA over that. Just amazing!

+1... Zone 1 boards through the SkyPriority lane.

DYKWIA much? Sorry but you were in the wrong. And I can't believe you'd get into a shouting match over it. Next time get there early if you must be first to board.

Perhaps you should utilize Delta's private jet service, where the soiled, huddled masses won't ruin your experience?

DYKWIA much? The GA followed policy exactly. All elites (and partner elites, and apparently amex although it's not called out in the policy).

http://www.delta.com/content/www/en_...e-airport.html

The only "kettle" (in terms of not knowing how things at the airport are supposed to run, being disruptive, and in general playing the fool) in this case appears to be you.

There's something here that's legitimately confusing in that FO and DL AmEx is priority boarding but not SkyPriority, yet they board in zone 1 through the SkyPriority lane.

Maybe DL should change the boarding process and make zone 1 board through the regular lane, but then FOs and DL AmEx cardholders would complain that they want more special treatment. This would avoid the OP's problem of being in FC but having to wait in a long line to board.

Depending on how desperate I felt about bin space, I would have been tempted to hold back and board through the SkyPriority side later in the boarding process once I missed zone SKY and saw the huge line. Or the OP could have feigned a bit of stupidity and approached the podium through the kettle side to politely ask the GA whether FC was boarding yet, which might have resulted in an invitation to cut the line. YMMV.

One can argue that DL AmEx folks are people too, even if they're not elite.

Another Reason...
 

Not to Delta )-:

That, or split off amex into their own zone and give the FOs back a tiny little bone. FO boarding has long been called out as through the Sky Priority lane (including being able to bypass the general boarding line when higher zones are boarding) and should stay that way. I'd prefer amex was somewhere in between, and not have sky priority privileges - seems a reasonable way to protect the integrity of the flying programs without diluting the amex product appeal that DL also depends on.
Boarding late is often my preference, particularly for domestic narrowbodies other than F on the 757 when boarding via 2L. Space for a reasonable carry on is not frequently an issue.

Boarding always seemed the most straight forward part to me of Silver and Sky Priority. As a Silver I was more confused about whether I could use Sky Priority check-in, priority security line, etc. which seemed to vary from airport to airport. But while boarding, it was made clear by the GAs and the automated announcements: Zone 1 could board through the Sky Priority lane after FC and Diamonds/Plats/Golds were called to board. Seems the OP found out that for certain routes and markets, most of the plane is FC, "Sky Priority" (Diamond/Plat/Gold) and Zone 1 (Silver and AmEx) and thus gets to board through the Sky Priority lane. Either way, OP is a clown for getting in a shouting match with the GA about it.

Phew, forgot what it's like to have a good FT roasting on the DL forum. Back when I was an FO, zone 1 boarded through the regular lane. Also, I don't think anyone with the DL Amex gets to board through SkyPriority, but if that is the case, it's a bad policy to have half the plane boarding through SP lane.

Anyway, I handled this wrong and I'll take it up with the management next time.

I, for one, appreciate the New Year's Day dose of humor provided by this thread...better than a bowl game. Don't fold yet!!! Please edit your post to tell everyone why they are wrong and Delta should have an "F" only line, so I can get a few more hours of free entertainment!!

Seriously, though, I never know where to board, I just get in the line. DO they ever have two lanes open? It was soooo much easier when it was just a ladder to get on.

Or just switch to BOARDING SEQUENCE numbers. What's your number? Oh you are #80, here you go stand right behind #79. This would cut down on gate lice encirclement herds and auto-create an actual line. Americans should get with the program and organize themselves into queues in a more efficient and cooperative manner.