HKatz

Generally only matters when you are trying to squeeze in your carryon back and you have too many AHs that decide they need to put both carryon and personal item in the bins above.

MEaton

We also need for GA's to refuse boarding to those not in the group being boarded. GA's often allow them or aren't paying attention. Once an airline becomes "known" for bouncing these line cutters; most will back off. I confess that I am one of those leaning against a column next to the gate, but I'm also usually in Group 1 or occasionally 2. I get the stare, but I'm not cutting in front of anybody. I LOVE the Southwest system. I wish all airlines had a similar system...

WeekendTraveler

True. Gate agents with the airline I fly routinely let people in Group 8 board even with Group 1. Very rarely is something said.

mtdog

I agree. To board first is to not have a problem in the world. People like me end up in the priority 1 boarding because of the loyalty program and I would remind people that because we get special privileges, the airline expects us to RELAX and enjoy the flight. Save the histrionics for the inexperienced travelers. If I wanted to rail I would surely complain about the first class passengers who block the entire de-planeing by, one at a time, pulling their suitcase from the overhead. Could they not just sit back and wait for a break in the flow of people walking off the plane.

RRROOO

Or GA's stopping those from carryon several HUGE bags. I am amazed at the size luggage people are carrying on.

John Anderson L.

I must confess I have been called out for being pushy at an airport. My reaction? It was like being awakened from a dream. I didn't even realize what I was doing. I was just trying to rush to get on board. The person who called me out was not rude or disrespectful. And it woke me up. I suddenly snapped out of my "trance" and apologized to the other person and respectfully asked them to go ahead of me.

WeekendTraveler

You deserve praise (or maybe an upgrade). Very rare for anyone to apologize for anything these days!

whherron

The boarding passes are scanned in. Teach the pass scanner which group is currently being processed. When someone tries to come in early, have it make a loud buzzing noise. Even if the GA lets it go, the person will be publicly identified.

RRROOO

hee hee

rxgeek

The opposite of China.

Allan38103

Some people care about the issue. Some don’t.

Some people think that posting their opinions on social media is important. Some people don’t.

lamphs

[QUOTE=ATOBTTR;34156053]I do realize this problem is caused as much by the airlines as it is passengers between bag fees and cramming as many seats as possible into the aircraft but it matters when I want/need to board and secure overhead space but it matters even more for securing overhead space near my row so when we land and I have a tight connection, I don't have to swim upstream to try to get my carryon bag, further delaying my getting to the next flight and possibly misconnecting. If you're on a nonstop flight or your final flight of the day, maybe less of a big deal.
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I also prefer to be in my seat as soon as possible to reduce the chance of a seat poacher taking my seat and then trying to guilt me into moving since they're "already settled in" (and unfortunately FA's can sometimes be compliant in this too).[/QUOTE

Are you implying that you don't wait your turn for the reasons you cite? Just curious.

I simply maintain my status and/or maintain a credit card that allow boarding in an early group.

I've been very impressed with LA, multiple flights in the past week, as the boarding groups have been strictly enforced, including directing passengers to sit back down until their boarding group is called. UA has been fairly good recently except two cases where the family with an infant boarded an extended family, in one case with 9 passengers.

ATOBTTR

By "as soon as possible" I was implying boarding as early as I can based on my group, while many others who do have priority boarding sometimes opt not to exercise priority boarding because they don't want to sit on a plane any longer than they have to. I currently have status across all 3 US carriers (and thus across all three major alliances) so I have some form of formal priority with all three major US carriers. But I'm also active duty military, so at least in the US, I get to board first there too even if my lower-level status would have me otherwise boarding later, which I opt to exercise for the reasons I noted. If I'm in F/J I'll sometimes hold off boarding with military but if it's an aircraft type with limited overhead space (CR7/CR9/E-175) in F, I'll still board when military is called to get my stuff in the bin. Another time I'll board with military even if I'm in F/J on is when I'm on an aircraft type where I want to get onboard and get a cabin photo before the cabin starts filling up.

lhrsfo

This thread perfectly sums up why flying with US airlines, and with BA, is so unpleasant. A situation is created where everyone is encouraged to bring on board all their possessions, including the kitchen sink. They then spend hours messing around with overhead lockers and FAs making endless pleading announcements. Meanwhile, those who board late with modest carry ons are seriously inconvenienced, so feel they must board early. Hence the scrum and the barging and the sheer waste of everyone's time. It's the one part of the FR experience that is far superior to the legacy airlines.

WeekendTraveler

In my view the problem is that passengers have to stay out of the boarding lanes until their groups are called. There is no other structure in the gate area that would cause people to stand in line, so people mill around and it’s not clear who should go first when a boarding group is called.

I’d prefer if people in Group 1 would be asked, or permitted, to line up whenever they wanted, so whoever was eager enough to get on board early could stand in the boarding lane, which would cause a line to be formed. Same for each other group. There would need to be a rope or some kind of indication of where lines would be formed for this to work, though.