Qantas doesn't care about priority boarding

[flyingfan]

OMG! I’ll be watching this with great interest. There is a small implementation cost ie staff training comms which will probably be combined with other material, but indeed all equipment needed is already there.

The priority lane needs to be mercilessly enforced from first to last passenger for this to work and interlopers to learn not to try it on. Whether a premium pax wants to board first, ‘at their leisure’ or indeed come last from the lounge, the lane must be reserved exclusively for them at all times - none of this FAs calling general pax over and thus instantly filling both lanes.

 

[Matt_01]

Same is being posted on Executive Traveller Here

If QF gets this PB system working it will mess with my current routine.

 

[opusman]

but seriously?? Still or sparkling water??

Sparkling???

 

[justinbrett]

Just do boarding group numbers and be done with it. Makes it simpler for all concerned.

 

[codash1099]

We have indeed been in touch with Qantas about this, and I have some good news. Qantas has listened to the feedback and will introduce an enhanced premium boarding experience from next Monday. (Yes, Qantas really did use the word "enhance" to describe these changes!)

Details here: Qantas Vows to Fix Priority Boarding

Wow. So there is still a bit of muscle in the combined voice. But let us use this new power judiciously. "With great power comes great responsibility".

Or am I going a bit overboard?

 

[trippin_the_rift]

Flying 2 sectors on Tuesday will be very excited to test drive this....!

Will be interesting to see how much time they allow PB for...

And to clarify - is PB for everyone on the same PNR as someone eligible? (e.g. if I'm WP and I have 4 others travelling with me who are non WP, do I get to bring along them all?)

Yes. Everyone you are travelling with. Can be separate or different PNRs.

 

[Berlin]

I believe it when I see it. And it doesn't always work on International sectors, from recent experience on the trans-Tasmans, it gets messed up in around 2/3 of cases in AKL, SYD and MEL. Strangely, in Brissy it almost always works as it should.

 

[therudies86]

Well there you go - QF600 MEL this morning. Premium Boarding was called first, and the Flight Attendant at the gate checked and put Silver/Bronze peeps to the back of the standard lane. She said it fairly loudly to the first couple, so a whole heap of people scurried away. And there were smurks from the WPs

 

[Robert McKay]

I was in Brisbane on Monday, returning to Sydney. I got to the gate a little later than usual and the priority que was huge. as sometimes happens in Brisbane teh aircraft was loading through the forward and rear doors. When we stated boarding I noticed that most of the passengers in the priority que wound up going to the rear door! I often fly on a weekly basis, and aside from the expense of a business class seat, contractually Qantas are obligated to board priority passengers first and off load priority passengers luggage first. The latter is something that I have found rarely happens, even when the luggage is labelled priority!

 

[jb747]

I've always thought that there should be a DYKWIA queue.

It leads off into a closed aerobridge.

 

[Prof Henry]

These really ARE First World Problems, and I've stopped caring ... most of the time. But what niggles is that QF still boasts that Priority Boarding and Priority Baggage are actually features of the relevant categories of status/membership. If THEY hadn't kept harping on about it I'd have been able to stop caring without that niggle.
The other reason that Priority Boarding doesn't always work is that on quite a few flights I've taken, there is ONLY ONE staffed boarding line. This happens more often at small airports but it also includes BNE and CBR.
Priority Baggage is a bit of a lottery in my experience.

 

[Rich]

I suspect the absolute failure of PB (particularly on trunk routes) is also due to the fact that so much of the population on the aircraft are eligible for PB. In the thread on 'How many Platinums are there' it was noted on one flight there was 40+ WP and on another there were >20 WP or higher. Extrapolate this out to include SG's, those in J without status and those that don't have status but are travelling with someone that does, you can easily see that 30% of a 737 would be eligible for PB.

I think business should board first. I flew Virgin domestic in business (only 8 business seats) recently with no status. About half the plane were in the priority queue. Took a while to get on. I thought the idea was for everyone to walk past me when I was shopping champagne (not that it was offered).
Last time I was QF gold was pre priority boarding but it sounds like it worked better. I would be in the lounge, they would announce the flight and by the time you got there, there would be only a handful of people boarding.

 

[doublecatered]

These really ARE First World Problems, and I've stopped caring ... most of the time. But what niggles is that QF still boasts that Priority Boarding and Priority Baggage are actually features of the relevant categories of status/membership. If THEY hadn't kept harping on about it I'd have been able to stop caring without that niggle.
The other reason that Priority Boarding doesn't always work is that on quite a few flights I've taken, there is ONLY ONE staffed boarding line. This happens more often at small airports but it also includes BNE and CBR.
Priority Baggage is a bit of a lottery in my experience.

Exactly !! Every airport is different and in some cases, each airport have diverse gate lounge layouts which further complicates things and make for even more inconsistencies.
One feature of this new push which I find puzzling is this focus on boarding premium passengers first. In most cases, WP, SG etc are still in their respective lounges when boarding is called. Sure, there will always be a couple waiting at the commencement of boarding, but on the whole, the bulk of them will arrive much later in the boarding process by which time, god knows what state the queues may be in.

Its going to be very interesting. I hope the airport staff get behind it as its their territory and they will be key to
the success of this. Someone said earlier they should get the Lounge Dragons to police the queue, THAT would solve the problem in an instant )

 

[Max Samuels]

One feature of this new push which I find puzzling is this focus on boarding premium passengers first. In most cases, WP, SG etc are still in their respective lounges when boarding is called.....

I have always wondered about this. Quite a few times when I am in a domestic J lounge, and traveling in J, if I wait until the flight is called to go to the aircraft, I notice that most of the seats in J are already occupied. My suspicion is staff travel - as it makes no sense for a J pax to be sitting waiting at the gate.....

 

[RichardMEL]

meh none of this really worries me either way.

IMO the ONLY reason to board early is either one is in a window seat and wishes to get settled before aisles come along (remember WILMA?) OR one has a carry on they wish to secure overhead space for (if it will not fit under seat in front/you want legroom/at a bulkhead). Or perhaps you need extra time to board (eg: disability) - and those folks usually get the option to pre board anyway.

At the end of the day we all get there in the end. If I am in an aisle or even a window in J but can put my bag under the seat in front then I don't rush to the gate to board. Sure I might annoy the aisle seater to get up to let me in, but other than that I don't see the need to get on first or near first.

Sure, would be good for QF to do a better job of things with the priority board, because it does dismay me a bit when it's obvious there are non status folks in the PB queue and agents/FA's don't care, or even I have seen big tour groups just swarm both lanes - probably either they can't read the signage or don't care - and that can be an issue too.

I do think this might be like the various times QF have declared crackdowns on other things - like the (silly imo) lounge dress code thing.. they make an effort for a few weeks or even months then it quietly gets forgotten.

Also since FA's usually handle the boarding for domestic it would take a bit to retrain some of them to care enough to worry about enforcement (though good to read above some have/do).

And as with EVERYTHING QF we *ALL* know, without doubt, that say they claim to start on Monday it will not happen on every flight or at every station. QF Consistently Inconsistent at work. Guaranteed.

I am flying 3 sectors on Monday myself so will be curious to see how it goes. I may even show up in time for start of boarding to see (depending upon lounge drink status )

 

[p--and--t]

I have always wondered about this. Quite a few times when I am in a domestic J lounge, and traveling in J, if I wait until the flight is called to go to the aircraft, I notice that most of the seats in J are already occupied. My suspicion is staff travel - as it makes no sense for a J pax to be sitting waiting at the gate.....

Except for teetotallers, those who can't be bothered walking the extra distance, those who just came from a boozy/filling dinner/meal, those who arrived late, those who have a short transit time, those who are travelling with others who can't be comp'd in, and several other 100 reasons.

 

[Max Samuels]

Except for teetotallers, those who can't be bothered walking the extra distance, those who just came from a boozy/filling dinner/meal, those who arrived late, those who have a short transit time, those who are travelling with others who can't be comp'd in, and several other 100 reasons.

Sure - I just find it hard to imagine that out of 12 pax, more than 50% can't bothered to be in the lounge. My most recent experience of this was in BNE and this particular flight was leaving from the gate adjacent to the lounge.... 2pm flight.... no signs of any kind of boozy lunch. In fact, not a "business" class crowd at all. Mostly older people... and "dressed" up which makes me think staff travel (parents of staff)... even though I am somewhat jaded traveler, the only reason I would not sit in the lounge (and sit at the gate, or a bar) is if the lounge is soooooooooo crowded it is unbearable. But perhaps there is a whole new level of jadedness I haven't yet reached, where one becomes so jaded that sitting in the prefab plastic chairs at the gate is preferable to anything..... but the original premise is still interesting - if all the premium pax are in the lounge, and they traditionally wait until the "lounge" call, who is at the gate to board when they introduce a "premium" call? Maybe they need to go the way of AA and other big airlines and dump the boarding call altogether... everyone just knows that the plane begins boarding at x time - so be there!

 

[RooFlyer]

At the end of the day we all get there in the end.

With that philosophy, we do away with all the status benefits, lounges etc etc. Ta ta P1

 

[Max Samuels]

It would be neat if QF had a feature in their App like UA do where you can SEE the standby and upgrade lists. It's very transparent

As if QF would do that - transparent?? QF's whole MO is about keeping us in the dark. AA also do that for bags - on the app you can see where your bag is at any point in time - apparently both of these systems (the upgrade list, and the bag tracking) were a result of massive customer complaints about the secrecy of the airline and all the BS people thought they were being fed... so AA said "ok, here you go, running an airline isn't as easy as you think, and now you know Mr business that you are only 1 of 30 people that listed for an upgrade and you can see where you are in the queue..............."

 

[RichardMEL]

With that philosophy, we do away with all the status benefits, lounges etc etc. Ta ta P1

Well that's just plainly ridiculous and I know you're not being serious but really.

Just sometimes it amazes me the scrum for people to board aircraft. Now as I noted earlier there are reasons why some would want to - eg secure overhead space, get in a window quickly(for those considerate of others) and so on but at the end of the day one way or another everyone who shows up for the flight on time will get in their seat and to their destination same time as everyone else.

And that has nothing to do with status and definitely nothing to do with lounges

(and let's face it, if one is a lounge lizard using their status perks then the whole notion of PB is irrelevant as most will get to the gate part way or near the end of boarding and no matter how it's organised they will get on regardless of if J and elites board first or not).

And remember the good old days ago, not too far back indeed, with QF domestic where it literally was a single boarding call, no lanes no order just a zoo? I sure do.

QF can and should do better no question but for me personally this is not the biggest issue QF has.