I hadn't flown KL out of JNB for a while, so this may not be a recent innovation, but last Monday two large signs appeared miraculously at the doors to the gate 6 at JNB : "Economy Class" on the left, "Business Class / Elites" on the right. There are no gate holding pens at JNB, so after showing your passport at the doors, you proceed down a long ramp to the boarding card scanners. A gate agent, strategically positioned halfway down the ramp, kept repeating "Business to the left, economy to the right". Just before the scanners, a second agent echoed him.

Guess what? It worked like a dream! (Yeah, I know, they swapped left and right halfway, but it still worked).

Congratulations, KLM! Now how about implementing a workable system for longhaul flights at AMS?

johan

You must be kidding, flew out to HKG in C last week, usual free for all in the "holding pen".
What ever happened to the nice colour coded cards we used to get!

In contrast at the gate in HKG for the return flight things are great, Business/Elites to the left with an agent checking and things go smooth as anything.

pmcg

They used cards for a KQ flight to NBO that I took recently. The gate agent gave me the wrong color, but that didn't matter. I boarded along with the blues, nobody asked to see my bright yellow card. A brilliant system, as least as far as the dazzling selection of colors is concerned. It would actually work if one of the gate agents would go to the trouble of checking the cards at the gate, but they usually flee as soon as they have opened the doors. Given their consistent reluctance to implement the priority boarding system on shorthaul flights as well, I'm inclinded to conclude that a sizeable precentage of KL AMS gate agents are either indolent or recalcitrant. Probably both.

johan

Johan, thanks for the message, will check it out next time.
I flew out of CPT two months ago and the boarding was very disorganised, despite five handling company agents at the gate.
Good to see things are improving at JNB.