Are you saying Zone 1 is not supposed to board through the Priority lane? They are obviously supposed to wait till they are called, but they are asked to use the Priority lane (assuming no pillars). Or at least that used to be the case. Delta still considers Zone 1 to be priority (you will never be Zone 1 if you are in Main Cabin and do not have something else - Silver status, partner status, credit card, etc). As I mentioned in my post, it seems a little silly to call "Zone 1" priority when over half the plane has already boarded before Zone 1 even starts, but that's besides the point.

I'm not talking about boarding order here, I'm talking about general gate crowding.

I'm not seeing that lately. 10/30 (a Tuesday!?) I couldn't catch a non-middle upgrade to C+ on any segment. Seatmates in the exit rows were GMs and Plats. C+ was mostly families w/kids flying on what I would think was a school day.

If it's any consolation I'm a DM and can't even catch a C+ middle seat upgrade regardless of the day. :rolleyes:

I just wish there was more airplane mixing so that they could board the darn plane quicker - e.g., board some random people in the middle and back of the plane while PREM and SKY is underway. Would shave at least 5-7 minutes off of boarding if they did that.

Another all too common issue is GA's not opening the Sky Priority Lane while boarding a flight. Often I see GA's who will board PREM/SKY through general boarding line and then follow with Zone 1,2.. through the same line.

That is fine for those PREM/SKY pax at the gate when boarding first starts. But usually I prefer to hang in the club until about T-20 or so. I though that benefit was a guaranteed feature of being SKY. The ability to show up later during boarding and be able to skip past the scanner line is important to me.

+1. It's frustrating having to leave the lounge early to avoid boarding last. BA's boarding process is far better in this regard. The same applies to those local handling companies who start boarding way too early when the aircraft isn't even ready and all the PAX have to wait in a holding pen for 10-15 minutes. SP boarders have no way of getting to the front of the line as the holding pen only has one very long merged line.

I don't understand, you guys want to stay in the lounge and not board first, but not board last either? Why not just board last? I would think that in 90% of cases the overhead situation in the area around your seat is going to be the same boarding in the middle as boarding last (everyone in your general area will be boarding before you).

Agree and sort of true, although I spend a lot of time in the last row so I can safely not board first but I also want to board with at least 30% of the plane empty so I can guarantee OHB space. Your statement only applies if someone is in F or C+. F because there will probably still be space, and C+ because there won't be space as soon as SKY finishes boarding anyways.

OK, yeah, if you're at the back of the plane that makes a bit more sense.

Enforcing Boarding Zones
 

With so many negative posts about the boarding process, I witnessed the opposite yesterday. The GA was ACTIVELY enforcing boarding zones to the point they were asking people to show their phones before scanning, and I watched them kick 2 people out of the line during pre board and people behind me during PREM who were trying to board with SKY.

I was so surprised I didnt get a chance but would have loved to give them a JWD certificate. With lots of negatives on how boarding is handled I thought a positive post would be warranted.

I was under the impression that Zone 1 was supposed to board through the general lane, and that they are the first to do so. My understanding, and experience, is that the SP lane is supposed to remain open the whole time for SP to use whenever they come to the gate.

Not sure why this post was moved here? Seems not relevant to this conversation at all.

This is not the case - or at least it wasn't true two years ago. Zone 1 always boarded through the priority lane as it is considered a priority boarding zone* and as such boards through the SKY lane at airports without the pillars. Whenever I arrive late, it generally appears that this is still the case.

Again, it is farcical since a lot of flights mean that 80%+ of the plane (between Delta and partner status, credit cards, and corporate bookings) gets "priority boarding" but it is what it is. :)

* Delta even sells priority boarding as an Extra for ~$15 and this slots you into Zone 1

I happen to like this system on AA (admittedly, it works particularly well for me, but even aside from that, it seems fair and reasonable).

The worst system imho is on UA, where Premier 1K get to pre-board (and that's often quite a few people) and then FC is in the same group as Platinum and Gold. So if you are in FC and aren't at the gate to line up well ahead of time, you're in for a lengthy wait to board (at least given the elite loads on the flights I've taken recently).