"Express" boarding?
 

Yesterday on 976 MKE-LGA (an A319) we boarded:

1. Preboards
2. Stretch seating
3. "Express" boarding for any passengers who did not have carryons for the overhead bins.
4. Everybody else (not sure if they did this by row or not since I was onboard).

Anybody else experience this? I'm not sure if this made for better boarding or not on this particular flight, but it's an interesting idea.

They've done it on most of my flights, recently. It really seems to speed the boarding process because you don't have so many people standing in the aisles waiting for people to stow their overhead luggage.

I've seen it taken a step further. I was on a completely full flight and the gate agent solicited people to give up their roller bags in exchange to "express" board.

She must have got 25 people to give up their huge roller bag. The flight boarded in a flash, no one who kept their bag had to search very hard to find bin room, even the very last person on the plane found room for their bag and sat right down.

Seems like a good tool if used proactively like the lady who worked my flight. She was all alone and the door closed 5 minutes early. I like it! More airlines should pay attention.

Yeah I really like it, I find the upgrade to stretch seating of huge value for me, most of my Flying is from Denver to Florida Airports.

Slightly confused
 

If I'm traveling with just a briefcase, it will mean I get to board before people with rollerboards. It doesn't mean a free upgrade to Stretch Seating if it's still open does it?

Correct.

Since my original post I've seen the "express boarding" twice more...both on full Ejets, and it seemed to make boarding go surprisingly fast. They might be on to somethjing.

Knope, you are violating the TOS by posting the same message in Both forums.

I hope the TB takes note. :D:D

Thanks.

I have yet to explicitly see "express" boarding, but on a recent connection in Denver, the gate agent did ask for passengers to come up, check the size of their luggage against the cage and then check it if it was too big. She said this was due to passengers who've paid for their luggage to be stowed are getting upset due to people trying to get on with oversized bags.

Frankly, while I like the concept of express boarding, as it has been explained above, it seems to me that people could use it simply to get their luggage checked for free. Gate checking should be used for things that are required to get to the gate (wheelchairs, strollers, etc..) or carry-on sized baggage for which there's no room (all bins full or a regional jet, for example). Allowing a horde of passengers to gate check on a flight that could otherwise handle the bags seems contradictory to the policy of charging for checking luggage.

Does frontier tag gate checks through to final destination and return them on the belt, or are they picked up at the jetbridge? If they just come back to the jetbridge, I don't see a problem. After all, the passenger did most of the bag toting, and it's not like you can get a bag much larger than carryon size through security (the tsa doesn't enforce size rules, but the portal on the xray scanner does ;))

It seems that most people who check bags do so because they have either 3+ ounces of liquids or more stuff than can fit in a personal item+carryon-size bag. Being able to gate check for free won't save those people any bag fees.

Gate checked bags come out on the belt unless you are flying on a regional jet where most of the time they will have them on the tarmac for you.

Mods do not answer to TB nor is TB permitted to meddle in moderation matters.

As for knope2001's transgression, we'll look the other way for another week or so. ;)

That problem should be solved next Thursday. :D:D

Just witnessed "express" boarding twice this past week in SEA and DEN. It was a cluster on both legs. Passengers don't listen and gate agents didn't police it. People are so anxious to board that it creates crowds hovering around the podium. Please stay seated until your row is called.

I've seen express boarding about 50% of the time since I started making weekly trips between MKE and DFW in early May. These flights are on the 76 seat ERJ-170 and are nearly always full. It's not consistently offered or enforced depending on the station and GA. I've taken advantage of it a couple of times, but made status yesterday so it's technically a moot point for me until I lose status.

Part of the express boarding strategy is to limit the use of overhead bin space for rollaboards by forcing PAX to put smaller items under the seat, thereby reducing last-minute gate checks. When the GAs and FAs manage the process, it works as planned - the last PAX boarding with a rollaboard can find space for it, although the PAX who want to put smaller items in the overhead can get distressed about being told they can't use the bins - and I've seen a few become verbally abusive toward the FAs.

I haven't noticed a significant difference in boarding duration when it's used vs. not used, but I wasn't exactly doing time-in-motion studies with a stopwatch, either. It would be interesting to see if the airline has captured any metrics to determine the effectiveness of this change.

Sadly, most travelers don't realize (or want to realize) that, while their small bags can fit either under the seat or in the overhead, a standard size roller bag can only fit in the bins. If the flight is less than full, it's not a problem, but I've gotten some nasty looks from people when I move their bags around to minimize wasted space.

I'm all for letting people with small baggage board before those with bags, as long as it's policed (and violators have their cookie privileges revoked :D).

:confused: What's the benefit of giving up your bag to get early boarding? I thought the main reason to be one of the first to get onboard is to have overhead space for your huge roller bag. If you don't have one, why be in your seat early, if you're going to spend several more hours in it anyway? And potentially be delayed at the luggage carousel after landing?