Qantas has implemented numbered boarding groups on domestic flights, following the end of a trial that began in July 2023. The airline says this will improve on-time performance and “better recognise tiered frequent flyers, in response to customer feedback”.
Australian Frequent Flyer tested out the new boarding procedure on Monday. This was the first day that Qantas began using it for mainline domestic flights departing Brisbane Airport. While there is still room for improvement, frequent flyers should be better off once the rollout is completed.
Over the coming weeks Qantas will gradually roll out boarding groups to other domestic airports across Australia, starting next Monday with Perth. Melbourne and Sydney will follow later this month.
Here’s how the new Qantas boarding groups work…
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How Qantas boarding groups work
Qantas’ new boarding procedure uses numbered groups based on a frequent flyer’s status or where they are sitting. This is similar to the systems used by many other airlines around the world, particularly in the USA and Europe.
Qantas is only using numbered boarding groups on domestic mainline flights, i.e. those operated by Boeing 737s and Airbus A330s. QantasLink flights, including services on Airbus A220s, Embraer E190s, Boeing 717s and Dash 8s, will continue to just have a priority and a general boarding lane.
These are the six numbered boarding groups:
- Group 1 (Priority): Business Class passengers and Qantas Platinum, Platinum One and Oneworld Emerald frequent flyers sitting anywhere
- Group 2 (Priority): Qantas Gold and Oneworld Sapphire frequent flyers sitting anywhere
- Groups 3 & 4: Passengers sitting in the back half of Economy
- Groups 5 & 6: Passengers sitting in the front half of Economy
Groups 1 and 2 can board using the left-hand lane, marked as “Priority”. Groups 3-6 can board using the right-hand lane.
Qantas says that the electronic boarding pass scanners will automatically reject anyone trying to board before their group is called. This takes the enforcement of priority boarding out of the hands of flight attendants.
In theory, passengers eligible for priority boarding would be able to board at any time via the dedicated priority lane. However, this wasn’t the case when we tested out the new system this week.
What the new Qantas boarding groups look like
On a Boeing 737-800, the boarding groups look something like this:
Where both front and rear boarding doors are used, Qantas invites passengers sitting in the middle of the plane – Groups 4 and 5 – to board first. Group 4 passengers board using the rear stairs. Group 5 boards at the same time, using the front door. Passengers in Groups 3 and 6 would board last, using their respective doors.
The process works a bit differently on flights that only board through the front door. In this case, boarding is completed in groups from the back to the front of the plane.
This process is designed to increase efficiency and reduce aircraft turnaround times.
Passengers with Gold, Platinum or Platinum One status often sit towards the front of the plane. Since status holders are still invited to board first, many people sitting towards the front of Economy would still be among the first to board. This also means that if you have no status and are sitting towards the front of Economy, you may find it difficult to find overhead locker space.
On the subject of overhead luggage space, Qantas is aware that this is an issue on full flights. Australian Frequent Flyer understands the airline is also currently focusing on better enforcement of the carry-on baggage limits, particularly on full domestic flights departing at peak times.
How Qantas boarding groups work in practice
I happened to be at Brisbane Airport last Monday and observed two flights boarding in groups.
The first was an Airbus A330 flight with only the front boarding door in use, so the boarding groups were called forward in chronological order. The gate staff seemed to be checking to make sure people were boarding in the correct group, so this worked well. However, I observed that there were seven Qantas staff members boarding that particular flight, including a few extra people who appeared to be managers. Most flights won’t have this level of scrutiny over the boarding process!
My own flight out of Brisbane was on a Boeing 737-800 and the rear stairs were in use. On this flight, the gate agent first called Groups 1 and 2 to board together. Once those groups had finished boarding, the staff member called Groups 4 and 5 to board at the same time. Finally, they invited Groups 3 and 6 together.
I did not see the gate agents turn away anyone on this flight for being in the wrong boarding group. This could either be because everyone lined up with the correct boarding group on the first day, or because the gate staff just ignored passengers boarding with the incorrect group.
Disappointingly, there was no announcement that passengers boarding in Groups 3-6 should use the right lane, keeping the left lane clear for passengers entitled to priority boarding. As a result, once Groups 3 and 6 were called, passengers in those groups just queued in both lanes. Anyone arriving from the lounge at this point would not have simply been able to board at their leisure, as the priority lane was blocked.
This seems like an improvement for frequent flyers
A common complaint for many years on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum has been that Qantas doesn’t do priority boarding well. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. It’s inconsistent.
Currently, the key problems are that the priority and general boarding queues are processed simultaneously (meaning the priority queue doesn’t get full priority), and many people get away with using the priority queue despite not being entitled to. I noticed the former issue as recently as last week.
This change does seem like good news, overall, because the new system is designed to automatically reject passengers boarding in the wrong group. But ground staff still need to do a better job of keeping the priority boarding lane clear for priority customers.
Join the AFF discussion
What do you think of these changes? And have you experienced the new Qantas boarding groups for yourself? You can share your opinion with other AFF members on our forum:
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