Priority boarding on QF domestic - what is the story?

[MatF]

I ate some of the NPPP's in the SYD J lounge last week and look forward to tucking into another one or 3 tomorrow night!!!

Ahh! Very good. I was in the SYD T2 QP last Friday evening, but they only had some awful looking sausage-and-gravy concoction and some kind of toasted sandwich slices with a fancier name

 

[Moopere]

Really great news that this has been addressed. However, one does wonder how the OWS "board at convenience" is to be handled? I'm not a QF Gold so it doesn't impact me, thus, not a personal whinge, but there does appear to still be a dangling thread of 'what the?' left here for the poor gate attendants to think about.

 

[BVT]

Jeez what can we moan about now - [/QUOTE]

I think that the responses to this question deserves a thread all of its very own.

 

[Timba-Jet]

Agree, good news this now has a resolution. Thanks Red Roo for giving for the update.

My take on this is:
- Dedicated priority boarding lane for platinum/emerald
- perhaps gold/sapphire will be able to 'board at convenience' in the general boarding lane.

BTW, yummy NPPP at BNE J lounge last Thu evening .

 

[Stephen65]

As you know we started a trial in August in Sydney and I can now happily say that we will be enhancing our Domestic Priority Boarding by providing a dedicated premium boarding lane for Platinum, Platinum One, and oneworld Emerald members and Business class customers at major Cityflyer ports in the next few weeks.

But..but...you are improving things. How can that be a QF enhancement?

Seriously though, good news.

 

[straitman]

But..but...you are improving things. How can that be a QF enhancement?

It does seriously go against the Qantas version of 'enhancement' though.

 

[dfcatch]

Great news and my thought exactly re Golds and OW Sapphire's.

I'll try this out in BNE on 1 Dec.

Me too! ......

 

[oz_mark]

Good news.

(Waits for QF Golds/OW Sapphire's to slam this....)

Great news and my thought exactly re Golds and OW Sapphire's.

What makes you think that the level headed golds would stoop to the level of whinging, carping and carry-on we've come to expect from platinums?? :mrgreen:

 

[serfty]

Really great news that this has been addressed. However, one does wonder how the OWS "board at convenience" is to be handled? I'm not a QF Gold so it doesn't impact me, thus, not a personal whinge, but there does appear to still be a dangling thread of 'what the?' left here for the poor gate attendants to think about.

I'm sure Qantas will deal with it like they do for lounge access for guests of elites. One rule for QF elites (SG), another for non QF oneworld elites (Sapphire).

In reality, enforcement needs to be done at the gate; I doubt that SG's will be generally denied in the long run.

 

[aurora]

finally! looking forward to seeing how they do it - 10 points to the first AFF to post a pic?

Trouble is the decision makers don't ask frequent travellers or even staff who work at an airport because some Y Gen whizz kid with a tertiary degree is something thinks they know better & hence you have 'priority boarding' as we know it today.

on behalf of Gen Y "whizz kids" everywhere i'm going to pretend to take offence at this :shock: we're not all bad - some of us "get" engagement

 

[tuapekastar]

Good news Red Roo...thanks for providing. I have some sympathy for SGs (acknowledging there is a very good chance that will be me in a year or two) in missing out on the priority lane (will they still have a chance to board ahead of the scrum in the other lane?), though I'm sure QF has done its maths and homework and has seen this as the optimum solution. Good work.

 

[QF WP]

I can't complain about the announcement and had the chance to discuss it last night at the P1 dinner.

Premium pax get premium service, so Plat + P1 understandably.

 

[TonyHancock]

I am pleased QF is finally implementing a benefit that has been advertised for some time. Having whinged and moaned about it for quite a time I don't know when I'll get to use it though! :shock:

 

[Flying mermaid]

Good news.

(Waits for QF Golds/OW Sapphire's to slam this....)

Mr FM and I are only QF Gold, but I don't have a problem with it - it can only be a priority lane if you don't have every man and his dog in it.......

 

[TonyHancock]

I am a fan of AA's boarding, but today I saw what happens when either selfish or stupid passengers derail the process.

I was about the tenth to board an MD80 today and duly sat in my place. (No overhead locker space needed for me, I had to check my carry on because I had a duty free gift!!) Boarding was taking place by group with the back filling up nicely. Along comes Mr Halfwit who is seated way back, he can see that locker space is filling up where he is sitting so dumps his large carry on and large briefcase in the overhead above row 10, taking up a whole section. He commented to his colleague that he should have thought of this when he first got on the plane and put his luggage in the first available locker. "It's so much easier".

The people in rows 10 and 11 had to find space elsewhere, heading further back down the plane and then having to return to their rows holding up oncoming pax. It was ridiculous, if not quite absolute chaos. It took a full 25 mins to complete boarding. As AA allow 30 mins for boarding I guess this is OK.

Hopefully QF will get their priority boarding right, but there is no accounting for idiots.

 

[quark]

Happy to hear this. Well done Qantas. Twice in one day! (because I read two good things today)

 

[ozbeachbabe]

I'm sure Qantas will deal with it like they do for lounge access for guests of elites. One rule for QF elites (SG), another for non QF oneworld elites (Sapphire).

In reality, enforcement needs to be done at the gate; I doubt that SG's will be generally denied in the long run.

I am a fan of AA's boarding, but today I saw what happens when either selfish or stupid passengers derail the process.

I was about the tenth to board an MD80 today and duly sat in my place. (No overhead locker space needed for me, I had to check my carry on because I had a duty free gift!!) Boarding was taking place by group with the back filling up nicely. Along comes Mr Halfwit who is seated way back, he can see that locker space is filling up where he is sitting so dumps his large carry on and large briefcase in the overhead above row 10, taking up a whole section. He commented to his colleague that he should have thought of this when he first got on the plane and put his luggage in the first available locker. "It's so much easier".

The people in rows 10 and 11 had to find space elsewhere, heading further back down the plane and then having to return to their rows holding up oncoming pax. It was ridiculous, if not quite absolute chaos. It took a full 25 mins to complete boarding. As AA allow 30 mins for boarding I guess this is OK.

Hopefully QF will get their priority boarding right, but there is no accounting for idiots.

Had an AA MD-80 LAX/LAS yesterday & LAS/DFW today & although we arrived at the gate at minus 30 boarding had already commenced. Yes there is a dedicated PB lane "Priority Access" however there there is only a gate agent policing that lane at the beginning of boarding then after the first lot of eligible pax have gone the gate reader they vanish & head back to behind the counter. That leaves one gate agent left scanning the boarding passes for the general boarding queue & they don't even look up & call across anyone new that joins the Priority Access queue midway through boarding.

So in short, be at the gate at minus 45 to utilise the PA queue or arrive midway through boarding & just join the general queue.

For the DFW/MIA we were at the gate at minus 30 but boarding didn't start until minus 20. First call was for Executive Platinum & US Military personnel in uniform which was about 15-20 pax, next call was for Platinum probably another 20 or so pax then third call was anyone holding a boarding pass with 'Priority Access' on it which I'm assuming would then be QF WP's. We had to wait until the third call as we were only travelling in First Class & didn't have the lofty ranks of AA Exec Plat or Plat.

I'm fairly certain QF WP's wouldn't be able to board with the first two groups however they didn't specifically say AA Exec Plat or AA Plat only, however they certainly didn't say OW Emerald either.

Just about to board a DFW/SJU flight so can't wait for that one to report the latest installment!

 

[pshepvic]

The thing with AA is you can't actually wait around in the lounge until the last minute anyway, seeing as they don't make boarding announcements and the screens are not 100% reliable.

If it was me I think I would have made the assumption that AA Plat Exec also meant OWE and would have gone up with that first group.


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[pshepvic]

By the way, it seems there are a few here who have been subjected to the pain of flying in an MD-80 recently - I do my best to avoid that particular aircraft! They are becoming less common on AA routes with the 738's starting to replace them though I guess.


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[Ewing]

For the DFW/MIA we were at the gate at minus 30 but boarding didn't start until minus 20. First call was for Executive Platinum & US Military personnel in uniform which was about 15-20 pax, next call was for Platinum probably another 20 or so pax then third call was anyone holding a boarding pass with 'Priority Access' on it which I'm assuming would then be QF WP's. We had to wait until the third call as we were only travelling in First Class & didn't have the lofty ranks of AA Exec Plat or Plat.

I'm fairly certain QF WP's wouldn't be able to board with the first two groups however they didn't specifically say AA Exec Plat or AA Plat only, however they certainly didn't say OW Emerald either.

When travelling in Y on AA as a QF Platinum, I've always boarded when the call for AA Exec Plat goes out (and on some flights I've heard AA Exec Plat and Oneworld Emerald in the same group). I've always been warmly welcomed and never had an issue.

First can board at anytime and the call for this goes before Exec Plat / Military in my experience.

-Shaun