Do you use the red carpet? - Poll
 

This has been discussed in other threads, but i don't believe it was the actual topic of those threads, so I thought the best idea was to start this new thread to kind of take a poll of FTers. Since we already know the arguments for and against the following topic, i think it would be best to keep this to a poll as opposed to a discussion.

After regular boarding has started, do you use the red carpet if only 6 or 7 people are in the line waiting to board? What if there is a long line waiting to board? Do you feel weird about it?

With nobody in either line, do you/would you enter on the red carpet, or the regular boarding line?

If you are on the red carpet waiting to board and you see someone in front of you who you know shouldn't be in that line, do you say something to them? (I mean like you see their bp and know for sure, not that they don't look like someone who's 1K or F flyer)

If you walk up to the red carpet during regular boarding and the GA doesn't acknowledge you for a little while, do you/would you open the strap thing?

1) There have been a number of times that I have stayed in the RCC past the elite boarding time, but I will still use the red carpet. Even if 6-7 people are in line, I earned the privilege to use the carpet, so what the heck...

2) If nobody is in line, I might use the economy lane, but it depends on the environment at the gate...

3) I have never told a GA that a general member was trying to use the RC lane, but I have seen people turned away a number of times. I flew from ORD-DEN on a 747 in August in C, and while boarding on the red carpet, a premier exec member tried to board. The gate agent turned her away...

4) I had this happen one time, I was traveling on a personal trip, so I wasn't in business attire while flying first. It did take the GA a moment of two to acknowledge me presence, but as soon as he saw the 1K and First Class on the boarding pass, he stopped the general lane and let me board... I got a lot of dirty looks... :D

But overall, I will always use the Red Carpet...

I ALWAYS use the Red Carpet line, no matter when I board or how many people (including none) are on the regular line.

I try to always use the red carpet - I've earned it and know that getting ahead of a few others in line can mean getting overhead space and gate checking roll aboards.

This is what I do too.

I normally use the red carpet and once I could see the boarding pass of the person in line in front of me and she was a general member flying coach. I politely told her where the general boarding line was and she told me that her husband flies 200K a year and he will be joining her in a minute. He joined her and when they got to the front of the line, the GA told him that PremEx boarded on the regular line.

I always board via the red carpet. The extra carpet and padding surely helps an aching back.

if there are less than 5 people'ish in the regular line, i will use the regular line. if not, i will use the red carpet. i usually wait to board until group 2.

also, i do feel weird when i go up and they break up a family or something. i want to say it's okay, go ahead and do them first, but the ga usually is very nice and like oh, he's 1k, we need to let him through, please stand back.

i usually undo the strap myself. i figure it saves work for the agent.

Yes
Yes
No
Red Carpet
No - I would hope that the GA would dispatch them to the correct boarding line
No

I have always used the red carpet as a 1K, except for two cases: 1) I arrive at the last-minute, there's nobody in line, the red carpet lane is blocked by the tape, and the general boarding lane is open with the GA beckoning me through. I'll take the open lane. Duh. 2) I arrive last-minute for an international flight with two boarding lines going simultaneously, and the line for general boarding is shorter than the red carpet line. Other than that I have always used the red carpet lane and I expect I always will.

I have never scolded someone for being in the red carpet line when I thought they shouldn't. In my experience the GAs are good enough about taking care of that when they scan BPs. The much more frequent problem I see is the area in front of the red carpet being crowded by vultures waiting to swoop into the general boarding line. I peek at people's BPs to know whom I will need to push past when red carpet boarding is called. I always push with a "pardon me" and "excuse me", of course.

I use it, since all my flights this year has been wide-body only. Red carpet line tends to be a bit shorter.

Did just that on UA1 back in the summer, was late coming out of B18 RCC and by the time I get to the gate, They are just about to start Seating Area 2 boarding. The line was 3 wide so I can't even cut throught the crowd get to the red carpet line. I walk to the podium instead and shows the other gate agent my F boarding pass and she was nice enough to let me through from the side. Lots of dirty look and overheard something like "ain't he special" :p

+1
If you don't use it you lose it.

If I am boarding after elite boarding and the regular line is very long, I will use the red carpet.

If there are only a few people in the regular line, I will just queue up with them - no big deal to wait my turn.

I would never tell someone in the red carpet line that they don't belong there. Not my business or my job.

And I don't undo the strap. I'll wait until the GA has a chance to acknowledge me and take care of it.

If there is a red carpet for my use, I'll use it.

I always use the red carpet line unless there's nobody in the economy line. I do, however, sometimes feel self conscious if there's a long queue in the economy line and there's nobody in the red carpet line when I walk up.

No - I don't bother letting someone know they're in the wrong line. It's a bit snobby to do so in my opinion.

I've never been in a situation where a GA has not acknowledged my presence in the red carpet line during general boarding, btw.