Qantas to Introduce Group Boarding and Bag Tracking

[henrus]

Recent BA boarding group experience in London. J and WP row 2 on Qantas ticket I was boarding group 3 on boarding pass but they did call business passengers forward first so off we went out of our group 3 corral

I'd say something else is going wrong there, should have been group 1.

 

[Daver6]

You need to call up... though I've also asked the question of @TheInsider about this, as there was murmurings of being able to do/request this via the app, but I have a feeling it was something else, like adding someone else's booking via MMB... which won't help!

Cheers.
Matt.

What about scenarios where you're travelling with a work colleague. One has status, the other doesn't Currently they've just boarded with me. Linking by calling up makes no sense in this scenario.

 

[Fifi2207]

I'd say something else is going wrong there, should have been group 1.

This is where the old-fashioned manual sorting of queues is handy: you can ask the gate agent if your travelling companion can join you in a higher queue. If it's fully handled by the system, then the system will (or should) say 'no' by default.

Travelled to NZ with NB son last week. Anxious Nelly explained at gate he was with me but not WP they said that’s ok you got a green light walk on by
First time I realised it was system driven. I assumed it was up to staff to turn around interlopers.

 

[Fifi2207]

I just boarded a flight in BNE and I can’t say I’m too impressed with the new system.

There were two clearly marked boarding lanes, for Groups 1/2 on the left and Groups 3-6 on the right.

Groups 1 & 2 were called together to board first. This was followed by groups 3 & 6, with passengers from those groups just lining up in both lanes. So, anyone who arrived at the gate at this point who was entitled to priority boarding would not just be able to walk down an empty left lane. Finally, groups 4 & 5 were called to board together.

I watched the entire process and boarded last. During the entire boarding procedure I did not see anyone turned away for being in the incorrect boarding group. So, either everyone boarded in the correct group (I somehow find this unlikely) or the system did not reject them and staff said nothing.

The only difference I can see between this and the old system is that passengers sitting in the middle of economy now board before those sitting at the front and back of economy (when both doors are used for boarding).

Maybe full system functionality is not “switched on” yet just a soft roll out. The red X comes in later….

 

[CMA222]

Maybe full system functionality is not “switched on” yet just a soft roll out. The red X comes in later….

That is probably why SYD is scheduled after the kinks are ironed out ?

It been pushed out it looks like. From the email staff get:
Group boarding will be implemented progressively, starting with Brisbane, Perth, Melbourne, and Sydney.

• Monday 03 June 2024 – Brisbane
• Monday 10 June 2024 – Perth
• Monday 17 June 2024 – Melbourne
• Tuesday 25 June 2024 - Sydney

 

[Doctore1003]

That is probably why SYD is scheduled after the kinks are ironed out ?

Isn’t that what the “successful trials” were for?

 

[Mattg]

@hutch commented in another thread that priority boarding worked well on their flight, QF533: Qantas Business Class meals & menus

I actually saw this flight boarding as well, and observed that it seemed to work fairly well. The difference? There were 7 Qantas staff members at that boarding gate, including a few who appeared to be management.

My flight to MEL didn’t have this and was pretty much just business as usual, except for the announcements of boarding groups 1/2, 3/6 and 4/5.

 

[SeatBackForward]

I wonder if this new Group boarding was why I noticed the crowd of QF corporate at a SYD Dom gate a little under a year ago. Timing for such changes in an organisation with the inertia of an iceberg makes sense.

 

[Berlin]

I actually saw this flight boarding as well, and observed that it seemed to work fairly well. The difference? There were 7 Qantas staff members at that boarding gate, including a few who appeared to be management.

Not surprised at all- as with many things, you need enough qualified staff for it to work. But of course, that is expensive which is precisely why it will never work out in the long run at our beloved Qantas

 

[TheInsider]

I wonder if this new Group boarding was why I noticed the crowd of QF corporate at a SYD Dom gate a little under a year ago. Timing for such changes in an organisation with the inertia of an iceberg makes sense.

A lot of it was also waiting for Amadeus to update the Qantas systems and some airport authorities, rest would've been the usual Qantas pace. Things like signage can become a hassle in some ports.

 

[TheInsider]

What about scenarios where you're travelling with a work colleague. One has status, the other doesn't Currently they've just boarded with me. Linking by calling up makes no sense in this scenario.

If you need to board together and are at the airport, then speak to staff to link the booking.

 

[levelnine]

If you need to board together and are at the airport, then speak to staff to link the booking.

If they really are going to enforce boarding groups, it would be great to have the option to link bookings online.

It is convenient to board together, but annoying that you have to phone up or wait for a staff member at the airport to process the link.

 

[TheInsider]

You need to call up... though I've also asked the question of @TheInsider about this, as there was murmurings of being able to do/request this via the app, but I have a feeling it was something else, like adding someone else's booking via MMB... which won't help!

Cheers.
Matt.

I think in the past there may have been something in MMB to link it up, not too sure if it's there anymore?
Maybe I'm thinking about splitting the booking instead.

Post automatically merged: Jun 3, 2024

If they really are going to enforce boarding groups, it would be great to have the option to link bookings online.

It is convenient to board together, but annoying that you have to phone up or wait for a staff member at the airport to process the link.

Tbf, does any other airline offer this? I don't know.

 

[luckypierre]

Recent BA boarding group experience in London. J and WP row 2 on Qantas ticket I was boarding group 3 on boarding pass but they did call business passengers forward first so off we went out of our group 3 corral

Flew with BA on two flights yesterday and we were reasonably happy with the group boarding process. The first flight was on time and boarding was an unrushed casual process, everyone being processed in a single line. Passengers were obliging with the process and there was no rushing to lineup. Priority passengers were called in order 1-3. Everyone else groups 4-9 in order with 4 being rear of aircraft,
The second flight out of LHR was running 50 minutes late , again everyone called in group order to initially vet IDs before boarding in a single line.
Both flights near 100% full so some Tetris play with luggage storage on board. The second flight all wheel aboard bags had to be checked in for passengers groups 4-9

As an aside received an email from BA today apologising for the delay of our second flight.

 

[XWu]

The fairfax tabloid suggest this boarding scheme had been used successfully in Singapore for sometime. Strange I must have missed those call in groups for years and I still have some of the boarding passes which do not have group printed on it

 

[Daver6]

If you need to board together and are at the airport, then speak to staff to link the booking.

I thought QF got rid of all service desks at airports? Is this something lounge staff can do? What about if it's not the first sector of a booking? Finally, I really don't want a colleague to have access to my booking online and vica versa. Just makes sense that folks travelling for business together can board together without any additional faffing about.

 

[flyingfan]

I have a bunch of status runs upcoming - for science, will collate each experience and report back.

 

[1022]

@hutch commented in another thread that priority boarding worked well on their flight, QF533: Qantas Business Class meals & menus

I actually saw this flight boarding as well, and observed that it seemed to work fairly well. The difference? There were 7 Qantas staff members at that boarding gate, including a few who appeared to be management.

My flight to MEL didn’t have this and was pretty much just business as usual, except for the announcements of boarding groups 1/2, 3/6 and 4/5.

How many Qantas staff does it take to change a ... enforce priority boarding?

I'll try to keep an open mind, but as a SG, I suspect that if I leave the lounge when the first boarding call is made, with this new system when I reach the gate I will encounter two lanes of confused people in groups 3 -15 (or whatever it goes up to). At least with the old system there was generally a (roughly, anecdotally) 40% chance that the priority lane would be shorter than the main one. Contrast to VA and even more so ZL, who just make it work 90% of the time with better signage and little fuss.

 

[TheInsider]

Contrast to VA and even more so ZL, who just make it work 90% of the time with better signage and little fuss.

Do you even know what the signage looks like for QF?

 

[JessicaTam]

Recent BA boarding group experience in London. J and WP row 2 on Qantas ticket I was boarding group 3 on boarding pass but they did call business passengers forward first so off we went out of our group 3 corral

And BA now have a group 0 for Gold Guest List (~QF P1). So you were well down the pecking order!