Bandicoot

Two weeks ago at Schiphol, boarding a flight to Boston, the gate staff announced that we were all lucky to be part of a new thing Delta was trying out "to streamline the boarding process". What they did was to have the two queues for passengers (one for Delta One, Sky Priority and such, and the other for all others) be processed simultaneously. So the business class passengers were having their boarding passes scanned at the same time as the economy passengers, and everyone ended up then in the same single long queue in the jetway waiting to enter the aircraft. (It wasn't one of those situations where business class has a different entrance into the aircraft; just one doorway open for all passengers.)

I doubt that this is really streamlining much, since any time saved in scanning boarding passes was lost in the wait in the jetway (average wait time over all passengers probably the same; of course definitely increased for priority passengers who were earlier let on to the aircraft sooner), but my question really is, is this something Delta is rolling out everywhere? Or was it some type of limited experiment at AMS?

Cory6188

That seems like it defeats the purpose of priority boarding entirely. I've been on a handful of DL flights in the past few weeks, across an array of outstations/hubs, and I can't say I've come across it.

Then again, AMS is basically run by KL, with just a few DL red coats, so it's entirely possible that the KL staff were trying something out on their own.

Tine Rod

Doesn’t make sense since they just had the big fuss about the zone overhaul.

ekozie

Zones will now be comprised of a letter followed by a number. Zones A1, A2, and A3 will board from the leftmost "A" boarding lane. Zones B1, B2, B3, B4, Main Cabin 6, B5, and B7 will board from the rightmost "B" boarding lane. Once boarded through their branded boarding lane using their branded boarding zone, all passengers will experience our signature jetbridge SkyClusterf*ck®.

flyerCO

AMS does AMS. I dislike KLMs process. They start scanning passengers before plane is ready to board. You're then stuck in the small holding pen till they open the doors to the jetbridge. Rush, rush, rush, stand (no seats) for indeterminate amount of time, they finally open the doors and whoosh, everyone in pen now floods the jetbridge.

ats262

I’ve taken several KLM intra-Europe flights from AMS, and they have almost always started scanning both the SkyPriority line and the general boarding line at the same time. On one flight they started the general boarding line about a minute before SkyPriority.

MSPeconomist

For PMNW/DL flights to the USA from AMS with security checks at the gate, my goal was always to time my arrival at the gate so as to be the last person to go through SkyPriority (or whatever it was called earlier) gate security questions, of course in view of the GAs boarding the flight, so that I could board last without spending excess time in the holding pen, dealing with gate lice either at the podium or at the entrance to the jetway, or spending time in a clogged jetway (which is always either too hot or too cold). It was a fine art in airportmanship. I hate holding pens in any form.

nk15

They don’t do much of J or elite benefits in Europe, all these priority boarding, big front seats, complimentary upgrades, free seat choice, and other needy requests, it bores them too much.

MSPeconomist

However, many elites and all J tickets (including shorthaul Eurobusiness) get lounge access (plus special lines), with no need (or ability) to pay for a membership or for same day access.

ecaarch

I had this same experience a couple of years ago at MSP. It was at one of the G gates with a door on either side of the counter. The result was that as a PM in economy (SkyPriority), I boarded simultaneously with zone 3. Once on board, I had to search for overhead bin space. SkyPriority my @$$. At least it only happened to me once.

MSPeconomist

This sounds like G1 to G6, the gates off of the square area in the G concourse that's closest to the F/G SC that are used for many DL international departures (and arrivals since immigration and customs are located roughly under G7/8). In a few cases, a large aircraft is boarded using two gate (the one that's shown on the monitor--for coach--and an adjacent gate for premium cabin passengers when two boarding doors are used, but generally it's PREM (D1 and DM) and SkyPriority on one side of the podium and coach on the other side, typically clearly marked, although I don't know how PS is treated or signposted here.

exwannabe

No, that was suggested but nixed.

The new process will be every pax will have a GUID boarding zone like

1AB4-33F564C-8A7C

LondonElite

What they don't do in Europe is strictly controlled zoned boarding, that is true. In every other respect elite status with European carriers reflects a more premium experience.

- lounges
- no upgrading to fill the J cabin is IMO superior to having big seats and a rammed cabin
- priority security

FlyerTalker324193

I don't get the fuss over priority boarding on long-haul flights. In difference to (some) short-haul flights, the overhead bins are large enough. So there's no need to be among the first to board.

MSPeconomist

I used to try to board longhaul flights early so as to avoid missing the purser's first walk around the cabin to take meal orders. Now with preorder, I board later unless I suspect that the flight might be overbooked or that someone is likely to try to poach my seat.