Priority boarding on QF domestic - what is the story?

[Oneworldplus2]

SYD-BNE this afternoon.
Flight was delayed for whatever reason and scrum started well before any boarding call was made.
There was only 1 boarding call made in the end. PB was mentioned, but not enforced.

 

[dfcatch]

QF553 tonight in BNE @ gate 22 before dfcatch's flight (btw who I managed to meet in the BNE J lounge)...priority boarding worked a charm. The masses lined up in the left hand lane and the PB lane was clear. Went with my family through the PB lane with no hassles whatsoever. They had two gate agents scanning the BPs with the person on the priority lane also scanning the BPs of those in the left lane. When we arrived in the PB lane she immediately switched her attention to us and got us through. Wonder why there was such an inconsistency between gates?

This is precisely how it should work. Well done QF!

You've proven you know how to do it - now there is no excuse.

Oneworldplus - there was only 1 boarding call..... And they omitted any reference to the PB lane - although apparently elites could board at any time..... Not sure how??

Incidentally at Gate 21 I think the mini stand sign was turned around the wrong way.

Eg. The BIG sign was on the right hand side, but the little sign between the lines half way down had the PB lane pointing left and the general boarding lane pointing right.... No wonder the punters are confused.

Seriously QF - this is the flying equivalent of knowing how to tie shoelaces, or brush teeth, or wipe your bum..... How on earth you manage to take the world's simplest task and make it so convoluted and difficult simply amazes me!

PS. FWIW - I was in J so I didn't really care as the locker above row 1 was clear and available for my rollaboard. But if I was in whY and missed getting my rollaboard in the overhead above row 4 as a result of being stuck behind a very full whY cabin worth of pax.... Then I would not have been happy.
And yes - I left the lounge on the "Go to Gate" call, I was 20m from the gate when boarding commenced and could hear and see the call.

 

[nlagalle]

EPIC Priority Boarding fail in BNE tonight for my CNS flight.

Despite:

1/ 2 scanners and 2 gate agents.

2/ Boarding announcement inviting Business, Platinum, Gold, Emerald and Sapphire to board at anytime, followed by all the scrum immediately filling and boarding both lanes.

Photos taken and emails for Red Roo and Customer Care will be sent later.

Interesting.. My flight to MEL was perfect. Walked up and there was a queue in the general lane and an empty PB lane. Strolled up, scanned and boarded!! Loved it!!

 

[dfcatch]

Interesting.. My flight to MEL was perfect. Walked up and there was a queue in the general lane and an empty PB lane. Strolled up, scanned and boarded!! Loved it!!

Exactly as it should be.....

 

[straitman]

Wonder why there was such an inconsistency between gates?

It sounds to me like an inconsistency between personnel rather than gates.

 

[reductionist]

When we arrived in the PB lane she immediately switched her attention to us and got us through.

Boom! This is exactly what should happen.

 

[serfty]

Maybe it's the location?

BNE gate 21 is in the Satellite with Gate 22 in the concourse.

 

[dfcatch]

Maybe it's the location?

BNE gate 21 is in the Satellite with Gate 22 in the concourse.

The gate was set up for it - as are all the satellite gates. And I've had PB through the satellite gates before - just failed last night.

 

[aurora]

here's a question: now that VA have priority boarding in Mackay (http://www.australianfrequentflyer....ocity/new-mackay-lounge-now-open-35292-2.html), will QF follow suit, and when? Does it make a difference that it's Qantaslink?

 

[amaroo]

Bangkok style - traveling on BA/QF BKK last week, no PB until you entered the air-bridge and then a member of ground staff walking the length of the bridge yelling First & Business class......you get to use the left hand side & push your way forward like a Qantas Wallaby.

The death looks were wonderfully pleasing as we glided past & down the F bridge to our 747:mrgreen:

 

[wafliron]

Based on my own experience flying MEL-SYD and SYD-MEL last week I reckon two-FA PB is only working properly when pax "behave" and obey the signage of their own volition. This would also explain the very inconsistent experiences being reported in this thread (ignoring the known one-FA problem of course).

Going MEL-SYD it worked well, with only WP/J pax (plus one or two SGs) using the PB lane. Coming back SYD-MEL it was a shambles, with a heap of PS/NB in the PB lane (and the PB-lane FA simply scanning their BPs and letting them through).

Assuming I'm right, it's a simple solution: QF need to tell their FAs to punt non-PB-eligible pax to the back of the non-PB queue if they try to use the wrong lane. Actually, they need to do this regardless of if I'm right or not - it should be happening anyway and clearly isn't in all cases. There's no point having PB if you don't enforce it - and it won't take long before non-PB-eligible pax get the message.

 

[JohnM]

Based on my own experience flying MEL-SYD and SYD-MEL last week I reckon two-FA PB is only working properly when pax "behave" and obey the signage of their own volition. This would also explain the very inconsistent experiences being reported in this thread (ignoring the known one-FA problem of course).

Going MEL-SYD it worked well, with only WP/J pax (plus one or two SGs) using the PB lane. Coming back SYD-MEL it was a shambles, with a heap of PS/NB in the PB lane (and the PB-lane FA simply scanning their BPs and letting them through).

Assuming I'm right, it's a simple solution: QF need to tell their FAs to punt non-PB-eligible pax to the back of the non-PB queue if they try to use the wrong lane. Actually, they need to do this regardless of if I'm right or not - it should be happening anyway and clearly isn't in all cases. There's no point having PB if you don't enforce it - and it won't take long before non-PB-eligible pax get the message.

That said, the signage, while large, is not crystal clear in the way that AA's very simple signs are. Also, AA has the very clear red carpet strip to further clarify the PB lane. You don't see any mix-ups of non-PB pax using the PB lane over there. Perhaps another case of designers not knowing what the user wanted ?

 

[wafliron]

That said, the signage, while large, is not crystal clear in the way that AA's very simple signs are. Also, AA has the very clear red carpet strip to further clarify the PB lane. You don't see any mix-ups of non-PB pax using the PB lane over there. Perhaps another case of designers not knowing what the user wanted ?

I personally found the signage pretty clear - what do you find unclear about it (genuine question, not having a go - damn lack of tone in text)?

Also, based on my (admittedly limited) sample, there is a "red carpet" in the PB lane - I assume this isn't universal though, given your comment. Hopefully this will also be fixed as it does help to clarify the purpose of each lane.

 

[Moopere]

Also, based on my (admittedly limited) sample, there is a "red carpet" in the PB lane - I assume this isn't universal though, given your comment. Hopefully this will also be fixed as it does help to clarify the purpose of each lane.

It would, if it were consistently laid, but there are pictures of the red carpet being in the no-priority lane too, just to make matters really confusing for the poor pax

 

[JohnM]

I personally found the signage pretty clear - what do you find unclear about it (genuine question, not having a go - damn lack of tone in text)?

The main signs are large but in my view not simple and crystal clear without sort of having a 'good read' of them and to see just which way the arrows point. Also, vertical lettering is, in my view, generally pretty useless as I think it inspires people NOT to read. The AA signs are simple, perched on the top of the bollard and very clear with bright colour and large, minimal text and fat arrows that anyone would be hard-pressed to mistake. The eqivalent QF ones are just not bold enough IMHO.

 

[JohnM]

This is what I mean about design maybe overriding pure usefulness:

Pleasure and Pain » What the customer actually wanted

 

[ozbeachbabe]

That said, the signage, while large, is not crystal clear in the way that AA's very simple signs are. Also, AA has the very clear red carpet strip to further clarify the PB lane. You don't see any mix-ups of non-PB pax using the PB lane over there. Perhaps another case of designers not knowing what the user wanted ?

....or the user know knowing what the user wanted.

 

[jim001]

My last few experiences:

Last thursday BNE to SYD, hopeless - nobody cared what lane they were in. I won't believe half the pax were J or WP.

Monday morning, SYD to BNE, same thing, 2 long lines. I actually walked up towards the front of the premium line and no one challenged me, which makes me believe no one else had the right to be in that lane!

Tonight, BNE to SYD, only a couple of pax in the premium line, but I'm pretty sure that was because there were few 'regular' Pax due to Xmas!

My gripe is that FAs or Ground staff, whoever 'man' the gates, don't discourage pax from using the premium boarding. I.e. Once they've entered the lane, they don't get turned back. How does that discourage use of the premium boarding lane?

 

[JohnM]

My last few experiences:

Last thursday BNE to SYD, hopeless - nobody cared what lane they were in. I won't believe half the pax were J or WP.

Monday morning, SYD to BNE, same thing, 2 long lines. I actually walked up towards the front of the premium line and no one challenged me, which makes me believe no one else had the right to be in that lane!

Tonight, BNE to SYD, only a couple of pax in the premium line, but I'm pretty sure that was because there were few 'regular' Pax due to Xmas!

My gripe is that FAs or Ground staff, whoever 'man' the gates, don't discourage pax from using the premium boarding. I.e. Once they've entered the lane, they don't get turned back. How does that discourage use of the premium boarding lane?

In fairness to the crew who man the gates, and to repeat my earlier posts, I don't think the signage is all that good.

If QF had sent out drafts of its signs to people on the Customer Advisory Panel I think that most of us would have said things like: "It's not clear enough! Too messy! Too complicated! Not sharp enough! Insufficient colour contast! Arrows are feeble! Follow AA's style!" And, hey, I'm no graphic designer I can assure you!

They seem to have ignored the KISS principle and both the staff and us WPs have borne the brunt of it - not to mention poor old Red Roo getting a bit of heat .

We need to bear in mind that there is no 'culture' of PB in Australia so KISS (ie. almost aggressive) was essential.

I fear that this will settle in to be a half-baked and erratic effort - crew don't want to fight with people who mistakenly or otherwise enter the PB lane and lots of passengers who can't read/don't read/ignore the 'fuzzy' signs.

It's funny, QF is no longer government owned but I see so much of government in a lot of the things that are done .

 

[jim001]

JohnM, nice name, BTW, I'm JonM! I think we're on the same page. I just think the crew/ staff need to enforce the procedure. If pax know they're not going to be turned back, they'll keep abusing the line.