Priority Boarding System from Lounge

[garybatz]

Just wanted to put this out to hear some thoughts from others.

I really value using the Qantas Club and partner lounges when I fly, but within Australia I'm noticing a newish trend. As people bring on increasing amounts of carry-on, so that it can be a battle to get yours in the overhead bins, more and more people are lining up at the boarding gate before boarding is announced to make sure they get on early. This also includes people leaving the QC lounge early, rather than waiting for the lounge boarding call.

I understand that the idea is to give members longer in the lounge and then board later, however the problem with getting access to the bins would seem to be making this problematic (except for those in business class of course).

I've also just returned from a holiday in the USA where AA have their Priority Access system where passengers with certain status get to board first. This is particularly helpful as the problem of excessive carry-on is basically out of control there.

So, my discussion point is - would some/many flyers with lounge access prefer to be called to board first, giving them certain access to the overhead bins? Or would most prefer to stay with the current system of boarding last?

Another thought is to perhaps have a hybrid system, where there is an initial lounge boarding call for any passengers who wish to board first, then a final boarding call for those happy to board last.

I'm now at the point where I'm struggling to relax and enjoy the lounge if I think getting my carry-on stowed will be a problem, so end up amongst those who leave early and head to the gate to line up. Very interested to hear what others think.

 

[MH_fan]

I personally would prefer to get called for an early boarding so that I have space for my carry-on luggage, as that's all I ever have.

 

[SeatBackForward]

Bear in mind under the current QF system:

Not everyone with lounge access has Priority boarding access, but everyone with PB has lounge access.

 

[samh004]

I thought the lounges moved to minimal boarding calls, so having two for each flight would be an issue, it'd go backwards in terms of noise. But I don't see why they couldn't call boarding early, with a blurb about it being the final boarding call but you have say 10 minutes before general boarding if you really want to wait.

 

[ajw373]

If access to bins is a priority for you, why not take personal responsbility for being at the gate early like everyone else? You know what time the flight is meant to board, there are monitors that provide updates so no reason why you need to wait for a call.

When you get there is you have priority boarding queue in that line otherwise queue in the general line. roblem solved, without putting an additional administrative overhead on Qantas to call you. I could well imgaine the thread that would ensue is they missed an early call and someone missed out on precious bin space as a result.

 

[eastwest101]

This discussion is predicated on Qantas being able to do/control a priority boarding process, they are unable to consistently deliver the current system so any alternative proposed would need to be enforceable or resourced properly. If they don't want to resource priority boarding then perhaps Qantas could look at more rigorous enforcement of carry-on limits, but again, that would require resources, so I doubt that would happen either.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

ln Australia usually the QF gate agent doing the departure calls the lounges to advise when boarding has commenced so they would do a boarding call in the lounges at that time.

Some lounges may even do a further or final boarding call if they're signed into the boarding application for that flight as it will display the the pax yet to board their tier status eg J/WP/SG/QP so it's likely those pax might still be in the lounge.

In the US I would leave the lounge one hour prior to departure of the flight to allow time to get from the lounge to the gate & maybe grab a Starbucks before being at the gate at T-45 when boarding commences. Sometimes boarding will start even earlier than that.

 

[ajw373]

This discussion is predicated on Qantas being able to do/control a priority boarding process, they are unable to consistently deliver the current system so any alternative proposed would need to be enforceable or resourced properly. If they don't want to resource priority boarding then perhaps Qantas could look at more rigorous enforcement of carry-on limits, but again, that would require resources, so I doubt that would happen either.

Not really east west. From what I understand of the OP's issues it is not just the priority lines where this is an 'issue' but the general line as well. As for policing carry on, simple fact if everyone brought what they were entitled to bring, nothing more and nothing less there still wouldn't be enough space in the bins in economy class. Think about it one segment of an overhead bin generally services 6 seats, but can only realisticly fit 3 maybe 4 full within entitlement bags.

 

[OzEire]

If access to bins is a priority for you, why not take personal responsbility for being at the gate early like everyone else? You know what time the flight is meant to board, there are monitors that provide updates so no reason why you need to wait for a call.

When you get there is you have priority boarding queue in that line otherwise queue in the general line. roblem solved, without putting an additional administrative overhead on Qantas to call you. I could well imgaine the thread that would ensue is they missed an early call and someone missed out on precious bin space as a result.

I don't think that's fair on the OP. They said that they did already "take personal responsibility" by leaving the lounge early. As I do, for overhead bin space.

The suggestion has merit where a flight is not boarding on time and its anyone's guess at when it will start, particularly when the gate is miles from the lounge.

But looking at the big picture, anything that slows boarding costs everyone onboard time, the airline money and ultimately that is passed on to us in price rises and enhancements.

I'd prefer they fix the broken priority line process which gives status pax the chance to skip some of the queue.

 

[ajw373]

I don't think that's fair on the OP. They said that they did already "take personal responsibility" by leaving the lounge early. As I do, for overhead bin space.

Don't know about being unfair, just being realistic, if space is an issue be at the gate earlier and join the queue. It is hardly Qantas's responsbility to tell people when to get to the gate to get on first. That is 100% a personal responsibility and of course choice as many may well would rather wait in the lounge another 10 minutes.

I'd prefer they fix the broken priority line process which gives status pax the chance to skip some of the queue.

Whilst I acknoledge that the priority boarding system has it's issues, simple fact is the system is only for business class passengers and OWE. Anything below don't get priority boarding. You could argue that maybe priority boarding be extended to OWS and Qantas Club, but that would then mean half the plane now has priority boarding anyway so a little bit self defeating.

 

[esseeeayeenn]

I love the late call from the lounge. I want to sit in the plane on the tarmac for as short a time as possible. I make use of the extra baggage allowance to minimise my carry on.
Even as a WP / OWE I place no faith in priority boarding EXCEPT on international flights when they are using more than one aero bridge or at least more than one door.
Otherwise, even when it works, it only gets you past the check in desk and into the aero bridge. Then you face queueing with all the other PAX anyway.
So unless you leave the lounge super early and hover around the gate to be the very first to board, good luck with that strategy.
And isn't one of the main points of acquiring status (or lounge membership) to avoid loitering around crowded gate lounges, sitting in uncomfortable plastic chairs and buying over-priced coffee, food and drinks?
Work has recently switched to VA and they call passengers in their lounge early. It's a pain because if you actually go when called you will have quite a wait to board. But if you don't you risk being paged as there are no general second calls.
My goal is always to be the last PAX to board, but without being paged.

I forgot to add - the problem with overhead storage space started when QF introduced the one piece restriction on checked luggage for economy, in place of the weight-only restriction.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

I forgot to add - the problem with overhead storage space started when QF introduced the one piece restriction on checked luggage for economy, in place of the weight-only restriction.

I think the problem started well before then as some people don't want to wait to collect checked baggage at the other end & I can't say I blame them either.

It certainly has got worse since 01 Jun 2011 when the whY allowance changed from 23kg to one piece.

 

[boomy]

I travel regularly with trolley and backpack and usually don't bother to board the plane early. Why would anyone want to spend more time in the plane instead of waiting lounge?!
Either I find an empty overhead bin to put my luggage or the FA help to find an empty spot somewhere nearby.
Really no need to stress about this issue.

 

[nonpop]

PB rarely works as it should i.e only serve PB pax first and not just segregate the pax into 2 lines and serve both lines simultaneously let alone the correct pax in correct lines.

I too have found myself neding to leave the lounge a touch earlier to ensure I can get my roller + laptop bag where I sit (or forward of where I am sitting).

If the flight is NZ or Perth i.e something longer than the golden triangle) then I don't mind getting on early as it then becomes (fingers crossed) gate-to-gate movie time.

 

[ReLoad]

My pet peeve is not PB, but rather being constantly bombarded with announcements, in the lounge, on the plane, it's like a never ending series of high volumed spam messages.

My personal unfortunate record was 17 messages on an EK flight, and we got off lucky as the duty free message wasn't repeated in Arabic.

So as to to OP, no please no more lounge messages.

 

[ajw373]

PB rarely works as it should i.e only serve PB pax first and not just segregate the pax into 2 lines and serve both lines simultaneously let alone the correct pax in correct lines.

Bit hard to do that when quite often the priority passengers come in dribs and drabs. Would slow down the whole process for everyone.