I agree elites should know how to load bags, but it is amazing to watch 12-16-24 seats try to get bags into the overhead bins in FC, Some think the bag they brought is the most important and will put it sideways even though it fits in the long way. I have seen it all. Honestly i don't get to see as much behind the exit rows but FC/Delta Comfort could use a lesson around this.

dave

They should know, but are often the worst offenders. Cannot tell you how many DM / PM I see putting their rollaboard on the 2 seat side of the md 88/90/717. The long bags go on the three seat side and the small bags go on the 2 seat side. This is not difficult, but many struggle with it.

Saw some of those people on my flights yesterday. A few business men with the 22" roller and large briefcases or backpacks. Put the roller in sideways AND added the 2nd item up in the overhead. The flight from SAV-ATL was a 919, so the "elites" hogged a bunch of the Comfort+ big-side compartments. The flight ATL-SLC was a 737-900, totally full. One "gentleman" in the row ahead of me in C+ put his nice Rimowa roller in sideways, then set his nice Rimowa briefcase in next to it, also sideways, thus taking up about 3/4s of that overhead. The couple who came next in the row only had space for 1 backpack and had to go further back to park a roller. So, I do not buy the statement that the elites know how to follow the rules on how to load bags in the overhead and that it is the kettles (of which I am one now) are the ones who need education.

The ATL-SLC flight had the pre-loading option going on. One young woman (probably a college summer intern) was wandering the area for awhile, asking people with rollers if she could load them above their seats for them. She had a good many takers on it. She did this well before the boarding started, so she was not holding up the process. On a totally full flight, even having 20-30 bags stored correctly would help before everyone else gets on board. Heck, if I were an infrequent flyer and relegated to Zone 2-4, I'd let them pre-board my bag!!!

Almost nobody knows how to load anything. I woke up to a text this morning as my. Other connected through PHX. She's mid-60s, flies maybe once per year, and almost always WN. She was on AA today (not sure why, must have been cheaper) and in her text, she painted a scene of a crowded gatehouse akin to a madhouse, full of rude passengers and lots of luggage. She specifically mentioned al the bags, stating "I saw very few bags that were actually carry-on size; don't they make the people check the bags?" Then I tried to explain basically the theme of this (and every other) thread, and told her what would happen and how people react. Fifteen minutes later, she texted me and said boarding and stowing was exactly as I explained it. My parents have flown WN for the better part of two decades, and even though the were aware of bag fees ok other carriers, she didn't know that things had devolved into the mad attempt to avoid ancillary bag fees.

...and don't get me started on the garment bags that take up half a bin or more... Those should not be care on approved.

I recently learned that Early Valet program is targeted to customers who would likely pre-board and Medallion customers. Think families with babies who might struggle loading bags while carrying a baby, elderly pax who can't lift their own bags, or medallions who would prefer to board late (using phone for family/business) but still want overhead bin space.

The negative tone of this thread is about to take a big ole shift for the better.

Great idea if they can get it to work.

While it is (sometimes) easy to spot who may preboard, how will the Valet identify medallions? Are they going to hunt for medallion tags? Ask each person in the gatehouse? Make an announcement that any medallions that want the service should convene at this spot, first come first serve? It almost seems as if it wasn't targeted as most medallions, since I seem to remember posts saying the service was targeting airports that have lots of leisure travelers.

I had one brief conversation with a red coat friend in a hub. She said GCAs (Gate Concierge Agents) are assigned to a gate using the automatic scheduling system that hubs already use for telling a GA which flight to work; no one at the airport really knows how a certain flight is picked for Early Valet... they just pull up the schedule and it tells them where to go.

I didn't ask how they identify medallions. If it were my job, I would look for brag tags, or bags that look like they've been checked a lot (a million pink tag stubs, bag tag stickers, international tags, etc.). If I were at the gate and a medallion came up asking about an upgrade, I'd offer it then too.

Well we have you on the record then!!

The epitome of out-of-context quotes. You should be a reporter for a big media outlet. Or a politician.

And by that I meant I would turn to my side and bark "Hey gopher, come get this bag for this nice gentleman here." Gate Concierge Agents require specialized agility training for workplace safety bureaucracy reasons. I have no such agility training.

So the GCAs help to enable the you board you lose policy by making it easy for an elite to board at the end, in hope of getting the upgrade. However, this means that the bag would be over the coach seat assignment, forcing that lucky elite to swim upstream to deplane. Or would the GCA place the bag in a FC bin if the elite has a good chance of getting the upgrade? Inquiring minds want to know.....

Isn't GCA a fancy title? Are these summer student hires who take the job in hope of it looking good on a resume? Baggage handler or gate bell person doesn't have the same cachet as some title containing the word concierge, which sounds like an elite professional customer service employee.

FT hint for you, in general...when it's public, post the link so folks can see the airline's official release:

http://news.delta.com/early-valet-se...debuts-us-hubs

(When it's not public...tread lightly...and be prepared to be told you're wrong...oh wait I think you've already learned that in another thread. )

I wanted to know more about it so I asked a red coat when passing through SLC. God forbid anyone go off the word of a red coat. She said it's for preboarders and HVCs. How often do people here post what they learn from talking to red coats or FAs? If it weren't public but internal, I would know about it and wouldn't have to ask or be curious.