nick5000

On several recent flights from OSL to DOH the "boarding" starts at 90min before the flight or earlier, and even gate closing displays at >60min. In january I left the lounge and went there 45min before as I get stressed by the gate closing message. But at the gate everyone is just boarded inside the boarding area, and the flight has not actually started boarding (meaning people walking into the airplane). That flight ended up being delayed and I was standing in the boarding area for 1h30min, I assume people that "boarded" when "boarding" started was stuck there for 3 hours. There is no toilet in this area, so the staff had to de-board people that needed to use the toilet.

The boarding pass states: Gates close 20 minutes before departure.

So last week I ignored the boarding and gate closing announcements on the screens and stayed in the lounge. I left the lounge 37 minutes before the scheduled take off time. At 35 minutes they called me from the gate and asked if I was on my way. I arrived at the gate 30 minutes before scheduled take off, and was yelled at by the staff, who said they were getting ready to take me off the flight.
Is this normal QR practice also at other airports?

Bobdh13

Yea I experienced that too at DOH many times. Especially the DOH-BKK flight where they say it�s boarding for a long time even though it�s actually delayed. It�s suuuuuper annoying.

ph-ndr

QR is known for doing this all over the place. I've had a gate flashing "gate closing" in BKK, while not having an aircraft on stand yet.

It's effing annoying.

-A

florin

The other day in DOH I got notifications about boarding commencing some 3 hours before the flight. They were lies; boarding was on time.

nick5000

So I guess we just have to ignore this and just show up at the gate 30min before the scheduled time.

florin

Maybe 30 mins is cutting it a bit short. I think it also depends on the flight - bigger planes have longer boarding times, and some flights require additional security (e.g. flights to US or Australia) so there is the cattle pen situation, which makes boarding a 2 step process.

Traveller999

If you have a Busgate in Doha, Priority Boarding means you have to wait till Eco is in the bus, which can take quite a while, then the bus for Business / Priority guests will come - real Priority 😂

ph-ndr

Also, if there are any late arriving Y pax, they often get crammed into the same bus as J pax, making it all very premium.

-A

littlevoices

I discovered this a few hours ago on a DOH-HKG flight, seems they load all the Qatar Pacific planes via bus. Turned up promptly at 45 minutes before the scheduled time to have a wait in the "pen" before a free-for-all onto the economy bus... Later on I saw the business class bus, so seems on a bus gate you're better leaving it till the last minute if you can.

arxxxx

You have done nothing wrong by arriving the gate 30-35 minutes before departure, especially in DOH and major airports. That's what I do every single time travel with QR when I have lounge access. No one should be wasting 15-30 mins standing in the refugee camp like waiting area after getting the boarding pass first scaned. Ground staff did concern customers forget the boarding time and not showing up on time. They sometimes also "want" to get the gate closed a little bit earlier, only happens when very few passengers onboard.

The early boarding issue did happen on me on CWL pre-covid, like showing boarding on 80 mins prior departure and Last / Final Call on 45 mins prior departure. No one was boarding and all seats occupied in the waiting area. (The boarding procedure in CWL was very similar to DOH, which many people hate it)

Early gate close did happen on my HKG-DOH flight in January 2018, the ground staff tried to catch me at gate 25 when the flight was 40 mins prior departure. They said the flight was lightly loaded and they would like to get the gate closed earlier. No one was yelling at me and they led me the way to gate 29 where the flight departs. The gate closed at 35 mins prior departure after they scanned my boarding pass.

Yelling at a customer truely isn't a good practice in the service industry, I would write the name down and send Customer Care a complain letter during the flight if they yell or being impolite at me.

stargold

I would have very little patience for being yelled at when I turn up to the gate within the stated timeline - will certainly be asking for the agent's name to complain if it was any more than a passing mention.

And I agree with the others that the misuse of the boarding/gate closing messages are very annoying. Personally I go to gate T-40 if I'm in Y with carry-ons, but otherwise no more than T-30.

Amame

This just happened to me last week. Boarding time on my boarding pass was 20.20 and I went to the gate at 20.10. It was already flashing final call and the actual boarding has not started yet.

The plane then managed to delay in taking off and make me miss my connection in Doha.

SAWorldVoyager

Yes, its complete absurdity and one of my pet peeves with QR

surryson

-30 for me and if I�m ever given the hurry up, I politely point out the -20 cut off or that we are 30 mins still from the scheduled departure time.

KingCanute

I was under the impression that at many airports the main departures boards are controlled by the airport operator rather than each airline pressing "go" for each flight. So until a flight is confirmed as "delayed", either for a fixed period or indefinitely, boarding calls etc just automatically appear at fixed periods before the scheduled departure. So it might be kind to be nice to QR on this...

OSL is a bit of an outlier for lounge users as the OW lounge is before passport control and I've seen some very long queues to get through there. Perhaps the airport operator likes to move people along in plenty of time to be careful, so sets long calls.

That said, I'm sure airlines also want passengers to be available to board immediately in the event of a short or unexpected delay rather than letting everyone disperse all over the airport and it then take an hour to get everyone.back again. Delays elsewhere ultimately affect other flights too, and push up costs and potentially prices.

And the sooner the flight goes out the longer the break the ground staff get. The woman who checked me in for a flight last week was also operating the airbridge, and may then have had another flight to handle. Ground ops are no doubt much more tightly run than many of us realise. No excuse for being rude to people though.

Where possible at smaller airports, airlines would probably also like to grab an earlier take off slot if available, if they can get everyone on board early enough.

So yes, I'd generally say 30 mins at the gate should be plenty. But departure screen notifications often may not be under the airline's control, and I can see the (rare) occasions when they might be disappointed to miss the chance to get the aircraft away sooner than scheduled.