Oh Wise EK Flyertalkers,

I had a disasterous experience on EK this past January and I want to get some clarification from experienced EK flyers. I have written a complaint to EK which was largely ignored.

I flew J class (Full Fare Business) BAH-DXB-BAH. The boarding of the BAH-DXB could best be described as a "cattle stampede" . No priority boarding for Business or First Class. To make things worse, the flight was boarded in a narrow corridor at BAH and the flight experienced "creeper" (term used by EK) delays. I was trapped in a sea of humanity with passengers carrying what could only be described as "all their worldly possessions". Standing in this corridor for a few minutes would not be bad, but the "creeper" delays soon exceeded 45 minutes and there was no place to sit nor could I shove my way through the packed stampede of passengers back to the airport foyer.

As a full fare paid business class passenger, are my expectations of priority boarding unreasonable ? Are my expectations of reasonable carry on discipline unreasonable ? I fly EK occasionally and had always thought that EK was a world class carrier (after all their Brand is now considered the most valuable in the World). But after my last experience, I think they rank about where the late Peoples Express was. Does EK offer uniformed priority boarding for Business Class Passengers ? Lastly, why would EK ignore my inquiry about the poor handling of the boarding at BAH ? I should note that EK did acknowledge receipt of my complaint and apologized for the delay, but was mute, even after a follow up response, as to the boarding disaster.

Your wise insights are appreciated

There is of course priority boarding for j and f and skywards gold and platinum members. It's not done well in places like BAH but on that route I'm guessing 90% of the flight were gold but if there is only one bridge I can see how that would be a bad experience.

On the 777 there is usually a dedicated air bridge for f which is always nice ^

Welcome to our part of the forum!

In short, I don't think your expectation of priority boarding as a J class passenger (full fare or not), is unreasonable. Unfortunately, sometimes the airport facilities themselves do not lend themselves very well so such uniform provision across the whole network! For instance, there are some airports which do it very well - or even from the lounge. But there are certain places in the world (the ME comes to mind) where it just doesn't happen. e.g. JED. No amount of complaining or stress on the part of a traveller - especially if you are a frequent traveller - is going to change the way some places work, and so for my own sanity I don't get angry about it. If you travel enough, you literally see everything when it comes to airport operations. No point in allowing the unexpected to screw up your time. After all, you have a big influence on your own mood and I don't see why any sane individual would want to get angry for trivial reasons. That said, this is Flyertalk...

Although it's not an unreasonable request, I wouldn't let the lack of it spoil your day and take up your time trying to remedy it - life is too short for that, I think...!

Even if Priority Boarding had been enforced, it sounds like you would just have been further down the "corridor", still with no place to sit and no way to get back. Stuff like this happens.

Your carry on point could merit a whole new thread of its own.

Sometimes I fly first class (fully paid out of my own pocket,) but I wouldn't send a complaint to EK exclusively about "priority boarding" issues, so with due respect but yes! I think your expectations of priority boarding are unreasonable.

Today I landed in Kuwait, instead of receiving my luggage first for being a first class passenger I received my bag after the business class passengers. I definitely wouldn't send an e-mail to EK just about that particular issue!

What precisely would happen if you were not one of the first people to board the plane? Many popular airlines such as RJ do not offer priority boarding for your knowledge!

sorry but you do not complain/find it unreasonable that you get a priority boarding in C/F and on the other side you do complain about: "no entry to the lounge as an Eco pax", "misleading information regarding duration of the stay in the lounge from FT", "lotion story", "hotels that are not high enough (RC in HKG)" etc. etc.

I did not attempted to access the lounge, i just asked for body lotion which I was rudely denied access to and got kicked out (I still never received my Skywards card, despite being a silver member now.) This time, I listened to some fellow FT'ers suggestions and brought my own personal body lotion (it's better than relaying on the airline's body lotion )

Today I spent 12 hours exclusively in the first class lounge in Concourse A and enjoyed every moment of it without even thinking about _____'s comment regarding lounge access First class is worth every penny ^

Finally, I did not say the hotel was not high, I said that I was not given a room on "the high floor." Floor 107 is considered low compared to floor 117.

gpicur - I fully empathise with your disappointment. I feel that your expectations were not unreasonable and that you were right to bring it to the attention of EK in the way that you did.

Sadly, I also think it is very unlikely that your comments in the letter will ever be seen by anyone with the authority/power/will to attempt to do anything about such situations. BUT, that aside, the picture painted above by eternal transit is about as realistic & pragmatic a portrayal of things as you could get, and I would concur with the philosophy that it's better to 'move on' and not let this niggle in the future as I'm sure it must have done (and would with me too ....) at the time.

(aceboy : What on earth were you doing in the FC lounge for 12 hours .... I seem to recall that most of your travel is in & around the Gulf, and I'm intrigued as to where you had been to prior to returning to Kuwait .....Or was it perhaps intended as a day trip purely to make maximum use of a lounge.....

This reminds me of the mess that was the old DOH. Boarding by bus, and F made to wait last.

I have no idea where you get your information from about me! Where exactly did you come to the conclusion that I fly exclusively in the gulf region?) I have also visited Europe and the U.S just FYI

I was flying first class back home all the way from Hong Kong onboard the A380. Since I was flying first class, why not experience the first class lounge in Concourse A as well since I missed that opportunity the last time I flew first class? The experience was worth every penny I spent on that first class ticket. Spending 12 hours exclusively in the first class lounge were one of my best moments in my life

It was a bit weird on EK39 a couple of mornings ago in Dubai, I genuinely thought I'd missed business boarding because when I got to the gate the single gate agent was continually calling economy passengers to board only, it wasn't until other passengers starting complaining that I realised business hadn't started boarding at all.

LOL~~ This is too funny kuroko, the EXACT same thing came to mind this morning while having some breakfast, and reading this thread. My hands felt a little dry upon putting down the tablet, so I flagged down some lotion in the washroom. good thing I was not on an EK-Y seated flight.

aceboy44 bad luck and poor service seems to follow you around your world travels. What are the statistical odds of this? We have a lot of actuaries in FT, I am sure. Your luck must be their worst nightmares, and throws the entire curve off track.

I have been stuck on my fair share of boarding ramps in the past. this is why I try to be the last to board, no matter the class of service, if there is not a dedicated boarding ramp for C/F pax. OT, but on an OZ flight last year in F, FA tried to hold up an ollllllld unni (grandmother from C) so I could disembark first, I declined, and happily let her go first. All parties seemed shocked at this.

Keep up your travels aceboy44, I thoroughly enjoy your posts, and all subsequent replies from FT'ers.

LFC

On flights to the subcontinent and even on some flights to the UK they sometimes have a J boarding section which basically puts you ahead of the Y pax.( in the same queue). Quite a few Y pax assume that you are queue jumping and end up with arguments with the J pax.

On my last flight a few months ago one of the Y pax said something to the J pax ahead of me and it looked as if security was being called to sort out the matter.( they were using F words at each other and it looked as if they were going to fight)

Still only mid-March, but surely a worthy nomination for 'Post of the Year' ??

Truly bizarre......

I've had this a few times too, to the point when I get to the gate I'm sometimes not sure whether I'm meant to be boarding for J or not.