Elite carpet ignored
 

On Co when I am running from a late flight to catch another one, I can just run up on the blue carpet and the regular coach boarding stops, while the GA walks over to me wishes me a good flight and lets me head down the ramp.

I was happy to see that NW was giving the same added respect to their elites, but after flying NW last week I see that is not really the case. :p

I had heard about the addition of the carpets, and so when I saw the carpet in the middle of regular boarding I headed over to it. I was first abused by those in line, (well ok no biggie, it is a new policy) what shocked me was I was then abused by the GA and told to get in line. I asked her what the elite carpet was for, and she rolled her eyes. I have noticed that NW employees seem very good at the eye roll.. CO employees have other ways of being dismissive, but I have never seen one do the full roll. :rolleyes: I just shut up and got in line.

Then on a later connection they just ran everyone over the grey carpet, at that point I rolled my eyes. Did NW just miss the boat on the training of the change, or do NW employees just not care? It really is a nice perk when it works right, but done in a half a$$ manner just means NW bought a bunch of gray carpets.

Please post the airport and flights... also send a note to TTU through NWA.com. Unless the managers know that gate agents are not following policy, these bad apples will continue to roll their eyes and get away with it.

I must say that in the several months now that the Elite boarding has been in place, I have only seen it used ONCE -- in DTW.

The GA's ignore it -- also, in the push for FC and Elite boarding, the PAX ignore it and line up on the other side.

So, if we want the GA's to consider it important, we, as Elites, must start lining up there. Otherwise, it's just more work!

Personally I prefer the eye roll over the "No Speeka Inglas" look that I get in EWR =)

but yeah, would be nice to see the red carpet better utilized

Just wonder what the cost of all of the red carpets were, seems to be a waste of time and money since it is pretty much never used. NWA Gates were not designed for it like CO. Get rid of them and bring movies back in the cabins.

Same experience here, I never see the carpets used. There's an obvious gap in NW's ideas and the implementation of them, and the labor/mgt. problem really shows its ugly head here, IMO. :(

I have never seen it used either - but then again... In general...

NW boards its FC cabin first (no need for the carpet here)

It then boards remaining elites and exit row holders (who tend to be elites). Again no real need for the carpet.

It seems the only real need for the carpet would be for elites who arrive at the gate after general boarding has started. How much of a need this is - I have no idea!

You should send a note. You described EXACTLY what the carpet is supposed to be for. There are still some people who line up there for elite and FC boarding. That is NOT what it is intended for. It makes no sense to make the GA reach over to the elite line when FC and Elite are THE ONLY FOLKS BOARDING! If you are being called as a FC or elite passenger then you should go to the GA, not the elite carpet. After the general call THEN the carpet makes sense to get you on in front of the non-elite flyers. I roll my eyes when I see people in line on the carpet before they call FC boarding and then I walk right up to the GA and cut them all. What are people thinking? There is no need for a carpet if you are the only people boarding. I bet some of the "attitude" is because the GA's see what I described and think to themselves that these guys must really need attention to actually line up 4 feet further from the scanner just because it says "elite" on the carppet. You should send a note because as The Zipper says, they can’t fix it if you do not tell them about it.

Some contructive comments about rearranging the lanes at some gates might also be useful in your Talk-to-Us notes. Where there is only one BP scanner, the elite lane should be the inside lane. Unfortunately, the physical layout at many gates makes it difficult for the GA to give proper attention to the red carpets.

I think that would be tougher on the GA's. The carpet should really be a line-cutting device and you would be ergonomically designing the area for the exceptions rather than the rule. It should be like when you see the guys getting comped at a Vegas club, they just walk right by the line and in.

Sometimes it works
 

Last week at IAH they called FC to board.

Since the flight was 20 minutes late arriving, they didn't bother to call for Elite preboard, extra time preboard, exit preboard, or even any general boarding. The horde just jammed the gate and the GA started scanning BPs. I sidled down the elite aisle, followed by a well dressed but annoyed looking woman. They had stationed another GA (GAtekeeper) at the end of the line. I showed her my BP, she smiled and let me pass to the GA taking the BP's. I heard the woman behind me say "I'm elite" to the gatekeeper as I whisked down the jetway.

Of course, in spite of no one seated in rows 5 or 6 yet there was no overhead space, but that's another story.

Look at the KL elite lines in AMS, they are much narrower and come in right in front of the gate agent, who can still service the non-elite line.

Cut the rectangular carpets into triangles and arrange the lines accordingly. :rolleyes:

New Year’s Eve I was on my way home from SFO and a family of about 5 boarded right after I did in FC. I was the only pax in the cabin and I watched them stuff 3 overheads full of bags and walk back to row 20 something. I was p'ed off until I realized they would get their due when we arrived in DTW...it was a 757 and we boarded through 1L but I knew we would be de-planing through 2L, and we did. ;)

It's funny how ratty those carpets usually are. The "red" and "blue" carpets are often (especially at the check-in counter) filthy, flattened, stained, ripped, etc. Good symbol of the U.S. airline industry! (Another Ozymandias moment.)

I have never seen the carpet used either. Not in MSP, DTW, or SEA