Qantas priority boarding - crippled by Communists?

[kiwitripper64]

We just had a strange boarding experience. Flying Iberia regional from Valencia to Palma and we joined the queue pre boarding to get overhead bin space. There were about 10 people in front of us and about 40 behind when the check in staff walked through looking at boarding passes and carry on luggage. She saw the we were WP and said we could priority board. It was a small regional jet with no J class and no separate PB lane, so we were a bit confused. She went on to say we should leave the queue and sit down and she would call us when boarding started. And she did. Before announcing boarding she waved us over and popped us through. We did not use DYKWIA, all this was done by the gate agent from looking at our boarding pass on a walk through.
Similar situation in Vienna, boarding passes were checked and passengers politely asked to come back in a few minutes if they jumped the gun. Even Easyjet had a functioning PB system. Just to show it can be done, and in every case with a smile.

 

[Ekka]

I am not sure that a memo from 20 years ago is relevant now.

Nothing to see here, eh?

 

[Ekka]

"All you’re changing is the order in which people enter the single file system."
Surely you jest.
That's what it's all about, Alfie...

 

[chooms]

Airline from one of the most socialist states in the US gets priority boarding right...

Hawaiian airlines at HNL:

 

[Rosege]

Just experienced this a couple of days ago SYD - ADL. Was the end of a very long trip with many flights and QF domestic was the only one that didn't do priority boarding. We just walked to the front though and pushed in - hoping not to push in front of anyone else who might be eligible. It really was a complete mess. I don't underestand why QF doesn't do this when every other OneWorld airline I have flown on does - even LATAM!

Amuzingly the QF inflight entertainment had a bug where it would play a completely different movie to the one selected - although when you press the screen the title would be right.
QF also were having problems with individual screens in J on my HND - SYD flight. Luckily they had a few spare seats and could move ppl around.

 

[Beano]

I don't know if this is a reiteration but Qantas does it on internatioanal flights from Sydney. Always priority board first going to NZ.

 

[strongarmAU]

yeah I think a flight to HK last month they called for all the status gurus to board and that the remainder would be called shortly, I might be dreaming though.
Domestic is still a total mess, full pleb line is usually faster.

 

[PineappleSkip]

I laugh every time I see the title of this thread.

Smash the priority boarding bosses, comrade!!

Cheers skip

 

[downgraded]

Whilst recognising the benefit of "policing" priority boarding, it's more of a reflection of society that the rules by which we travel are not simply followed: there is pretty clear signage as to who is supposed to be in which queue, not really any different to following signs whilst driving.
On a recent trip to Sydney, PB apparently worked well in both directions - a handful of people in the priority queue, and a snaking line of NBs in the general boarding queue. The only thing QF could have done better would be to hold the general queue at the gate whilst the priority queue got down the air-bridge. Perhaps the reason it was working was because both flights were off-peak and a large proportion of pax were more occasional flyers. When half the plane is SG or higher, the current QF approach to PB just isn't going to work until they slice and dice into groups based on both row number and status, but then what is PB trying to achieve - pander to a minutia of elite flyers, or get the plane into the air as quickly as possible so everyone spends as little time as necessary in the sardine tin?
From an efficiency perspective it seems to make far more sense to board from the rear rows first just like QF and others do on international A380s, I realise there may be a rush at the front of the plane to select water or water as a PDB, but at peak times the reality is there's two queues - one for the half the plane that's SG+ (yes my supposition) and the other queue for the other half.

 

[Daver6]

QF were booting people out of the priority line a couple of weeks ago in PER for my flight heading to SYD. Lady in front of my was playing dumb thinking her PS status allowed her into the line.

 

[Archphoto]

QF were booting people out of the priority line a couple of weeks ago in PER for my flight heading to SYD. Lady in front of my was playing dumb thinking her PS status allowed her into the line.

I fly Cathay quite a bit, and they seem to have figured out how to stamp it out - check the passes and the queue you're standing in. Last flight I was upgraded an hour prior to departure, hence my BP still showed me flying PE. I lined up in the Priority line and the guy checked my BP (it was in my passport) and said I was in the wrong line. I'd forgotten to show my CX app, which showed the upgrade, and he apologised for the misunderstanding once I pulled my phone out of my pocket.

Additionally, unlike the QF staff up-thread, they are happy to call upon PB people to other lines when required. Obviously, the memo to help speed up boarding totally went over the head of the twit in the original post . . .

 

[Beano]

You should see the MEL-SYd PB queue at peak times. It can be longer than the non P-B. And that's well before the gate opens.

 

[GoldCanyon340]

You should see the MEL-SYd PB queue at peak times. It can be longer than the non P-B. And that's well before the gate opens.

And sometimes we accept that and go to the other side

 

[patrickk]

I fly Cathay quite a bit, and they seem to have figured out how to stamp it out - check the passes and the queue you're standing in. Last flight I was upgraded an hour prior to departure, hence my BP still showed me flying PE. I lined up in the Priority line and the guy checked my BP (it was in my passport) and said I was in the wrong line. I'd forgotten to show my CX app, which showed the upgrade, and he apologised for the misunderstanding once I pulled my phone out of my pocket.

Additionally, unlike the QF staff up-thread, they are happy to call upon PB people to other lines when required. Obviously, the memo to help speed up boarding totally went over the head of the twit in the original post . . .

In Hong Kong the CX people wandered down the line and saw I was QF platinum and put me at the front of the queue. A very nice touch.

 

[Beano]

That's International. Has it ever been a problem? Just how many priority passengers are there on domestic?

 

[Matt_01]

You should see the MEL-SYd PB queue at peak times. It can be longer than the non P-B. And that's well before the gate opens.

I was travelling SYD-ADL last Friday at peak hour. Arrived at the gate (12) around 5-10 minutes ahead of boarding time, second in line in the PB area.
Announcement made plane delayed 40 minutes so back to the lounge, to be continued.

And sometimes we accept that and go to the other side

Arrived back at gate 12, by this time PB was well out into the concourse, then to the other side, and back to second in line on the non PB side. Boarding was delayed by another 5-10minutes and by this time the PB line was snaking its way back to the QF museum. As boarding was announced the non BP started to fill up.

QF boarding is a debacle so which ever is the shortest line that is the one I use.

 

[kiwitripper64]

Last month we flew QF158 AKL-MEL. The flight was running late and the departure lounge was packed. The staff announced preferred boarding for business / status and there was a general push to the desk. We were pleasantly surprised to see PB being enforced in English, Spanish and Mandarin. The queue shrank very quickly.

 

[TheInsider]

Last month we flew QF158 AKL-MEL. The flight was running late and the departure lounge was packed. The staff announced preferred boarding for business / status and there was a general push to the desk. We were pleasantly surprised to see PB being enforced in English, Spanish and Mandarin. The queue shrank very quickly.

We all know that international flights are boarded by Ground Staff respective to that port, whereas domestic flights, they are boarded by Cabin Crew who simply DGAF.

 

[kiwitripper64]

We had a combination of ground staff and cabin crew. It was cabin crew who asked the Chinese to board appropriately

 

[strongarmAU]

perhaps that's part of the problem - cabin staff don't want to have to deal with unhappy customer experience (being told to change queue) at the gate + on the plane - ground staff just walk away.